Are we going anywhere?

Throughout scripture there is an over-arching theme of "new creation" (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 6:15; Rom. 8:18-25). Something has happened to God's creation that requires "re-creation". So, throughout the story of God's people we see attempts at progress; attempts to recreate the world into the place that He wants it to be. Because of this I am fairly passionate about progressive theology... because a static (unmoving) theology cannot recreate.

In a book I read recently, John G. Stackhouse says this: "The quest is not for the perfect theory, the perfect interpretation of Scripture, the perfect theology but for the best available. The main thing in life is not to figure everything out but to rely on God to provide what we need to accomplish his Will in every circumstance -- including the best theology for the job -- and then to get on with that work."

In theory it sounds like we should be searching for the perfect theology, the perfect interpretation of scripture. However, when you look at the tradition of hermeneutics (interpretation of scripture) you witness the evidence of the impossibility of the ultimate hermeneutic. Slavery is an ideal example. Throughout the whole Bible (Old Testaments and New) slavery is either condoned or permitted if you hold to a literal, static interpretation. Because of this, theologians throughout history have endorsed slavery. Some notable pro-slavery Christians: Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Hodge.

I don't think that any Spirit guided Christian today would knowingly permit or endorse any kind of slavery. In other words... we believe that we have made progress in our theology. We now understand things differently than all of these well respected Spirit guided theologians who endorsed slavery in the past. Somehow we know better. Our interpretation is "more correct".

Now, don't get me wrong... I am not promoting liberal theology in any way. I am completely bound to God's infallible Word. However, I believe that in order for us to aid God in His recreation of our world we need to embrace a progressive theology. How this works itself out with scripture I'll talk about next week...

But until then:

Am I on crack?

Have we as Christians really been making any progress?

Can you think of any theologies in which future Christians might make more progress/change our theology?

What areas of our world need to be recreated the most (ie. environment/human rights/theology/philosophy/etc...)?

Palate Cleanser

**What follows is in no way intended to promote anti He-Man sentiment. Nor is it designed to reflect badly on anyone with positive nostalgic memories involving He-Man or any of the so-called "Masters of the Universe".**

So Mike and I have been having this very deep, profound discussion revolving our childhood heroes. Tim's Hero: Astro Boy; Mike's Hero: He-Man.

Ah, the nostalgia.

I'd like you to weigh in:
I propose that Astro Boy could kick He-Man's butt. Here is Astro's intro segment (you can view He-Man's intro on Mike's very cool new blog, "whatthefitz.blogspot.com".)

PS- Please feel free to continue the discussion on "Armor and Sword" or any other previous post.

Armor and Sword

Neil Peart has had a big influence on my life. Most of this influence has been restricted to music, drumming specifically. Neil Peart is the drummer for the Canadian progressive rock band "Rush" (he is also in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the most influential drummers in history).

Neil Peart is also the writer of the vast majority of Rush's lyrics. He is an very intelligent and philosophical writer who has been through some tough times (his wife dying of cancer and his only child dying in a car accident within a year of each other).

Rush has just come out with a new album, "Snakes and Arrows". Throughout the album Peart expresses his struggles with religion specifically around the issue of faith. In an interview Peart had this to say: "... [faith] ought to be your armor, something to protect you and something to console you in dark times. But it's more often being turned into a sword, and that's one big theme I'm messing with."

This can be seen in his lyrics to the song "Armor and Sword":
Sometimes the damage is too great
Or the will is too weak
What should have been our armor
Becomes a sharp and burning sword.

This is an obvious reference to the "Armor of God" in Ephesians 6:13-17. He may have a point here. In Ephesians, faith is our "shield"; part of our armor which is defensive not offensive. The only offensive part of the Ephesians 6 passage is the "sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God" (vs. 17b). So, our offense does not depend on anything coming from us... our faith, our opinion, our convictions. Instead, our offense is dependent on God through His word.

Have we as Christians done damage by using our personal faith as a weapon instead of letting God's word (through His Spirit) be the weapon?

How can we live out our faith in the public arena without having it become a "sharp and burning sword"? (Peart's reference to the crusades... probably)

Is our faith becoming a "sword" really a bad thing?

Embarrassing Christianity

The Atheist's Nightmare..?




I seriously hope that this video is a joke... unfortunately I don't think it is.

I'm just embarrassed to be associated with this kind of "Christianity"; I'm ashamed that Christians would behave in such ridiculous ways and say such incredible things.

The fact is that as Christians we are representatives of Christ; His "ambassadors" (2 Cor. 5:20). So what happens when Christ's ambassadors foolishly represent Christ? What happens when one ambassador is ashamed by another? In Luke 9:26 Jesus says, "If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory..." (NIV).

All throughout history Christ's "embassy", the Church, has made unfortunate decisions and misrepresented Christ. I think specifically of the medieval Church insisting that the earth was flat ("ends of the earth" Mk 13:27) or that the sun orbits the earth (Ps 19:6) when ultimately they were completely wrong. I can't blame them too much for being wrong (I've been wrong about a lot of stuff too) but why be so insistently arrogant about it? Is it really necessary to condemn people as heretics because of their understanding of the solar system?

So I wonder...
Are there ways in which our Churches are currently behaving that misrepresent Christ?
Will future generations look back at us now and think of us with embarrassment?
Was this guy on "crack" or does a banana actually, finally, and conclusively prove God's existence?

What is Water?

If you want to know what water is don't ask a fish.

I am constantly intrigued by the concept of "worldview". I forget where I heard this statement about fish and water but I love it. It demonstrates so well our relationship to our worldview... most of the time we don't even recognize its existence. Yet our understanding of the way the world works affects absolutely every area of our lives; especially the way we view God.

James W. Sire is one of the leading authorities when it comes to understanding our worldview. In his book "Naming the Elephant", Sire tells this story to highlight the role of worldview in our lives: (I am, of course, only briefly summarizing his story)

One day a little boy come to his father and asks, "Dad, what holds the world up? Why doesn't it fall down?" The father, chuckling at this childish question, gives his son a childish answer, "A camel holds up the world, son." The boy is temporarily satisfied with this answer, after all, camels can carry all sorts of things. But soon the son comes back with another question. "Dad, if the camel holds up the world, what holds up the camel?" The dad, for lack of a good answer keeps going with his theme and says that a kangaroo holds up the camel. Again, the boy is only temporarily satisfied and soon comes back asking what holds up the kangaroo. Well, of course an elephant holds up the kangaroo. And what holds up the elephant? Now the father is done playing this little game and so he ends it by answering: "The elephant goes all the way down."

Naturally, we all ask the question, "all the way down to what? What is the bottom?" At some point each one of us has to give a similar answer; but what is it? What is our elephant? What is our way of getting to the bottom? And what is the bottom?

For years many Christians' elephant was the phrase "because the Bible says so". When they lacked any "real" answer they would simply say "God" or "Jesus" or "the Bible". Is this sufficient? When we are faced with questions that we honestly can't answer is it fair to ourselves, others, and God Himself to give quaint "Sunday school answers" like "because the Bible says so"?

While I am personally uncomfortable with these "Sunday school answers" I am comfortable resting in the fact that in Christianity God has provided us with a complete worldview. This is all explained in Sire's book "The Universe Next Door". According to Sire (and I am inclined to agree), no other worldview can satisfactorily answer the essential questions of a worldview. In Christianity, God answers all the questions of the nature of reality, knowledge (epistemology), and identity.

Is "because the Bible says so" a fair answer? Upon what basis can this statement be authoritative?

In your opinion, how aware are we of our own worldview?

How have our western worldviews effected Christianity in the west?

6x9=42

I've never claimed to be good at mathematics.

If you have never read "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams you should. Aside from the fact that it is probably the only book that I have read and laughed out loud while reading, this book is an incredibly witty look at nihilism. This is where I get my amazing math skills from.

In one of Adams' books the people of the universe decide once and for all to find out what the answer is to "the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything." So they create a supercomputer (nicknamed "Deep Thought") to solve the meaning of life. After 71/2 million years of calculation Deep Thought comes up with the answer: 42. The people of the universe then have to create another supercomputer (the planet Earth) to find out what the proper mathematical question would be. Earth comes to the conclusion that the original question was... 6x9=?

So there you have it. The meaning of life is: 6x9=42. Both question and answer are inane. One of Adams' characters (Prak) explains this mathematical and philosophical oddity by saying, "I'm afraid... that the Question and the Answer are mutually exclusive. Knowledge of one logically precludes knowledge of the other. It is impossible that both can ever be known about the same universe."

This is the conclusion that Adams reached. Douglas Adams was a life long advocate of evolution and a self-proclaimed "radical atheist." He recognized that the logical outcome of belief in Naturalism is Nihilism (a denial of the possibility of knowledge). If you believe that life happens by accident and then search for the meaning of life you have a question and answer that are mutually exclusive (6x9=? and 42). For someone that didn't believe in an answer and thought that asking the question was pointless, Adams spent a lot of time searching for both.

This is the world that we live in. Most people claim to have either the question or the answer. Many of us claim to have both the question and the answer... but do they line up?

Many people who do not believe in a "Christian" God look at Christians and are confused. In Adams' words, why would "otherwise rational... intelligent people... nevertheless take [the existence of God] seriously." I think, in situations like this, it may be that the questions and answers don't line up. But that's because Adams was either asking the wrong question or getting the wrong answer.

What are your experiences with Nihilism (there is no meaning/purpose in life)?

Do we, as Christians claim to have the question (6x9=?) or the answer (42)?

How can we bridge into an increasingly Nihilistic world?

Is "Marvin the Paranoid Android" funny or irritating?