Why the boxes?
Surprise Video Above-Just point and click IRAQ - What is it’s biblical significance?
JUDGING RIGHT FROM WRONG - How can I decide whether a particular activity—such as smoking, gambling, etc.—is wrong?
GARDEN OF EDEN - Was it a real place? If so, where is it today? THE POPE - Is he the true "Vicar of Christ"? If not, who is?
EXISTENCE OF GOD - Are Christians relying on ancient hearsay evidence from fallible people?
…more answers…
These are questions posted by Anonymous, which I think are real important for discussion. Do we as Christians need to have answers for these questions? Do we simply say, "Because the bible said so," which may enable some to seek answers, but also may prohibit others from an understanding that God cares for "all" of humanity, not just those who have formed logical conclusions in their mind about what they think scripture is saying.
Forming propositional conclusions can be dangerous sometimes, because it places God's truth, not within the confines of the historical context, but places truth in the context of what the human mind thinks about what God is saying, rather than in the "I-Thou" encounter with God. There are people who have their reason, or rational ability to think twisted, distorted, and perverted because of their sinful existence. Drugs, addictions, etc. do not allow a normally rationally thinking person to make logical decisions, thank goodness for Jesus, who continually in scripture untwisted peoples reason, to allow them the ability to "see" clearly who he was.
Many of the above mentioned questions have extreme difficulty being answered outside of the historicity of why the story was told in the first place. Was it the point of the writer to give a scientific basis for the existence of God, or was the writer through the inspiration of God attempting to redefine the belief structure around the one true God, who revealed himself as YHWH to Israel? Salvation history taken out of context will not have a 'feel which is real', but will resort back to a philosophical context, which will only look "inward" for answers to the problems of the human condition.
The gospel is the "good news" that God had broken into humanity radically, and brought what was supposed to be an "end times" scenario to the present time in Jesus of Nazareth. If Jesus truly rose from the dead, then this meant God affirmed everything Jesus said as the truth. If Jesus touched what was thought to be "unclean" and cleansed it, then what does that mean I am supposed to do?
Corey wrote in his blog about human sex trafficking, but a lot of Christians would be afraid to get involved, because it is considered "unknown" territory. This is why I talk so much about the resurrection, because it is the event that allowed humans to "never fear death again." A lot of what we do in this life is to preserve our lives, i.e. new clothes, new cars, new houses, new fill in the blank. Jesus said, "sell all you have and follow me", more than once to the disciples, what does that mean for us?
What we believe shapes our lives. If I believe that God is going to one day destroy the earth, along with most of the people, then that will shape how I think God interacts with humans, meaning that God is a God of wrath. If I take the Old Testament to be God's "perfect design" for how nations should be, then it will directly affect what I believe the U.S. does. What I am saying is that without de-constructing the system itself, humans are destined to repeat the mistakes. Which is why the Church in Christendom committed the same offenses which were committed by ancient Israel. Paul Jewett in "Our Dignity as Human" said that it only took the church two generations after Jesus to re-establish a patriarchy again, after Jesus dismantled it.
I find that in our current society of Christianity, we are extreme people. If I believe something about God, then 'it has to be true.' I just read this book called, "Tuesday's with Morrie", and the main character Morrie Schwartz (real person) stood up in the middle of a college basketball game as the crowd was chanting, "We're number one, we're number one!", and he screamed, "What is wrong with being number 2?!"
I was having another conversation with someone yesterday, which I do often, because as a Christian I feel it is important to speak with other people on a consistent basis. :) As I was having this conversation, this person was remarking concerning a decision they made by saying, "I don't think that it is wrong." I asked them, "Why is it a matter of right and wrong?" I asked them, "Do you think it is sinful?" They stated, "No, not at all." I was perplexed then as to why so much in our Christianity is determined as "right and wrong". I would of course say it is an Enlightenment mindset, that we must determine logical conclusions for our actions, in order to bring a semblance of security to our lives. That is a mouthful, but I think it is true. I finally said to this person, "It is not a question of 'right and wrong' as what we have determined those words mean, but it is a question of "Am I following after what God is doing with and among the people in this world?"
So here is a question. Is there another way? The word which continually comes to the forefront of my life is forgiveness. Miroslov Volf in his book, "Free of Charge" says that forgiveness must be social. 'Forgiveness can not be an inward thought which we have with God, but must be an outward act towards reconciliation with another person, either who had wronged us or whom we have wronged'. What I have noticed is that to be able to do that is extremely difficult. So as I was thinking about that issue today, I said to myself, "Is there another way?" What I thought of next was Jesus asking his Father, "Is there another way?" before going to the Cross. Forgiveness is the a dynamic aspect of the cross, which we miss sometimes in our theology. It is not just forgiveness so that we can be "right with God," but it causes us pain to have to sometimes "bear someone else's burden", so that they can be free to know God in a deeper way. What? We can free someone else through forgiveness? I know, it seems crazy, but this is why forgiveness must be social. In making forgiveness social, Jesus condemned the injustice which he suffered, while freeing humans from the bondage of unforgiveness, which destroys the whole person. The social attitude of forgiveness confronts the 'evil' done against a person also. Many women have heard it said that they need to "forgive their husbands for beating them!" While I would never say that forgiveness is not necessary for healing, if the forgiveness is social, then I am exposing the injustice or evil committed against me. This is why it is important that forgiveness is not simply an inner choice I make, "just between me and God", which contradicts scripture. I have also noticed that when I have not forgiven, I become cold, i.e. indifferent to relationships, so that even if I offend or am offended, it doesn't bother me. That actually is a sign that we are not truly feeling anymore. I know this is "touchy, feely" stuff, but it has enabled me to bear the pain of life, not run or hide from it, which transforms lives.
Today I had a great conversation with a friend who said that his church provided a washer and dryer for his family, because his washer and dryer "clonked out" and they had no money to buy a new one. I know it seems like such a simple issue, but this is part of the reason that we tithe. If I become destitute and have nowhere to turn, the church should provide me with shelter, food, money, amenities to support me, until I could become able to support myself again. We like to call this the "practicality" of the gospel, but it is interesting, because through scholarship these idea's have taken shape and developed our new interest in living the incarnation of the gospel. It is funny, because every time that I give something to a poor person asking for money, drink, food, etc., they say, "God bless you!" Watch how many times someone says it, after something is given to them. This simply astonishes me because how it displays how present God is with people, "all people". God truly dwells with his people. As N.T. Wright says, 'when the parousia (the coming) of Christ returns to the earth, the veil, between where we thought heaven was located, will be pulled back, and we will realize that he was present on earth the whole time.' Heaven and earth in Hebrew overlap one another, therefore anything 'above the waters' is thought to be 'heaven', this means that unless you are scuba diving, we live above the waters. Interesting thought, Eh.
Recently I had a conversation with someone regarding the Resurrection of Jesus. I said to this person, "It doesn't take science to tell us that human beings don't rise from the dead!" This seems like a antagonistic statement about the Lord's resurrection, but as we were speaking, I realized that the resurrection can not be removed from the rest of Jesus' life. When Paul preached the death and resurrection of Christ, to him that meant coming into a 'new creation' paradigm, which brought a renewal of humanity. So, the cultural norms were being broken down, i.e. men ruling over women; masters ruling over slaves; certain groups having rights to property and land; and the rich ruling over the poor. Therefore, when Paul says in Galatians 3:28, "neither Jew nor Gentile; neither slave nor free; no male and female", 'In Christ' we are one body, Paul is completely dismantling the system, exactly like Jesus did. Women were NOT included in religio-political practices in the 1st century, even though Jesus completely included them. One of my professors, Dr. Donald Hagner said, "If Jesus was born in a matriarchy, he would have been a woman." Firstly, this will probably be the only time I ever quote Dr. Don and second, Dr. Hagner is a "Conservative scholar", so for him to say that there must be some credence behind it.
The reason that the person whom I was speaking with can't see, 'Jesus risen from the dead', is not a question of his 'own faith', but a question of the 'faithfulness of the people of God.' If those with no voice, were given a voice, if those with no position were included, not excluded, this person would be able to see God. If we just take our already existent societal norms and naturally incorporate them into the church, without reflection or deconstruction, the question will always be, "Why would I choose your religion over all the others?"
If I Post, they will come! Not necessarily true I see. Well, the post has been active for less than 24 hours, and no one has responded. Of course, I need to let people know that the Blog of all blogs is here. Plus, I need to learn to put pictures on it. Ok, I just learned how to do it. In case you were wondering, that is Matthew and Paige at our wedding. Don't they look adorable? Today, I was speaking with three friends and we were discussing various methodologies within the context of the church. One of my friends said, "The modern church attempted to place truth within the confines of 'right and wrong', which then is forced to draw conclusions." We do not preach a message so that people will be convinced by our arguments, but we preach so that we can draw closer to God's way of being involved with us in the earth. Meaning there is an 'overlap' of the ages, with this present age and the 'age to come', i.e. the return of Christ to the earth. I am coming to realize that Jesus, as well as Paul taught us a new way of living, a new way of being, which embraces the reality of our humanity, while embracing the transcendence of God. This is NOT a dualism, because it in this way humanity lives the incarnation of Christ in the earth. It is as if God is revealed to us, our eyes are opened. The most amazing part that truth is that God was with us the whole time.
Hey all, I am excited to have a new blog for a new day. Fuller Theological Seminary is simply downright taxing these days. So much reading, so little time. The formulation of thoughts and ideas is developed through our writing more than our reading, so it does not make sense why we read, more than write?? Blogging may be better for me also, because I can write my thoughts in a succinct manner, rather than talking, which takes me hours. I am studying a lot lately about the Patriarchal societies which contributed to many of the 'evils' committed against humans over the past four thousand years. Yes, that means Bible times also. Imagine that, certain stories of scripture had massive human flaws involved. It should point to the fact that societies learn, develop, and adapt to the "new creation" paradigm which Jesus spoke. That would personally bring me back to Genesis 1-2 to want to know, "Hey, how does God see the women and men situation?" If the Church looks like the culture in terms of men being in charge of everything and women having to "learn their place", that may be a problem. Anyhoo, changing how we act is painfully difficult, yet exciting. If you want to know more, I will find out how to send directly to various links. Thanks for your time.
