tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37201685353559284762024-02-06T21:22:19.144-05:00Video! Audio! Disco!see goodness in the land of the living. :::
hear music in the key of the life. :::
know and be still.jmwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10775720474363733288noreply@blogger.comBlogger258125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720168535355928476.post-66075106397023595182012-11-27T11:33:00.000-05:002012-11-27T17:26:56.910-05:00THE END<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I'm ditching this blog for a new one over at WordPress. After five years of blogging here at VideoAudioDisco I am giving up the ghost and starting fresh. Why? I just felt like a change (not to mention some frustrating blips with the blogger interface). Everything in life is provisional and this little blog has been a wonderful home for the past 5 years. The 311 posts convey my journey from Buffalo to Philadelphia to Toronto, as well as four years of seminary, two presidential elections, and lots of heretical theology. But it's time to move on. And what better time of year to begin a new blog than the beginning of the Christian year. The advent of the Coming One is upon us. May we <a href="http://attendtheend.wordpress.com/">attend the End.</a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">New blog is <a href="http://attendtheend.wordpress.com/">here</a>.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVnMlYpbGlrmTiCyZXY4zOpAKvLTmOID0N82-BC4YG6HUOM-HLbmCQi2MWzjq6Rx4_6XQauFAkAQqMQvsqUlj16jmKN7dXfhP0JA7cRH7DY2HYe557A35xLU8t0NBkP4h9RNj6Eaic4g/s1600/attendtheend+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="492" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVnMlYpbGlrmTiCyZXY4zOpAKvLTmOID0N82-BC4YG6HUOM-HLbmCQi2MWzjq6Rx4_6XQauFAkAQqMQvsqUlj16jmKN7dXfhP0JA7cRH7DY2HYe557A35xLU8t0NBkP4h9RNj6Eaic4g/s640/attendtheend+copy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />jmwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10775720474363733288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720168535355928476.post-67932745071234125262012-11-19T12:59:00.000-05:002012-11-19T12:59:32.816-05:00Damned Nonsense! Series Conclusion: What's at Stake?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This post is part of the </span><a href="http://videoaudiodisco.blogspot.ca/2012/10/damned-nonsense-introduction.html" style="color: blue; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Damned Nonsense! series,</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> a collection of posts exploring the Christian doctrine of salvation. It is named after a </span><a href="http://www.evangelicaluniversalist.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=2549" style="color: blue; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">dissertation</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> by Ravi Holy entitled "Damned Nonsense: An Argument for Universalism Consisting of a Critique of All the Alternatives to It." While some of the series' content is adapted from Holy's work</span></i></span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, </span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">not all opinions expressed in this series are Holy's</span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. Please check out all the posts in this series!</span></i></span></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">You know that last 40 minutes on a long flight that seems to take forever and drains every last ounce of your energy? That's how I feel about this last post. We have covered a lot of material in this little series and the mental gymnastics have left me quite fatigued. It hasn't been a perfect flight, there's been some turbulence here and there (and no snacks!), but it's been a good and worthwhile journey. I hope that you have found the trip worthy of your time and maybe you will want to visit again in the future. Nevertheless, it is important to bring this series in for a landing. And like many say, landing is the most important part. So in today's post I would like to focus on what is perhaps the most important part of this entire discussion.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><b>What is at stake in the debate about Universalism is the </b><u><b><i>doctrine of God itself</i></b></u><b><i>.</i></b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 18px;"> Underlying every doctrine of salvation is an implicit doctrine of God: who God is, how God relates to the world, what are God's purposes for the world, and what are God's promises to the world. When we discuss salvation, atonement, hell, and so forth, we are discussing the very nature of God. In other words, the universal salvation debate is not simply about the salvation of humankind, it is about the <u>One Who Saves.</u></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">In this light, the traditional view of salvation implies not only a God who saves, but also a God who damns, rejects, or quits. It is for this reason that more and more people are not only abandoning hell, but God altogether. F</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">or millions of people there is a disconnect between God's love and hell. On this note, I particularly love Bob Dylan's lyric in the song "<a href="http://www.blogger.com/or%20millions%20of%20people%20there%20is%20a%20disconnect%20between%20what%20we%20value%20as%20love%20and%20justice%20compared%20to%20the%20traditional%20portrait%20of%20God%20and%20hell.%20I%20particularly%20love%20Bob%20Dylan's%20lyric%20in%20the%20song%20%22Pay%20in%20Blood%22:">Pay in Blood"</a>:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: normal;">
I've been through Hell, What good did it do? </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: normal;">
You bastard! I'm supposed to respect you! </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: normal;">
I'll give you justice, I'll fatten your purse </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq" style="line-height: normal;">
Show me your moral that you reversed</blockquote>
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://www.amazon.ca/The-One-Purpose-God-Punishment/dp/0802841864">Jan Bonda</a> captures this popular sentiment when he says, </span>"</span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The theologian who succeeds in convincing believers that the doctrine of eternal punishment does not lead to a terrifying image of God has yet to arise. </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For how many has this doctrine - that God wants the doom of the many, and that those who believe must simply accept this fact - been the main reason why they could stand it no longer in the church and why they lost their faith?</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">" (Bonda, 27-28) Indeed, this is the sad truth of millions who have given up on the Christian faith.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Those who espouse the traditional view </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><u>must</u></span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> say something similar to what Clark Pinnock has said: "There comes a point when God, who has done everything to bring sinners back to fellowship, gives up trying," (from his [misnomered] book, </span></span><a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Unbounded-Love-Clark-H-Pinnock/dp/1579105289"><span style="color: #0020de;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Unbounded Love</span></span></i></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">). H</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">ell implicates God, plain and simple. As soon as we say "hell" we are talking about the very nature of God. </span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><i><u><b>Therefore</b></u>, </i></span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u><i>the only way to change our thinking about hell is to change our thinking about God.</i></u></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> This series has been an attempt to challenge what we think about God's nature, purposes, and promises.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I have attempted to put forth a view of <a href="http://videoaudiodisco.blogspot.ca/2012/10/damned-nonsense-post-6-how-about.html">the God revealed in Jesus Christ that makes room for the *possibility* that all shall be saved</a>. By providing some of the historical, philosophical, and biblical support for this view, I have argued that universal salvation deserves a seat at the table of Christian orthodoxy. Universalism is, <i>at least</i>, as flawed as the traditional views of Calvinism and Arminianism. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the final analysis, however, it all comes down to the doctrine of God. The question, <i>What can we actually know about God?</i> lies at the heart of this and all theology. In this series I have argued that we can know the following about the God revealed in Jesus Christ:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">God is sovereign creator, sustainer, and redeemer of creation.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">God's love and grace are unconditional.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">God desires the salvation of all.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jesus is God incarnate.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jesus died for all.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jesus defeated death and sin.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jesus is the Lord of the cosmos.</span></li>
</ul>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This much, I believe, we can know in the confidence of faith, hope, and love. And this much we can proclaim as <i><b>good news</b></i> for a world that is wounded and suffering! From here it is up to the individual to explore further the implications of such claims about God's nature, purposes, and promises. But I would not recommend exploration without due caution, for it is a dangerous thing to fall into the hands of the living God. One may find her entire theology turned upside down or his faith foundation violently shaken.</span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><u>------------------------------------------------------</u></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the first century C.E. the nation of Israel yearned for their covenant God to bring salvation. Many Jews awaited the coming of a messianic figure, much like Moses, to deliver them. Some expected a warrior-king, a son of David who would bring a mighty military victory for Israel. Others anticipated a royal priest who would rebuild and reestablish the Jewish Temple as holy and undefiled. And still others anticipated a heavenly messiah who would bring judgment upon the wicked and vindicate the righteous. </span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What no one expected was a prophet who would invite sinners and pagans into the community of God. </span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What no one expected was a suffering messiah who would die at the hands of Israel's enemy.</span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What no one expected was a crucified Christ who would cry, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."</span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What no one expected was that the crucified Christ would be raised from the dead in order to proclaim <i>this</i> messiah's Lordship and <i>this</i> salvation of God for the world.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">... What do you expect?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><u><br /></u></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><u>----------------------------------------------------</u></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">This is not a conclusion. This is not the end. It is a layover. A time to rest before your next flight. Grab a beer or a coffee and relax. Find one of those charging stations and get your iLife all charged up for the next flight. This is just the beginning. Further reflection and journeying await. My hope is that this series has provided nourishment for the journey that lies ahead. May God lead you through the wilderness and protect you in the storm. May God bring you home rejoicing at the wonders God has shown you.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Love wins.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">- jmw</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Recommended flight destinations...</span></u></b></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>WEBSITES:</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://EvangelicalUniversalist.com/">EvangelicalUniversalist.com</a></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://Tentmaker.com/">Tentmaker.com</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.rethinkinghell.com/">Rethinking Hell</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://christianuniversalist.org/">Christian Universalist</a></span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.hellboundthemovie.com/">Hellbound the Movie</a></span><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>BOOKS:</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-One-Purpose-God-Punishment/dp/0802841864/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353347160&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=jan+bonda+the+one+purpse">The One Purpose of God - Jan Bonda</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Inescapable-Love-God-Thomas-Talbott/dp/1581128312/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353347336&sr=1-1&keywords=the+inescapable+love+of+god">The Inescapable Love of God - Thomas Talbott</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Salvation-Current-Robin-Parry/dp/0802827640">Universal Salvation: The Current Debate</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Last-Word-after-That-Christianity/dp/0470248424/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353347436&sr=1-1&keywords=the+last+word+and+the+word+after+that">The Last Word & the Word After That - Brian McLaren</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Love-Wins-About-Heaven-Person/dp/0062049658/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1353347444&sr=1-1&keywords=love+wins">Love Wins - Rob Bell</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hell-Unrighteous-Paternoster-Theological-Monographs/dp/085364831X">Hell: A Hard Look at a Hard Question - David Powys</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>jmwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10775720474363733288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720168535355928476.post-81330516713671873852012-11-09T11:55:00.003-05:002012-11-09T11:55:55.028-05:00Damned Nonsense! Post #13: Hans Urs von Balthasar...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8SfVSBSlfnWM_V_ZtzHNl5FAEYD7biNPBjTadEpt_7ubiV61yiNpUyzcX2SiVYu_OOElyybk21ry_alGAOAalXNfeVfleymzxBHWhbdw3naL_WZNrIyru-D5OkfUwsxw63Quh8DK9HA/s1600/41796_38128142234_1064_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8SfVSBSlfnWM_V_ZtzHNl5FAEYD7biNPBjTadEpt_7ubiV61yiNpUyzcX2SiVYu_OOElyybk21ry_alGAOAalXNfeVfleymzxBHWhbdw3naL_WZNrIyru-D5OkfUwsxw63Quh8DK9HA/s400/41796_38128142234_1064_n.jpg" width="284" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">“Just as God so loved the world that he completely handed over his Son for its sake, so too the one whom God has loved will want to save himself only in conjunction with those who have been created with him, and he will not reject the share of penitential suffering that has been given him for the sake of the whole. He will do so in Christian hope, the hope for the salvation of all men, which is permitted to Christians alone. Thus, the Church is strictly enjoined to pray “for </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">all </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">men” (and as a result of which to see her prayer in this respect as meaningful and effective); and it is “good and it is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">all </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">men to be saved…, for there is one God and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself over as a ransom for </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">all</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">” (1 Tim 2:1-6), who, raised up on the Cross “will draw </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">all </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">men to himself” (Jn 12:32), because he has received there a “power over </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">all </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">flesh” (Jn 17:2), in order to be “a Savior of </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">all </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">men” (1 Tim 4:10), “in order to take away the sins of </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">all</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">” (Heb 9:28); “for the grace of God has appeared for the salvation of </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">all </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">men” (Tit 2:11), which is why the Church “looks to the advantage of </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">all </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">men, in order that they may be saved” (1 Cor 10:33). This is why Paul (Rom 5:15-21) can say that the balance between sin and grace, fear and hope, damnation and redemption, and Adam and Christ has been tilted in favor of grace, and indeed so much that (in relation to redemption) the mountain of sin stands before an inconceivable superabundance of redemption: not only have all been doomed to (the first and the second) death in Adam, while all have been freed from death in Christ, but the sins of all, which assault the innocent one and culminate in God’s murder, have brought an inexhaustible wealth of absolution down upon all. Thus: “God has consigned </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">all </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">men to disobedience, that he may have mercy upon </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">all</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">” (Rom 11:32).”</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">– <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Urs_von_Balthasar">Hans Urs von Balthasar</a>, </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Love Alone Is Credible </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2004), 97-98.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.romancatholicism.org/balthasar-hope.htm">MORE HERE...</a></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">- jmw</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">NEXT WEEK: Series Conclusion - What's At Stake?</span><br />
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jmwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10775720474363733288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720168535355928476.post-9352967993815130532012-11-08T11:25:00.000-05:002012-11-08T11:25:00.339-05:00Damned Nonsense! Post #12: William Barclay, 'Convinced' Universalist<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism at Glasgow University and the author of many Biblical commentaries and books, including a translation of the New Testament, "Barclay New Testament," and "The Daily Study Bible Series."</div>
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I am a convinced universalist. I believe that in the end all men will be gathered into the love of God. In the early days Origen was the great name connected with universalism. I would believe with Origen that universalism is no easy thing. Origen believed that after death there were many who would need prolonged instruction, the sternest discipline, even the severest punishment before they were fit for the presence of God. Origen did not eliminate hell; he believed that some people would have to go to heaven via hell. He believed that even at the end of the day there would be some on whom the scars remained. He did not believe in eternal <i>punishment</i>, but he did see the possibility of eternal <i>penalty</i>. And so the choice is whether we accept God's offer and invitation willingly, or take the long and terrible way round through ages of purification.</div>
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Gregory of Nyssa offered three reasons why he believed in universalism. First, he believed in it because of the <i>character of God</i>. "Being good, God entertains pity for fallen man; being wise, he is not ignorant of the means for his recovery." Second, he believed in it because of <i>the nature of evil</i>. Evil must in the end be moved out of existence, "so that the absolutely non-existent should cease to be at all." Evil is essentially negative and doomed to non-existence. Third, he believed in it because of <i>the purpose of punishment</i>. The purpose of punishment is always remedial. Its aim is "to get the good separated from the evil and to attract it into the communion of blessedness." Punishment will hurt, but it is like the fire which separates the alloy from the gold; it is like the surgery which removes the diseased thing; it is like the cautery which burns out that which cannot be removed any other way.</div>
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But I want to set down not the arguments of others but the thoughts which have persuaded me personally of universal salvation.</div>
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First, there is the fact that there are things in the New Testament which more than justify this belief. Jesus said: "I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw <i>all</i> men to myself" (John 12:32). Paul writes to the Romans: "God has consigned <i>all</i> men to disobedience that he may have mercy on <i>all</i>" (Rom. 11:32). He writes to the Corinthians: "As in Adam <i>all</i> die, so also in Christ shall <i>all</i> be made alive" (1 Cor. 15:22); and he looks to the final total triumph when God will be everything to everyone (1 Cor. 15:28). In the First Letter to Timothy we read of God "who desires <i>all</i> men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth," and of Christ Jesus "who gave himself as a ransom for <i>all</i>" (1 Tim 2:4-6). The New Testament itself is not in the least afraid of the word <i>all</i>.</div>
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Second, one of the key passages is Matthew 25:46 where it is said that the rejected go away to <i>eternal punishment</i>, and the righteous to eternal life. The Greek word for punishment is <i>kolasis</i>, which was not originally an ethical word at all. It originally meant the pruning of trees to make them grow better. I think it is true to say that in all Greek secular literature <i>kolasis</i> is never used of anything but remedial punishment. The word for eternal is <i>aionios</i>. It means more than everlasting, for Plato - who may have invented the word - plainly says that a thing may be everlasting and still not be <i>aionios</i>. The simplest way to out it is that <i>aionios</i> cannot be used properly of anyone but God; it is the word uniquely, as Plato saw it, of God. Eternal punishment is then literally that kind of remedial punishment which it befits God to give and which only God can give.</div>
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Third, I believe that it is impossible to set limits to the grace of God. I believe that not only in this world, but in any other world there may be, the grace of God is still effective, still operative, still at work. I do not believe that the operation of the grace of God is limited to this world. I believe that the grace of God is as wide as the universe.</div>
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Fourth, I believe implicitly in the ultimate and complete triumph of God, the time when all things will be subject to him, and when God will be everything to everyone (1 Cor. 15:24-28). For me this has certain consequences. If one man remains outside the love of God at the end of time, it means that that one man has defeated the love of God - and that is impossible. Further, there is only one way in which we can think of the triumph of God. If God was no more than a King or Judge, then it would be possible to speak of his triumph, if his enemies were agonizing in hell or were totally and completely obliterated and wiped out. But God is not only King and Judge, God is <i>Father</i> - he is indeed Father more than anything else. No father could be happy while there were members of his family for ever in agony. No father would count it a triumph to obliterate the disobedient members of his family. The only triumph a father can know is to have all his family back home. The only victory love can enjoy is the day when its offer of love is answered by the return of love. The only possible final triumph is a universe loved by and in love with God.</div>
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[Quoted from <i>William Barclay: A Spiritual Autobiography</i>, pg 65-67, William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, 1977.]</div>
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<br />jmwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10775720474363733288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720168535355928476.post-51691588518316718262012-11-07T14:14:00.000-05:002012-11-07T14:14:48.509-05:00Damned Nonsense! Post #11: What about Missions?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This post is part of the </span><a href="http://videoaudiodisco.blogspot.ca/2012/10/damned-nonsense-introduction.html" style="color: blue; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Damned Nonsense! series,</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> a collection of posts exploring the Christian doctrine of salvation. It is named after a </span><a href="http://www.evangelicaluniversalist.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=2549" style="color: blue; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">dissertation</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> by Ravi Holy entitled "Damned Nonsense: An Argument for Universalism Consisting of a Critique of All the Alternatives to It." While some of the series' content is adapted from Holy's work</span></i></span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, </span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">not all opinions expressed in this series are Holy's</span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. Please check out all the posts in this series!</span></i></span></i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In this series we've been exploring lots of different arguments for and against Universalism. Here is one against it: </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"It trivializes the radical sinfulness of fallen humanity, and plays down the penalties due for such sin; it compromises morality by denying that good or evil choices make any ultimate difference, and undermines the missionary mandate of Christ by implying that evangelism and conversion are incidental to salvation.” (</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">David Hilborn and Don Horrocks, “Universalism and Evangelical Theology: An Historical Theological Perspective,” from </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Evangelical Review of Theology</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, no. 30 July, 2006, 216. )</span></span></blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">While we've already touched on the trivialization of consequences and playing down of sin, we have yet to explore the last point made by the critics. </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Does Universalism undermine missions? </span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Many critics claim that Universalism and missions together yield an oxymoron. If everyone will be saved, why evangelize? In today's post I'd like to debunk this silly criticism and explain that </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Universalism not only promotes missions but </span></span></b><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">requires</span></span></b></i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> it.</span></span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br />The claim that Universalism undermines missions is based upon a specific caricature of Universalism. Did you pick up on this caricature in the above quotation? Did you notice the view of salvation implicit in the criticism? </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The authors argue that Universalism implies that "evangelism and conversion </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">are incidental to salvation"</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">!</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">What, then, exactly is salvation, some kind of switch that God flips in the End to make everything hunky-dory? </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">caricature</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> (or straw man) portrays Universalism as </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">only</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> concerned with what happens in the End. The universalist is really only concerned about what happens after death or later down the road; and, therefore,</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> lives a liberal, non-evangelical life because s/he thinks that everybody's gonna make it anyway. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">What I find interesting is that </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">this caricature of Universalism is itself rooted in a popular Evangelical view of salvation that significantly distorts the biblical meaning of salvation.</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Over the past 300 years the evangelical movements of</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dispensationalism"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Dispensationalism</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> and </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_fundamentalism"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Fundamentalism</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> (and probably 18th century Pietism) have come to dominate the popular understanding of salvation as </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">individual postmortem destination</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> (i.e. heaven or hell). This view has led to ineffective and unbiblical evangelism (</span></span><a href="http://videoaudiodisco.blogspot.ca/2010/12/rethinking-soteriology-evangelism.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I have written on this elsewhere).</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> As you can see, this is implied in the criticism above.</span></span><br />
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</span></span><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The problem with this criticism is that it forgets the full meaning of salvation in the Bible.</span></span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Salvation, according to Scripture, is not going to a destination when you die, it is the manifestation of God's rule on earth as it is in heaven. Salvation is not about </span></span></b><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">going</span></span></b></i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> to heaven, it is about heaven </span></span></b><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">coming</span></span></b></i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> to earth. Salvation is not only about what happens </span></span></b><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">later</span></span></b></i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, it is about what's happening </span></span></b><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">now</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> as well</span></span></span></b></i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. All of these sentiments are best captured in Jesus' central proclamation: the kingdom of God is at hand.</span></span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The kingdom of God was the heart of Jesus' message (Mk 1:14; Matt. 4:23; Luke 4:43) and it meant nothing less than the </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">salvation</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> of the cosmos by God. Simply put, the phrase </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">kingdom of God</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> means the manifestation of God's sovereign rule; but it has a </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_God"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">long history</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> in the story of Israel, going all the way back to Abraham. The covenant that God made with Abraham was for Israel to be a blessed people and thereby bless the whole world (Gen.12). To Abraham God promised a community of people that would outnumber the stars (Gen.15). Thus, the salvation of God's people was always intertwined with their missional calling to bless all the families of the earth. The salvation of God </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">is</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> the fulfillment of the </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Missio Dei </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(the mission of God). </span></span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Salvation and missions go hand-in-hand.</span></span></u><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">By proclaiming that the kingdom of God was at hand, Jesus invoked the ultimate hope of Israel that was rooted in the Abrahamic covenant. Salvation was nothing less than the fruition of the Abrahamic covenant </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">on earth, here and now </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(i.e. the </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">kingdom of God</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">)</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> The resurrection of Christ confirmed the inauguration of this reality and the </span></span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Church continues it's </span></span></u></span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">mission</span></span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> to invite the world to salvation in Christ in the kingdom of God.</span></span></u></span></i><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Paul explains salvation in this very way in Galatians: "</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus,<sup class="crossreference" style="font-weight: bold; line-height: normal; vertical-align: top;" value="(<a href="#cen-NIV-29117A" title="See cross-reference A">A</a>)"></sup> so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit." (3:14) </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">N.T. Wright reminds us that "</span></span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">the covenant between God and Israel was always designed to be God's means of saving the whole world." </span></span></span></i></span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Therefore, salvation is inherently missional. </span></span></span></i></span></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></i></span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This understanding of salvation changes everything. Instead of inviting people to "accept Jesus into their heart" or assent to a mere belief system, salvation is participating in the kingdom of God. Salvation is a </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">way of life here and now. </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">That the universalist believes all shall be saved in the End does not change the fact that salvation is available here and now! </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Salvation requires participation in the kingdom of God, which is, until the last Day, also the </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Missio Dei. </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Salvation "calls forth" what </span></span></span></i></span></i></span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Paul-among-Postliberals-Douglas-Harink/dp/158743041X"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Douglas Harink</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> calls a "corresponding right-making (justice) among the peoples of the earth." Therefore, </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Universal salvation requires the active participation in the salvific mission of God by living into the kingdom of God here and now - and inviting others to do so as well.</span></span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Though he is not a universalist, I was struck by Tony Campolo's words in his new book </span></span><i><a href="http://redletterchristians.org/redletterrevolutionbook/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Red Letter Revolution</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> He captures the necessity of missions in light of salvation:</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"... if there wasn't any heaven, and if there wasn't any hell, I would still be, as I am today, committed to evangelizing. Most days, I am out on the road preaching to people and asking them to come forward and accept Christ as their personal savior. I do that not only because it guarantees them a ticket to heaven but also for two other reasons. Number one is that </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">we, who have allied ourselves with Christ and the work of his kingdom, want to recruit others to join us in the task of changing the world into what God wants it to be. Evangelism, as I view it, is recruiting agents for God's work in this world.</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Second, I believe that by calling people to Christs and asking them to participate in his work in the world, I am offering them a calling that will give them ultimate meaning in their lives. ... The question, What is the meaning of my life? is of ultimate importance. My answer is, "You are here in this world because God wants you to partner with him in bringing love and justice into the world." (50-51)</span></span></blockquote>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I don't want to sound like a broken record, so I will quit here. The major point is that salvation cannot be understood as </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">only</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> the postmortem destination of an individual. Salvation is the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of God is at hand! This means that salvation requires the mission of living the kingdom of God and inviting others into the covenant people of God </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">now</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.</span></span><br />
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</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">- jmw</span></span><br />
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jmwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10775720474363733288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720168535355928476.post-24427510346834896672012-11-06T08:47:00.001-05:002012-11-06T08:47:14.892-05:00Damned Nonsense! Post #10: The Orthodox View<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This post is part of the </span><a href="http://videoaudiodisco.blogspot.ca/2012/10/damned-nonsense-introduction.html" style="color: blue; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Damned Nonsense! series,</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> a collection of posts exploring the Christian doctrine of salvation. It is named after a </span><a href="http://www.evangelicaluniversalist.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=2549" style="color: blue; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">dissertation</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> by Ravi Holy entitled "Damned Nonsense: An Argument for Universalism Consisting of a Critique of All the Alternatives to It." While some of the series' content is adapted from Holy's work</span></i></span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, </span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">not all opinions expressed in this series are Holy's</span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. Please check out all the posts in this series!</span></i></span></i></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></span></i></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Let's take a break from all this heavy reading and watch a video. In today's post Orthodox Christian priest, Steve Robinson, explains the difference between the popular Protestant view of salvation and the Orthodox view. Enjoy.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"And now, there is no place where God is not.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is no place to escape the love of God.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is no place that we can hide from God's love for us</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">that flows from His heart like a river of fire." </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"</span><a href="http://ancientfaith.com/podcasts/stevethebuilder"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Steve Robinson</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">is an Orthodox Christian living in Phoenix Arizona and owns his own construction company. Prior to becoming Orthodox, he was an evangelical pastor and church leader. More recently, he established one of the most popular Orthodox podcasts on the planet – </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><b style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://ancientfaith.com/podcasts/ourlife" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;" title="Our Life in Christ"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Our Life in Christ</span></span></a></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">– which he hosts with his friend Bill Gould."</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">- jmw</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Tomorrow's Post: Universalism & Missions</span></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>jmwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10775720474363733288noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720168535355928476.post-79638780931669494112012-11-05T08:29:00.000-05:002012-11-05T08:29:32.186-05:00Damned Nonsense! Post #9: What about Freedom?<i></i><br />
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This post is part of the </span></span></i><a href="http://videoaudiodisco.blogspot.ca/2012/10/damned-nonsense-introduction.html"><span style="color: #0020de;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Damned Nonsense! series,</span></span></i></span></a><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> a collection of posts exploring the Christian doctrine of salvation. It is named after a </span></span></i><a href="http://www.evangelicaluniversalist.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=2549"><span style="color: #0020de;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">dissertation</span></span></i></span></a><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> by Ravi Holy entitled "Damned Nonsense: An Argument for Universalism Consisting of a Critique of All the Alternatives to It." While some of the series' content is adapted from Holy's work, not all opinions expressed in this series are Holy's. Please check out all the posts in this series!</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b>NOTE: The formatting/spacing of this post is all messed up. In short, Blogger sucks. I apologize.</b></span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Freedom. This is the issue that causes me the most amount of confusion and doubt when it comes to Universalism. Not only is freedom essential to love, but also Jesus did not force anyone to follow him, he only invited them. If God </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">is</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> love, then God must respect human freedom. Will everyone ultimately choose God? Will God save people against their will? Or, does salvation ultimately rest in the free choice of the individual? How can Universalism claim that all will be saved when it is clear that not everyone chooses God in this life?</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In today's post I would like to address the topic of freedom with the following thesis: </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"Necessity may not be the opposite of freedom." </span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(C.S. Lewis) This is a bit of a long post, so grab a cup of coffee and sit back for a slow read.</span></span></div>
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Most Christians today believe that salvation comes down to </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">our</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> choice. This is evidenced in the dominance of Arminianism in contemporary Protestant theology. The Anglican theologian </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alister_McGrath"><span style="color: #0020de;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Alister McGrath</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> affirms this perspective in his book </span></span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Justification-Faith-Alister-E-McGrath/dp/0310211417"><span style="color: #0020de;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Justification by Faith</span></span></i></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">:</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"The decision to accept or reject God remains our decision, a decision for which we and we alone are responsible. God gives us every assistance possible to make the decision he wants us to make, but he cannot make that decision for us. God enables us to accept his offer of forgiveness and renewal by removing or disarming every obstacle in its path - obstacles such as spiritual blindness, arrogance, confusion, a compromised freedom of the will, and so forth. But, in the end, God cannot and does not make that decision for us. To affirm human dignity is to affirm our ability to say "No!" to God - an affirmation the New Testament and the Christian tradition have no hesitation in making. Universalism perverts the gospel of the love of God into an obscene scene of theological rape quite unworthy of the God whom we encounter in the face of Jesus Christ." (106)</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">These are strong words and they ring true for a great many Christians today. When we read the gospels it seems that salvation in the kingdom of God is inherently </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">participatory.</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Jesus did not force people to follow him, he only invited them. It seems logical then that salvation requires the individual to make a conscious decision to follow Christ, accept God's love, etc. The fundamental claim that McGrath argues is that God cannot do something </span></span><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">for us, </span></span></i></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">that is, </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">in place of us. </span></span></i></div>
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</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I must admit that I have been sympathetic to this argument for most of my life. It seems clear that human beings play an essential role in their salvation. Conventional wisdom claims that God offers salvation to humankind as a free gift to accept or reject, all we must do is accept it. Ultimately, salvation comes down to </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">our </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">choice. God cannot do anything </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">for us</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">At this point a question is raised: Isn't this </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">exactly</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> what God did, in fact, do? Didn't Jesus die </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">for us - in our place -</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> in order to reconcile all creation to God? If humankind was "like sheep without a shepherd," if Christ died for us "while we were still sinners," if we were "made alive when we were </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">dead</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">," then what Jesus did </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">for us</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> was done precisely </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">because </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">we were unable to </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">do</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">anything</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> to save ourselves.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Arminian view, which emphasizes human freedom, typically argues that God's work in Christ 'makes it possible' for human beings to be saved, but the final step is ultimately up to the individual. In other words, Christ made all people 'savable' but respects our freedom to choose or reject that salvation. </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This is the predominate view of Christian salvation today, but it may, in fact, be problematic.</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Let's explore.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Holy writes, "It seems to me that, in spite of his attempts to be faithful to the Reformed understanding of the pure-gift-nature of salvation and faith, [McGrath] is still giving the </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">casting vote</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> to the human will. He might be saying that salvation is 99.999% God's work with only 0.001% required from us, but... if </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">anything</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> is </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">required</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> from us in order to be saved, if it is possible to be damned because of </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">our</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> failure to </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">do</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> something, then salvation </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">is,</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> ultimately</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">by works." (Holy, 36, italics original)</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">And elsewhere: "Arminian theology seems to make nonsense of Paul's statements about the impossibilty of boasting in Ephesians 2:8-9 and Romans 3:7. If it is our </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">choice</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> that either 'qualifies'(!) us for salvation or condemns us to damnation, as Arminianism suggests, then the correct answer to the question, 'Why is John Doe saved?' is </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">not</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> 'because Jesus died for his sins'. According to Arminianism, Jesus died for </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">everybody's</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> sins. What has made the difference, in the final analysis, is John Doe's own decision. …To say 'Yes, you have to do something to be saved but you are not saved by anything you do' is simply nonsensical." (Holy, 8, italics original)</span></span></div>
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Holy uncovers the flaw of Arminianism and its hidden idol: human sovereignty. Jürgen Moltmann suggests that the popularity of Arminianism "fits the modern age, in which human beings believe that they are the measure of all things, and the centre of the world and that therefore everything depends on their decision." On the contrary, he argues, "all will be made righteous without any merit on their part," (</span></span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Coming-God-Jurgen-Moltmann/dp/0800629582"><span style="color: #0020de;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Moltmann</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> in Holy, 13).</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Does this mean that human beings do not have the genuine freedom to refuse God's love? Does this mean that human beings will be saved </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">against </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">their free will? The answer to both of these questions is "no." Universalism affirms the genuine freedom of all human beings: "Unswerving insistence on the inviolability of freedom must be maintained from beginning to end if all that follows is not to fall away into self-contradiction and futility," (</span></span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-End-God-John-Robinson/dp/B000E3199Y"><span style="color: #0020de;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">John Robinson </span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">in Holy, 37). </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Yet Universalism also contends that all persons will ultimately choose God because the love of God is irresistible.</span></span></b></div>
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">At this point many protest that the irresistibility of God's love denies human freedom. This is precisely the argument of McGrath above: if we are unable to say "No" then we have lost our freedom and the love of God is perverted. Universalism proposes that </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">this debate all depends on how we understand the nature of human freedom.</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> We in the modern West like to believe that freedom is defined by the ability to choose. Put simply, freedom is the fact of having options. Notice, however, that this interpretation of freedom has nothing to do with </span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">truth</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, only </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">choice</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. This definition allows for the illusion of freedom when, in fact, one is not free. (Is this not the status of "freedom" in America today?)</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Accordingly, we Westerners believe that we possess this kind of pure libertarian freedom, a freedom that allows each individual to do whatever s/he pleases. "The individual is sovereign" says modernity. But this is an </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">illusion</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. In reality, none of us choose to come into existence and the existence into which we are born is finite, restricted, and governed by a design outside our own making. Furthermore, if we are born into sin (as most Christians believe) then we are not, in fact, free but rather enslaved, unable to say "Yes" to God. This does not sound like libertarian freedom at all. Ultimately, it is only God who possesses pure libertarian freedom, only God is sovereign.</span></span></div>
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</span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Genuine human freedom, from a Christian perspective, is the freedom to be who we are </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">in Christ</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> According to this view, individuals are only free when they have come to know the </span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">truth</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. Only then are they free to become yoked with Christ in the true reality of God's Trinitarian love. </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Bauckham"><span style="color: #0020de;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Richard Bauckham</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> explains:</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"The way to respect the difference between the unrestricted, sovereign(!) freedom of God and the limited, creaturely freedom that is properly human is to realize that humans become truly free, in an appropriately human way, not by copying God but in relationship to God. …[G]enuine freedom - as opposed to the freedom imagined in hyperindividualism - is not self-constituting and independent of anything outside itself but is constituted and formed in human relationships and in concrete situations. …[H]uman freedom is relational and is situated within the narrative of God's Trinitarian love for the world. It is not an inherent property but an experience of growing into freedom in relationship to God. It is not a matter of mere emancipation from external constraints, like the degenerate freedom of the contemporary West, but a process of formation of the self in relationship. And while this freedom is limited, its limitation is not experienced as an evil one but as the creaturely condition for relationship with the infinite God." (</span></span><a href="http://www.amazon.ca/God-The-Crisis-Of-Freedom/dp/0664224792"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">God and the Crisis of Freedom</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, 204-205)</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The irony of Arminianism is that it emphasizes precisely the kind of freedom that human beings </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">cannot</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> possess, i.e. sovereign, libertarian freedom. In doing this, it builds its soteriology on a delusional foundation (and hubris!). Contrary to this, Bauckham insists that human beings are free only when they have come into right relationship with God. Anything less than this is not freedom at all, but enslavement to a delusion. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times; font-size: small;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Freedom has less to do with the </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">capacity to choose</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> and more to do with what is </span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">true</span></span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. It is this understanding of freedom that informs Universalism.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In fact, isn't this the kind of freedom we find in the letters of Paul? When it comes to freedom, Paul is not a modern American presupposing that everyone is already free and has the freedom to choose. No, Paul insists that everyone is in bondage until they are </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">free in Christ </span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">(see Gal. 4:8-9). Not only are we </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">not</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> free, but our liberation is an act that </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">God does,</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> not us (Gal. 4:9). In Galatians 5:1 we find Paul's profound words: "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free."</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">further understand this view of human freedom, let's take as an example the conversion of C.S. Lewis as found in his autobiographical </span></span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Surprised-Joy-Shape-Early-Life/dp/0156870118"><span style="color: #0020de;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Surprised by Joy</span></span></i></span></a><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">:</span></span></i></div>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"The odd thing was that before God closed in on me, I was in fact offered what now appears a moment of wholly free choice. In a sense. I was going up Headington Hill on the top of a bus. Without words and (I think) almost without images, a fact about myself somehow presented to me. I became aware that I was holding something at bay, or shutting something out. Or, if you like, that I was wearing some stiff clothing, like corsets, or even a suit of armour, as if I were a lobster. I felt myself being, there and then, given a free choice. I could open the door or keep it shut; I could unbuckle the armour or keep it on. Neither choice was presented as a duty; no threat or promise was attached to either, though I knew that to open the door or to take off the corset meant the incalculable. The choice appeared to be momentous but it was also strangely unemotional. I was moved by no desire or fears. In a sense I was not moved by anything. I chose to open, unbuckle, to loosen the rein. I say, 'I chose', yet it did not really seem possible to do the opposite. On the other hand, I was aware of no motives. You could argue that I was not a free agent, but I am more inclined to think that this came nearer to being a perfectly free act than most that I have ever done. </span></span></i><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Necessity may not be the opposite of freedom</span></span></i><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">,</span></span></i><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> and perhaps a man is most free when, instead of producing motives, he could only say, 'I am what I do.' "</span></span></i></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Here Lewis describes his "free choice" as something rather paradoxical. While his choice was certainly conscious ("I became aware"), it was also instinctive and natural ("I was aware of no motives. You could argue that I was not a free agent"). In the final analysis, Lewis discovered something that he could not resist, something so </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">necessary</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> that "it did not really seem possible to do the opposite." Yet he still describes his choice as "nearer to being a perfectly free act" than most he had ever done. Søren Kierkegaard captures this paradox when he wrote the following: </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"Christianity teaches that you should choose the one thing needful, but in such a way that there must be no question of any choice. ... Consequently, the very fact that there is no choice expresses the tremendous passion or intensity with which one chooses. Can there be a more accurate expression for the fact that freedom of choice is only a formal condition of freedom and that emphasizing freedom of choice as such means the sure loss of freedom? The very truth of freedom of choice is that there must be no choice, even though there is a choice." (</span></span><a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Provocations-Spiritual-Writings-Kierkegaard-Soren/dp/1570755132"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Provocations</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, 289)</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Lewis' account is not unique. Stories of Christian conversion often reveal the paradox of making what seems to be an irresistible choice (e.g. the conversion of former atheist and French Communist, </span></span><a href="http://salesianity.blogspot.ca/2010/06/why-i-became-catholic-conversion-of.html"><span style="color: #0020de;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">André Frossard</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">). </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">What Lewis and many others describe in their conversion is the kind of human freedom that allows for Universalism to affirm </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">both</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> the free will of every person </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">and</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> the universal salvation of all.</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> As </span></span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Preparing-Jesus-Meditations-Christmas-Kingdom/dp/0310206448"><span style="color: #0020de;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Walter Wangerin Jr.</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> once wrote, "True obedience was ever an act of freedom!"</span></span></div>
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In the final analysis, salvation </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">is</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> inherently participatory. It requires a kind of </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synergism_(theology)"><span style="color: #0020de;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">synergism</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> between the grace of God and human freedom. But Universalism proposes that this free choice (or "cooperation" or "participation") is ultimately irresistible. As it was for the Paul the Pharisee when confronted by Jesus on the road to Damascus, so too shall it be when human beings are confronted with the profound truth of God in Jesus Christ. Put another way, in the end "every knee shall bow." (Rom. 14:11) </span></span></div>
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<b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">BAGGAGE...</span></span></u></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">As I have mentioned from the start, every view of salvation has its baggage, including Universalism. When it comes to today's topic I think Universalism has lots of baggage. Here are a few ideas that deserve to be explored further.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">1. Universal salvation obviously depends on postmortem conversion. This is not a huge problem</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> per se</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, but many will argue that it is not supported in Scripture. In fact, the Bible seems rather ambiguous about it. More problematic are the details of this postmortem conversion, which leads me to #2.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">2. Universalism, especially as I have argued in this post, seems to rely on the hope of a vague postmortem encounter with God or the "Truth." Universalists rarely describe this encounter (because it is naturally impossible), but rather assume that </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">whatever it entails,</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> people will find it beautiful and irresistible. Is this postmortem encounter with someone/something other than Jesus? Or a different Jesus than the one we find in the gospels? </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The issue for me is that God has been revealed in Jesus of Nazareth and it is this crucified/risen Jesus who is Lord. If we want to see God, we look at Jesus (John 8:12-47, etc.). My question for Universalists who hope in postmortem conversion is, 'Who will be encountered in the End?' It cannot simply be a vague "Love" but rather the </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">One Who is Love and bears the scars of God's Love.</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Will those who reject Jesus now find him irresistible later? This is a good issue to explore, especially since Jesus </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">was rejected by many</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> in real life. This leads to #3.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">3. Universalism assumes that in the End God will be irresistible. So the question is: Who/What are people rejecting today? This is perhaps more of a haunting question for the Church since She has done so much damage in promoting a God that looks nothing like Jesus. (see chapter 10 in Shane Claiborne's </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Irresistible Revolution</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> for a good place to explore this issue) Nevertheless, the question remains and is deeply tied to #2. </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Alright, that is quite enough for today. Let's summarize to conclude this post.</span></span><br />
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<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">It seems that for God to respect human freedom then we must possess that capacity to say "No."</span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Arminianism endorses this modern, libertarian view of freedom. Freedom is defined by the capacity to choose.</span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Universalism endorses a view of freedom quite different from the modern, libertarian view. Freedom is to be who we are </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">in Christ. </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">We are only free when we are in right relationship with God.</span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Because of this view of freedom, Universalists propose that God will ultimately be irresistible because God offers true freedom.</span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In the final analysis, "Necessity may not be the opposite of freedom."</span></span></li>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Problems:</span></span></b></span></i></div>
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<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">All of this depends on postmortem conversion, which is a speculation at best.</span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Postmortem conversion seems to rely on a vague picture of people encountering an "irresistible God." But, God is revealed in the Crucified Messiah. The King of the Cosmos is the non-violent one whose power is perfect in weakness. Will this be "irresistible" to all people?</span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Not everyone finds Christ irresistible now, so why assume that all people will later? </span></span></li>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">May the Church, who is the Body of Christ, actually embody the Jesus who is irresistible. Amen.</span></span></i></div>
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- </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">jmw</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
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</span></i>jmwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10775720474363733288noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720168535355928476.post-2060809252581537602012-11-01T10:08:00.002-04:002012-11-01T10:08:11.525-04:00Damned Nonsense! Post #8: What to do with hell... (Part 2)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This post is part of the </span><a href="http://videoaudiodisco.blogspot.ca/2012/10/damned-nonsense-introduction.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Damned Nonsense! series,</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> a collection of posts exploring the Christian doctrine of salvation. It is named after a </span><a href="http://www.evangelicaluniversalist.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=2549"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">dissertation</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> by Ravi Holy entitled "Damned Nonsense: An Argument for Universalism Consisting of a Critique of All the Alternatives to It." While some of the series' content is adapted from Holy's work</span></i></span></i><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, </span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">not all opinions expressed in this series are Holy's</span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. Please check out all the posts in this series!</span></i></span></i></div>
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i></i></span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In </span><a href="http://videoaudiodisco.blogspot.ca/2012/10/damned-nonsense-post-7-what-to-do-with.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">yesterday's post </span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I explained that Jesus' teaching about hell (Gehenna) was not about an afterlife destination but rather a present, this-world reality. Specifically, Jesus warned Israel that her current praxis would turn the whole city of Jerusalem into a burning pile of rubble where men, women, and children would weep and gnash their teeth. Does this mean that there is no hell beyond this life? Does this mean that there is no afterlife? Does this mean that there is no final judgment or ultimate justice? It is to these questions that I would like to turn in today's post.</span></div>
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</span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Universalism does not necessarily jettison the belief in a postmortem hell. It does, however, jettison an </span></span></b><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">everlasting</span></span></b></i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> hell that is torturous </span></span></b><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">beyond punitive purposes</span></span></b></i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Universalism emphasizes ultimate justice and thereby makes room for a kind of hell. One of the reasons that we have long held on to the concept of hell is because human beings have an innate orientation toward </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">justice</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. Socrates argued that "if death were a release from everything, it would be a boon for the wicked, because by dying they would be released not only from the body but also from their own wickedness together with the soul," (</span></span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Word-after-That/dp/0787975923"><span style="color: #002dcf;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">McLaren</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, 79). In the tradition of Socrates, humankind has long affirmed the necessity for ultimate justice, heaven/hell, reward/punishment.</span></span></div>
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</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">However, Universalism contends that the Gospel of Jesus Christ reveals </span></span><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">God's</span></span></i></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> justice, not humanity's, and that justice is expressed in the salvation of all. The Gospel reveals God's desire that all be saved and God's willingness to die in place of humanity so that his may be accomplished. Thus, while a kind of postmortem hell may indeed exist for those who have refused God in this life, it is certainly not the traditional view of hell offered in Calvinism or Arminianism.</span></span></div>
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</span></span><span style="font: 16.0px Lucida Grande;"><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hell as Purification</span></span></u></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font: 16.0px Lucida Grande;"></span>Universalism offers an alternative vision of postmortem hell as a kind of purification or penal education so that persons are made capable of entering the kingdom of God. Universalists find biblical grounds for arguing that God's judgment is itself salvific (Isa. 48:9-11; Jer. 9:25; 30:11-17; 31:10-37; Ezek. 16; Hos. 6:1; 11:-13; Rom. 14:10-12). As K.F. Keil writes, "Judgments of the Old Testament must not be viewed as eternal punishments; they leave the possibility for future salvation."</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is one particularly paradigmatic passage in the New Testament that deserves quoting here. In his first letter to the church in Corinth, Paul writes:</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the fire. (1 Cor. 3: 10-15)</span></span></blockquote>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Paul makes clear that not building upon the foundation of Jesus is a grave mistake: those who do not do so will suffer loss. </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But Paul also makes room for salvation after this suffering.</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> It is not eternal damnation for the sake of 'justice'; it is God's punitive cleansing for our benefit. Let the reader be sharp about what this means: it does not mean that hell is without pain, suffering and, in Paul's words, "loss" (which, in the Greek, denotes injury and damage). Hell is indeed a terrible thought. It brings to mind the tragedy suffered by the servant in the </span></span><a href="http://videoaudiodisco.blogspot.ca/2011/10/burs-in-hell.html"><span style="color: #0020de;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">vision of Julian of Norwhich</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. Building one's life on gods other than Jesus Christ brings real suffering and loss.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">However, this suffering - this "hell" - does not have the final word in much of the Bible. Judgment in the Old Testament, including God's "eternal fire" is not the final word but rather a means to reconciliation with God (e.g. compare Jer. 17:4 to Jer. 31). Many of the Old Testament passages that speak of God's wrath/judgment contain nothing of the "unending punishment" that is endorsed by traditional views today. In many places we have read the modern meaning of "eternal" back into the text. The Hebrew word, </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">olam</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, which is often translated "forever" and "everlasting" did not carry the same meaning in the Hebrew worldview. The word possessed connotations of intensity, not time. It was used <i>qualitatively</i>, not quantitatively.</span></span><br />
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In addition to the passage in 1 Corinthians 3, there are interesting wordplays in the book of Revelation that might indicate God's punishment as a purification. Though these text-critical studies are beyond the scope of this post, I will note two here. In various visions (14:10, 19:20, 20:10, 21:8) John sees the wicked being thrown into the lake of fire and </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">brimstone</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> to be </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">tormented</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. The word for "brimstone" in Greek is </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">theion</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, which closely resembles the word for God, </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">theos. </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Because of this the word </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">theion</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> often meant "divine fire" or "fire from heaven." This wordplay between God and stone also occurs in the gospels as it applies to Jesus: the Hebrew for "stone" (</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">eben</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">) is applied to the "son" (</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">ben</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">) in the parable of the vineyard (Mark 12:10-11). In addition to these figurative meanings, the literal usage of </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">theion</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> was for burning a divine incense that had the power to purify and ward off disease (see lexicon image below). </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs6mSC2OaiLAZeXIRseJg5PHSO9Xz0zpNSVEf3-CI899H_QeVbcrKnh_-LboN5ZG1R6iBrMaNkOCnK3zGVngYLmLDnmoGKmcl5cKFBJ3dah-I8B_eIR6FaxBJQH9o0ngPGCl4uXEdlDg/s1600/Theion+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="106" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs6mSC2OaiLAZeXIRseJg5PHSO9Xz0zpNSVEf3-CI899H_QeVbcrKnh_-LboN5ZG1R6iBrMaNkOCnK3zGVngYLmLDnmoGKmcl5cKFBJ3dah-I8B_eIR6FaxBJQH9o0ngPGCl4uXEdlDg/s640/Theion+copy.jpg" width="640" /></span></span></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The word translated for "torment" is </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">basanidzo. </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As the lexicon image shows, this word's primary meaning had to do with testing precious metals by use of a touchstone so that the metals could be purified. This does not rule out additional meanings, but it is interesting to consider what meaning it has in conjunction with </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">theion</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. To give you an alternate reading allow me to paraphrase 14:10b as follows: "They will be tested and purified by a divine fire while in the presence of the Lamb."</span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlE3J9skMdZFXnrPCPyf6hw5C-d1L8Y4H7UcsIUvvZaX2BPmlD9hYZ5vkhN9e_ky_750jmqvJrV1pdj4gjRnmdQ6EGvMVEo5RAtQu_bqjShaRKR1FvEL-JA2HQzQYdISFVEnh0H6f6GA/s1600/basanidzo+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="158" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlE3J9skMdZFXnrPCPyf6hw5C-d1L8Y4H7UcsIUvvZaX2BPmlD9hYZ5vkhN9e_ky_750jmqvJrV1pdj4gjRnmdQ6EGvMVEo5RAtQu_bqjShaRKR1FvEL-JA2HQzQYdISFVEnh0H6f6GA/s640/basanidzo+copy.jpg" width="640" /></span></span></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By no means do these two words provide conclusive evidence that the lake of fire and brimstone is God's means for purifying sinners. It is nevertheless fascinating to explore. After all, God is referred to as a "</span></span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=heb.%2012:29&version=NIV"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">consuming fire</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">" on </span></span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=deut.%204:24&version=NIV"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">more than one</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> occasion. Could </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jesus</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> be the </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">divine fire</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> or the <i>touchs</i></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">tone</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> that purifies? The author of Revelation describes him as having eyes like fire. And isn't it interesting that the lake of fire and brimstone in 14:10 is in the </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">presence of the Lamb</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">? Perhaps it is not all that far-fetched to imagine that the unsaved will, in fact, be saved - "even though only as one escaping through fire," (1 Cor. 3:15).</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Many who espouse the traditional view find the Universalist version of postmortem hell dissatisfying (which is a bit scary if you think about it). Like Socrates, the traditionalists see ultimate universal salvation as an unfair gift to those who live their earthly lives in disobedience to God (<a href="http://videoaudiodisco.blogspot.ca/2012/10/damned-nonsense-post-5-original-ungrace.html">see post #5</a>). In response to this argument we might consider McLaren's words:</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"What could be more serious than standing in front of your Creator - the Creator of the universe - and finding out that you had wasted your life, squandered your inheritance, caused others pain and sorrow, worked against the good plans and desires of God? What could be more serious than that? To have to face the real, eternal, unavoidable, absolute, naked truth about yourself, what you've done, what you've become?" (Last Word, 110)</span></span></blockquote>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Perhaps there is no greater punishment than an unavoidable encounter with the Truth. And perhaps it is this very Truth that shall set us free.</span></span></div>
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At this point I want to insert a very important caveat to what has been said about hell as purification. There is a tendency among Christians to hold discussions about hell as if we were only talking about "them" and not "us." I want to include myself in the category of those who will be judged and purified by God. Although I have been baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus, I am not outside the judgment of the Lord. In fact, it is precisely the judgment of Jesus, the merciful one, that I am under. If this entails a kind of hell as purification, I know that I certainly need it in order to participate fully in the Trinitarian love of God.</span></span><br />
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</span><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Second Death?</span></span></u></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The "</span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_death"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">second death"</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> is another concept used to oppose universal salvation, particularly in the form of annihilationism. There really isn't room enough to discuss it here, but I do want to offer an alternative interpretation simply for the sake of exploration. Remember, this series is not to "prove" universalism, but to allow the reader to explore it.</span></span><br />
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</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In </span></span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation%2020:14&version=NIV"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Rev. 20:14</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> John sees a vision in which "death and Hades [are] thrown in to the lake of fire," as well as those "whose name was not found written in the book of life." This "second death" has traditionally been understood as the final annihilation of the damned. However, a universalist interpretation argues that the text itself explains the nature of the second death. In 20:14 we read, "Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death." Then, in 21:8, we read again that the wicked will be thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone and "THIS is the second death." What, then, is the second death? Being thrown into the lake of fire. What is the lake of fire? We already discussed this above, it is the divine fire of purification. </span></span><br />
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</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Why this "second death" is necessary is because not all have died with Christ (as in baptism, see Romans 6:6). Thus explains </span></span><a href="http://www.tentmaker.org/books/Restitution%20of%20All%20Things/restofall2.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Andrew Jukes:</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The "second death" (Rev. xx. 14.) therefore, so far from being, as some think, the hopeless shutting up of man for ever in the curse of disobedience, will, if I err not, be God's way to free those who in no other way than by such a death can be delivered out of the dark world, whose life they live in. The saints have died with Christ, not only "to the elements of this world," (Col. ii. 20.) but also "to sin," (Rom. vi. 10.) that is, the dark spirit-world. By the first they are freed from the bondage of sense; by the second, from the bondage of sin, in all its forms of wrath, pride, envy, and selfishness.</span></span></blockquote>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The ungodly have not so died to sin. At the death of the body therefore, and still more when they are raised to judgment, because their spirit yet lives, they are still within the limits of that dark and fiery world, the life of which has been and is the life of their spirit. To get out of this world there is but one way, death; not the first, for that has passed, but the second death. </span></span></blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Furthermore, not only is the second death the fire of purification, the second death is <b>the death of </b></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>death itself!</b> </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As Paul writes in 1 Cor. 15:26, "The last enemy to be defeated is death."</span></span><br />
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</span></span><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Do We Need Hell for Justice's Sake?</span></span></u></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As you may have guessed, not all agree with the view of hell as purification. In a rather simplistic analogy, </span></span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vggzqXzEvZ0"><span style="color: #0020de;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">N.T. Wright suggests</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> that life is more than a "game of chess" in which we are free to play however we like and afterward God will put all the pieces back in order. Universalism, he argues, trivializes the consequences of choices in this life. But what is Wright really saying here? Is he saying that God's universal forgiveness toward those who have wasted their earthly life trivializes the consequences of their choices or somehow minimizes "divine justice"? Once again I think we are witnessing traces of 'original ungrace.'</span></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">First of all, human begins are not pieces on a chess board! Wright's illustration fails to take seriously that human beings are </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">living</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> and </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">becoming <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">beings</span></span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, not static pieces of marble. Secondly, the illustration fails to comprehend the nature of forgiveness. Forgiveness is never a return to a prior state, as if wiping a chalkboard clean or putting chess pieces back into place. Forgiveness is, in fact, a moving forward into a deeper understanding of relationship. </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That which has been forgiven </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">continues to have meaning in the context of relationship</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">This point merits an illustration.</span></span></span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I recently got into a fight with a good friend. I said things that I should not have said and I hurt her feelings. Our relationship was fractured. Fortunately, we were able to reconcile after I apologized and asked for forgiveness. Now, did my friend's forgiveness trivialize the consequences of my actions? Absolutely not! The forgiveness that I received </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">transformed</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> my sinful behavior and gave it meaning for our relationship and it will continue to "live" in our relationship forever. It was precisely </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">because </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">of forgiveness that I could re-appropriate my sinful behavior into an understanding of how to exist in loving relationship. Is this not what </span></span><span style="color: #0020de;"><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%207:36-50&version=NIV"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jesus taught Simon the Pharisee</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">?</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Those who have a larger debt to be forgiven are all the more able to understand the nature of forgiveness.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thirdly, Wright oversimplifies the idea of consequences. Unlike the simple, one-to-one chain of consequences in, say, chess, the consequences we suffer in real life are complicated. Although no one is innocent, we all suffer from undeserved and unforeseen consequences as well. This is why many today argue that </span></span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Wounded-Heart-God-Christian/dp/0687385369"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">all sin stems from woundedness.</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> For example, a person who commits a crime in adulthood may be acting out of the wounds from a traumatic childhood event. Much Christian psychology has helped shed light on the woundedness behind the cyclical nature of sin.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Along with the oversimplification of consequences, Wright's argument assumes that those who disobey God in this life do not suffer consequences </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">in the present</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. The Bible consistently teaches that those who disobey God suffer real consequences in the present; this is precisely what Jesus' warnings were about (see post #7). It is difficult to see how those who do not follow Jesus do not reap here and now the consequences of their actions. Is Wright saying that these consequences are not enough? Perhaps. </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But then again, the Universalist version of hell as punitive "cleansing" seems to speak to this dilemma.</span></span></b><br />
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<b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Summary</span></span></u></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This topic is unbelievably complex and much more could be said. If you want to research more on this topic, I highly recommend David Powys' book </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hell: A Hard Look at a Hard Question</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. At this point, let us summarize what I have put forth in today's post:</span></span><br />
<ol>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Universalism does not necessarily jettison the concept of hell.</span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hell, according to universalism, is a transitional phase for the lost to be purified for life in the Trinitarian Love of God</span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is biblical support for the idea that the unsaved shall be saved through fire.</span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The second death is literally the death of </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">death.</span></span></i></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Universalism does not trivialize consequences.</span></span></li>
</ol>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In conclusion, I'd like to offer two concise statements to recapitulate what has been put forth in this two-part post on hell.</span></span><br />
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</span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Whatever you mean when you use the word "hell," know this:</span></span></b><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. The God of the Bible detests hell. </span></span></b></blockquote>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. The God of the Bible will bring an end to hell.</span></span></b></blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Amen.</span></span><br />
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</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">-JMW</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next post will be Monday and will concern the dilemma of freedom.</span></span><br />
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jmwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10775720474363733288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720168535355928476.post-7833840580013266592012-10-31T09:36:00.001-04:002012-10-31T09:36:08.783-04:00Damned Nonsense! Post #7: What to do with hell... (Part 1).<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhffQ32BAMV2uLSaHcmJaWBuw_t-KLJYpaehXmvEz-LlBDQ_pbydnU_RHjm6IHBi5DecTIy1ZrPHk97w0_QCXDr11kXSoqjuVgJnTrEm0EqRi4G7on8ReDvlcDCbzd8zTA_4tE-7FD3mg/s1600/Hell+part+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhffQ32BAMV2uLSaHcmJaWBuw_t-KLJYpaehXmvEz-LlBDQ_pbydnU_RHjm6IHBi5DecTIy1ZrPHk97w0_QCXDr11kXSoqjuVgJnTrEm0EqRi4G7on8ReDvlcDCbzd8zTA_4tE-7FD3mg/s400/Hell+part+1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This post is part of the <a href="http://videoaudiodisco.blogspot.ca/2012/10/damned-nonsense-introduction.html">Damned Nonsense! series,</a> a collection of posts exploring the Christian doctrine of salvation. It is named after a </span><a href="http://www.evangelicaluniversalist.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=2549"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">dissertation</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> by Ravi Holy entitled "Damned Nonsense: An Argument for Universalism Consisting of a Critique of All the Alternatives to It." While some of the series' content is adapted from Holy's work</span></i></span></i><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, </span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">not all opinions expressed in this series are Holy's</span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. Please check out all the posts in this series!</span></i></span></i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
There is a fascinating passage in Jeremiah chapter 7 in which Jeremiah speaks on behalf of the God of Israel and says this:</span><br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"The people of Judah have done what I said was evil, says the Lord. They have set up their hateful idols in the place where I have chosen to be worshiped and have made it unclean. The people of Judah have built places of worship at Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom. There they burned their own sons and daughters as sacrifices, something I never commanded. It never even entered my mind." (Jeremiah 7:30-31)</span></blockquote>
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gehenna"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Valley of Hinnom was a specific location outside of Jerusalem that evolved into what the New Testament authors called "Gehenna" in Greek and what our contemporary bibles call "hell."</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> (This is also the roots of Islam's concept of hell called "</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jahannam"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jahannam</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">") As one can see from the Jeremiah text, the Valley of Hinnom was a horrific scene where pagan idol worship led to human sacrifice. Isaiah also alluded to this scene when he wrote of a "burning place" (30:33) where "the fire is not quenched and the worm does not die," (66:24). This real, historical scene provides the background to our contemporary notion of hell. The similarities are obvious: fire, suffering, death, etc. Over hundreds of years it evolved from a particular location associated with a particular cult into a concept associated with the fate of the wicked. This is the same location/concept (Gehenna) that Jesus spoke no less than 11 times according to the Gospels.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />It is for this reason that I find the passage in Jeremiah 7:31 so fascinating. Maybe you didn't catch it in your reading, but Jeremiah, who is speaking on behalf of God, describes this hellish scene of fire and human suffering as "</span>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">something I never commanded. It never even entered my mind</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">." Hold the phone. Is God saying that the mere thought of humans being consumed in fire is abhorrent? Jeremiah mentions the Valley of Hinnom a second time:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"And they built the high places of Ba'al, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin." (32:35)</span></blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I won't belabor the point. </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">These passages in Jeremiah are extremely interesting because they portray God as totally repulsed by the Valley of Hinnom. </span></b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><u>How, we may ask, can the God who abhors the Valley of Hinnom be the same God that sends people to a place of fire and torment?</u></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> How can the God who abhors the Valley of Hinnom become incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth and speak of hell? The traditional view answers with the disturbing picture of God as both compassionate and wrathful, loving and "just," abhorring death and also dealing eternal death. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />Universalism, on the other hand, offers a consistent picture of the God who abhors the Valley of Hinnom, Gehenna, and </span>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">all hells. </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Let us, therefore, take a closer look at what to do with the concept of hell as found in the Bible.</span><br />
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<b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Hell Prior to the New Testament</span></span></u></b><br />
<b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></u></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
The word "hell" never appears in the Old Testament. Aside from the Valley of Hinnom, the only thing we find is the concept of </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheol"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sheol</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, an "underworld" or "place of the dead" that is neither positive nor negative; it is simply the place of </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">all</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> the dead. Old Testament Judaism really had no concept of hell. It was during the Exile (500's BCE) that Judaism began to adopt myths of the afterlife from surrounding cultures. Brian McLaren writes, "The Jews have a lot of contact with these people of other cultures and religions during the Exile in Babylon and during the continuing occupation by the Persians, Greeks, and Romans, so it's natural that there would be some amount of syncretism or mixture between the very this-worldly Judaism of the pre-Exilic period and these other-worldly, speculative elements, especially with the Persian religion of </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zoroaster"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Zoroaster</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">," (</span><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Last-Word-after-That/dp/0787975923"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Last Word and the Word After That</span></a></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, 81).</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />Other-worldly speculations became popular during the Exile as Jews attempted to make theological sense of their experience. The Jews saw themselves as God's chosen people. Their entire story was based upon the covenant that God had made with Israel. Therefore, when the exiles and foreign occupations occurred they were forced to speculate as to how their current oppression would be resolved. The answer that many adopted was that the faithful would be vindicated in the afterlife, while their oppressors would have 'hell' to pay in the afterlife. It was also during the Second Temple period that many Jewish freedom fighters revolted against foreign occupiers (e.g. the </span>
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maccabees"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Maccabean Revolt)</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. Belief in postmortem justice was an essential element to such revolutionary violence. For more on this see N.T. Wright's </span><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Testament-People-Christian-Origins-Question/dp/0800626818"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The New Testament and the People of God</span></a></i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Testament-People-Christian-Origins-Question/dp/0800626818"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(especially 216ff).</span><br />
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<u><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The major point here is that the</span></b></u><u><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> concept of hell is nowhere to be found in the Old Testament. It is obviously some</span></b></u><u><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">thing that developed sometime between the Exile and the New Testament.</span></b></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Indeed, David Powys writes, "Gehenna’ is nowhere found in the Hebrew Bible but may
be found in the Pseudopigrapha, Palestinian Targums, and New Testament," (</span><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Hell-Unrighteous-Paternoster-Theological-Monographs/dp/085364831X"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hell: A Hard Look at a Hard Question,</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">177). James A. Brooks confirms that it was "</span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">During intertestamental times </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gehenna</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> (Greek), or
the </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Valley of Hinnom</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> (Hebrew)] became the garbage and sewage dump of
Jerusalem and a symbol of the place of punishment (1 Enoch 27:3; 4 Ezra 7:36)
because worms and fires were always consuming the refuse," (Mark: The New American Commentary). If you want a detailed development of hell in the intertestamental period then see David Powys' book. </span><br />
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<b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Hell in the New Testament</span></span></u></b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1w0Dc5h1FV40RyFwCndsAOkgbi70HVbBfOK9IdQ2YeEn80n-ij-RXMsMuSN20cOuzHcSMCZ8o5vOjnuVpPlY5NRHBgBYi98CAJ3wSx2ACOu1WeL1QzTD2WV23MEYQWvUe99sv39nhlw/s1600/Hell+Evolution+in+Biblical+Texts.tiff" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1w0Dc5h1FV40RyFwCndsAOkgbi70HVbBfOK9IdQ2YeEn80n-ij-RXMsMuSN20cOuzHcSMCZ8o5vOjnuVpPlY5NRHBgBYi98CAJ3wSx2ACOu1WeL1QzTD2WV23MEYQWvUe99sv39nhlw/s640/Hell+Evolution+in+Biblical+Texts.tiff" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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The above chart reveals the various words translated as "hell" (thank you, Wikipedia). As you can plainly see, the Jewish concepts of </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sheol</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> and </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Valley of Hinnom </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ge Hinom)</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">evolved</span></i></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">notably in step with Hellenistic thought.</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> The classical Greek term "Hades" occurs 10 times and is used to convey both a general realm of the dead (Rev. 1:18, 20:13-14) and that of a negative fate (Matt. 11:23). Also Greek, the term "Tartaro" (from "Tartarus") is used once in </span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Peter+2&version=NIV"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2 Peter 2:4</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> to refer to God sending angels to a place of punishment. More than any others, however, the word "Gehenna" appears in the New Testament 11 times, namely on the lips of Jesus. Thus it is upon this word and Jesus himself that I wish to focus. Let the reader not forget what we have learned about the history of "Gehenna" above.</span><br />
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</span><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Jesus and Hell</span></span></u></b><br />
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Reformed pastor </span><a href="http://timothykeller.com/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Timothy Keller </span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">denounces Universalism after </span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2qeJMUnkik"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">saying</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, "Jesus talks more about hell and punishment than all the rest of the authors and speakers in the Bible put together." Yes, Jesus talked about hell a lot. </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">mere quantity of usage is not an argument.</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Words have to be interpreted in their context to understand their </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">meaning</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I'm sure there are plenty of old books that use the word "gay"a lot. Should the quantity of that one word lead us to believe that the authors intended what we now mean by the word "gay?" Obviously not.</span><br />
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</span><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We must </span></i></b><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">interpret</span></b></i><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Jesus' speaking about hell and punishment in the context of his prophetic ministry in first-century Judea at a climactic moment in the story of Israel.</span></i></b><br />
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First of all, </span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jesus was a prophet.</span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> "Prophets in the Jewish tradition characteristically announced the judgment of the covenant god upon his rebellious people, and (sometimes) announced also the inauguration of a new movement, a time when Israel's god would again act graciously for his people. Part of Jesus' prophetic persona was that he did both." (N.T Wright, </span><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Victory-Christian-Origins-Question/dp/0800626826"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jesus and the Victory of God</span></a></i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Jesus-Victory-Christian-Origins-Question/dp/0800626826"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">,</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> 182-3). "Jesus' message, so far from omitting or toning down the warning of judgment, seems from a wide variety of texts to have emphasized it continually. We might have guessed as much from the traditions which report on his public image: he was likened not only to John the Baptist but to Elijah and Jeremiah... </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Once we see Jesus in this light, a great many sayings come together and make sense."</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> (Wright, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">JVG</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, 326-7)</span><br />
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So how exactly ought we interpret Jesus' warnings and talk about hell? Wright continues: "We may regard these warnings as threatening the </span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">end of the present nation of Israel</span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, if they do not repent. In the sad, noble and utterly Jewish tradition of Elijah, Jeremiah and John the Baptist, Jesus announced the coming judgment of Israel's covenant god on his people, a </span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">judgment consisting of a great national, social and cultural disaster</span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, ultimately comprehensible only in theological terms." (Wright, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">JVG</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, 184-5) Let us examine some examples.</span><br />
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In all three Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) Jesus pronounces judgment upon various Galilean towns because they do not heed his message of the coming judgment and the kingdom of God. In Matt. 10:14-15 he says to his disciples:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">'If anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it shall be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than that town.'</span></blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Wright explains, "Once again, this was </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">not</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> a prediction of a non-spatio-temporal 'last judgment'. It was a straightforward warning of what would happen if this or that Galilean village refused his way of peace which Jesus had come to bring. This was amplified in the words of woe uttered over Chorazin, Bethsaida, and even Jesus' own adopted home town of Capernaum. Judgment would fall upon them which would make the judgment of Tyre, Sidon, and Sodom seem mild by comparison. The horrifying thing was that Jesus was using, as models for the coming judgment on villages within Israel, images of judgment taken straight from the Old Testament..." (</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">JVG</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, 329)</span><br />
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"The catalogue of judgment upon the scribes and Pharisees, as it appears in the material common to Matthew and Luke, concludes with a further warning that is specific to 'this generation':</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">'Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gehenna?</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Therefore, I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, that upon you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly, I say to you, all this will come upon this generation.' (Matt. 23:32-36)</span></blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Faced with this prospect, it would be better to abandon that which was most cherished rather than go straight ahead into the conflagration:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">'If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go to </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gehenna</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, to unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gehenna</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gehenna, </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched. For every one will be salted with fire.' (Mark 9:43-49)</span></blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The judgment was coming upon 'this generation', now caught in the act of rejecting the final messenger who had been sent to call it back to obedience." (Wright, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">JVG</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, 330)</span><br />
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"</span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%2013&version=NIV"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Luke 13</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> opens with a double solemn warning. Unless Israel repents of her headlong rush into destruction, she will suffer the same fate as those whom Pilate killed, or who were crushed by the tower of Siloam: in other words, Roman swords and falling masonry will be their fate if they persist in going the way of idolatrous nationalism (13:1-5)." (</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">JVG</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, 331) <u>As one begins to understand the socio-historical context of Jesus' ministry, as well as the story of Israel, it becomes increasingly clear that his teaching about </u></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><u>Gehenna</u></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><u> is nothing less than a prophetic warning of </u></span><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><u>present tense, this-worldly</u></span></b></i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><u> </u></span></b><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><u>destruction.</u></span></b></i><br />
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One classic passage that is often cited as proof of Jesus' teaching the traditional view of hell is the story of the rich man and Lazarus in </span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+16%3A19-31&version=NIV"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Luke 16:19-31</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. Again Wright is helpful:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"The parable is not, as often supposed, a description of the afterlife, warning people to be sure of their ultimate destination. If that were its point, it would not be a parable: a story about someone getting lost in London would not be a </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">parable</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> if addressed to people attempting to find their way through that city without a map. We have perhaps been misled, not for the first time, by the too-ready assumption, in the teeth of evidence, that Jesus 'must really' have been primarily concerned to teach people 'how to get to heaven after death'. The reality is uncomfortably different. </span></blockquote>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The welcome of Lazarus by Abraham evokes the welcome of the prodigal by the father [Luke 15:11-33], and with much the same point. The heavenly reality, in which the poor and outcast would be welcomed into Abraham's bosom (as everyone would know from [a well known] folk-tale), </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">was coming true in flesh and blood as Jesus welcomed the outcasts, just as the father's welcome to the returning son was a story about what Jesus was actually doing then and there. ... The point of this, when the story is seen as a traditional tale with a new ending, was not so much what would happen to both in the end... but rather what was happening to both rich and poor </span></b><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">in the present time</span></b></i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> (255) </span></blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Another popular passage in which Jesus speaks of hell is </span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2012:4-7&version=NIV"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Luke 12:4-7</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">:</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">'I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has the power to cast into </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Gehenna;</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> yes, I tell you, fear him! Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.'</span></blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> "Some have seen 'the one who can cast into Gehenna' as YHWH [God]; </span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">but this is unrealistic.</span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Jesus did not, to be sure, perceive Israel's god as a kindly liberal grandfather who would never hurt a fly, let a lone send anyone to Gehenna. But again and again - not least in the very next verse of this paragraph - Israel's god is portrayed as the creator and sustainer, one who can be lovingly trusted in all circumstance, not the one who waits with a large stick to beat anyone who steps out of line. Rather, here we have a redefinition of the battle in terms of the identification of the real enemy. The one who can kill the body is the imagined enemy, Rome. Who then is the real enemy? Surely not Israel's own god. The real enemy is the accuser, the satan." (Wright, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">JVG</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, 454-5)</span><br />
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What we see over and over again in Jesus' career as an itinerant prophet is that he announced imminent judgment upon Israel if they did not turn from their self-righteous, violent, nationalistic ways and follow Jesus' way of peace: "Those who take the sword will perish by the sword," (Matt. 26:52). This is evidenced again in the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivet_Discourse"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Olivet Discourse</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> as Jesus predicts the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple.</span><br />
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At the end of Jesus' life we find a final, cogent warning as Jesus </span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%2023:26-31&version=NIV"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">warns the women</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> who weep for him that they should instead weep for themselves. "There will come a time when they will utter a terrible 'beatitude': Blessed are the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never gave suck!' The great blessing of children will be turned into shame; for if they (the Romans) do this when the wood is green, when the condemned one is innocent of violent revolt, what will happen when the wood is dry, when the children at present playing in the streets grow up into a revolutionary force that will pit itself directly against Rome? </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jesus, knowing that Israel has now finally rejected the one road of peace, knows also that within the next generation she will find herself embroiled in a war that she cannot but lose, and lose horribly.</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">" (Wright, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">JVG</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, 332)</span><br />
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And lose horribly she did. About 30 years later, <u><i>in the same generation</i></u>, the Jews </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Jewish%E2%80%93Roman_War"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">revolted against the Romans</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> in 66 C.E., which led to the ultimate </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Destruction_of_Jerusalem#Destruction_of_Jerusalem"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">destruction of Jerusalem </span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">in 70 C.E. "The entire city was plundered and burned in A.D. 70 and it must have seemed that not one stone remained upon another (see Luke 19:43-44). Christians in the city are reported to have escaped to Pella. </span><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tens of thousands of Jews perished and were thrown outside the wall into the Valley of Hinnom.</span></u></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">" (</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Biblical World</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">: </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A Dictionary of Biblical Archeology</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, ed. Charles F. Pfeiffer, 323)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Let that sink in. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
Though I have not examined each of the </span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/keyword/?search=hell&version1=31&searchtype=all&bookset=4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">11 occurrences</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> of "Gehenna" on Jesus' lips, the above study clearly demonstrates that </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jesus' talk about hell was </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">not</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> about the afterlife but rather about a </span></b><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">present tense, this-worldly devastation.</span></b></i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jesus was warning that if Israel did not repent and "enter the kingdom of God," that is, Jesus' way of living, then there would come a time when the whole city of Jerusalem would be indistinguishable from the smoldering trash dump outside the city. </span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Every single occurrence of "Gehenna" in the Synoptic Gospels should be interpreted in this manner.</span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To read our contemporary [Greek mythological] understanding of hell back into Jesus' words is to miss his point entirely and prolong the harm caused by this absurd [mis]interpretation that is behind the traditional view of hell.</span></u><br />
<u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In Jesus of Nazareth we find the incarnation of the God who abhors the Valley of Hinnom. In Jesus we find the prophet of God who warns us to turn from our wicked ways so that we might not turn our world into Gehenna. In the final analysis, Gehenna is no mere metaphor for a place in the afterlife, it is a literal, present tense place of evil where humankind has turned from the will of God. </span></blockquote>
<u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I cannot think of anything more EVIL than to twist the meaning of hell as Jesus used it into an other-worldly concept or metaphor that turns our eyes from the current hells in this world happening all around us. This is the ultimate evil of the traditional view of hell. And it is this distorted understanding of hell that prevents us from seeing the Gehennas of our world.</span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With the God who abhors Gehenna, may we weep for ourselves and the hell we have caused for refusing the Way of Jesus and His Kingdom.</span></i><br />
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<br />jmwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10775720474363733288noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720168535355928476.post-19975858317588163812012-10-30T10:49:00.000-04:002012-10-30T10:49:35.294-04:00Damned Nonsense! Post #6: How about Universalism?<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This post is part of the <a href="http://videoaudiodisco.blogspot.ca/2012/10/damned-nonsense-introduction.html">Damned Nonsense! series,</a> a collection of posts exploring the Christian doctrine of salvation. It is named after a </span><a href="http://www.evangelicaluniversalist.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=2549"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">dissertation</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> by Ravi Holy entitled "Damned Nonsense: An Argument for Universalism Consisting of a Critique of All the Alternatives to It." While some of the series' content is adapted from Holy's work</span></i></span></i><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, </span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">not all opinions expressed in this series are Holy's</span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. Please check out all the posts in this series!</span></i></span></i><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />In today's post I'd like to put forth the basic support for Universalism. Admittedly, this post may seem a bit underwhelming for some readers. I say this for a few reasons. First, I have already presented a lot of support </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">for</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Universalism in the form of arguments </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">against</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Calvinsism, Arminianism, Annihilationism, Lewisim, and Original Sin (see posts 1-5). Second, I will not deal with hell in today's post. That will be in post #'s 7 and 8. Third, the reader may be looking for something that does not exist, that is, a flawless argument for Universalism. I have noticed that many skeptics of Universalism expect its proponents to offer some kind of clear-cut answer to 'prove' that it is undeniably true. This is unfortunate and I can tell you that you will not find 'proof' in this blog series. The point is not for universalism to "win the day," but to <i>lose its false caricature as heresy</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Whether or not you discover enough material to consider Universalism as a hopeful alternative to the traditional views is up to you and God. At the end of the day, I simply wish to put forward some good thoughts on this topic and allow you the reader to explore. So let's get to it.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />I concluded yesterday's post on 'Original Ungrace" with this: </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If grace is grace, and if there is nothing we can do to make God love us more or less, than how is it that some end up in heaven and others in hell? It would seem that there are only two options. Option 1: Those who end up in hell are not wanted by God (Calvinism). Option 2: Those who end up in hell did not do their part to receive their "free grace" (Arminianism). Or maybe there is an option 3? </span></blockquote>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Option 3 is, of course, Universalism. More specifically, option 3 is the belief that nobody remains in hell forever because the God who desires all to be saved has given </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">pure grace</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> to all through Christ and will therefore save all. </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thus, the major point that I want to put forward in today's post is that Universalism hinges upon two biblical/orthodox claims about God: 1) God desires the salvation of all. 2) God is sovereign.</span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />In the book </span>
<i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Universal-Salvation-Current-Robin-Parry/dp/0802827640"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Universal Salvation? The Current Debate</span></a></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, the Calvinist theologian </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.oakhill.ac.uk/teaching_staff/daniel_strange.html">Daniel Strange</a> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">writes that "Talbott is indeed correct that</span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></b><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">if</span></b></i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Christ died for everyone </span></b><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">then</span></b></i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> everyone will be saved</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">," (p.160, original italics). Contrary to Calvinism and Arminianism, this is exactly what Universalism champions. Christ died for all and therefore all will be saved. Let us therefore begin by examining where Universalists find support for the claim that Christ died for all.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />As with any theology rightly to be named </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Christian</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, they begin with the Gospels' witness to the Incarnation of God in Jesus of Nazareth (Heb. 1:3). Firstly, let us ask if there is any indication that the God revealed by Jesus desires the salvation of all. In his life and ministry Jesus actively pursued those who were "lost" and "un-elect" (e.g. Matt. 9:9-13; Mark 5:24-34; Luke 6:27-29, John 4:7ff). One does not have to read very far into the Gospels to see that </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jesus reveals a God who desires the inclusion of all and sundry</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. In a series of parables Jesus compares God to a shepherd who pursues a lost sheep </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">until he finds it; </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">to a woman who pursues a lost coin </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">until she finds it; </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and to a father who breaks social norms, forgives beyond measure, and embraces his lost son because he has been </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">found</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> (Luke 15)! Jesus himself referred to his ministry as the year of radical debt-forgiveness (Luke 4:19) and his own death as the means to "draw all men" to himself (John 12:32). Because of this Universalists believe that Jesus unequivocally desires the salvation of </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">all</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In addition to the four gospels, the New Testament conveys a God who desires</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">all to be saved. The support for this is found explicitly in Acts 3:21, 1 Tim. 2:1-4, 4:10, 2 Peter 3:9; and implicitly in Rom. 11:32; 1 Cor. 15:28; 2 Cor. 5:13-19; Eph. 1:7-10; 1 John 2:2 and many others (you get the point). Universalists interpret the New Testament as communicating a strong witness to God's desire to save all.</span></span></div>
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</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At this point Universalists are still in good company. Many people</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> believe that God desires the salvation of all. What separates Universalists from others is that they actually believe that God will achieve the salvation of all. This belief is rooted in the second orthodox claim: </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">God is sovereign.</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> This claim needs little defense because it is the presupposition of most Christian theology: if God is God, then God achieves God's purposes.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> (</span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Process_theology"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Process theology</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> presents a slightly different view of God's sovereignty, but that is another blog series entirely!)</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">However, </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">in addition</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> to the claim that God is sovereign and therefore achieves what God wills, </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Universalists find evidence in the New Testament that God actually achieved the salvation of all in the Christ Event </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus).</span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I'm trying not to proof text too much, but the following are among several passages that are used to support this view:</span></span></div>
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<li><span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Romans 5:18 - </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people.</span></span></li>
<li><span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Romans 11:32 - </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.</span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2 Cor. 5:18-19 - All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.</span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Col. 1:19-20 - </span></span><span class="text Col-1-19" id="en-NIV-29485"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For God was pleased<sup class="crossreference" style="vertical-align: top;" value="(<a href="#cen-NIV-29485L" title="See cross-reference L">L</a>)"></sup> to have all his fullness<sup class="crossreference" style="vertical-align: top;" value="(<a href="#cen-NIV-29485M" title="See cross-reference M">M</a>)"></sup> dwell in him,</span></span></span><span class="text Col-1-20" id="en-NIV-29486"><sup class="versenum" style="vertical-align: top;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span></sup><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and through him to reconcile<sup class="crossreference" style="vertical-align: top;" value="(<a href="#cen-NIV-29486N" title="See cross-reference N">N</a>)"></sup> to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven,<sup class="crossreference" style="vertical-align: top;" value="(<a href="#cen-NIV-29486O" title="See cross-reference O">O</a>)"></sup> by making peace<sup class="crossreference" style="vertical-align: top;" value="(<a href="#cen-NIV-29486P" title="See cross-reference P">P</a>)"></sup> through his blood,<sup class="crossreference" style="vertical-align: top;" value="(<a href="#cen-NIV-29486Q" title="See cross-reference Q">Q</a>)"></sup> shed on the cross.</span></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font: 12.0px Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 John 2:2 - </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.</span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 Tim. 2:6 - Christ Jesus "gave himself as a ransom for all men"</span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Heb. 2:9 - Jesus tasted "death for everyone"</span></span></li>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In other words, </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Universalists answer the question "Did Christ die for all?" with a "Yes."</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Not everyone agrees with this view. John Piper, for example, has written on the limited nature of Christ's atonement in several places such as </span></span><a href="http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/piper/piper_atonement.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">here</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. Nevertheless, Universalism proposes that the death and resurrection of Christ is the </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">ontological event </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">of God's salvation of all. As I understand it, the Christ Event is the eschatological judgment and salvation of all of humankind. This is why the resurrection is the beginning of the </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">New</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Creation, the eschatological beginning of the </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">New</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Age. (This is how I *personally* understand the New Testament at this point in time) </span></span><br />
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</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Though not a Universalist himself, N.T. Wright seems to agree with Universalism that the Christ Event is efficacious for the whole world:</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><blockquote class="tr_bq">
"There [in Romans 8], Paul outlines and celebrates the hope that one day the entire cosmos will have its own great exodus, its liberation from bondage to decay. The point is this: the covenant between God and Israel was always designed to be God's means of saving the whole world. It was never supposed to be the means whereby God would have a private little group of people who would be saved while the rest of the world went to hell (whatever you might mean by that). Thus, when God is faithful to the covenant in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and in the work of the Spirit, it makes nonsense of the Pauline gospel to imagine that the be-all and end-all of this operation is so that God can have another, merely different private little group of people who are saved while the world is consigned to the cosmic wastepaper basket." (from <a href="http://www.amazon.com/What-Saint-Paul-Really-Said/dp/0802844456"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">What Saint Paul Really Said</span></a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/What-Saint-Paul-Really-Said/dp/0802844456"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">,</span></a> 163-164)</blockquote>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It seems that the church father </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athanasius_of_Alexandria"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">St. Athanasius </span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">interpreted the Christ Event similarly: "</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For He alone, being Word of the Father and above all, was in consequence both able to recreate </span></span><u><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">all</span></span></b></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, and worthy to suffer on behalf of </span></span><u><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">all</span></span></b></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> and to be an ambassador for </span></span><u><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">all</span></span></b></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> with the Father. ...</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For this reason, therefore, He assumed a body capable of death, in order that it, through belonging to the Word Who is above all, might become in dying a sufficient exchange for </span></span><u><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">all</span></span></b></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, and, itself remaining incorruptible through His indwelling, might thereafter put an end to corruption for </span></span><u><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">all</span></span></b></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> others as well, by the grace of the resurrection." (from </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Incarnation of the Word</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">)</span></span></div>
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</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Theologian </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%BCrgen_Moltmann"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jürgen Moltmann </span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">is, in fact, a Universalist and claims that "the realistic consequence of the theology of the cross can only be the restoration of all things." According to Moltmann "Christ 'suffered the true and total hell of God-forsakenness' for all people on the cross. Therefore all people are already included in the new creation which began with the resurrection. Since Christ died for all when all were sinners, 'all will be made righteous without any merit on their part'." (Holy, 13. Moltmann quotes taken from </span></span><i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Coming-God-Jurgen-Moltmann/dp/0800629582"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Coming of God</span></span></a></i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Coming-God-Jurgen-Moltmann/dp/0800629582"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">)</span></span></a><br />
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</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It does not take a learned theologian to notice that Univeralism is totally centered around the unique and decisive events of Jesus the Christ. In this sense, </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Universalism is fundamentally </span></span></b><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Christian.</span></span></b></i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> It does not </span></span></b><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">begin with the "feel good" belief that God will save all and then run back to the Bible to dig for support. On the contrary, Universalism is rooted in the New Testament texts that communicate that God not only desires the salvation of all, but also achieved this in the Christ Event. </span></span></b><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span></b><br />
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</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think this is a good place to stop for today. The major points that I wanted to communicate in today's post are:</span></span><br />
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<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Universalism hinges upon two biblical / orthodox claims about God: 1) God desires the salvation of all. 2) God is sovereign.</span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At the heart of Universalism is the conditional proposal: if Christ died for all then all will be saved.</span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Universalism begins with the biblical witness, especially the Christ Event, and concludes that God not only desires the salvation of all but has ontologically / eschatologically won the salvation of all in the Christ Event</span></span></li>
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</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I want to conclude today's post with some wisdom from the great 20th century theologian </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Barth"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Karl Barth</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. In his colossal Church Dogmatics he reminded us that even if we cannot argue the certainty of Universalism, </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"We are surely commanded the more definitely to hope and pray for it!"</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> (CD vol. 4:3:1, 478)</span></span><br />
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</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you don't hope and pray for it, why not?</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">- JMW</span></span><br />
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Next Post: What to do with hell... (part 1)</span></span></div>
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jmwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10775720474363733288noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720168535355928476.post-61610523553992494872012-10-29T08:12:00.001-04:002012-10-29T08:12:21.518-04:00Damned Nonsense! Post #5: Original Ungrace<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This post is part of the </span><a href="http://videoaudiodisco.blogspot.ca/2012/10/damned-nonsense-introduction.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Damned Nonsense! series,</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> a collection of posts exploring the Christian doctrine of salvation. It is named after a </span><a href="http://www.evangelicaluniversalist.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=2549"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">dissertation</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> by Ravi Holy entitled "Damned Nonsense: An Argument for Universalism Consisting of a Critique of All the Alternatives to It." While some of the series' content is adapted from Holy's work</span></i></span></i><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, </span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">not all opinions expressed in this series are Holy's</span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. Please check out all the posts in this series!</span></i></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The preceding posts have demonstrated that traditional views on salvation and hell are not simply the "clear teaching of Scripture" but rather varying 'schools' of approaching the Bible and theology. In Post #1 we learned that the traditional views have emphasized or neglected various parts of Scripture. The question before us today is why tradition has vehemently held on to hell. Why, for example, have passages about hell been given more weight than, say, passages about Christ's atonement for all? In today's post I propose, along with Thomas Talbott, that "something </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">other</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> than biblical exegesis lies behind the fierce opposition to Universalism that we find in tradition," (Talbott in Holy, p.1).</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Whenever I bring up the topic of Universalism to fellow Christians there is an instinctive reaction against it. I use the word </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">instinctive </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">very intentionally because I have noticed that this reaction comes from a place of deeply embedded beliefs about the way things are. It is as if the thought of God saving all people clashes into the very essence of what is true about God and reality. This is an important observation and I encourage the reader to reflect upon whether or not this is true in your experience.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The sociologist </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_L._Berger"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Peter Berger </span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">referred to our deeply embedded beliefs as our "</span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plausibility_structure"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">plausibility structure</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">." It refers to all of the "unconscious assumptions 'accepted within a given society, which determine which beliefs are plausible to its members and which are not,'" (Berger in Holy, p.6). That word "plausible" indicates everything that we can even </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">imagine </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">as being possible. Our plausibility structure is like the lenses through which we see the world, especially as it pertains to voices of authority and credibility. The only problem with our plausibility structure is that it can inhibit us from seeing that which is outside of or contrary to it. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A great example of this is the </span></span><a href="http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/newton-stm/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Newtonian view of time and space.</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Since Einstein came along and demonstrated that the Newtonian view was wrong, physicists have agreed with the theory of relativity. However, the majority of folk </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">(myself included!)</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"> can't seem to break free from Newton's view that time is the "stage" upon which objects play out their existence. This *false* view is totally embedded into our world view. To get closer to the link between our plausibility structure and the topic at hand, let's try a little thought experiment (tailored for Christians):</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> did you first learn that not all people would be saved? </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">How</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> did you first learn that not all people would be saved? </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3. Was it by reading by reading the Bible?</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4. Or, was it taught to you?</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">5. When you first began to read the Bible, did you approach it with the presupposition that all would be saved? Or, did you begin with the presupposition that </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">not</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> all would be saved?</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you grew up in the church then it is more than likely that hell has always been a part of your plausibility structure. And, it is likely that you did not </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">first</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> learn about hell from reading the complete narrative of Scripture; rather, you learned from what was taught as the "truth" about God. The world into which we are born gives us are sense of what is "normal." Even people who join the church later in life are usually already informed by traditional portraits of hell. The myth of heaven/hell permeates Western culture so pervasively that it is almost impossible to break free from the traditional view of seeing God as the one who sends the unsaved to hell. Whether in comedic caricatures or serious theology, hell is embedded in our plausibility structure (e.g. just watch TV commercials, read comics, or listen to people talk).</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Since the majority of Western Christians were taught about hell before they were able to study the Bible for themselves, it is not surprising that the default reading of Scripture has been one that gives more weight to passages about hell and eternal punishment rather than the scope and finality of Christ's victory. In other words, it's no surprise that the plausibility structure of tradition leads to an interpretation of Scripture that opposes Universalism.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We must ask why this view has become the norm when the Bible clearly contradicts it in many places (at least as much as Universalism is also contradicted). In other words, is there something </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">other</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> than "clear biblical teaching" that has kept hell in the game for so long? Along with Talbott and Holy, I believe there is. </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>I believe that the our human instinct is to preserve the traditional view of hell because we are fundamentally bent toward </b></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>ungrace</b></span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>.</b> In the final analysis, "it is 'original ungrace' not biblical exegesis that lies behind even evangelical opposition to Universalism," (Holy, 30). In agreement with Holy, I believe that the visceral reaction against Universalism is the result of our desire to exclude those who we believe do not deserve God's grace. As Talbott puts it, it is the opinion that "God has no right to extend his mercy to a given class of persons." </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The popular Christian author Philip Yancey wrote a contemporary classic called </span></span><i><a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Whats-So-Amazing-About-Grace/dp/0310245656"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What's So Amazing About Grace?</span></span></a></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> (1997) In it Yancey explains that human beings have "an inbuilt resistance" to grace and it goes "against every instinct of humanity." Indeed, the scandal of God's grace does not make sense in a world where people are supposed to get "the rewards and punishments that they </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">deserve</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">." </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is precisely why most Christians cannot allow grace to be grace! Instead, traditional [predominately Arminian] Christians distort grace to mean that </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">only those who respond to Christ in a certain way before a certain time will receive God's grace.</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"This is most obvious in Yancey's proposed definition of grace as meaning that 'there is nothing we can do to make God love us more' and 'nothing we can do to make God love us less.' He stresses that our 'instinct' is that we have to 'do something in order to be accepted' by God is wrong. </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yet, at the same time, he says that 'all we must </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">do</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> [to 'get to heaven'] is cry 'help!'. Surely, then, there </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">is</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> something we can </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">do</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> to make God love us more? It is hard to see in what meaningful sense those who 'fail' to 'get to heaven' (and, thus, presumably, end up in hell, however that is defined or conceived) are accepted and loved by God."</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> (30)</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Holy's critique of Yancey is a prime example of how Christians instinctively distort grace into </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">ungrace</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. We convince ourselves: 'It is not up to God to have mercy upon whoever God pleases (Exod. 33:19), instead </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">we</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> must decide who gets God's grace based on our reading of Scripture and our tradition because surely we know!'</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It always fascinates me to observe the dynamic between the "saved" and the "unsaved" in the Gospels. The "saved" in Jesus' day were no doubt the self-confident "</span></span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%208:33&version=NIV"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">children of Abraham</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">," those who perceived themselves to be in God's favor. Yet whenever Jesus extended grace to the "unsaved" - those who supposedly did not deserve it - the "saved" became outraged (e.g. Matt. 9:11, Luke 7:39, John 9:16). Perhaps this is why Jesus told a </span></span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew%2020:1-16&version=NIV"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">parable about laborers in a vineyard</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> who each receive the same reward despite working different amounts. When payment is given there is outrage among those who are stuck in a plausibility structure of "earning" what they "deserve." The same can be seen in the </span></span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%2015:11-32&version=NIV"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">parable of the Prodigal Son </span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">as the elder brother is enraged by the father's grace. </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There comes a point when we must consider that maybe our own plausibility structure has been infected by sin. </span></span><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What if we really are bent toward ungrace?</span></span></u></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> To facilitate some reflection on this question, allow me offer a list of claims that Christians have traditionally preferred to endorse instead of the claim that God will save all. </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Consider the following:</span></span></div>
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<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">God simply does not love all people.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">God does not desire the salvation of all.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">God saves some and damns others to hell.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Hell exists because God cannot stand to look upon sinners.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">God still loves those in hell, but refuses to save them.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">God doesn't love those in hell.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jesus did not die for all people.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jesus only died for the elect whom God foreknew.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Those in hell did not do their part to accept God's grace.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Those in hell choose to be there.</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">God will annihilate those in hell against their will (out of mercy, of course).</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Those who end up in hell have the option to leave but will reject God forever.</span></li>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I could go on but I will stop there. To be fair, these individual statements become more coherent within their respective systems of theology, but the point still stands. These horrific statements are ideas that most Christians are more compelled to believe than the statement 'God will ultimately save all people.' One way to interpret this opposition to Universalism is to say that the above statements are what Scripture teaches. Unfortunately (or fortunately!) there is a lot of Scripture that teaches otherwise (see Post #6 next). Another way to interpret this opposition to Universalism is what I have proposed in today's post. Allow me to summarize:</span><br />
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<b>Human beings are fundamentally bent toward ungrace. We are so brilliant, so crafty, and so self-centered, that even our religion has been contaminated with ungrace. We have turned the very means of God's universal grace to humankind - the Christ Event - into a measuring stick for including ourselves and excluding those that we don't think deserve God's grace.</b></blockquote>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But if grace is grace, and if there is nothing we can do to make God love us more or less, than how is it that some end up in heaven and others in hell? It would seem that there are only two options. Option 1: Those who end up in hell are not wanted by God (Calvinism). Option 2: Those who end up in hell did not do their part to receive their "free grace" (Arminianism). </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Or, maybe there is an Option 3?</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">- JMW</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Next Post: How about Universalism?</span></span></div>
<br class="Apple-interchange-newline" />jmwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10775720474363733288noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720168535355928476.post-21102386639906425842012-10-26T10:32:00.001-04:002012-10-26T10:36:57.327-04:00Damned Nonsense! Post #4: The Truth about Original Sin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMYFN5L6o1Pk_LynRW3I7aLn69_txuxUWIL9lmToeExUX0IT2M0hdtfwHN42QYnYIhnEmqY5aigSDlZPRQa9dMocJNwM-Pl4VeZ7Zh3q4eLbpp1jDwpG5sf9FQnbK1P6HZCbRn964mEA/s1600/OriginalSin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMYFN5L6o1Pk_LynRW3I7aLn69_txuxUWIL9lmToeExUX0IT2M0hdtfwHN42QYnYIhnEmqY5aigSDlZPRQa9dMocJNwM-Pl4VeZ7Zh3q4eLbpp1jDwpG5sf9FQnbK1P6HZCbRn964mEA/s400/OriginalSin.jpg" width="306" /></a></div>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This post is part of the <a href="http://videoaudiodisco.blogspot.ca/2012/10/damned-nonsense-introduction.html">Damned Nonsense! series,</a> a collection of posts exploring the Christian doctrine of salvation. It is named after a </span><a href="http://www.evangelicaluniversalist.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=2549"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">dissertation</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> by Ravi Holy entitled "Damned Nonsense: An Argument for Universalism Consisting of a Critique of All the Alternatives to It." While some of the series' content is adapted from Holy's work</span></i></span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, </span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">not all opinions expressed in this series are Holy's</span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. Please check out all the posts in this series!</span></i></span></i></span></i><br />
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></i></span></i></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Before getting to what I believe is the source of traditional opposition to Universalism (post #5), I want to take a moment to discuss the doctrine of Original Sin. This little dogma plays a major behind-the-scenes role in the conversation about Christian salvation and thus deserves a post. The content in today's post is adapted from a book by Neil Punt entitled </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Theology-Inclusivism-Neal-Punt/dp/0945315465"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A Theology of Inclusivism.</span></a></span></i></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In orthodox Christianity the doctrine of Original Sin teaches that all of humanity is corrupted by sin. There is no one who has not turned from God; none who are righteous (Rom. 3:9-23). It is not merely a description of what we </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">deserve</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> but of </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">who we are.</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> We are all sinners and have, in some way or another, turned from God.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Up to this point we are still on good biblical ground. The problem, however, is that traditional Protestantism espouses that Original Sin (and its twin "Total Depravity") is the </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">grounds for the damnation of the unsaved.</span></b></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Evangelical Christian teaching often goes as follows: Everyone is sinful and deserves to go to hell; unless you repent and believe in Jesus the Christ then you will go to hell <i>because you are going there </i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>by default </i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>anyway</i>. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In other words, </span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Original Sin holds all of humanity in bondage and hell is our default destiny.</span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Neil Punt explains the error of this view when he writes, "Human blameworthiness is taught so consistently throughout the Scriptures that all of orthodox Christianity confesses it. </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This has uncritically filtered into our thoughts and theology as if it were evidence that all persons are outside of Christ. This erroneous deduction from the doctrine of original sin accounts in large measure for the widespread and firmly held premise that 'All persons will be lost...'</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"</span></span></span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Far from being a contemporary phenomenon, this view of Original Sin has its roots in the Pelagian controversy of the 4th and 5th centuries. Here is some interesting history:</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"</span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pelagius</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> (about 350–418 AD), usually described as a pious British monk, was concerned that Christians were becoming lax in their lifestyle. For this reason </span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">he began to teach that everyone will be lost except those who, by their own strength and determination of will, would live in obedience to the law of God</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> following the example of Christ. </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Augustine</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> (354–430 AD) recognized in Pelagianism an unacceptable works-based righteousness. </span></span><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He taught that all will be lost except those who God, in his eternal, sovereign, incomprehensible grace, has chosen to bring to salvation</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. A middle position between these two was that of the Semi-Pelagianists. They proposed that all will be lost except those who by their own sovereign decision accept God’s offer of salvation.... By the end of the fourth century, theologians began to view the plan of salvation in the restrictive form with which we are familiar: 'All persons will be finally lost except those who the Bible declares will be saved...' </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ever since that time, mainstream Christian theologians have attempted to define the 'exceptions,' that is, those who they judged will be saved.</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">" (Punt, my italics)</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It is not difficult to see how this view of Original Sin has influenced traditional views of salvation. Today most Christians believe that all persons will finally be lost unless some kind of conversion to Jesus the Christ occurs. If Original Sin controls our default destiny, then of course there must be hell; of course Universalism cannot be true. </span></span></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But what if this approach to Original Sin is wrong? </span></b></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Are human beings all lost because of Original Sin? </span></span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Believe it or not, the Bible teaches an unequivocal "No." The Bible teaches that Original Sin has been disarmed and defeated by Jesus the Christ. This is what Paul explains in Romans 5.</span></span></div>
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<b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">12 </span></span></i></b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—</span></span></i><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">13 </span></span></i></b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. </span></span></i><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">14 </span></span></i></b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come. -- </span></span></i><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">15 </span></span></i></b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! </span></span></i><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">16 </span></span></i></b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. </span></span></i><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">17 </span></span></i></b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!</span></span></i></div>
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<b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">18 Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. </span></span></i></b><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">20 The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">(Romans 5:12-21)</span></span></span></i></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Punt continues to explain, "Nowhere in all of Scripture do we read, neither is it implied nor to be inferred, that anyone suffers eternal death </span></span><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">solely on the basis of his or her sin in Adam</span></span></i></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, </span></span><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">apart from individual, personal, willful, persistent unbelief and sin on the part of the person so rejected."</span></span></i></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Interestingly, before Pelagius and Augustine, "Those who were closest (in time) to the apostles had an inclusive view of God’s plan of salvation (</span><a href="http://www.tentmaker.org/books/Prevailing.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For proof of this claim, see here</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">). For the most part, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">they taught that all will be saved with no exceptions or that all will be saved with some exceptions</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. ...Such restrictive definitions of those who will be saved are </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">not</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> found among the leading church fathers in the first, second, and third centuries." (Punt, my italics)</span></span><br />
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">One of those leading church fathers was the great bishop of Alexandria </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athanasius_of_Alexandria"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Athanasius</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. In his treatise "On the Incarnation of the Word" he wrote the following: </span></span><br />
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"B</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">y the sacrifice of His own body He did two things: </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">He put an </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">end</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> to the law of death which barred our way; and He made a </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">new beginning</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> of life for us, by giving us the hope of resurrection.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> By man death has gained its power over men; by the Word made Man death has been destroyed and life raised up anew. That is what Paul says, that true servant of Christ: "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. Just as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive," and so forth. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now, therefore, when we die we no longer do so as men condemned to death,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> but as those who are even now in process of rising we await the general resurrection of all, "which in its own times He shall show,"even God Who wrought it and bestowed it on us."</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What I think both Paul and Athanasius are saying is that Original Sin has lost its grip on humanity's destiny. It is no longer the "default" destiny of humankind. Because the grace and obedience of Jesus abound, humanity has received a new destiny: the destiny of the "New Adam" (Jesus). This has clear implications for the doctrine of salvation: <i>we must shift from a presupposition that humanity's default destiny is hell to a presupposition that our default destiny is reconciliation with God in Christ.</i> Put simply, Original Sin should not be the starting point of our theology of salvation, the victory of Jesus must be our starting point.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">***</span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">NOTE</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">: </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This view of Original Sin does not rule out the possibility of sinners being lost. It does not ignore the biblical texts that seem to teach eternal damnation, etc. What it does, however, is shift the </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">grounds</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> of that damnation from Original Sin to </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">works</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> done in conscious opposition to God. </span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A survey of the New Testament will show that the passages that insinuate a final lostness of sinners base such lostness on </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">works</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, not Original Sin (e.g. Matt. 7:23, 16:27, 25:45; John 5:29; Rom. 14:11; 2 Cor. 5:10; Rev. 20:12-13, 22:12).</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">At this point, let us once again summarize what has been put forward in this post:</span></span></div>
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<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Original Sin is often viewed as holding the keys to humanity's destiny. Christians have traditionally presupposed that all humanity will be lost because of Original Sin (or Total Depravity).</span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Although there are forms of the doctrine of Original Sin in the writings of St. Paul, Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Origen, the doctrine as we know it today owes its development to the Pelagian controversy of the 4th/5th centuries. This controversy viewed Original Sin as humanity's default destiny.</span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Original Sin </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">does not</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> hold the keys to humanity's destiny. Jesus, the New Adam, holds the keys to humanity's destiny.</span></b></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The earliest orthodox Christians presupposed that all would be saved because of the scope and finality of Christ's victory.</span></span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is no biblical support for the view that Original Sin is the grounds for hell. The NT support for hell as a final destiny is based upon works and the conscious rejection of God.</span></span></li>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The assumption that "all will be lost" because of Original Sin is unbiblical. If, as Neil Punt claims, </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Nowhere in all of Scripture do we read, neither is it implied nor to be inferred, that anyone suffers eternal death </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">solely on the basis of his or her sin in Adam</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">," then perhaps Thomas Talbott is correct in surmising that something </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">other </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">than 'clear biblical exegesis' is behind this stance. And perhaps this is yet another example of how something other than the teaching of scripture is behind traditional opposition to Universalism. This is precisely what I will put forward in the next post.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next Post will be Monday. </span></div>
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</span>jmwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10775720474363733288noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720168535355928476.post-56937180525041383352012-10-25T10:25:00.002-04:002012-10-25T10:25:40.577-04:00Damned Nonsense! Post #3: Problems with "Lewisism"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3N-E_4kFcdos7bMmGrJozxr4N-PGB9jJJQdi6NcmBbEYIN99Zptbe3qryMbek_rh0qmwV9DAR5Ng0-VmDYMdYb2-_RhzZddFBAIyqLF7R_J8LkLwCz-Xf8T7zKFtG-ezPbC0-h3R9bQ/s1600/Lewis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3N-E_4kFcdos7bMmGrJozxr4N-PGB9jJJQdi6NcmBbEYIN99Zptbe3qryMbek_rh0qmwV9DAR5Ng0-VmDYMdYb2-_RhzZddFBAIyqLF7R_J8LkLwCz-Xf8T7zKFtG-ezPbC0-h3R9bQ/s400/Lewis.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[This post is part of the </span><a href="http://videoaudiodisco.blogspot.ca/2012/10/damned-nonsense-introduction.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Damned Nonsense! series,</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> a collection of posts exploring the Christian doctrine of salvation. It is named after a </span><a href="http://www.evangelicaluniversalist.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=2549"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">dissertation</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> by Ravi Holy entitled "Damned Nonsense: An Argument for Universalism Consisting of a Critique of All the Alternatives to It." While some of the series' content is adapted from Holy's work</span></i></span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, </span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">not all opinions expressed in this series are Holy's</span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. Please check out all the posts in this series!]</span></i></span></i></span></i></span></i><br />
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._S._Lewis"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">C.S. Lewis</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> is one of the most famous Christian thinkers of the 20th Century. He has authored an abundance of fiction and non-fiction works, not least of which is </span></span><i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Divorce"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Great Divorce</span></span></a></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. In this work of fiction Lewis explores the nature of post-mortem existence, namely a version of hell that is the consequence of free choice. </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What evolved from Lewis' book is a view of hell that many Evangelical Christians endorse today: those who are confined to hell are there because they choose to be.</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> In </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Great Divorce </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lewis writes, "There are only two kinds of people in the end: Those who say to God, 'Thy will be done,' and those to whom God says, in the end, '</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thy</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> will be done,'" (66-67). As Lewis once wrote, "The doors of hell are locked from the </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">inside,</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">" (</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Problem of Pain</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, 115). In his dissertation, Ravi Holy has labeled this view "Lewisism" and I shall use the same label here.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lewisism is quite attractive. It </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">appears</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> to get God off the hook since those in hell are there because they choose to be. Like the child who chooses to sulk in the corner rather than join the party, the unsaved choose to remain in a hellish existence rather than join the party of heaven. This view obviously respects the freedom of the individual, which is another reason that it appeals to the dominant Arminian bent in Evangelical Christianity.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But is this view really as good as it looks? Does it truly allow God off the hook for hell? Let's take a closer look.</span></span></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. Who chooses hell? </span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The idea that anyone would freely choose hell seems idiotic. Thus, Lewisism argues that those who choose hell find a certain pleasure in being there. The damned are so broken and sinful that they find some kind of satisfaction in choosing hell over heaven. It is a dark and miserable place (as portrayed in </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Great Divorce</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">) but not totally intolerable. Thus, the unsaved freely choose the distorted satisfaction of hell rather than the true satisfaction of heaven.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While it is very insightful, </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the problem with this view is that </span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">it does not allow hell to be hell.</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> For hell to actually be hell it must be perceived from the perspective of goodness. </span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lewis himself writes, "Hell is hell, not from its own point of view, but from the heavenly point of view,"</span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> (</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Problem of Pain,</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> 114). Indeed, hell is understood as hell in light of God's love, truth, etc. In Lewisism, however, the unsaved experience hell as a quasi-satisfactory illusion. </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But how can hell be hell if the unsaved believe that they are making the right choice, or at least a satisfactory one? And how can this "free choice" be true without the insight of God's truth?</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There is, in fact, little scriptural support for the idea that the unsaved find some disillusioned satisfaction in hell. New Testament passages suggest that the damned are aware of their undesirable fate (e.g. Matt. 7:22-23, 25:41-46, Luke 16:19-31). The advocate of Lewisism must answer: </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Why would those who are aware of their suffering choose to lock themselves in it? </span></span></i></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lewisism requires us to hold two contradictory thoughts at once: </span></span></b></div>
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<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the unsaved have freely chosen hell</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the unsaved are aware that hell is horrible and undesirable</span></li>
</ul>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It seems that the true answer to the question "Who chooses hell?" is actually </span></b><i><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">nobody.</span></b></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> To assert that the unsaved freely choose suffering, misery, etc. is stubbornly idiotic. </span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Only under false pretenses or disillusionment would the unsaved choose hell. "We can never choose evil as evil: only as an apparent good," (Thomas Merton).</span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> But, as explained above, hell must be experienced </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">as hell.</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> "According to Lewis himself, the whole reason that hell </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">must</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> exist is precisely because both justice and mercy demand that no unrepentant sinner can continue in the 'ghastly illusion' that 'his way of life is utterly successful, satisfactory, unassailable' forever," (Holy, 23, original italics). If hell must be experienced as hell </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> it is locked from the inside </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> its residents possess free will... then how can it not be empty?</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. Is God really off the hook?</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Lewis' </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">perspective </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">leads us to believe that God is not responsible for those in hell: God is "a decent judge stuck in a rigid, heartless system," (McLaren, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Last Word and the Word After That,</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> 56). We are led to believe that the unsaved choose hell for themselves due to their disillusioned pleasure, it is </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">God</span></u></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">who makes the unsaved aware of their failure and reality of hell. As stated above, hell must be experienced as hell. Thus, once again, the true experience of hell depends upon the action of God. </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Despite this crafty argument, God is not, in fact, let off the hook for hell.</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some people attempt to get God off the hook with semantics: "Hell is the result of the rejection </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">of</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> God, not rejection </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">by</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> God." But this is just more pussyfooting around the issue. If one believes that the individual wields total power in the matter of salvation then this person is a </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelagianism"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Pelagian</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> (which most Arminians are). And, once again, we are to forced ask why someone would choose to reject God knowing full well the horror of hell.</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The truth is that Lewisism does not allow God off the hook. Unless, of course, hell is empty.</span></b></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3. The loss of freedom to escape hell. </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While Lewis may have argued that hell is "locked from the inside," others assert that sin ultimately affects our ability to unlock the door. Some, like N.T. Wright, argue that human beings are free to make choices that affect our ability to choose God, love, goodness, etc. It is as if </span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the cancer of sinful choices eats away at our freedom to choose love, Jesus, community, etc.</span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Though I have not read Barth on this, I believe this is what is behind his "impossible possibility" that some individuals may not, in the end, choose God. Personally, I think this is a profound anthropological observation and offers insight for ethics and spiritual formation, but there are a number of problems with this as it pertains to the doctrine of Christian salvation.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While it makes sense that humans are free to choose evil and harden themselves to God over a length of time, it cannot be said that anyone makes the one-off choice to relinquish their freedom. In other words, "</span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">since the loss of freedom was not the thing chosen," we cannot say that human beings choose it; </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"no one would consciously choose that bondage." (Holy, 26) While sinful choices have unforeseen consequences, including the loss of ability to perceive and do God's will, the total and conclusive loss of freedom cannot be a possible consequence since the thing itself (loss of freedom) is not what was chosen. <u>There must always be left </u></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><u>some degree</u></span></span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><u> of freedom to choose.</u></span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Similarly, it is difficult to see how one may say that "people who have lost their freedom have freely chosen hell." If a lifetime of sinful choices </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">results</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> in the loss of freedom to choose God, then at what point did the individual choose hell? (This might make more sense if we view hell as a state of being rather than a destination) Nevertheless, it is difficult for the adherents of this view to reconcile the contradiction that human beings choose hell without the ability to freely choose.</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>The only way to truly hold this view is to believe that those in hell </b><b>never</b><b> lose their ability to choose heaven/hell.</b> Thus, it must be believed that there are some who choose to reject God "at every moment for the rest of eternity," (Reitan in Holy, 26). <u>Note</u>: Universalists concede the possibility of this, but they are 'convinced' that it is highly unlikely and hope that it is totally impossible. (Again, I think this reflects Karl Barth's "impossible possibility." See comments to Post #1)</blockquote>
</span></span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are still yet some who argue that </span></span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">sin is completely irrational.</span></span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> It does not matter if one has awareness of God, heaven, or love, the sinner will still choose hell because the sinner's rationale and perception of reality is utterly corrupt. While I appreciate this approach because it takes seriously how F*#@!d up our perception of reality can become as a result of sin, it still suffers from the previous dilemmas. Furthermore, </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">if this is true then "it is hard to see in what sense the lamb of God has taken away the sins of the world. The very problem that Jesus came to solve is still with us and, worse, will remain unsolved forever. ... We are no better off after Christ than we were before him. Sin can still have the last word."</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> (Holy, 27)</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Apostle Paul seems to suggest in </span></span></b><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1+Corinthians+15%3A55-57&version=NIV"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1 Cor. 15:55</span></span></b></a><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> that sin and death </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">do not </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">have the last word. The last word belongs to the Word of God, Jesus the Crucified and Risen Christ!</span></span></b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span></span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And yet there are so many who want to argue that sin and death </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">do</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> get the last word! </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After a while it seems to me that Christians put more effort into defending hell than exploring the possibility of Universalism. Why is this? I shall discuss this in Post #5. </span></span></span><br />
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At this point, let us summarize:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Lewisism" is the belief that those in hell choose to be there; "hell is locked from the inside"</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lewisism appears to get God off the hook for hell and puts 100% of the blame onto the individual</span></li>
<li><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">PROBLEMS:</span></u></b></li>
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This view does not allow hell to be hell (#1 above)</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Overemphasizes the will and responsibility of the individual</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">God is still ultimately responsible for hell</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sin is does not have an end, but rather exists eternally in the deception of those who "freely choose" hell (#3 above)</span></li>
</ul>
</ul>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Study Question: What makes Lewisism so attractive to modern Christians?</span></b></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">- JMW</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next Post: The Truth About Original Sin</span></span></div>
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jmwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10775720474363733288noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720168535355928476.post-24734442300030557692012-10-24T09:49:00.001-04:002012-10-24T09:49:50.514-04:00Damned Nonsense! Post #2: Problems with Annihilationism<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIP2F2CajWxukQOAhI6gk-lrNm1f305uYhWmJNL97TtPnfoJZ-bQSMrfgZO2TAYyl6RtRp-orZdrbko5WySom7UgF_fYZ5wp_4NBe5gG2RNLD6hHbtdReT9pSQHrszIZo3B6VE_aupkw/s1600/annihilation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIP2F2CajWxukQOAhI6gk-lrNm1f305uYhWmJNL97TtPnfoJZ-bQSMrfgZO2TAYyl6RtRp-orZdrbko5WySom7UgF_fYZ5wp_4NBe5gG2RNLD6hHbtdReT9pSQHrszIZo3B6VE_aupkw/s400/annihilation.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">[This post is part of the </span><a href="http://videoaudiodisco.blogspot.ca/2012/10/damned-nonsense-introduction.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Damned Nonsense! series,</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> a collection of posts exploring the Christian doctrine of salvation. It is named after a </span><a href="http://www.evangelicaluniversalist.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=2549"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">dissertation</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> by Ravi Holy entitled "Damned Nonsense: An Argument for Universalism Consisting of a Critique of All the Alternatives to It." While some of the series' content is adapted from Holy's work</span></i></span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, </span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">not all opinions expressed in this series are Holy's</span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. Please check out all the posts in this series!]</span></i></span></i></span></i><br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
There are alternatives to the traditional view. As more and more Christians have found it difficult to believe that a loving God could send persons to hell, many have developed alternatives to the traditional view. Some have taken up the view that </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the unsaved will simply cease to exist</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. This view is known as </span><a href="http://www.theopedia.com/Annihilationism"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Annilhiationism</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> and it falls somewhere in between the traditional view of eternal punishment (both Calvinism and Arminianism) and the salvation of all (Universalism).</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />There is both Scriptural and philosophical support for Annihilationism. In
</span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matt.%2010:28&version=NIV"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Matt. 10:28</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Jesus seems to imply that the wicked will suffer the destruction of both "body and soul." In two of his letters Paul may suggest the annihilation of the lost (Rom. 6:23 and 2 Peter 2:6). Additionally, there are the various symbolic passages in Revelation that convey the destruction of the wicked and evil altogether. Nevertheless, Annihilationism is driven more by the philosophical concepts of freedom, love, and justice than by scriptural texts. The major grounds for Annihilationism is that an eternal hell does not allow God's love and justice to be accomplished (i.e. how can we party upstairs when people are suffering in the basement?). Thus, it is only </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">after</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> the wicked have been destroyed that God's love and justice (shalom) will be complete.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />This view does have its advantages:
</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It jettisons the horrifying idea of God eternally </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">tormenting</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> the damned</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It *appears* to respect the freedom of creation to choose non-being over salvation</span></li>
</ul>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, the view of Annihilationism is still more problematic that it is helpful.</span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Problems:</span></span></b><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. What do we do with 'all' ? </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There are many texts that convey the final redemption of Christ in terms of 'all' (John 12:32, 1 Cor. 15:28, 2 Cor. 5:14, Eph. 1:10, 1:23, Col. 1:20, Phil. 2:10-11). The question for the annihilationist is whether all really means </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">all</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. If the unsaved are finally annihilated, how can Christ be said to "fill everything in every way?" And how can God be "all in all"? According to the annihilationist, it must be </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">after</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> God has destroyed the unsaved. Is this a satisfactory answer? Is this really what Paul envisions when God will be 'all in all'? Are we to believe that God will be 'all in all'... minus the millions (if not billions) of people throughout history?</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />Holy notes, "To me, it borders on dishonesty to suggest that God's promise to be 'all in all' would be
</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> genuinely</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> fulfilled by first eliminating all those who make a more literal fulfillment of that promise impossible. Can we really ascribe such duplicitous behavior to the God of </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">truth</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">?" (Holy, 20, italics original)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />This dilemma is not necessarily a deal breaker, but it deserves serious reflection. And neither is it the lone flaw in annihilationism.
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. What of the Cross?</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> The cross is indisputably God's remedy to sin. It is the consummation of God's love for the entire world and it is the location of at-one-ment with all of humanity. Jesus the Christ died </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">once and for</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">all</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> (Rom. 6:10) and stands continuously before God on behalf of humanity (Hebrews 7:21-28). The centrality of the Cross as the 'event' of God's reconciliation with the world (2 Cor. 5:18) suggests that additional solutions are </span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">unnecessary</span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. The annihilationist must ponder the scope and efficacy of the Cross.</span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3. What of God's character?</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Many who endorse Annihilationism are repulsed by the notion of God tormenting the damned. Yet how is annihilation of the unsaved any better? How does the utter destruction of those whom God once brought into being match the character of God revealed in Jesus the Christ? "God is Creator and Savior, not Destroyer!" (Holy, 20) Some may answer that God destroys the wicked out of sheer "mercy"; for the unsaved non-existence is better than existence. But this answer leads to the next problem (#4).</span><br />
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">4. What of free will?</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> For God to annihilate the unsaved (even out of "mercy") is an obvious violation of their free will. It is certainly possible that the unsaved might freely ask God to destroy them and thereby 'choose' non-existence over [unsaved] existence. Yet if God is able to either A) annihilate against free will, or, B) annihilate as an act of mercy, then </span><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">why would God not simply </span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">save</span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> the unsaved against their will or as an act of mercy?</span></i></b><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b></b>"For God to annihilate people would be just as much of a violation of their free will as it would be for [God] to save them against their will." (Holy, 20) If we are able to imagine God exercising such unilateral action, why would we choose destruction over mercy? </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Some, including myself, believe that it is not the "clear teaching of Scripture" that causes us to think this way. In post #5 I will discuss what I believe causes us to distort the Good News of God's salvation in Jesus the Christ in order to preserve exclusive, ungracious perceptions of salvation.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />At this point, let us summarize:</span><br />
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Annihilationism is the belief that God will annihilate the unsaved and they will cease to exist. The saved will enjoy communion with God who will be 'all in all.'</span></li>
<li><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Advantages</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">: </span></li>
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the unsaved are not tormented forever and ever</span></li>
</ul>
<li><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Disadvantages</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">:</span></li>
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Texts using the word "all" are less genuine; they must really mean "all that are left after God destroys the unsaved"</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sin must be dealt with a second time via annihilation rather than the Cross and Resurrection being decisive victory over sin</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">God as Annihilator is not much better than God as Punisher</span></li>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Annihilationism sees God destroying against free will rather than saving against free will</span></li>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">- JMW</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next Post: Problems with C.S. Lewis</span></span><br />
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<br />jmwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10775720474363733288noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720168535355928476.post-10982917412643879712012-10-23T09:07:00.002-04:002012-10-23T09:07:56.732-04:00Damned Nonsense! Post #1: Talbott's Triad<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">[This post is part of the <a href="http://videoaudiodisco.blogspot.ca/2012/10/damned-nonsense-introduction.html">Damned Nonsense! series</a>, a collection of posts exploring the Christian doctrine of salvation. It is named after a </span><a href="http://www.evangelicaluniversalist.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=2549"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">dissertation</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> by Ravi Holy entitled "Damned Nonsense: An Argument for Universalism Consisting of a Critique of All the Alternatives to It." While some of the series' content is adapted from Holy's work</span></i></span></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">, </span><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">not all opinions expressed in this series are Holy's</span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">. Please check out all the posts in this series!]</span></i></span></i></span></i><br />
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Thomas <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Talbott">Talbott</a> is a professor of Philosophy at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon. He is best known for his work <i><a href="http://books.google.ca/books/about/The_Inescapable_Love_of_God.html?id=mJ4dsmuY81IC">The Inescapable Love of God</a></i>, which biblically and systematically argues the case for Universalism. In this post I will explain what is known as "Talbott's Triad."<br />
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Traditionally there have been two dominant positions within Christian thinking about salvation: Calvinism and Arminianism (to learn more read <a href="http://www.the-highway.com/compare.html">here</a>). Calvinism emphasizes the sovereignty of God (God is God so God can and will do what God desires), while Arminianism emphasizes the free will of humankind and the love of God to respect that freedom. Arminianism also emphasizes that God desires the salvation of all. <i>However, both of these traditions agree that</i> <i>not all people will be saved. </i><b>The question then becomes, why not? </b>Let's break this down into the 'Triad.'<br />
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Talbott explains in very simple terms the basic tenets of each view:<br />
<ul>
<li>#1 - God desires the salvation of all because God is benevolent (Arminianism)</li>
<li>#2 - God is sovereign so God will achieve what God desires (Calvinism)</li>
<li>#3 - some people will be 'lost' or 'unsaved' (both)</li>
</ul>
Arminianism accepts #1 and #3, but rejects #2.<br />
Calvinism accepts #2 and #3, but rejects #1.<br />
Universalism accepts #1 and #2, but rejects #3.<br />
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From Holy:<br />
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"At this point, Talbott expresses bewilderment at the fact that Calvinists and Arminians are often united in regarding universalism as heretical - or at least, unbiblical/inadequate - while regarding each other's positions as merely mistaken. How can universalism be heretical, he asks, if it is <i>entailed</i> by accepting two propositions, neither of which are heretical in themselves? Yes, universalists reject #3, which both Calvinists <i>and</i> Arminians consider the 'plain teaching of Scripture' but Calvinists reject #1 which is 'a clear and obvious teaching of Scripture, at least as clear and obvious as a doctrine of everlasting separation' for Arminians, and Arminians reject #2 which is the same for Calvinists." (Holy, 14)<br />
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<b>What's clear is that each view is giving <i>something</i> up. And that something can be found in and supported by Scripture. </b>There is ample support for all three claims in the 'Triad.' That God is loving and desires the salvation of all can be found throughout the Bible (Luke 15:4, John 12:32, 2 Peter 3:9, 1 Tim. 2:4). That God is sovereign and will accomplish God's desire is also plain in Scripture (Psalms 2, 22, and 24, Daniel 4:35, Luke 6:30, Rev. 6:10). And, yes, there are verses that appear to obviously teach the loss of many people (Matthew 25, Mark 9:47-48, Rev. 20).<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>Talbott notes that it would make complete sense to side with either Calvinism or Arminianism if the scriptural evidence for #3 was consistently and significantly greater than the evidence for #'s 1 and 2. However, such is not the case! He explains: "#1 and #2 seem to rest upon systematic teachings in Paul, [whereas] the texts cited on behalf of #3 are typically lifted from contexts of parable, hyperbole and great symbolism."</b> (Talbott quoted in Holy, 14)</blockquote>
Many people will argue that the weakness of the Universalist view is that it overlooks the 'clear teaching of Scripture.' But upon further inspection it appears that both <b>Calvinism and Arminianism </b><i><b>also overlook the teaching of Scripture, namely the texts that proclaim the scope and finality of Christ's victory. </b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">(<u>Note: ideological sawdust in the mind's eye will blur certain texts</u>) </span></i>What Talbott makes clear is that there is no 'flawless' position on salvation and the Bible can be used to support multiple views.<br />
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The question that I share along with Talbott is <u>Why do universalists get spurned when it seems that Calvinism and Arminianism are equally at fault for neglecting Scripture?</u> The conclusion that Talbott draws is that <i>something other than biblical exegesis is behind the visceral reaction against universalism. </i>I will discuss this in post #5.<br />
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For now, let us summarize:<br />
<ul>
<li>Talbott's Triad illustrates that the traditional views of salvation must give up something in order to defend God as either good or sovereign. Therefore, each view has flaws.</li>
<li>Talbott's Triad also illustrates that Universalism does not begin by arguing all shall be saved, but rather begins by affirming two essential, biblical theological claims about God, which then logically leads to the notion that all shall be saved. </li>
</ul>
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About one year ago <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/about/">Scot McKnight </a> - who is an awesome NT scholar and prolific author/blogger - offered a fairly deficient critique of Talbott's Triad. His only criticism to Talbott and Universalism is that it depends on the belief that human beings may be saved after death. You can read that post <a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2011/07/05/thomas-talbotts-gauntlet/">here</a>.<br />
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- JMW<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Next Post: Alternatives to Traditional Hell</span><br />
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jmwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10775720474363733288noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720168535355928476.post-62704436527809969372012-10-22T08:54:00.002-04:002012-10-22T08:54:40.044-04:00Damned Nonsense! An Introduction<div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Jesus suggested (okay, </span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=matthew%207:4-5&version=NIV"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">commanded</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">) that it would be better to remove the log of wood from one's own eye before attempting to pinch out the speck of sawdust in the eye of another. This is good teaching, especially for Christians regarding the doctrine of salvation. For most of my life I have endured the fingers of many a Christian poking 'round my eye in order to pinch out the specks of dust in my theology of salvation... all the while wondering when their own lumber yard would receive any attention. That time has come. <b>It is time to devote some attention to the spectrum of views on Christian salvation - which, I assure you, <i>are all a bit speckled with sawdust</i>.</b> </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">To put matters simply, all the views of Christian salvation are 'flawed'. There is no such thing as "the clear teaching of Scripture" on the matter. Scripture is ambiguous and conflicting. This is why we must employ our intellect, our tradition, and our experience of the Holy Spirit, as well as the Bible (these 4 sources of revelation are often know as the "</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wesleyan_Quadrilateral"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Quadrilateral</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">"). In a day and age where multitudes of people are dissatisfied with the traditional views of Christian salvation, it behooves us to reflect, reread, and perhaps reform (</span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">ecclesia semper reformanda</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">). </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Personally, I am becoming more and more 'convinced' by the theology of Universalism (I prefer the term 'Full Salvation'). The posts in this series are drawn and adapted from articles that aim to expound the viability of Full Salvation: the notion that all of creation will be saved by God through Jesus the Christ and will live eternally with God. Nevertheless, this view is not without its own baggage, and I aim to present some of that as well.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Some of the topics ahead include:</span><br />
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<ul>
<li>Problems with Calvinism & Arminianism</li>
<li>Annihilationism</li>
<li>C.S. Lewis and <i>The Great Divorce</i></li>
<li>Original Sin</li>
<li>The History of Hell</li>
<li>Jesus and Hell</li>
<li>Human Freedom</li>
<li>Christian Mission</li>
<li>Eastern Orthodox View of Salvation</li>
<li>Christian Universalists</li>
</ul>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">This little blog series derives its name from </span><a href="http://evangelicaluniversalist.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=2549"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Ravi Holy's dissertation</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> entitled "Damned Nonsense: An Argument for Universalism Consisting of a Critique of All the Alternatives to It" and will adapt much of that work. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Please enjoy the posts. Please respond. Please share and tweet. Please wrestle with the arguments. And please be respectful.</b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- JMW</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Tomorrow's post:</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> "Talbott's Triad"</span></span><br />
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jmwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10775720474363733288noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720168535355928476.post-49478881510782248922012-10-19T10:00:00.000-04:002012-10-19T10:00:01.132-04:00SLAMMED á la LUTHER<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">For more insults, see <a href="http://ergofabulous.org/luther/">here</a>.</span>jmwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10775720474363733288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720168535355928476.post-91352768003203481022012-10-18T14:07:00.000-04:002012-10-19T11:14:48.585-04:00The Myth of Tolerance & the Truth of Neighborly Love<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">For quite sometime I have held the opinion that all this talk of "tolerance" is really just a lazy excuse to continue adrift in our self-centered "iWorld" where nobody has to really know, appreciate, or care for anyone else besides themselves. Consequently, I continue to believe that Jesus' call to "Love your neighbor as yourself" is the most profound of all human ethics. I have yet to come across any kind of tolerance as radical and effective as the Judeo-Christian ethic of neighborly love. For it is only in this ethic that we look upon the diverse crowd of those to be 'tolerated' and </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">name them</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> our </span></span><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Neighbor.</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I recently came across this in Dallas Willard's book </span></span><i><a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Knowing-Christ-Today-Spiritual-Knowledge/dp/0060882441"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Knowing Christ Today.</span></span></a></i><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />"Several years ago the scientist and intellectual historian </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">
</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Bronowski"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Jacob Bronowski </span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">produced a television series and a book called </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The Ascent of Man.</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">" In the </span></span><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqOfqBoafTc&feature=related"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">eleventh episode</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> and chapter, he dealt with the great harm done by those who think they know. Supposedly, the harm is done just </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">because </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">they think they know. At the end of the episode he strides out into the ash pond at Auschwitz, squats down, and scoops up a handful of mud. </span></span><br />
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">'This,' he says,' is where people were turned into numbers. Into this pond were flushed the ashes of some four million people. And that was not done by gas. It was done by arrogance. It was done by dogma. It was done by ignorance. When people believe that they have absolute knowledge, with no test in reality, this is how they behave. </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">This what men do when they aspire to the knowledge of the gods.'</span></b></span><br />
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">.... Bronowski certainly regarded himself as expressing moral, though perhaps not religious, knowledge - as not just making a "leap of faith" - when he presses for the elimination of 'absolute' knowledge. Certainly he is not expressing a conclusion of any science known to humankind. And it is fair to ask how one can stand against arrogance and intolerance and persecution </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">except on the basis of knowledge.</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> Is that now what he is doing - resting his case on what he knows? What else is possible? He certainly did not think he was just expressing his own personal belief or commitment. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">And is it not true that the brightest examples of people who stand </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">against</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> arrogance and intolerance are, for the most part, those who stand on the basis of what they take to be religious and moral knowledge? Wasn't that true of most of those who </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">did</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> oppose Hitler and his ash pond? And, just for the record, those who did </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">not</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> oppose Hitler usually blamed it, precisely, on </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">lack</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> of knowledge: "We did not know this was being done!</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Also, it is not obvious, to say the least, that those who have abandoned religious and moral knowledge are </span></b></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">more</span></b></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> tolerant and less inclined to arrogance and cruelty than those who adhere to it. </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Human beings routinely assume superiority on many gorudns other than possession of knowledge. The sad truth is that people can be just as arrogant from belief, commitment, various associations, or simple egotism as from claimed knowledge. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Do we actually find more humility and tolerance, with respect to things that really matter to them, in those who reject the possibility of religious knowledge than in those who accept religious knowledge? </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">What are the empirical facts here, and where are the studies that establish them? Let's be scientific about </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">that.</span></span></i></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Tolerance is not indifference,</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> but a generous regard and even provision for those who differ from us on points we deeply care about. </span><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">To support tolerance - which is not the same as lacking intolerance - more is required than just a lack of certainty concerning differences at issue. We must also care about people.</span></u></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Genuine tolerance itself must be based upon assured knowledge of what is real and what is right. And it always is. It is not a 'leap of faith.' Tolerance is not the lack of something, but the expression of a positive vision of what is good and right, a vision taken to be solidly grounded in the knowledge of how things really are.</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">It has often been considered knowledge that all human beings are equally loved by God, and the call to to tolerance was based on that. It was this type of vision, regarded as knowledge, that led to the abolition of slavery and legal segregation, for example. Such a vision, held as knowledge of how things really are, undergirds the possibility of a neighbor love that comes from the heart and reaches across all human differences."</span></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">- Dallas Willard, </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Knowing Christ Today</span></span></i></div>
jmwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10775720474363733288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720168535355928476.post-83259642362547977342012-10-18T07:05:00.001-04:002012-10-18T07:05:22.077-04:00Neighboring Churches... ?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiP7_HTZs56MIqmTexkjXQIryCB4DPI-cJnowTx9XRGXiEhIsTL9UAidKi4KEQmjNujQX5kk_RLOnX1DIPsG4jL6pMaWh2oewHjD_mPUy7af3KTKQBpt8PaAmcWqJ1WVxF_ZgOE6CNwA/s1600/church+map.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="507" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiP7_HTZs56MIqmTexkjXQIryCB4DPI-cJnowTx9XRGXiEhIsTL9UAidKi4KEQmjNujQX5kk_RLOnX1DIPsG4jL6pMaWh2oewHjD_mPUy7af3KTKQBpt8PaAmcWqJ1WVxF_ZgOE6CNwA/s640/church+map.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">If I type "church" into a Google Map the results are plentiful. In fact, just around the corner from where I live there are two churches literally side by side (see photos below). </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">This modern phenomenon always causes me to wonder: what would Jesus have said if Jews in his day built two synagogues side by side? What would Paul have said if two Jewish Christian communities existed side by side yet never talked to one another?</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbmtng9l-3QNEuRz0oPXq97B0VtZoXJqNVSvNOU87uN_WYLab5DDcz9f_o74mtH7vDllmdm61OdRCeW97MZWAiU2QhF4shaqKRLeu7ji0Vo6nrx_IDAMLKSinsGu_Cf-7kS2X70OAmgQ/s1600/JoanofArc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbmtng9l-3QNEuRz0oPXq97B0VtZoXJqNVSvNOU87uN_WYLab5DDcz9f_o74mtH7vDllmdm61OdRCeW97MZWAiU2QhF4shaqKRLeu7ji0Vo6nrx_IDAMLKSinsGu_Cf-7kS2X70OAmgQ/s400/JoanofArc.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Joan of Arc RC Church</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRgD23wnbmkYc8FHu5tPbey41QBoG4glPM7yIWAoQT5j2G05325bL3D5wFcB9q-D18PVJOSbeEoKbk7WDliyPE6MTGnO7O7WAu_QDph65Lc8cNFNa1wRsyA3m6lXkeq9hGRb4L5912zg/s1600/Redeemer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRgD23wnbmkYc8FHu5tPbey41QBoG4glPM7yIWAoQT5j2G05325bL3D5wFcB9q-D18PVJOSbeEoKbk7WDliyPE6MTGnO7O7WAu_QDph65Lc8cNFNa1wRsyA3m6lXkeq9hGRb4L5912zg/s400/Redeemer.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Joan of Arc in foreground right; Redeemer Lutheran Church in background left</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>jmwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10775720474363733288noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720168535355928476.post-76499234047929575272012-10-17T11:06:00.000-04:002012-10-17T11:06:05.390-04:00Can the Church Answer Questions About Science?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7kfvvlzt9-H1GJofY9VamBjTuX7_bF1txMG3U_smtoTTl5lhdsiRrKTyw9WVb6ME0l4I8c0O7xR2tHQ5J4QY4qygxDcriWuOfCzBSy-HPvaxKtqvsvu9l_xM54HZfYizJLQ5aJDr37A/s1600/6-bible-science.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7kfvvlzt9-H1GJofY9VamBjTuX7_bF1txMG3U_smtoTTl5lhdsiRrKTyw9WVb6ME0l4I8c0O7xR2tHQ5J4QY4qygxDcriWuOfCzBSy-HPvaxKtqvsvu9l_xM54HZfYizJLQ5aJDr37A/s320/6-bible-science.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<a href="http://videoaudiodisco.blogspot.ca/2012/10/can-biology-answer-questions-of.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Yesterday I posted</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> a piece from Dallas Willard's book </span><i><a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Knowing-Christ-Today-Spiritual-Knowledge/dp/0060882441"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Knowing Christ Today</span></a></i><a href="http://www.amazon.ca/Knowing-Christ-Today-Spiritual-Knowledge/dp/0060882441"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> </span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">in which he condemns the audacious claims made by hardline naturalists. In short, Willard contends that the hard sciences are unable to provide certain conclusions to matters outside their realm of study. While I agree with Willard and welcome the warranted critique of the sacred cow of epistemology (science), I think that it is of the utmost importance that we condemn the church for </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">doing the exact same thing</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">. In other words, we must reflect upon where the church and/or Christian institutions draw conclusions to matters that are outside of their own domain.*</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">This is a point that Willard seems to neglect. He writes, "The discrediting of the church as a moral teacher and guide was accentuated by the advances of knowledge that came with the development of science and with the increased knowledge of the past and of other parts of the earth. These advances threatened the authority of the church at a more fundamental level. As widely interpreted, they called into question the basic documents - especially the Bible - and the founding events and personalities of Christian traditions and institutions. The initial result of all this was, as we have noted, the rejection of Jesus Christ and of his core ethical teachings." (Willard, 74-75)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">How is it that "advances of knowledge" and "development of science" became a threat to the Christian tradition? Is it not because Christian institutions themselves had overstepped the "province of their responsibilities" (Willard's term) when it came to certain matters, for example, the sciences? The only reason that the </span><a href="http://burro.astr.cwru.edu/stu/advanced/pre20th_europe_church.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Copernican Revolution </span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"threatened the authority of the church" is because the church had arrogantly drawn conclusions from an ancient text that is not the least bit concerned with what qualifies as modern science. Hence, it was not merely Enlightenment advances but also the church's epistemic overreaching (and stubbornness) that contributed to its decline.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Can the church answer questions about science? Absolutely. But not without participating </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">in the domain</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> of modern science </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">with</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> other scientists. When Christians draw conclusions about science solely from Scripture they are overreaching the domain of Scripture's own responsibilities. To paraphrase Willard, </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Scripture as Scripture</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> </span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">is not even </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">about</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> such issues.</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">So rather than only calling out hardline naturalists for their overzealous conclusions about God or ultimate purpose, let us also call out Christians for their overzealous conclusions about the hard sciences.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">*Ultimately, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">nothing</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> is outside the domain of the church </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">in theory.</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> The church is concerned with the whole of life and reality to the extent that we might possibly come to know it. This clearly includes the hard sciences and all other fields of possible study. However, this endeavor requires the utmost caution and responsibility to pursue knowledge unceasingly. It cannot be done lazily and without study; for this leads to the overreaching of our domain.</span>jmwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10775720474363733288noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720168535355928476.post-79657404514454093522012-10-16T10:55:00.002-04:002012-10-16T10:56:32.174-04:00Can Biology Answer Questions of Cosmology & Ethics?<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"Let me summarize my views on what modern evolutionary biology tells us loud and clear. ... <b>There are no gods, no purposes, no goal-directed forces of any kind.</b> There is no life after death. When I die, I am absolutely certain that I am going to be dead. That's the end for me. There is no ultimate foundation for ethics, no ultimate meaning to life, and no free will for humans, either." </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">- Dr. William B. Provine, professor of Biological Science at Cornell University, in </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Origins Research 16 (1),</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> p.9</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"Logically viewed, this statement is simply laughable. Nowhere within the published, peer-reviewed literature of biology - even </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">evolutionary </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">biology - do </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">any</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> of the statements of which the professor is 'absolutely certain' appear as valid conclusions of sound research. One trembles to think that an expert in the field would not know this or else would feel free to disregard it. <b>Biology as a field of research and knowledge is not even </b></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>about</b></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b> such issues.</b> It simply does not deal with them. They do not fall within the province of its responsibilities. Yet it is very common to hear such declamations about the state of the universe offered up in lectures and writings by specialists in certain areas who have a missionary zeal for their personal causes."</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">- Dallas Willard, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Knowing Christ Today, </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">p.5</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> [Provine quote included in Willard text]</span></div>
jmwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10775720474363733288noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720168535355928476.post-88681193820899661342012-10-02T11:58:00.003-04:002012-10-02T18:29:32.390-04:00The Answer to Poverty: Democrats or Republicans?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">It's no secret that both Democrats and Republicans disagree about how to help those who suffer from the cycle of poverty. Each party has their respective ideology and method for solving the issue. So which one is better? I say <b>neither</b>.</span></span><br />
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I was recently talking with a friend of mine who used an illustration to simplify the difference between the Dems and the GOP. Imagine, he said, you have a group of people who are impoverished and in need of food; the Dems answer is to provide food for those people via the government, while the GOP's answer is to have the government hold out the food like a prize and motivate those in need to work for it. The former approach meets the immediate need while the latter supposedly meets the long term need.</span></span><br />
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Oversimplified as it is, this illustration reveals something fascinating about the current political brain: nobody is thinking in terms of </span></span><b><i><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenosis"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">kenosis</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">.</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> <b>Neither Democrat or Republic - or the average American - is ever thinking about the option of </b></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>downward mobility</b></span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b> in order to bring healing to the poor.</b> The possible solutions offered in our political dialogue nearly always presuppose the maintenance of the status quo, which especially includes our economic status. </span></span></span></b><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Put simply, most Americans - especially politicians - want to bring about a solution to poverty that does not require any sacrifice on their own part (aside, perhaps, from the casual monetary donation). How could anyone imagine downward mobility? We live to accumulate, increase wealth, and climb the social ladder!</span></span></span></b><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">But anyone who confesses to follow Jesus must ask the question: C</span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">an poverty be healed without sacrifice? Can poverty be resolved if I am unwilling to become poor myself? </span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> I wrestle with this question as I read of Jesus' encounter with the rich young ruler in </span></span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+10%3A17-22&version=NIV"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Mark 10:17-22</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">. Jesus invites the man to join the kingdom movement by selling his things and giving to the poor, but the man is unable to downgrade his economic status and therefore unable to enter into the movement that has </span></span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=luke%204:18-21&version=NIV"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">good news for the poor.</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> And then there is the </span></span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=acts%202:44-47&version=NIV"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">new community at Pentecost</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> who relinquished economic status and private property and instead embraced downward mobility and a community of sharing. </span></span><br />
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">In Shane Claiborne's cogent confessional </span></span><i><a href="http://www.thesimpleway.org/index.php/store/product/the-irresistible-revolution/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The Irresistible Revolution</span></span></a></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">, he exhorts readers to follow Jesus into community with the poor: </span></span><br />
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"Far from saying in defeat that we should not worry about the poor, since they will always be among us, <b>Jesus is pointing the church to her true identity</b> - she is to live close to those who suffer. The poor will always be among us, because the empire will always produce poor people and they will find a home in the church, a citizenship in the kingdom of God, where the 'hungry are filled with good things and the rich sent away empty'." (160)</span></span><br />
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Instead of programs that give to the poor from a distance or incentives offered from the upper echelons, Jesus invites his followers to go and live among the poor. Claiborne continues: </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">
</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"[When] the church becomes a distribution center, a place where the poor come to get stuff and the rich come to dump stuff [then...] no radical new community is formed. And Jesus did not set up a program but modeled a way of living that incarnated the reign of God, a community in which people are reconciled and our debts are forgiven just as we forgive our debtors (all economic words). That reign did not spread through organizational establishments or structural systems. It spread like disease - through touch, through breath, through life. It spread through people infected by love." (159)</span></span><br />
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The current political dialogue is evidence that we do not yet understand Jesus' invitation to "downward mobility." We live in a disoriented world where private property and economic status equals security and happiness. However, we must remember that Jesus is offering nothing less than abundant life and the riches of the kingdom of God. After seeing the rich young man walk away Jesus explains to his followers that <u>no one who has left behind family or possessions will not find 100 times that in the family of God.</u> "As we abandon our possessions and biological families, we trust that others too are abandoning their possessions and families, and that there will be an abundance that begins now and lasts for eternity." (Claiborne, 176) If you don't buy this ideology, then I challenge you to read Claiborne's book and read about how the poor take care of one another in the kingdom of God (I'll personally mail you my own copy - but have only one).</span></span><br />
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</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">While Democrat and Republican politicians continue to argue back and forth about how to help the poor while maintaining socio-economic borders, none seem willing to go the way of Jesus and "downgrade" to be with the poor. Thus, I am neither fooled nor enticed to believe that they offer any real solution to the issues surrounding poverty in our country. The answer, I believe, is what Jesus modeled and invited us to follow: become poor, live with the poor, and share together in the kingdom of God.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I can already hear the objectors screaming, "That will never work!" So allow me to say two things. Firstly, go on screaming; and debating; and so on. I'm not trying to figure out what will "work." I'm trying to figure out what's </span><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">true.</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> I'm trying to figure out </span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">how to follow Jesus because God has promised that in Christ the reality of the entire cosmos finds its true order, its true hope, its true love, its true life. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Secondly, imagine what it might look like if all the people who professed to follow Jesus followed him into life with the poor. Many may scream "That will never work," but imagine if Christians actually dedicated their life to figuring out what it means to live with the poor.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">For a more politically engaging resource, see this awesome treatise </span><a href="http://esa12.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Canmyvotebebiblical.pdf"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"Can My Vote Be Biblical?"</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> from </span><a href="http://www.evangelicalsforsocialaction.org/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Evangelicals for Social Action</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">*ADDENDUM*</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">While this post is more of a polemic against the <i>anti-kenotic</i> approaches to resolving poverty, I realize that I may have also made "downward mobility" sound a bit too easy. It's not easy. It is not as if we can all quit our jobs or sell our possessions and begin living among the poor - whatever that really even means and looks like in our day. Therefore, I'd like to simply offer a few ideas about how to begin moving toward life with the poor in your respective communities.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>1. Look for the food.</b> Most communities have localized food banks or organized dinners for those who need food. Find out about these things. Go and spend some time at a food bank on a saturday morning; talk with the people there; maybe you'll find ways to share your services and make friends.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Find a church that hosts a meal for the marginalized and attend it. All you have to do is show up - and that's the hardest part. Just go! And don't go to stand behind the table and serve (unless they really need servers!). Sit down and share a meal together. Break down the hierarchies and divisions. Be with others. It's free and it's easy. I've met some amazing people this way.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>2. Volunteer your self.</b> In addition to food programs, there are always after-school programs and organizations that reach out to marginalized youth (think YMCA or Big Brothers Big Sisters). Find a program that allows you to be with others. And if you can't find one, start one. Drop in to a Drop-In Center and play cards.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>3. Explore your community.</b> Maybe walk instead of drive. Maybe go to areas you don't usually go. Maybe spend some time on the street or in a park. Try that coffee shop that is implicitly only for the street folk (instead of the trendy café). Talk to a person who begs for money; ask if you can buy them a meal or share a cup of coffee. And so on.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>4. Practice hospitality.</b> John Caputo says that hospitality is not when we have our friends for dinner. Hospitality is when we welcome in the stranger and those who are in need. This is much easier said than done; and it is indeed a danger to invite strangers into your home. Perhaps a good place to begin is by inviting people to participate in your church community.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>5. Fast from materialism.</b> Learn to live more simply and give more generously. Fast from unnecessary luxuries when you can. Forego the brand new sneakers that cost and absurd $80. Try shopping at used clothing stores and discover the blessing of recycled materials. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><b>6. Rethink your future goals. </b> When you think about where you want to be in 5 years, think about how you might be closer to living with the poor and marginalized.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">This is not easy and I'm still trying to figure this out myself. If you've got ideas, please share.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span>jmwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10775720474363733288noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720168535355928476.post-6823442145255424792012-09-28T12:47:00.001-04:002012-09-28T12:48:04.816-04:00The Lifted Burden<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"When we become a burden to ourselves, when we don't want to keep on going, when we are afraid of the mountain lying in front of us, when guilt feelings weigh down heavily on our mind, when we feel we have been lied to and victimized by the world, then we need only one thing - we need a person whom we can fully trust without reservation, a person who understands everything, hears everything, a person who bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, forgives all things. We need a person to whom we can say: 'You are rest, you are gentle peace, you are the longing and the one who stills it' (Ruckert). We need a person under whose eyes our suffering disappears and out heart opens up in silent love, a person who gently takes our burden from us and frees us from our fits of rage and from all our fears. In so doing, this person delivers our soul from the world... Now the greatest of all miracles is that every individual has and can find this person because this person calls each of us to himself on his own initiative, offers himself, invites us. This person who is our rest, our peace, our refreshment, and our deliverance, is Jesus Christ alone. He alone is truly human. And in this true humanity he is God."</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A Testament to Freedom</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, 235-36</span></span>jmwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10775720474363733288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720168535355928476.post-84628989305151106802012-09-24T13:05:00.001-04:002012-09-24T13:05:28.532-04:00Sex as Escape from the World<div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">The times are tough now, just getting tougher</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">This old world is rough, it's just getting rougher</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">Cover me, come on baby, cover me</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">Well I'm looking for a lover who will come on in and cover me</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">Promise me baby you won't let them find us</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">Hold me in your arms, let's let our love blind us</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">Cover me, shut the door and cover me</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">Well I'm looking for a lover who will come on in and cover me</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">Outside's the rain, the driving snow</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">I can hear the wild wind blowing</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">Turn out the light, bolt the door</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">I ain't going out there no more</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">This whole world is out there just trying to score</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">I've seen enough I don't want to see any more,</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">Cover me, come on and cover me</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">I'm looking for a lover who will come on in and cover me</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;"><br style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px;">Looking for a lover who will come on in and cover me</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"The only hope the singer has is to find a lover who will 'cover' him, in whose presence (and in whose body) he can hide, and lose himself, and avoid the challenges of life. Outside there is rain and driving snow. Against these forces of nature - and the social forces they represent - the sing wants only to retreat into a purely private life. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">I ain't going out there no more, </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">he sings. He no longer wants to face the struggles and trials life continually deals forth. </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Let our love blind us,</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> the singer implores his companion. Let us be blind to the problems of the world and lose ourselves in one another. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">But such a love, founded entirely on escape from the world, is a truncated love. In its most profound sense, perhaps, love is the opposite of escape. It is by engaging life, in all its messiness and contradictoriness and complexity and hurt and pain, that we truly come to know love. The further we move from this full engagement, the close we approach mere hedonism." (Jeffrey B. Symynkywicz, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Gospel-according-Bruce-Springsteen/dp/0664231691">The Gospel According to Bruce Springsteen</a>, </span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">95)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">"Today, more than ever, the lesson of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marguerite_Duras#Authorship">Marguerite Duras's novels</a> is relevant: the way - the </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">only</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> way - to have an intense and fulfilling personal (sexual) relationship is not for the couple to look into each other's eyes, forgetting about the world around them, but, while holding hands, to look together outside, at a third point (the Cause for which both are fighting, in which both are engaged). (Slavoj Zizek, </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Welcome-Desert-Real-September-Related/dp/1859844219/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1348505282&sr=1-1&keywords=welcome+to+the+desert+of+the+real">Welcome to the Desert of the Real</a>,</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"> 85)</span></div>
jmwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10775720474363733288noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3720168535355928476.post-71040936559810884302012-09-18T15:00:00.000-04:002012-09-18T19:33:04.824-04:00Theology as Pastime: Learning to Enjoy 'God-Talk'<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEichtL_Zn9f8K4AIxewn2Z3sD-1WZB4s0oeDuXpL5Mlictzn7uVMNTCuVMoKMive5m2tSspxPyZi7vL0CJmENnS11K6_4VO87A6af4tsCWJQuIxJDHL45pDjaxSDLPk2svzmAl0B0NIHQ/s1600/BarTheology+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="203" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEichtL_Zn9f8K4AIxewn2Z3sD-1WZB4s0oeDuXpL5Mlictzn7uVMNTCuVMoKMive5m2tSspxPyZi7vL0CJmENnS11K6_4VO87A6af4tsCWJQuIxJDHL45pDjaxSDLPk2svzmAl0B0NIHQ/s320/BarTheology+copy.jpg" width="320" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times;"></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I love theology. I could sit around for hours talking about God, the world, and what it means to be human (provided enough libation). But not everyone shares my affinity for theology. For some, theology is intimidating and serious business: a battleground for truth or a religious exam that can be passed or failed. For others, it is irrelevant and downright boring. This is unfortunate and yet understandable. Having spent my life in the church I too have grown dissatisfied with theology as many practice it. <b>That's why I've come to approach theology as a kind of pastime:</b> "an activity that someone does regularly for enjoyment rather than work; a hobby," (Oxford-American Dictionary). </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here's why I prefer this approach:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></u></b></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">1. There's No Pressure</span></span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">.</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Pastimes are activities that bring us enjoyment, not performance anxiety. Theology can </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">never</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> be the criterion for salvation because those doing the 'theologizing' are</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">saved by [grace through faith in] Jesus the Christ. To put it simply, Jesus, not theology, saves. No theological question or doubt can change that. </span></span><a href="http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01546a.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">St. Anselm of Canterbury</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> (1033-1109) famously defined theology as "faith seeking understanding" and I believe this definition gives us great wisdom. Christian theology is the <i>consequence</i></span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> of <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">or</span> supplement to <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">faith</span></span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, but not the means to 'securing' or 'proving' faith.</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When St. Paul proclaimed the </span></span><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=rom.%208:37-39&version=NIV"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">certainty of God's love,</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I'm pretty sure it covered theological exploration. There is therefore no pressure in exploring Open Theism, Womanist Theology, Liberation Theology, Universalism, etc. </span></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Morris_(Methodist_minister)"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Collin Morris</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> affirms, <b>"Jesus has given us the freedom to be both rigorously agnostic and insatiably curious.</b> And the community which bears His name exists to promote free enquiry, not to defend some orthodoxy. No doors are closed to us. No thoughts are forbidden. We can explore any system or philosophy or idea fearlessly and judge the truth or lie in it according to the single standard that it helps us to get at the meaning of Jesus in the concrete event," (</span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Include Me Out! Confessions of an Ecclesiastical Coward</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, 82).</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm not saying that theology doesn't matter (see below). But I am saying that salvation does not depend on one's ability to theologize. And this fact could afford many Christians the comfort to </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><u>fearlessly</u></span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> explore the questions that burn within.</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></u></b></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><b><u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">2. It's an Art, Not a Science</span></span></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">T</span></span></span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">he very word "theology" ends with an academic suffix: -ology. That suffix conveys a scientific, orderly account of the subject to which is attached. Hence, theology is often viewed as a systematic account of God just like biology is a systematic account of living organisms. When theology is approached in this manner it becomes a task for the God-scientists: the metaphysicians and philosophers of the ivory towers. Theology becomes stale, objective, and abstract; distanced from ordinary life. No wonder </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=el75UyYO554"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Jeff Tweedy sang, </span></span></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Theologians don't know nothin' about my soul."</span></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But theology is not a science, it is an art. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It is not an objective investigation to discover evidence and proofs, it is a subjective adventure into the richness of <i>life itself.</i> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It is for this reason that many are beginning to use the term </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://theopoetics.net/">theo</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><a href="http://theopoetics.net/">poetics</a></i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> to describe theological exploration. One </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://fullcontactchristianity.org/2011/10/16/third-wave-theopoetics-toward-a-definition/">blogger</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> writes, "Theopoetics is the appreciation of - no, the embodied luxuriating in - God's words and works as </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>art.</i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> The same God wrote the Bible as spoke the world, so theopoetics extends from the exegesis of Paul's use of 'kosmos' to the dancing of taste buds at breakfast this morning." (I highly recommend reading this blogger's entire post. See 'blogger' hyperlink above.)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This means that theology (or <i>theopoetics</i>) is not confined to the four walls of the classroom or to the ink of scholarly papers. Theology happens in the dirt, around the dinner table, under the stars, and across the bar top. It comes in the form of songs, stories, paintings, films, parables, jokes, prayers, hugs, dancing, food, drink, and all the riches of life. It requires not only information and reason, but experience, passion, and <b>imagination</b>.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Like any art, theology is an expression of what it means to be human and therefore a witness to the God of Life whose image we bear. The greatest revelation of God came in the form of <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=john%201:14&version=NIV">skin and bones</a>, it is therefore imperative that our theological exploration look outward into the world as well as upward. As <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marjorie_Hewitt_Suchocki">Marjorie Suchocki</a> writes, "God's aim directs us toward the world, not necessarily toward God." </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When theology is seen as the "art of life" it will soon become a favored pastime. Let us remember that p</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">astimes don't have to be done "right," they are to be done <i>well</i>. </span></span></span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><u>3. It's More than 'About'</u>.</b> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">If I wanted to know about telephones I could go to Wikipedia or buy a book about the history of telephones. If I wanted to know you, dear reader, then I would probably need to sit down with you and share a cup of coffee (probably many). The difference is that you are <i>living </i>and <i>becoming</i> whereas a telephone is inanimate. We cannot come to know living beings through objective facts <u>alone</u>. Living things require the dynamism of relationship and relationship is, of course, the oldest and greatest pastime of all.</span></span></span></b></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Christian faith asserts that <b>God is </b><i><b>living.</b></i> God is therefore not an object to know <i>about</i>, but a Subject to know and be known by. In the same way that I cannot replace my wife with mere knowledge about her, we cannot replace the living God with a static, mechanic set of beliefs. Is this not a dominant motif in the Gospels? Those "children of Abraham" may know their Scripture, but they cannot see the living, breathing God-in-the-flesh! <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=ps.%20135:15-18&version=NIV">The Psalmist warns</a> that those who create such breathless idols will end up putting their trust in them instead of the God who is alive and</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> on the move. One of my favorite Gospel passages is at the <a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=mark%2016:6-7&version=NIV">end of Mark</a> when the women are told that the risen Jesus is on the move, "going ahead of you to Galilee." We must take seriously that Jesus is not just a historical figure to read about, but the <i>living</i> Savior who may, in fact, be doing more than just sitting in a chair in the sky.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Theology at its very core is a <i>relational </i>pastime. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The late </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Merton">Thomas Merton </a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">once explained that theology "is the way to a vital contact with a God Who is alive, and not to the view of an abstract First Principle worked out by syllogisms from the evidence of created things." (</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>New Seeds of Contemplation, </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">127) When we approach theology as a relational pastime that is to be enjoyed purely for the sake of itself, we come to see that our 'theologizing' is a means to knowing the God who is alive. Again Merton writes, "Theology ceases to be a body of abstractions and becomes a living Reality Who is God Himself." I have found that approaching theology as a pastime allows me to enjoy getting to know the Living God who is more mysterious, more beautiful, and more alive than I can even imagine.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Like any pastime, theology becomes more enjoyable the more that we do it. Perhaps this is not because we get "good" at theology, but because it is the very means by which we come to know the One in Whom we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28).</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">There will no doubt remain those who wish to practice theology as an objective science (and consequently those who find theology boring and irrelevant). </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But as for me, I'm going to continue to practice theology as my favorite pastime: to soak up the richness of life and reflect upon what kind of crazy, beautiful Lover is behind and embedded within it; to wrestle with the complexities and injustices that keep me awake at night; and to wonder how it is that the Christ Event speaks to me and the world today.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Furthermore, I'm not trying to say that this is the <i>best</i> approach to theology. But it is working well for me and I'm convinced that there are many who might also benefit from this approach. If you've found this post helpful, please comment or send me a message. Peace.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">-JMW</span></div>
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jmwhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10775720474363733288noreply@blogger.com2