Means the Same Thing

I remember approaching a theology professor in my Biblical Backgrounds class one day after we were talking about Genesis. I asked her how she thought we should read Genesis in relation to modern science. She told me that we shouldn't and I was a little bit confused. She told me that the biblical text was not written to address modern questions about science and that we should not try to read it in that way. After doing some thinking and reading, I saw how wise she was in that regard. Since then, I have heard many other wise men and women of God say exactly that. One of the best things I have learned from my hermeneutics classes is to read the Bible as the Bible and to identify where I am foisting my own cultural assumptions and questions on texts that really were not addressing those questions in the first place.

Recently, in a Sunday school class, there was a good debate about how exactly we should read Genesis 1. There were, of course, those who insisted on a type of young-earth creationism as the only reading one should consider, and then there were those (myself included) who said that there are many possible ways to read the text, the "literal 24-hour position" being one of them.

Starting from the early days of Christianity (I am not too familiar with Jewish readings from earlier periods), there have been questions raised about how to read the creation stories in the book of Genesis. Augustine believed that the days of Genesis were not days in the ordinary sense due to factors such as the sun not showing up until the fourth day. The poetic nature of both Genesis 1 and 2 have caused many theologians to have differing views of what exactly the author (perhaps Moses?) intended for his audience to consider. The advent of modern science raised more questions. After all, ever since Archbishop Ussher "calculated" the age of the earth in the sixteenth century based on biblical genealogies, the fact that geology and cosmology seems to indicate a very old earth has caused Christians to re-examine some of their previously held assumptions. The result has been a plethora of readings of Genesis 1 and 2. Again, the poetic nature of these passages makes many of these readings possible.

While Christians may disagree, as they have from the beginning, on how exactly these passages should be read, the various readings have one thing in common. Whether one adopts a "young-earth literalist" perspective or a "theistic evolutionary" perspective, these positions have been articulated and developed by Christians who are concerned to uphold the integrity of the scriptural witness. I can list many dedicated theologians who love God and are one hundred percent orthodox Christians who hold to many of these views. Perhaps some readings are better than others (the "gap-theory" way of reading the text continues to puzzle me), but all positions have their weaknesses as well. How does the theistic evolutionist square away the seemingly brutal process of natural selection with a loving God? How does a literalist reconcile the contradictions between Genesis 1 and 2 (in Genesis 1, humans are created on the sixth day after everything else; in Genesis two, humans are created before plants and animals, and even the weather.)

Perhaps that is why the author, guided by the Spirit of God wrote it using such poetic imagery. The text is bad at answering our questions about nature or cosmology, but it is excellent at answering our questions about God, ourselves, and our relationship to God. The text polemicized against the pagan religions of the ancient near east which worshiped the sun, moon, stars, and other facets of nature. Many people believed humans were created as the result of angry gods in conflict with each other; humans were to be slaves of the gods in some cases. Genesis tells the world that is not the case. Yahweh created all things, including the stuff you pagans worship. Humans are the result of a loving act of creation. We are designed to partner with Yahweh in taking care of his good earth and to have perfect relationship to him and each other. These theological truths are true today. Science changes over time, but this message about God stays the same. Whether one believes in a gap-theory, literal 24 hour creation, day age creation, historical creationism, theistic evolution, creation as pictorial representation, etc., the meaning of the text is the same. Perhaps that is why none of the creeds specify a specific method of creation as orthodox other than that "I believe in God Almighty maker of heaven and earth and Jesus Christ his only begotten son, our Lord."

The Quest for the Kingdom of God

The Quest for the Kingdom of God
I decided to set out into the world on a quest,
For I wanted to find the Kingdom of God.
I started in the great churches and cathedrals that the world likes so much,
For are they not so be the Kingdom’s palaces?
But I found only remnants of the Kingdom.
I then read the best of human philosophy.
For the Kingdom may be within our rational psyche?
But where wisdom lived, there folly squatted.
I then looked to the rocks, trees, animals, and stars
For, I thought, maybe the kingdom is to be found in nature?
Yet again, the Kingdom could not be found.
Finally, I while walking among the poor and hurting,
I began to see the Kingdom.
The priest, the missionary, and every ordinary person,
Who gave a cup of cold water to the thirsty in the name of the King,
Were, I realized, the earls and princes of the Kingdom.
Those who heal wounds of physical and spiritual kind,
Those who die before taking up the sword,
Those are the Kingdom’s builders.
Not a place on a map or a theory written on paper,
But thousands of souls doing the work of their Master.
When I found them, I found the Kingdom of God.

What I Love About Fundamentalists

I'm actually not kidding when I title this post "What I Love About Fundamentalists;" There are things that I believe we can all learn from them. When most of us hear the term "Fundamentalist Christian," our minds probably fill with images of rabid, hateful, "God hates you, you, and you, but loves me," fanatics. We think of the people who, if the even send their kids to school, are the ones who are up in arms when evolution is taught in science class, or when history class doesn't claim that the founding fathers of America were copying and pasting the Bible into the Constitution. We think of people who are narrow-minded and opinionated; people who hate the world, and feel that there is some sort of evil conspiracy abroad coming in the forms of post-modernism, secularism, and homosexuality. When it comes to the Bible, they believe that it practically dropped out of heaven, and offers hard and fast rules for absolutely every single area of human existence (the fundamentalist interpretation, however, is the only valid one; readings by evangelicals, catholics, or anyone else are seen as deficient). Those are definitely the caricatures of fundamentalists that we are all familiar with. Sadly, there is often a hint of truth to the caricature.

There is good news, however, and it is that those are, indeed, mostly caricatures. What fundamentalists are often portrayed as in the news and in the media, is often them at their worst, rather than their best. Rarely do we hear about the great works of love that fundamentalist Christians do in the name of Christ. Though they are painted as intolerant bigots, I have yet to meet a fundamentalist that does not truly care about people. For the most part, fundamentalist Christians love the Lord and are trying to live out the Christian life in the best way they know how.

It is true that Fundamentalists have (unintentionally) hurt many people, both Christian and otherwise. Many non-Christians have felt condemned by the well-meaning evangelistic attempts by Fundamentalists. Many Christians have felt judged, smothered, and burdened by guilt in Fundamentalist churches. The world really doesn't like them, and, sadly, many Christians like to poke fun at them and their "narrow, judgmental" ways. However, the fundamentalists are our Christian brothers and sisters. They are sinners just like us, and while they may have many shortcomings, they also have much that is good about them. For example, their love for God, the Bible, and living a life that looks different from the world is something that all Christians can learn from.

At the turn of the 19th century, the fundamentalists were the ones who safeguarded orthodox Christian belief from the dangers of "liberal protestantism." "Liberal," in this sense, does not mean caring about the rights of people or helping the poor, but the influx of a modernist ideology into the Christian faith. Fundamentalism sprang out of a time in church history where "modern man" was becoming too "scientific" to believe in things like the virgin birth, the physical resurrection of Christ, the existence of miracles, the divinity of Jesus, etc. Clergymen were denying these essential doctrines and the fundamentalists were the ones who said that Christianity cannot function without these doctrines. (It is interesting to note that in the beginning of what became the fundamentalist movement, some of the theologians, such as B.B. Warfield, were not necessarily opposed to evolution as a mechanism of God's creative acts. The aversion to evolution, it seems, came later on.) Nevertheless, Fundamentalism in the United States helped to guard against the influxes from a theological method that would have deconstructed the Christian faith. They were the ones who refused to compromise the essentials (fundamentals, hence their namesake) of the Christian faith.

We can be thankful for the witness of our fundamentalist brothers and sisters. In the sense that they would rather be unpopular than compromise the essential doctrines of the Christian faith, we can learn from that. In the sense that they believe in the transformation of the heart by Christ, we can emulate that. As evangelicals, we cannot afford to alienate them or belittle them. While they may be too extreme at many points, we must be humble enough to remember that we don't have it all together, either, and that God is working in His people to conform them to the image of His Son.

The Virtue of Simplicity and the Kingdom of God

The problem with money, it is said, is that you never have enough. Of course, money by itself is worthless; it is what you buy with money that counts, and it seems we never have enough to get what we want. Our culture is driven by the desire to accumulate more and more wealth. The individualistic nature of our culture means that the accumulation of wealth is all about me and those closest to me is the highest good. This line of thinking has even infiltrated our churches in the form of the so-called "health and wealth" gospel which reduces the work of God to a force that helps you to acquire bigger houses, more cars, and more money. When was the last time we ever heard a sermon preached about the sin of greed? Who is even interested in hearing about that topic?

I believe that we can see the effects of our greed all around us. Surely the great financial crisis would not have occurred if the population of this country had been satisfied to live within their means. We see it in the great urban areas where people drive their SUVs down the freeway dumping gigatons of pollution into the atmosphere. We see this in the fact that we are often tempted to prioritize cheapness and consumption over care for the earth God has given us. Money and efficiency often takes priority over people and relationships. I wonder if the high divorce rate has anything to do with the drive to consume?

I am intrigued by the idea of a type of monastic living. In the early days of Christianity, monks moved out into the desert to live lives of celibacy, obedience, and poverty while they prayed for the state of the world. They were admired and respected by their Christian brothers and sisters. Today, those values are typically frowned upon. I don't believe that all Christians are called to move out into the desert and live like the ancient monks did, but I do believe we can recover those values in our current stations of life.

I believe that Christians can be an example to a consumer driven culture by exhibiting the virtues of simplicity. When we live within our means and say no to certain things we do not need, we cultivate an attitude of contentment. I've been trying to work on this myself, though it is, admittedly, difficult. Jesus told his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount not to lay up for themselves temporary treasures on earth (Matthew 6:19-21), neither to worry about what they will eat, drink or wear, but to seek first the kingdom of God (Matt. 6:25-34). Jesus says that when our priority is doing the work that he has for us, we will be taken care of. There seems to be something liberating about living a life of simply seeking the Lord, because, while there is never enough stuff to satisfy us, there is plenty of Jesus. I believe that we need to work on living out these ideals more fully.

Two Deaths on a Weekend

This weekend I received news concerning two deaths. The first was of the death of a friend from my old youth group who was killed in Afghanistan. The second was the news that Osama Bin Laden had been killed in Pakistan. It is a strange feeling to spend two days thinking about someone you knew who has been killed in a war, then to find out that the man who was a principle instigator of the war has been killed. Even as myself and people I know mourned over the death of our friend, we felt like rejoicing that our enemy has been killed. It is a very strange feeling, indeed.

The sad truth of the world that we live in is that we will be afflicted by the curse of violence until the coming of the Prince of Peace. We know that sin runs deep and affects every part of our being, our every system, and our every institution. But we also know that the God that we worship and confess is so much greater than any force of sin or violence. According to the gospel of John, the night that Jesus was handed over into the hands of evil, he told his disciples that he told them what he did so that they might have peace. He told them that in the world they will have trouble, but to take heart, because he has overcome the world (John 16:33). To me, this is a great comfort when we live in a world where we face the reality of death and violence every day. Just because Osama Bin Laden has been killed does not mean that we will have peace and safety. After all, it is in the nature of great evil to keep returning in various forms and people. Though we can kill those who would do us harm, we cannot kill the force of sin that makes Hitlers, McVeighs, or Bin Ladens. Only Jesus has killed evil in his obedience to death on a cross, and even at that, he has not yet completely vanquished it. Nevertheless, we can rest assured that the God who gave Himself to an evil world and experienced the power of violence firsthand, conquering it through his resurrection, will be there with us even when our friends fall victim to those forces.

I am glad that this man, Osama Bin Laden, will not be able to harm anyone else ever again. I am thankful for the governments of both the United States, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and all the other countries that have been hunting this man who wanted to do evil (as our President mentioned, he was also a butcher to his fellow Muslims, not just Americans). I also mourn the loss of life, both American and everyone else, that occurred in the hunt for him and his fellow Al Qaeda leaders. We must remember that violence in any form is not the way God wanted us to live. Sometimes it may be necessary to use it against those who wish to do harm, and I think Paul, in Romans 13, makes it clear that the state must function to restrain evil, even using the sword. However, God loves all men and desires all to be saved. He does not rejoice in the death of the wicked, says the prophet, Ezekiel (18:23; 33:11), but wants all to turn to Him. I am disturbed by fact that many people are rejoicing over the blood of Osama Bin Laden. Be glad that he won't harm anybody, by all means, but realize that there is very little that is glorious about the amount of physical, emotional, and spiritual damage that the world has undergone in the process. As Christians, we must pray for all of those who are still directly or indirectly involved with this conflict as we work to bring the gospel of peace to this broken world.