We’re
hard pressed to paint a definitive picture of God, but instead of being
disappointed about this, we should embrace the privilege of unknowing. In this
case, there just might be a need to exchange idealism for realism – a
hermeneutical realism, when it comes to knowing God. Not only, for example,
does God have numerous names, but God is also referred to in a multitude of
ways in the biblical text. There’s a real diversity of theological
representations here that don’t settle into a nice comfortable package. Debate
then as to who God is happens in the text itself. Further, as we explore the
natural world, we continue to be amazed by its seemingly unending magnitude and
its delicate fragility. This raises plenty of theological possibilities,
leaving us in a position of having to wait and see. Thus, whether we delve into
the biblical text or plumb the depths of nature, I’d wager God is indeed a
mysterious character.
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It seems to me Western culture is increasingly one of dislocation and fragmentation. Modernist notions of stability and permanence are rightly being shattered, as they were rooted in deception. In its place, however, postmodern nomads now wander from here to there - to nowhere, and this is not primarily a physical or geographical phenomenon, it pertains to the way some folks view life. False certainty has been replaced by false uncertainty. Flitting from this to that and back again is so common today. Many attempt to re-invent themselves by the hour. No home, no boundaries, no commitments – drifting. Yet, these powerful, persuasive, and misleading images often peddled by our culture and embraced by the crowd, leave us destitute and floundering. In light of the waning credibility of modernism, nomadic postmodernism is not a viable option. We’re worth more than that and thus have to explore other possibilities that take this key factor seriously and then go from there.
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There are at least two types of giving: obligation and desire. These are not mutually exclusive, but the latter is less duty orientated than the former. On the one hand, when we go to the store and buy something, we are obliged to give in order to receive – this is called exchange. On the other hand, when we desire to give, we do so without receiving – this is called gift. We can say, therefore, that there are two economies – the economy of exchange and the economy of gift. Life, generally, and relationships specifically, are a radical negotiation between these two.
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Many Christians who hold to the interpretation that God created in six literal 24 hour days fret about the strong scientific evidence for human evolution and I’d wager they have good reason to do so. This reading is becoming less plausible all the time and an avalanche of credible information will eventually bury it. But the fear for them is that if things didn’t happen exactly as they think, then the biblical text can no longer be trusted – it is not history. Yet, this is a false fear, since the biblical text is comprised of several different directions and genres – sometimes conflicting, sometimes harmonious. Surely, for example, the gospels have a much more historiographical impulse than early Genesis. So, my suggestion is to go ahead and let go of your views of the literal history of the creation stories, since there are far better alternatives that correspond to the validity of the scientific informer. You have much to gain, and nothing worthwhile to lose.
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