The Internet Monk Archives

Bad Idea. Very Bad Idea. Horrendously Bad Idea.

This is one of the worst ideas I have heard in a long while. Creationist spokesman Ken Ham will debate Bill Nye, science educator from “Bill Nye the Science Guy” on the subject “Is creation a viable model of origins?” at the Creation Museum on February 4.

This is a bad idea from both the perspective of science and that of Christian faith.

From the science side, as Jerry Coyne notes (and I have added some further observations):

This only helps fund the so-called Creation Museum (admission is $25).

Nye is only giving unwarranted credibility to Ham (who is not a scientist). This will enhance Ham’s resume but not Nye’s. Why would anyone who takes science seriously and wants to advance learning engage publicly with someone like Ham?

What experience does Nye have in debating creationists? And he will be on their own ground, in a hall certain to be packed with pro-Ham supporters. This is a recipe for disaster.

This will be almost entirely an exercise in rhetoric, not a serious search for truth.

From the side of those who love the Bible and desire a Jesus-centered and shaped faith:

It continues to foster the false notion that the Bible speaks to the issues at hand and was given for that purpose. Genesis 1-2 (two of eight “creation” texts in the Bible, but somehow the only ones being considered) are not historical reports designed to explain how God created the universe in a scientific sense, as we understand that term. Therefore, the entire subject of the debate, “Is creation a viable model of origins?” is a non sequitur.

By holding this “debate,” Ham continues to attempt to reinforce the impression that his opinion is the Christian worldview, that his organization is engaged in serious interaction with scientists, and that the way Christians should “engage and impact the culture” is through trying to defeat them publicly with arguments. And if you can stack the deck, hold the debate on your home field, and raise a lot of money for your cause in the meantime, all the better! Christianity’s reputation for hucksterism is taking a giant step forward with this event.

Ken Ham comments on the upcoming event here. The culture war agenda is vividly clear when he states that AIG’s theme for the year is “Standing Our Ground, Rescuing Our Kids.” Ham also tips his hand when he says, “It will certainly be a unique opportunity to be witness in person at the Creation Museum!”

This isn’t about serious debate or inquiry. This will not advance learning of any kind — whether of the Bible or our understanding of the natural world. Nor will it advance the cause and reputation of Christians in the world. It will only serve to further separate a segment of very vocal Christians into their little cubbyhole of biblicism and obscurantism. It will leave them feeling that they have witnessed to the “truth” and won a great victory over the forces of evil, unbelief, and falsehood. In fact, regardless of how it goes, it will likely be spun that way. Thus triumphalism will be reinforced and a theology of glory rather than the cross proclaimed.

All around, this is just a bad, bad, bad idea.

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Postscript:

Some have asked for information about previous posts in which we have dealt with creation issues. Here are a handful of some of the clearest ones:

From Michael Spencer: To Be or Not to Be: Why I am not a young earth creationist

Answers Not in Genesis

From Chaplain Mike: The Skinny on Science and Creation

My View of Genesis 1

We did an entire “Creation Week” beginning on June 27, 2010. I encourage those who are interested to pull down the “Archives” tab at the top right of the page and go to “2010 Series by Chaplain Mike” to access all of them.

A Thought for a Snowy Day

As I sit at home today watching the snow fall outside the window and anticipating the coldest temperatures we have seen around here for decades, I came across this thought that I consider worth contemplating.

The reduction of faith to practice has not enriched faith; it has impoverished it. It has let practice itself become a matter of law and compulsion.

– Juergen Moltmann

Selah.

The Homily

Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:4, NASB)

As this is my last homily on iMonk, I hope you will allow me some leeway. Today is the Epiphany of Jesus; that should be our topic. Next week is the Baptism of Jesus. I’m sure whoever writes the homily next Sunday will do a much better job relating the Gospel reading with baptism. But I wanted this topic to try to describe what is going on within me right now.

In baptism we have two actions: the going under, and the rising up; the burial, and the resurrection. Much of the focus on baptism is our rising up from the watery grave to become the new creation St. Paul tells us we are. We don’t want to spend much time on the burial under the water. I remember when I was baptized—on my birthday, July 17, in 1974. It was in a creek in Centerville, Ohio, behind the house of a family in my church. Even though it was summertime, the water was freezing. And it seemed like the preacher held me under forever. I began to wonder if I was ever going to come up again.

Burial. Finality. Death.

Let us not rush past this. There can be no resurrection without death. And with death comes burial. Baptism is that burial.

One of the greatest dangers for surfers, especially those who ride giant waves, is being buried by a wave beneath the surface of the water, pushed and twisted so that he doesn’t know which way is up. Deaths occur when the surfer begins swimming as quickly as possible toward what he thinks is “up,” but in reality is swimming “down.” Thus the phrase “he doesn’t know up from down” can be a death call.

And that is where I am right now. I don’t know up from down. I am once again in the burial stage of baptism. I have been pushed under the waters by the crushing wave of depression. Just as I thought I was about to break through to the surface, I find myself fighting to find the way up once again. I am about out of breath, but there is no breathing underwater. Or in the grave.

Is there always the promise of life after death? Or is it that we find life in death? Or perhaps it is life through death. Whatever the words used, right now I in the grip of the wave that is pushing me down down down.

Please don’t ask me what I think God is trying to teach me through all of this. I don’t think he is trying to teach me anything. I don’t know that he is interested in anything but my death. That is Jesus’ call to his followers, you know. He calls each of us to embrace death and accept our burial. And we are to do this again and again every day. How is it that others can do this so well where as it has led me to a place where I often pray to not see another sunrise? Is this what Jesus means by dying to self?

There’s a movie I have yet to see. It came and went on only one screen here in Tulsa without me getting to it. Perhaps I can see it once it hits RedBox. I have read about it, however. The movie is called All Is Lost, and it stars Robert Redford. Redford is alone on his boat, the Virginia Jean, in the middle of the Indian Ocean when he collides with a much larger cargo ship, which rips a hole Redford’s boat. Redford tries all he can to patch the hole, but finally realizes his boat is doomed, so he takes what he can and boards a life raft. He tries to find his way to shipping lanes before his scant supplies run out. On the eight day in his raft he writes a note, puts it in a jar and throws it overboard. The note reads, I’m sorry. I know that means little at this point, but I am. I tried. I think you would all agree that I tried. To be true, to be strong, to be kind, to love, to be right. But I wasn’t. All is lost.

That is the note I am writing today. I’ve tried. I’ve done all I know to do, but my raft is sinking. I want to keep going, but I can’t. I don’t know know how the movie ends. I don’t know know if Redford’s character lives or dies. I do know that my ultimate end is life eternal. But right now, I feel as if all is lost. I have tried to keep going through the darkness of depression that I never saw coming. I’ve tried as publisher of this site to be true, to be strong, to be kind, to love, to be right. But I cannot do it any longer.

Thus, I am leaving this post. I have enjoyed every moment I have been able to spend with you. We have wrestled and struggled through some challenging topics over the years. We have laughed and cried together. We have rejoiced and we have questioned and we have resolved. I have already received messages from many of you saying you will be praying for me. I know you will, and that brings me more comfort than you can imagine. Thank you for everything. Take care of one another, ok?

I don’t want to end on a negative note. I confess here and now that I trust in the God of the living. That I believe he has not forgotten me. I trust that, by his grace, I will rise above the surface once again.

All is lost—that is the burial of baptism. What was once lost, however, will be found once again. There will come the rising out of the water. I don’t know when that will occur. I hope it is soon.

Let us pray.

Saturday Ramblings 1.4.14

Welcome to the first Saturday Ramblings of the new year. If this is your first visit to the iMonastery, Saturday Ramblings is the time each week for us to do some light housekeeping. We sweep up all the scraps from the week and, tossing them together, we call them Saturday Ramblings. So grab a cup of coffee, get your pipe and slippers, and let’s get ready to ramble.

Esquire magazine has announced its Best Dressed Man for 2013. And the winner is … Pope Francis. Yes, even though he has shunned the fur-lined cape and the fancy red shoes, this pope still dresses pretty snazzy, at least according the Esquire.

Best dressed or no, there are some wealthy Catholics who are not too happy with what the pope has to say about the accumulation of money and capitalism in general. In certain evangelical circles, you would never ever make the money people mad by what you say. I don’t think it is the same in Catholicism, do you? Or at least not with this pope.

Have you been following the story of Jahi McMath, the 13-year-old girl who went in for a tonsillectomy and, tragically, has now been declared brain dead? You can read the details here. Where do you stand in this? Is it time to pull the plug, or should the parents go on fighting and believing for her healing? What do you think?

Continue reading “Saturday Ramblings 1.4.14”

Brian Zahnd: Axiomatic Thoughts on Christ and the Bible

Brian Zahnd has written a wonderfully clear article on the distinction between biblicism and Christianity, called Scripture as Witness to the Word of God.

I commend it to you in its entirety. As a taste, I present this list of “axiomatic thoughts on Christ and the Bible” with which he opens his post:

The Bible is the word of God that bears witness to the Word of God — Jesus Christ.

The Logos-Word became flesh — not a book.

Jesus is God. The Bible is not.

The Bible did not create the Heavens and Earth — the Word (Christ) did.

We worship Jesus; we do not worship the Bible.

The Bible is not a member of the Trinity.

The Bible is not God. Jesus is God.

The Bible is not perfect. (There are parts of it we now regard as obsolete; e.g. Levitical codes.)

Christ is the perfection of God as a human being.

What the Bible does infallibly is point us to Jesus Christ.

There is one mediator between God and man…and it’s not the Bible.

The Bible is the inspired witness to the true Word of God who is Jesus Christ.

Zahnd stresses the importance of maintaining this distinction by reminding us: “Biblicism can be a clever way of avoiding the rule of Christ in order to maintain the status quo. It is the living Word to whom we must submit our lives.”

My New Year’s Resolution – Work Life Balance (and a little more time resting in God)

I have have spent the last couple of days reflecting on work life balance. Or rather, my lack thereof. My apologies to those who have offered to help with Michael Spencer’s commentary on Mark. I keep meaning to get back to you, but this issue of work life balance is one of the things that has gotten in the way. Things came to a head today. I had holidays booked for Christmas, a long needed break, but instead was called in for three days to fix problems that only I could deal with. In my near future my boss’s boss has me scheduled to work for 19 straight days. I told my boss in no uncertain terms that that was not going to happen. My family life and my health have suffered because of work, and I am not going to let that continue. Hence the New Year’s Resolution.

Having left today’s post a little late, and not sure what to do, but thinking of life work balance, I decided to get back to Michael Spencer’s Bible Studies, and see if there was maybe a gem in there that I could post. We had posted excerpts up to Mark 5, so I was reading from Mark 6 and came to the story of the feeding of the 5000.

30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all they had done and taught. 31 Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” 32 So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place…

Here is what Michael Spencer had to say about this little snippet:

Of course, we also see here the love and attention Jesus has for his followers, his desire to spend time with them and his sensitivity to their needs. Mark observes that so many people were surrounding Jesus and the apostles that there wasn’t even time to eat! Anyone who has ever been in vocational ministry can certainly relate to those words! Mark has frequently described the crowds that followed Jesus and there are hints here that the crowds had increased as a result of the mission of the apostles. It is not sinful or selfish to seek the kind of healthy balance in life that makes real ministry possible. We can never minister to the people God sends to us if we are not willing to withdraw and allow God to minister to us. This passage goes beyond simply the example of Jesus in this to show, beyond a doubt, that Jesus initiates such times for his followers. I do not believe Jesus would have appreciated the workaholic Christian martyr who sacrifices health, family time, relationships, sleep, reading and prayer in order to help everyone on their schedule. One thing I have learned in 23 years of ministry is that those you minister to will gladly suck the life right out of you if you do not take care of yourself! And I don’t think God is going to be all that pleased with some of our ministerial heart attacks as signs of how caring we are. As we add new staff every year in out ministry at Oneida, I watch well-meaning people spend all day and half the night talking to the troubled- to the point that their own personal exhaustion and spiritual emptiness make them cynical towards ministry in general. People often ask me how I do as much as I do and I tell them it is by not doing as much as possible! I value my time alone, my reading and prayer time and believe it is a divine command to put my family before those I minister to on campus. Thank you Jesus for this example and affirmation that we all need to withdraw for rest in the wilderness before taking on the battle for the promised land.

Michael’s example is a little different to my own, but I think that the principles are the same. Burn out whether through church or work is not healthy and not where we are intended to be. I have heard recently both at church and work the need to have a sense of urgency. “There is important work to be done, and we need people who will be committed to do it!”

This reminded me so much of one of Michael Spencer’s best ever posts: This Wretched Urgency – The Grace of God or Hamsters on a Wheel. If you missed it the first time (or second, or third), take the time to read it. Then read it again. If you haven’t read it for a couple of years, you should read it again too.

There are plenty of example in the New Testament of Jesus taking time to rest and be alone with God. If he, the Son of God, needed this, how much more do I.

My New Year’s resolution then, is also my petition to God. “Let my 2014 be characterized by having a healthy balanced life and rest in you.”

Now, I Wear a Robe

Jason Micheli has expressed some interesting thoughts about an experience he had as a robed pastor in his post, Clergy Robes and Anonymous Notes in Church. I encourage you to go and read his post before proceeding.

More about that in a moment.

I grew up in United Methodist Churches where clergy wore robes. So did the choirs, the choral director, and the acolytes. But the most impressive were the pastors. It was more than the robe, it was their entire bearing, but the robe was certainly a major part of the effect. I recall the senior minister in particular, entering with profound seriousness, large black Bible in hand, long black robes flowing as he walked. A tall, white-haired theophany he was, who knelt ceremoniously with perfect posture in front of his tall velvet-seated chair, then rose to be seated to the side of the preaching pulpit. His black robe and vestments made him seem larger than life or perhaps more than human. He carried a definite aura of holy sobriety.

Of course, that was a child’s view, and when I finally became a pastor in a much lower-church Baptist parish in New England, there was no robe. In fact, there was little in the way of ceremony, no holy aura, and I approved. The congregation was composed of down-to-earth, plain spoken Vermonters, and though I wore a jacket and tie most Sundays, I never imagined that they would ask me to mount the pulpit robed.

The first time I wore a robe was some twenty years later, when a couple with a Lutheran background asked me to don a white alb while conducting their wedding. After that anomaly, it was back to our non-denominational clergy uniform, which at that time was still coat and tie or shirt and tie in the summer. However, it was obvious that our congregations were becoming more casual in their dress, and it wouldn’t be long before those leading the services donned jeans and declined anything that looked dressy — even as our culture was turning “casual Fridays” into an everyday practice.

Now I wear a white alb whenever I preside in the Lutheran church, and will soon add the vestments indicating my ordained status. I like it. I think it adds a great deal to the aesthetics of the service. Along with the sanctuary architecture and appointments, the designated clergy apparel communicates that we have entered into a space where we honor the sacramental nature of reality. We have entered sacred space, space set aside for God’s people to meet, praise, pray, and partake from the Word and Table together. Wearing the robe reminds me that I have a certain role in these sacramental actions — not one that is above the congregation, but actually beside and below them, indicating that I have been granted a certain vocation of service to God’s family.

This brings me back to Jason Micheli’s article.

Micheli’s experience (read his post for details) led him to reflect on the fact that, in his denomination, the robe has come to indicate “the priesthood of pastors and the ownership of members.” That is, it reinforces the clergy/laity distinction that puts ministers above the parishioners while at the same time giving congregants the idea that clergy are the “labor” who serve under the direction of the real “owners” of the church, i.e. them.

The author blames his denomination for this, noting how they communicate high leadership expectations for pastors while giving virtually all leadership authority to the congregation members. Furthermore the Methodists’ historical emphasis on itinerancy keeps ministers on the move, preventing them from developing any organic, relational authority in local settings.

Thus we come back to a theme we’ve seen over and over again with regard to Protestantism — whether of the low-church, revivalistic variety or of the higher church, traditional variety.

We have an authority problem.

We don’t understand authority and have little idea of how to talk about it or work it out in practice.

The matter of the clergy robe gives us another chance to discuss this.

It is not, after all, simply about what we prefer our ministers wear.

Kimberly Mason: Listening as Radical Hospitality

Note from CM: On New Year’s Day I read this brief but profound post at Kimberly Mason’s blog, The (Almost) Daily Office. Kim lives in the Great Northwest on an old farm and blogs about her outdoor journeys, her journeys into prayer and service, and her journeys in quilting, icon painting and creativity. She is also a postulant with the Sisters of St. Gregory (Episcopal). I encourage you to visit her blog regularly for a breath of fresh air. Today, I hope you will think long about her wise words on the subject of listening and hospitality.

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Listening as Radical Hospitality
by Kimberly Mason

Listening is the oldest and perhaps the most powerful tool of healing. It is often through the quality of our listening and not the wisdom of our words that we are able to effect the most profound changes in the people around us. When we listen, we offer with our attention an opportunity for wholeness. Our listening creates sanctuary for the homeless parts within the other person. That which has been denied, unloved, devalued by themselves and others. That which is hidden.

~Rachel Naomi Remen

We Episcopalians can tend to be a little boastful about our practice of “radical hospitality” — and often rightly so! We love our coffee hours, we love to greet guests at our parish with a warm “We’re so glad you came here today!” and we love to work and serve and give. So much energy is put into our welcome, so much care and time in preparation is put into our worship services, so much enthusiasm is put into the building and the maintenance of our community relationships — so much … so much MUCHNESS. All of which takes so much energy and enthusiasm.

But isn’t it good to know that one of the ways we can show our “radical hospitality” to others is to just sit and quietly listen? To really listen. To sit with another and lend an ear, to give through the silence of a loving and understanding heart, to just BE there for one who is in pain.

Quiet listening is a radical gift — a gift that echos the gift of listening that God bestows upon us every time we sit down to present him with our petitions and prayers and to pile up our worries and pains and woes at the foot of his altar and ask for his blessing and reach for his helping hand.

Listening breaks down the barriers that often exist between the Me and the Thee, and creates a closer bond between the Me and The Holy One.

Listening creates a home for the lost and wandering. Listening brings comfort to the restless heart. Listening feeds both the listener and the one who needs to be heard as they sit down together at the table of Radical Hospitality.

The New Church Pot-Luck

Colorado may now be positioned to become THE tourist destination in 2014.

As the LA Times reported:

At the stroke of 8 a.m. on Wednesday Colorado became the first state in the nation where small amounts of retail marijuana legally can be sold in specialty shops.

Recreational marijuana is now legal in Colorado.

My question is, “How will, and how should people of faith respond to this change?”

I have seen a remarkable change in attitudes and practices with regard to alcohol in all but the most conservative Christian communities in my lifetime. Will similar changes in our attitudes toward at least some recreational drugs follow suit?

Will we start to hear “moderation” vs. “abstinence” arguments with regard to marijuana? Will Nadia Bolz Weber’s church change “Beer and Hymns” gatherings to “Pot and Hymns”? Will we accept pipes along with our pipe organs? Will the next group of “emerging” Christians use incense for more than aesthetic reasons?

We may well have just introduced a whole new meaning to “pot-luck” suppers.

One Last Look Back: What I Enjoyed Learning and Writing in 2013

I learned a lot in 2013.

Some I learned in the daily rhythms of work, family, friends, church, and various activities. Life.

Some I learned as I studied, met with mentors, and served in churches en route to approval for ordination in the ELCA. Vocation.

Some I learned reading, thinking, writing, and conversing in the context of Internet Monk. IM has become equivalent to my daily devotions, my small group, my table at the library, my seat at the small town diner, my stool in the pub, my seat in the stands where I sit surrounded by friends and neighbors.

Today, I’d like to review some of the things I enjoyed learning that showed up in my posts during 2013.

I learned the meaning and significance of baptism on a deeper level, and wrote about it in The Font and the Tiny Casket.

I learned in Lent that I need to take note of the signs of death in our culture. The sad stories and songs of death and dissipation remind me of my own mortality and brokenness and help me realize the depths of human need. Townes Van Zandt’s music and life weaves such a cautionary tale and I talked about it in Ash Wednesday with Pancho and Lefty.

I learned to distinguish two important verbs that have often been confused when we identify ourselves with a particular religious tradition or cause. You can read what I learned at “I Am” and “I Practice” – An Important Distinction.

In “The Second Turning: or How JT, a Field of Dreams, a Marble Tomb, and Learning to Do Nothing Saved My Life, “ I reflected upon some of the influences that taught me being a Christian and a human being don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

I was able to nail down one characteristic that made me long for a return to “grandpa’s church” in an era when everyone thinks you must leave it behind to stay “relevant” in “Wanted: An Adult Faith in a Youth Culture.”

Continue reading “One Last Look Back: What I Enjoyed Learning and Writing in 2013”