Oh Peyton, we are going to miss you.
As we in Indianapolis mourn the departure of Peyton Manning, we here at Internet Monk wondered if Jesus might have an opinion about it. Then we found this conversation from last fall, when our Colts were getting their brains beat out with Peyton on the sidelines.
As usual, Jesus speaks divine wisdom.
From the funny and creative folks over at Radio Free Babylon.
By Chaplain Mike
NOTE FROM CM: In the light of last week’s tragedies and some of our discussions, today we present an important post I first wrote two year ago. I have updated a few sentences and brought some of my comments up to date, but it is basically the same piece. I consider it important because it forces us to think about “creation” beyond the pages of Genesis 1-2, to see how other passages in the Bible portray God’s creative work and involvement with nature in much different terms, and to consider a bit of the Ancient Near Eastern milieu that shaped the mindset of the Biblical authors. Furthermore, these perspectives force us to rethink some of our simplistic views about God’s sovereignty and providence. The picture of creation and life presented in the Bible is far more complex, profound, and mysterious than any of us realize. During this Lenten season, when we are trying to think about issues of life and death, suffering and new creation, I think it important that we consider these ideas again.
• • •
SURD EVIL, SERPENTS, AND THE COSMIC BATTLE
Originally posted July 3, 2010
Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen.
Don’t be afraid. I am with you.
• Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking
A common Christian viewpoint attributes all the world’s disharmony, chaos, trouble, evil and its consequences to Adam’s sin. I have come to think the Bible does not teach that. True, Romans 5:12 says, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned…” However, this text only says that human death is the consequence of our forefather’s transgression. Furthermore, it is possible that it is speaking only of human death of a certain kind — covenantal death, exile, separation from God, condemnation. As I read it, Adam and Eve were created mortal, subject to physical death. When they lost the Garden, they lost access to the Tree of Life, which was their hope of both immortality and God’s eternal blessing.
Be that as it may, you find nothing in this text about earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, accidents, plant and animal death, disease, or any other “natural” forms of “evil” in the world. You won’t find them explicitly in Genesis either. Is it possible that the chaotic and destructive aspects of life in creation, elements that we would have a difficult time defining as “good” (as in Genesis 1) find their source somewhere else?
This article tries to help us think about that question. It suggests that the world Adam entered was not the “paradise” we imagine. The Garden in which he and Eve lived may have been an enclave protected from a harsher world around them.
In conjunction with this post, I also want to recommend a piece on the same subject — “Death and Evil existed before the Fall” at Austin’s Blog. Both of us owe our understanding primarily to the teaching of Bruce Waltke, whose Genesis commentary and OT Theology discuss this subject.
Continue reading “Another Look: Surd Evil, Serpents, and the Cosmic Battle”
Lent 2012: A Journey Through the Wilderness
Abraham in the Wilderness
The story of Abraham and Isaac was on the lectionary this past Sunday. It’s an appalling story. We aren’t told how Abraham felt when he was commanded to sacrifice his hope in God’s promise. But we can assume that he entered the wilderness not only literally but also metaphorically. He must have looked back to all his wanderings at God’s direction and asked if they were a joke. He doubtless remembered his joy when Isaac was born to him and Sarah in their old age; he had looked forward to descendants through Isaac who would be as numerous as the stars. And now the voice of God told him to negate all those years of faith. I’m sure he wondered what kind of a god had called him – how was this one any better than Marduk, with his child sacrifices? But Abraham still obeyed.
I would have a hard time obeying. Honestly, I don’t think I would. First of all, I don’t listen to God’s voice nearly as well as Abraham did; I’d find some way to dilute or divert the command. But even more importantly, I make the mistake of having faith in the “How” of God’s promises rather than in the “What.”
What I mean is this. God makes a promise to someone – to Abraham, that he will have descendants; to David, that he will be king; to the disciples, that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand; to us, that good things will come when we trust him. Then we look at that promise and picture how it will be fulfilled. The danger is that we begin to have faith in our own picture.
Lent 2012: A Journey through the Wilderness Music for lent As we journey through this Lenten season, we need some company for the road. I’d like to recommend some books and a movie or two. But this morning we’ll look at an album to keep us company in this time in the wilderness. First of all, I am not a huge Bruce Springsteen fan. I don’t have any problem with him, and his Super Bowl halftime show a few years ago was head and shoulders above Madonna’s, but I don’t get all that excited about his new releases. Give me Darkness on the Edge of Town
Lent 2012: A Journey through the Wilderness
Lost (David Cornwell)
Photos by David Cornwell
Have you ever been lost in an actual physical wilderness? I have—sort of.
The place is a an environmental research center not far from my home. It’s a protected wetland environment, along with peat bogs, prairie and savanna restorations, and woods. Maybe it wouldn’t technically fit the definition of wilderness, but for Indiana it’s close enough. I go there as often as I can for hiking, photography, praying, and thinking. Once when I went there, I got lost, and it was getting uncomfortably close to sunset. I had been there wandering the trails often in the past, and had assumed I knew the place well enough to try some different trails. I didn’t have a map or a compass. It was cloudy and I couldn’t make out the sun.
The problem was something I hadn’t expected. There was more acreage than I was aware of and the part I’d wondered into was through a more narrow connection of one area with another. But when I tried to return back to the parking area and go home for the evening, the trails became very confusing. A couple of times I ended up back at the exact same location. Eventually I could see something in the distance that I was familiar with and was able to work my way back to the car.
When I got home I found a map and realized the place was a lot bigger than I assumed, and more complex. Now when I go, I take a map and preferably a compass.
UPDATE: I am closing comments. I think we’ve talked enough at this time. In the meantime, please read the post by my friend John Armstrong that is much more sympathetic to John Piper, who is his friend, but nonetheless critical of his theological approach. Here is a key statement in John’s post:
‘What I believe Dr. Piper misses in his zeal for divine sovereignty, and in his excessive preoccupation with putting God at the center of storms and lightning strikes, is divine mystery. As Arnobius said, “We must answer that we do not know these things.”‘
Thanks for a good discussion. I’m sure we’ll be dealing with these matters again.
• • •
Regular commenter Eagle received some chiding for bringing up John Piper in the discussion following my tornado post last night.
Perhaps we should praise him for his insight.
Turns out Brother John was thinking about those tornadoes after all. And in his self-appointed role as God’s Anointed Interpreter of Tornadoes, Piper has made his morose musings public once more in yesterday’s blog post, “Fierce Tornadoes and the Fingers of God.”
“Why would God reach down his hand and drag his fierce fingers across rural America killing at least 38 people with 90 tornadoes in 12 states, and leaving some small towns with scarcely a building standing, including churches?
“…We do not ascribe such independent power to Mother Nature or to the devil. God alone has the last say in where and how the wind blows. If a tornado twists at 175 miles an hour and stays on the ground like a massive lawnmower for 50 miles, God gave the command.”
After directly attributing these devastating, death-dealing storms to the sovereign, all-controlling God, Piper comments on what he might be trying to teach us. Despite his own warning — “We are not God’s counselors. Nor can we fathom all his judgments. That was the lesson of Job. Let us beware, therefore, of reading the hand of providence with too much certainty or specificity.” — Piper goes on to read three lessons in the storms:
This is a pastor’s message in the immediate aftermath of a terrible disaster.
How comforting. How helpful. How sympathetic. How sensitive. How pastoral.
Not.
Last year, I did a brief series on the seasons of spiritual experience. One of those seasons we called, “Disorientation.” This is another way of describing what it is like to be in the wilderness.
In that post I wrote about the kinds of songs we can sing as God’s people to accurately reflect our spiritual experiences of disorientation:
“The spiritual medicine indicated for seasons of disorientation is the psalm of lament. Though the Hebrew word for the Book of Psalms is “tehillim,” which means “praises,” it is obvious that these praises are hard won, for the individual lament is the most common form of psalm in the book. “Weeping may last for the night, but a shout of joy comes in the morning” (Ps 30:5). Ultimately, praise is the result of having found one’s way through the wilderness.”
Many segments of Jesus’ family have little or no acquaintance with singing laments. The entire idea of lamentation seems foreign to some, perhaps even contradictory to a Christian perspective. American evangelicalism in particular avoids laments. I suspect “avoids” is the wrong word. Do churches in the revivalist traditions even have a conception of this aspect of relating to God?
Contemporary “worship” music is especially weak when it comes to giving voice to the full spectrum of human experiences and emotions. Even when today’s songwriters make use of the Psalms they tend to transform the raw, earthy language that describes our complex, often messy relationships with God and others into easily digestible spiritual sentiments.
In fact, I can’t think of one contemporary worship song that might legitimately fall into the category of lament. I may be wrong — there is a lot of CCM I’ve never heard. My suspicion would be that, even if there are a few laments that have been penned, they aren’t common, and they certainly are not on the lists of the most popular or used worship songs. I have never been in a church that worships according to the revivalist pattern that made any prominent use of lament in its worship.
If you know of churches that are practicing lament regularly, I’d love to hear about it. It would give me great encouragement.
What I have seen personally, however, tells me that today’s church has largely embraced a theology of glory and resists the way of the cross. It shows in our worship and music.
Some of you may have seen images on the news of the devastating damage and destruction wrought by storms and tornadoes in southern Indiana. One town, Marysville, IN, was completely leveled.
I reprint some of the photos today (source: Indianapolis Star) to remind us to pray for those who lost family members and neighbors, homes, property, and possessions, and who are now in their own personal wildernesses of trauma, grief, and confusion.
• • •
My spirit is poured out in agony
as I see the desperate plight of my people.
• Lamentations 2:11, NLT
• • •
If you are interested in sending monetary donations to assist storm victims in Indiana, here is one way you can do that, as per the instructions of one of our local Indianapolis television stations:
WTHR Cares has a community-wide effort to aid our fellow Hoosiers who were impacted by Friday’s deadly tornadoes in Southern Indiana. We’ve set up three convenient ways to donate. All proceeds will go directly to the Indiana Red Cross.
WTHR – Attn.: Hoosier Tornado Relief
1000 N. Meridian Street
Indianapolis, IN 46204
During our journey through this Lenten season, when we are focusing most of our attention on the theme of the “wilderness,” I am running “Sights along the Road” posts on Sunday afternoons so that I can share some of the other things I’ve been reading, watching, and thinking about lately. Plus, we’ll treat you to pictures of a few of the world’s great roadside attractions so you’ll have something to smile about as you look out the car window.
After all, what encourages contemplation and repentance more than a giant gorilla holding aloft a gold VW Beetle?
• • •
Of course, the other great question of the week is: Why in the name of all that is civil and decent would anyone, much less a follower of Jesus, ever, ever, ever listen to Rush Limbaugh? I’m in full agreement with this article in the Atlantic: even those with strong disagreements about the politics of the situation should unite in speaking out against his cruel bullying, which serves no good purpose whatsoever.
“It hardly matters whether you agree with Sandra Fluke, or if you think she is advocating on behalf of suboptimal policy, as I do. There is no excuse for Limbaugh’s behavior, and nothing redeeming in it. His words aren’t merely illogical. It isn’t just that he seems to misunderstand that birth-control pills cost the same whether someone has sex once per month or twice every single day. The problem isn’t just that he misrepresented the fullness of her testimony. Beyond all that, he has once again shown himself to be coarse, vulgar, bullying, callous, and needlessly cruel.”
UPDATE: Limbaugh has issued an apology.
• • •
Then again, Rush Limbaugh is a crass amateur. If you would like to experience what it’s like to be insulted by a true professional, go to this site, where you can get smacked down by one of the best of all time: Martin Luther — The Luther Insulter.
I may end up using this one: “You are dumber than Seriphian frogs and fishes.”
Or this one: “You are like mouse-dropping in the pepper.”
Take that!
Lent 2012: A Journey through the Wilderness
The Unresolved Tensions of Evangelicalism, part 2
A classic Michael Spencer iMonk post from Nov. 2008
NOTE: On Sundays in Lent, we will run these classic essays from Michael Spencer on the evangelical wilderness.
I am continuing my series on the unresolved tensions of evangelicalism. Today, I want to explore disillusionment with Christian experience.
2. The Disillusionment of Christian Experience
Evangelicalism makes confident claims about the religious experience of its true believers. It is not hard to conceive of disillusionment when those claims are judged to be untrue.
It’s a well known saying that a person with an experience has nothing to fear from a person with an argument. This is certainly true in the area of religious experience. Millions of evangelicals have been brought into and kept in evangelicalism by its claims of religious experience.
While various segments of evangelicalism promise various kinds of religious experience with various degrees of certainty and various attending methods, it’s still a fact that there is a common “offer” of experiences such as “the joy of the Lord,” “God speaking” and answered prayer.
Religious experience for evangelicals carries major weight because it is the guarantee that God will show you that the evangelical message is true. It is important to evangelicals that the Catholic claim to miracles be countered with many examples of answered prayers, supernatural provisions and miraculous interventions.
Evangelicals also value personal testimony, and personal testimonies are reports of personal religious experience. Without dramatic stories of supernatural events and proofs of God’s power, evangelicalism sounds hollow. From Baptists saying they’ve been born again to Charismatics claiming to hear and see angels, evangelicals produce high-octane religious experience non-stop.
Is anyone surprised that any assessment of the demise of evangelicalism would blame a failure of religious experience to sustain belief in the God of evangelicalism?
And is anyone surprised that evangelicals are quite adept at explaining failures of religious experience and at providing religious experience through the use of technology and talent?
Evangelicalism has predictable stock responses to the failure of religious experience: human beings are sinful, God is sovereign, we live by faith, the Holy Spirit works differently with different persons, the experience of exemplary Christians shows many examples of a dearth of certain religious experiences.
At the same time evangelicalism promises the guarantee of religious experiences it also has a strong critique of those experiences and a ready explanation for a lack of religious experience.
I believe that evangelicals are well aware that the subject of religious experience is one that can expose a world of contradiction, confusion and disappointment. If there is one commonality among the “testimonies” of former Christians, it is the loss of confidence in their own religious experience as certain and foundational. The abuse of religious experience among some extreme charismatics obviously leaves the door open for disillusionment and bitterness at manipulation.
Accepting religious experiences as evangelicals tend to do requires a very generous and affirming attitude in the absence of proof. Those telling the report must be trusted. Pastors and teachers are trusted. Christian celebrities and leaders are trusted. Publishers, authors and Christians on the internet are trusted.
And you must trust yourself as you report your own religious experience. Trusting all of these people is easy for some Christians, and very difficult, even impossible, for others. Once a person approaches religious experience with a critical, skeptical attitude, the way they hear and interpret experiences will change. Of course, there will be “concern” that a person no longers believes in what they previously accepted as trustworthy. There will be arguments and answers. But in many cases, evidence won’t “convert” the doubter or the questioner. They will conclude that what they see and hear has better explanations elsewhere.
For example, what happens when a person doubts whether God actually answers prayer in the way they were taught? What if a person begins to doubt the truthfulness of many of the testimonies they hear? (I’ve heard so many outright lies and scandalous exaggerations in testimonies I can barely stay in the room.) What happens when a person begins to doubt the confidence people have that God is speaking to them? Or that the healings claimed are true?
What happens when the promises of leaders that God-proving religious experiences will absolutely follow certain events, music, meetings, speakers and responses are doubted or rejected?
What happens when when a suffering Christian does not experience promised miraculous interventions, but further suffering?
While some readers may have an arsenal of answers for these questions, the fact is that evangelicals have “loaded the gun” of the disillusioned and handed the weapon to him/her.
I believe millions of evangelicals have left over these issues and millions more will move either entirely out of Christianity or away from evangelicals to forms of religion that do not make the extravagant promises of religious experience.
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