My latest materialistic comsumeristic obsession

When we moved to Chicago, we decided it would be wise to get down to one car. You save on insurance, don't have to find a place to park it, and no worries about repairs.
I still think it was the right thing to do but frankly, I feel a bit stranded, a bit trapped. I know the El is a block away but it's not the same thing as having the freedom to leave the house for quick trip to the grocery store. Enter the Ruckus. The Ruckus is a wonderful little scooter that doesn't look like your typical euro-trash wannabe Vespas or your Cheapo-Sporty plastic racer. The Ruckus is a work of pure beauty and I love them. and I love anyone who has one. If only I had one, then I could finally love myself. If anyone wants to give me money so I can buy the only thing that will help me to love myself and others...then please pick up your phone and donate now.

Can I just say I love Panera

I'm studying at Panera bread right now, and I really do like this place. It has several qualities in its favor. Free wireless internet, Cinnamon Crunch bagels (which cost 80 cents), very good coffee with free refills, regular soda pop also with free refills.

The only drawback is that they only have two outlets to plug computers into. VERY annoying on a busy day, but that's why a wise man goes early....

Why no blogging

I haven't been blogging lately because I have some major work to do before Monday. I have two huge papers, one worth 50% of my grade and the other worth 60% due. I am not very optimistic about these papers. It's at times like this I wonder why I'm in grad school. I looked at the guy driving the El today and thought, that's got to be a pretty sweet job. I could handle that for 20 or 30 years. And then I realized to drive the El, you have to live in Chicago. I don't think that will happen.

Anyway, back to the papers....

Catholic and Protestant V: Protestant Authority Can someone explain it?

I know we didn't completely finish the conversation initiated in the last blog, but with all the comments it gets a little long. So this time around I will keep my first blog concise with a question of clarification:

I would like to invite any protestants out there to explain to me if there is any human authority (councils/creeds, pastors, popes, bishops, ?) that you see as being in line with God's authority and therefore binding on you in your thoughts or actions.

EZE and Balthacalvin, I would especially encourage you to let me know what you think.

Thanks.

A response to the comments of the previous blog

Well,

The last post seemed complicated. We talked about grace, we talked about church, we talked about history. I want to focus things back a bit. I want to get on that razor edge line that slices through the different understandings of authority by C's and P's. I know that there are a great many understandings of authority from the P side, and I haven't even discussed the Orthodox which is a shame. Anyway....

Let us take a step back and just talk about authority in general. Some one who has authority demands what? Respect and obedience. Now, there are levels of authority too. So I will respect my dad and obey him differently than I would a teacher or police officer. Are we in agreement so far?

So, how did God set up authority in his Church? I think we would all agree that any authority the Church has, it gets from God. So insofar as the chuch acts in accordance with God's will, its authority is true. No one should obey someone who poses as a police officer right? So, there must be a continuity between the Ultimate Authority and the human authority that claims to be under the Divine one.

My hunch is, that RC's believe that God gave MORE authority to the church, meaning there is more for the individual to obey and conform to. So authority of the church is more like a Fatherly figure, hence the phrase, "Habemus Papam" (we have a father!).

My hunch is that most Protestants see the church as more like a John the Baptist, pointing to the gospel, saying "look at this! It's the Gospel, come live it with us!"


Now, assuming these two quick classificaitons are correct (I'm sure you guys will not just assume it, but anyways) which one has more credibility from both Old and New Testaments and which had more credibility from history?

My initial thoughts:

The Old Testament: There was a sense in the OT that God was really in charge. That EVERYONE, including the king, had to answer to him. But underneath God, you had the priestly side of things and you had the prophetic side of things. The priests definitely had an authority, but what was it's nature? Well, you relied on the priests to bring the sacricial offerings to God for your sin. So while the priest himself didn't forgive you, he made it possible for you to receive forgiveness. The prophetic tradition was more moral in its scope and claimed to speak God's words directly. And God seemed to punish those who refused to listen to the prophets.

The New Testament: Jesus, is very critical of the established Jewish authority, especially in issues of morality and hypocrisy. He didnt' seem to challenge their doctrine, except when he believed they were putting human custom over the Scriptures. He also challenged the Sadducees about the resurrection and afterlife. Moving on to the disciples, they seemed to have power that was similar to Jesus'. They healed people, the preached like Jesus did, they pronounced punishments on church members, corrected people, etc. We have the passage where Jesus apparently gives Peter the keys to the kingdom and tells him he has the power to forgive or not forgive. Is this directed at Peter specifically or is it representative of the disciples in general?

Early Church: The church started off, going to the temple to worship, etc. But they didn't seem to report to the Jewish leaders. They formed their own communities which were designed for prayer, fellowship, communion, etc. As Nick noted, the bishop was seen as a very important figure, one, that stood in the place of the apostles after they died. They were seen as a continuation of the authority given by Christ to the first apostles.

I sort of see the priestly and prophetic offices running parallel lines throughout history and i wonder if RC's follow the more priestly side while most Protestants would be more along the prophetic side.

I must also say, a lot of this has to do with your view of history. RC's seem to think it's easier to read God's providence off the face of history than do most Protestants. Both sides read their history with bias.

In summary, I think we should think about what authority has looked like throughout Jewish and Christian history. I think we should probably privlege what Jesus has to say on the matter, but not ignore those before and after him. My main problem with Catholic authority is its treatment of dissent. Wasn't the major error of the Jews their refusal to listen to the prophet? the one individual, outside of the authority structures? It seems from a biblical standpoint, Jesus was very angry about that type attitude. I don't fully understand how dissent works in the Catholic church. On the Protestant side, there seems to be a problem DEALING with dissent. There is no collective voice. It seems like this balance has always been a fine issue in Jewish history and in the early church.

Catholic and Protestant IV: Authority

My last post was probably a digression, but nonetheless an interesting one on analogy of being, etc. However I think this post gets more close to the differences between C and P.

P's and C's agree that all authority is apostolic authority, which is granted through Jesus by the Spirit. This merely means that for something to be authoritative, it must be in connection with Jesus' disciples in some way.

I think P's believe that this apostolic authority is limited to the canonical books of Scripture (I'm not sure abt. Epsicopalians, Lutherans, etc.).

C's believe that God arranged it so that there is a living, bodily, apostolic authority that is represented in the Magisterium and in the unwritten customs and traditions that are in the church. Now, the Magisterium only excercises this authority in a definitive, doctrinal way, every once in a while. I think my Catholic friends have told me that this has happened maybe twice in the past 100 years or so? Another of my Catholic friends, mentioned to me that it is important to distinguish between doctrine and disicipline. So, for example disciplines can be changed, such as unmarried clergy. Doctrine cannot be changed, but our understanding of it does develop.

My questions about this situation are:
1. Does this question of authority just come down to a faith commitment rather than intellectual argument?
2. P's claim that the final authority rests with Scripture seems problematic since they must be interpreted. How is there a way around this?
3. What is the relationship of the church community to the authority of Scripture for P's?
4. C's often say that it makes sense that God would arrange for there to be a guarrantee of the continuation of the faith by popes. But isn't that just deciding from a human point of view what would be appropriate for God to do?
5. Someone once told me, there are two ways of looking at it: either you are your own Magisterium (Protestant) or you place yourself under the Magisterium (Catholic). Are these the only two options?

Catholic and Protestant Three: Natural Theology

EZE, in my original post on Catholic and Protestant differences raises a couple issues that I want to deal with. You can read his response here.

The first point he raised was about revelation and natural theology. Most Protestants deny that human reason alone can attain to knowledge of God. The most vigorous defender of this position is Karl Barth. Now, I know little of KB, so I will rely on EZE (who is studying him with John Webster) to correct me in a spirit of generosity when need arises. Karl Barth said he could never become Catholic because of the "analogy of being". The analogy of being is another way of saying that there is something of God, a glimmer, in all of creation. This glimmer can be seen and recognized through human reason. Barth detests this idea because he believes it places theology under human perception, which would turn theology into the ultimate sin of idolatry. I'm on shaky ground with this next statement but I think Barth would say for us to say anything of God, it has to come to us from him first, in his address which breaks into the world. There can be no "natural" human reason that attains any knowledge of God.
In summary, knowledge of God must come from special revelation and not be based on any type of analogy with creation. This will only result in idolatry destroying the very witness of theology itself.

Now, for the Catholic side. The Catholic side must address this grave charge of allowing idolatry into theology. I believe a Catholic could easily point to passages such as Romans 1, Paul's speech at the Areopagus, the idea of the image of God within humanity, etc. These passages all point to some slight and prior knowledge of God that is universally present in humanity. AND it's important to note, these arguments are based in special revelation, not just an abstract rationality. This is a point that I think is crucial. Catholics only do natural theology within the context of prior faith. Atheist's don't' do natural theology because they do not have the presupposition of faith. Really, I see natural theology as based in special revelation.

There is a great humility in the analogy of being that I think protects at least to some degree to the constant temptation to idolize. The Catechism has this to say: "Since our knowledge of God is limited, our language about him is equally so. We can name God only by taking creature as our starting point, and in accordance with our limited human ways of knowing and thinking (21). Catholics admit this knowledge is incomplete. They admit that language is both sufficient and insufficient to speak of God: "God transcends all creatures. We must therefore continually purify our language of everything in it that is limited, imagebound or imperfect." (Catechism, 22).

I think the analogy of being functions in a way to make language meaningful and keep a connection between God and world without equating the two. The Analogy of being admittedly functions in a tension. How can something be similar yet more dissimilar? But, I think that language works by analogy and to discard it actually ends up being more idolatrous. I don't actually understand any other way of preserving language about God. Maybe someone can help me out with that.

Catholic and Protestant Part Two: Sources of Doctrine

The sources of doctrine is one of the most curious issues for me right now in thinking through the Catholic and Protestant relationship. Some Protestants affirm the idea that Scripture itself is a sufficient guide for the Christian for salvation. Yet, there is a myriad of interpretations of these same Scriptures, which has resulted in a myriad of denominations. If Scripture is a sufficient guide, then why is there not more unity in the Protestant church than the Roman Catholic? If, from the Protestant view, the Catholics have obscured the gospel message with their traditions and customs, wouldn’t the fact that Protestants, who breathe the free and clear air of Scripture be able to unify in a greater degree? Do evangelicals really believe in the “no creed but Christ” mentality? If so, how is the doctrine of the Trinity to be handled? If they don’t, how should the classic idea of sola scriptura be understood?

Catholic and Protestant Part One

In my next few posts I would like to address something that has become very real and personal for me in the past year: the divisions of the Christian body, especially in the Catholic and Protestant varieties. For me, the divisions used to be a problem like political views are problems. Most of us would like to see Democrats and Republicans work together to achieve more efficiency and effectiveness in government, but I'm not going to go home and weep about it if nothing happens. I tended to feel the same way about Christian differences. I had the attitude that well, we will all be together in heaven some day, we just have to be patient and it isn't a big deal. Well now it is a big deal. It's a big deal because these doctrinal divisions, unconscious prejudices, and cultural differences are now present in my marriage.

There is nothing like marriage to bring the abstract to the concrete very quickly. It's easy to have an ecumenical dialogue and write up a joint statement, and then go home to your wife. It's another matter entirely when your marriage is one continuous ecumenical dialogue.

Just to give a rather mild example, this morning I went to the Ash Wednesday service at St. Benedicts with Katie. The season of Lent, while not being limited to Catholicism, was never a part of my childhood faith. Now I am having conversations about the imoprtance of such things before I've even had my onion and cheddar bagel with jalepeno cream cheese.

While there are obvious difficulties with being married to someone who believes differently, I have found it to be a gift from God in so many ways. These pre-bagel theology sessions with my wife awaken me to a world of faith outside my little sphere. I am no longer able to retreat into my little evangelical world, and not think about the issues that divide and the reasons for them.

In the next few posts, I plan to spend some time looking at these differences. I want to look at them not only as abstractions and positions, but face the real question of why I remain Protestant. This isn't the 16th century. Is there truly anything to protest?

I will cut short my blog here. If you have suggestions (if anyone is reading this) on what topics should be covered, or questions please leave a comment and hopefully I can address them as I think through these things.

Stuff I read this semester

Here are some of the things I've read substantially or completely since August

1. John Howard Yoder, Politcs of Jesus
2. Christopher Steck, the Ethcial Thought of Hans Urs von Balthasar
3. David Burrell, Faith and Freedom
4. Jean Luc-Marion, In Excess-Essays in Saturated Phenomena
5. David Hart, The Beauty of the Infinite: Aesthetics of Christian Truth
   
6. Michelle Gonzales, Sor Juana: Beauty and Justice in the Americas
7. Jurgen Moltmann, God in Creation
8. Colin Gunton, The Triune Creator: An Historical and Sytematic Study
9. Colin Gunton, The One, the Three, and the Many
10. Gordon Kaufman, In the Beginning...Creativity
11. Elaine Scarry, On Beauty and Being Just
12. William Schweiker and Charles Mathewes (eds.), Having: Property and Possession in Religous and Social Life
13. Augustine,Confessions
14. John Paul II, Fides et Ratio
15. Craig A. Carter, The Politics of the Cross
    

MY TYPE

Since the J Gavin's are posting their type, here is mine:


Withdrawn (I) 66.67% Outgoing (E) 33.33%Imaginative (N) 60.53% Realistic (S) 39.47%Emotional (F) 54.29% Intellectual (T) 45.71%Improvised (P) 67.57% Organized (J) 32.43%

Your type is: INFP

You are an Idealist, possible professions include - information-graphics designer, college professor, researcher, legal mediator, social worker, holistic health practitioner, occupational therapist, diversity manager, human resource development specialist, employment development specialist, minister/priest/rabbi, missionary, psychologist, writer

The Trinity and the Paschal Mystery

I'm reading a book right now that is arguing that Western Christianity has largely ignored a major component of God's plan of salvation. Anne Hunt believes that old and new developments in our culture ignore the resurrection in God's plan of salvation because of the overshadowing fixation on the cross.

Tertullian, Anselm, Luther, and Mel Gibson all represent this western cultural interest in the passion of Christ that tends toward a legal understanding of salvation. A legal understanding of salvation is usually explained through an analogy to a courtroom, in which the Father as judge demands righteousness from us. Since we cannot provide that righteousness, we deserve death. The Son then steps in and substitutionally satisfies the punishment that we deserve.

While I disagree with none of this (except to say that an analogy can only impartially reflect truth), I do think it is inadequate for three reasons: the absence of the Holy Spirit, the lack of actual change in human hearts, and the past-oriented spirituality which results. I believe that to bring the resurrection up alongside the passion will help Christians grasp the larger picture that is sometime lost.

First, the absence of the Holy Spirit. If we are to call ourselves trinitarians, then our theology should reflect that in every way. Especially in the plan of salvation. The courtroom analogy leaves little room for reference to the Counselor. But biblicaly, the Holy Spirit has a prominent role in the plan of salvation. Christ says that he must go so that the Spirit can come.

Which leads me to the second point. Salvation is the process where by God's grace we enter into his life and become partakers in his nature and he indwells in us. This is not very prominent in the Western church. But Christ did not die so that sins would be absolved, he died so that the Sanctifyer could come, so the veil would be shredded and that true communion with God would be established. This is what heaven will be. This does not happen without change in character. You do not come into contact with the Holy Ghost and walk away unchanged.

Third, spirituality that is inordinately focused on the passion of Christ looses it's eschatological flavor. What I mean is that we become so focused on the past that we loose track of it's implications it has for the present and the future. The resurrection is the guarrantee of new life for those in Christ for it demonstrates the plan of God to give us wholeness in his good time.

My own spirituality focuses so much on the passion that I ignore the resurrection. This book is pointing me into what I think is a more biblical and thus trinitarian understanding of salvation.

Things my dog has destroyed

1. 5 pairs of shoes
2. pillow
3. sofa
4. film
5. basket
6. CD jacket
7. a Jonathan Edwards book
8. sandals
9. blanket

Pacifism and the Character of God

The gift of the Father by sending his Son to die on the cross revealed that at the center of God's being is self-gift. God responded to human violence and sin by absorbing it nonviolently, through love on the cross.

Therefore as imitators of God's own character, we should respond to violence the same way. Yes?

Theology

Theology. What the heck is it? Why bother studying it?

First I'll admit this blog topic is probably not interesting to half of you and that it is more for my own benefit, to get things clear in my head.

Theology is the study of God for our enjoyment and holiness. We are called to serve God in many ways. One of those ways is to learn about God.

It always amazes me how many Christians give so little time to contemplating God and his works. I will be the first to admit my own deficiences in that area. But there are some Christians who actually believe it is a waste of time to think about God! WHAT IN THE WORLD DO YOU THIINK HEAVEN WILL BE????? Heaven is seeing God face to face, KNOWING Him! If you think heaven is about social programs or nice songs, or little rituals, get off this website right now (just kidding). It is about knowing the living God and being in relationship with him.

Theology is just a chance to get a head start on heaven. Now, I know that many people are put off by theology because it is too dry and complicated. Yes theology is too dry. Theology is a human undertaking and sometimes it sucks. Theology is first and foremost a faithfulness to divine revelation. The theologians goal should be to display revelation in all it's clarity and beauty for the church and the world.

The next objection that I get a little angry about is the "simple faith" theory. Okay, I understand that not everyone needs to be interested in Schleiermacher's reaction to Kant's Categorial Imperative and the influence of the Englightenment on Christian Protestantism. But give me a break here! If your Christian faith doesn't involve difficult thinking, you aren't thinking Chrisitanly! Think about how many times the disciples were confused. Think about what they called Jesus....TEACHER. Learning is at the heart of the Christian faith and if you think that having "simple faith" means never learning more about the God you adore, then you don't adore him at all. You want him for a security blanket and you don't want to bother yourself with the extra effort it takes to learn about him. "Simple faith" is often just a smokescreen for apathy and laziness.

The third excuse I often hear is that "we can't know everything about God anyway. He's mysterious and we will never be able to find out answers on a lot of the topics discussed in theology". This objection is embedded deely in the pragmatic and scientific view we have in society. First off, the pragmatic object is that, "you can't get any useful answers out of theology. It's all too brainy and not enough of real life. Just live a good life and that's all it takes." Theology is not about solving problems and coming to definitive consesus on every issue. Theology is about realizing how big God is. Think of each unanswered question as a pointer to how God evades our little minds. You want results? Think about God's attributes for an hour each day and see how humble you become. Theology is a way of life. It is not just figuring things out. It cultivates an attitude and it gives us REASONS to act holy. You think you can just be a good person without reasons behind it? You are wrong. The Bible says that everything that is done without faith is sin. Faith is your reasons for acting the way you do.

Sorry, this is a really long rant. But I just get a little fired up when people think that they can be Christian without being theologians.

Politics

Happy All-Saints Day everyone.

I carved pumpkins last night with Katie. My pumpkin was a skeleton-pirate with a bandana on his head. I'm going over to her house tonight to finish watching Van Helsing.

I have to get up early tomorrow and do my "patriotic duty" and vote for the lesser of two evils. It's amazing that in a society that values consumerism, we still only have two options when it comes to voting: Flippy Floppy botox guy or Texas Alamo, Go-at-it-alone guy.

I wish Laura Bush could be president. She is pretty.

I think that the Subaru Outback is so hot right now.

It's weird to have a blog again. It's like, who is really listening? Who really cares? I'm not eloquent, I"m not raging about something, and I'm not funny.

I listened to a book on tape by Noam Chomsky. It was called Hegenonomy or Survival and it was about how America needs to start thinking a little more clearly about the selfish and bullying foreign policies it is creating because soon we will all go cablooey. You know, I wonder if we will see USA fall in our lifetime. Pride comes before a fall.