In C.S Lewis's essay "The Poison of Subjectivism", Lewis brings up a point that is very important. While the essay is not as simple as many of his other argumentative pieces, it is still very informative.
Lewis cautions us not to subjectify religion. "A theology which goes about to represent our practical reason as radically unsound is heading for disaster." This is one of the most important things I feel we should take away. We have been blessed with the ability to discern what is right and what is wrong. As Christians it is so easy to wallow in our imperfection, an imperfection we were given to over come through Christ, and forget that we have some value as humans to God. Why else would he offer us the gift of salvation if we did not have some redeeming qualities? Allowing the doubts about our own imperfections to prevaid the mind only serves the purposes of the Devil, I submit. As C.S Lewis states, "If we once admit that what God means by "goodness" is sheerly different from what we judge to be good, there is no difference left between pure religion and devil worship." We need to give ourselves some credit.
Today in class there was much controversy over Chapter three, which was about what constitutes as sin in the eyes of God. In regards to the fall and it's effect on sin, as a Moravian I do not subscribe to wallowing in my own built in failiars as a human. I see no point in it. It has been stated that I am flawed and nothing I can do will change that. I look to Christ, as he is the only solution, and squabbling about what we as humans think God considers sin is unproductive to what the heart of the matter truly should be. For all we know, every action we make as believers is a sin in the eyes of God. There is no clear cut answer. All we can do is say, "Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner", and pray that His goodness will save us. It is not our duty to say, as the Pharisee did in the temple, "Look at that non-believer, every good action he commits is a sin." It is not our place, nor our calling, and will only bring about discord and petty pride into the hearts of those who deem it necessary to entertain such thoughts. All we can do is ask for forgiveness of our own sins, pray for the rod of sin in our eyes to be forgiven, and leave the judgment of our non-christian brother's sin to God.
I know that this post will breed some discontent for some, but I feel it is nessisary to say as it is what has been playing on my heart.
God is goodness and light. Everything else pales in comparison. It is a non-essential.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Remember the Essential
In the preface to Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis does something which I think many Christians tend to forget. He states the direction from which he is coming; he is dispenses with the non-essential of denomination and moves forward with the purpose to access the essential of religion.
It is so easy, with the abundance of choice available to us when choosing a church family to forget the Christian focus of following Christ for the glory of God. I know when my mother and father were growing up (this is in Green Bay, Wisconsin) the Catholics and the Protestants were at each others' throats. The children would bully each other over nothing but the title as they saw their parents doing. How can we expect people, non-believers, to convert to a faith that on the surface can not even live with its self?
The answer is we can not, and Lewis discerningly states that fact. The denomination is not the essential. But the faith is. Christ is the one essential, and doctrine and denomination come second. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ, and if Brother Catholic prefers his sermon in Latin and Sister CRC prefers John Calvin to Sister Methodist's Wessly, then there should be not gnashing of teeth, for we all are striving for the same goal; salvation through Christ to the glory of God.
While the rest of Lewis's layout of what "mere" Christianity is is beautiful as well, I feel that the introduction is more important than could be realized by simply breezing through it. Lewis sets an example we all should be accountable to as Christians; remembering what is truly essential and not allowing our differences to divide us.
It is so easy, with the abundance of choice available to us when choosing a church family to forget the Christian focus of following Christ for the glory of God. I know when my mother and father were growing up (this is in Green Bay, Wisconsin) the Catholics and the Protestants were at each others' throats. The children would bully each other over nothing but the title as they saw their parents doing. How can we expect people, non-believers, to convert to a faith that on the surface can not even live with its self?
The answer is we can not, and Lewis discerningly states that fact. The denomination is not the essential. But the faith is. Christ is the one essential, and doctrine and denomination come second. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ, and if Brother Catholic prefers his sermon in Latin and Sister CRC prefers John Calvin to Sister Methodist's Wessly, then there should be not gnashing of teeth, for we all are striving for the same goal; salvation through Christ to the glory of God.
While the rest of Lewis's layout of what "mere" Christianity is is beautiful as well, I feel that the introduction is more important than could be realized by simply breezing through it. Lewis sets an example we all should be accountable to as Christians; remembering what is truly essential and not allowing our differences to divide us.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Dim Uneasiness
"He must not be allowed to suspect that he is now, however slowly, heading right away from the sun on a line which will carry him into the cold and dark of utmost space."
The Screwtape Letters represent to me the deepest fears of Christians. Withing the letters, the devil Screwtape lays out the bare escenticals to leading Christians away from God and to him. In letter 12, Screwtape says that the key to the whole game is a man's "dim unease" in reguards to his direction on the path. He says, "If it gets too strong it may wake him up and spoil the whole game".
This fear of falling off the path is something I feel we must treasure. While no one likes to live in fear, and Jesus taught us not to fear God, I feel that this fear is something that should be used as a weapon againt the Devil. By checking our actions against scripture, our faith community, and asking in prayer for guidence, we have the ability to build stairs for ourselves and move that much further out of the pit the Devil is wafting us down.
I realize that this is a very short post in comparison to others that I have posted, but I feel that we drumbed out much of the prominant points in class and I don't wish to preach to the chior anymore than I already do.
In Him
The Screwtape Letters represent to me the deepest fears of Christians. Withing the letters, the devil Screwtape lays out the bare escenticals to leading Christians away from God and to him. In letter 12, Screwtape says that the key to the whole game is a man's "dim unease" in reguards to his direction on the path. He says, "If it gets too strong it may wake him up and spoil the whole game".
This fear of falling off the path is something I feel we must treasure. While no one likes to live in fear, and Jesus taught us not to fear God, I feel that this fear is something that should be used as a weapon againt the Devil. By checking our actions against scripture, our faith community, and asking in prayer for guidence, we have the ability to build stairs for ourselves and move that much further out of the pit the Devil is wafting us down.
I realize that this is a very short post in comparison to others that I have posted, but I feel that we drumbed out much of the prominant points in class and I don't wish to preach to the chior anymore than I already do.
In Him
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
We are a Family
Plantinga discuses in the second chapter of his book, “Engaging God’s World”, the concept of hospitality and what it means to us as Christians. This really hit home to me. I come from a dying church, one that is slowly losing membership. One of the main reasons the church is dying is not because the message of Christ and the importance of that message have been forgotten, but rather because the elderly members of the church have forgotten the importance of hospitality. Visitors are not welcomed in a warm manner, but rather as strangers.
On my faith journey I have met many non-believers, in whose stories of attempted belief runs a common theme. They were not welcomed. Statistics show that there has been a decrease in Church attendance. As our Intervarsity brothers mentioned on Friday, that does not mean that belief in God has diminished as well, but that they simply do not feel welcome. As Christians we are called to be a family, a welcoming, warm, caring family. And we can start that family-esc feel within ourselves through this concept of hospitality.
Plantinga says, “The idea is that if—in a band of disciples, in a family, in a college—people encouraging each other, pour out interest and good will onto one another, favor each other with blessings customized to fit the other person’s need, what transpires is a beautiful burst of shalom”. By imbibing that one thought, of living with others that the main focus of our thoughts, instead of ourselves, and treating them as family, we can bring about the warmth that brings peace in Him. By being examples, not even needing to profess faith openly, but really internalizing the grace of God, we can bring about peace. That is the powerful mandate that we are laden with as Christians. Not to convert as many as we can, but to welcome anyone who seeks peace and security.
On my faith journey I have met many non-believers, in whose stories of attempted belief runs a common theme. They were not welcomed. Statistics show that there has been a decrease in Church attendance. As our Intervarsity brothers mentioned on Friday, that does not mean that belief in God has diminished as well, but that they simply do not feel welcome. As Christians we are called to be a family, a welcoming, warm, caring family. And we can start that family-esc feel within ourselves through this concept of hospitality.
Plantinga says, “The idea is that if—in a band of disciples, in a family, in a college—people encouraging each other, pour out interest and good will onto one another, favor each other with blessings customized to fit the other person’s need, what transpires is a beautiful burst of shalom”. By imbibing that one thought, of living with others that the main focus of our thoughts, instead of ourselves, and treating them as family, we can bring about the warmth that brings peace in Him. By being examples, not even needing to profess faith openly, but really internalizing the grace of God, we can bring about peace. That is the powerful mandate that we are laden with as Christians. Not to convert as many as we can, but to welcome anyone who seeks peace and security.
The Internal Battle
“But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind)
which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously—no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be a real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner—no mere tolerance or indulgence, which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment. Next to the Blessed Sacrament
itself, your neighbour is the holiest object presented to your senses. If he is your Christian neighbour he is holy in almost the same way, for in him also Christ vere latitat—the glorifier and the glorified, Glory Himself, is truly hidden.” ~ The Weight of Glory
This quote, I feel, captures the ultimate test of our faith as Christians. Our ultimate calling. To accept one another for the God created creatures we are. It is so easy with the differences that divide us, different languages, denominations, countries, to forget that we are all striving for the same goal; salvation through Christ. While these differences cannot be ignored, as each difference is a beautiful facet of God’s world, they should not be used to reduce that person’s right to be saved.
Being a good neighbor is even more difficult a battle than the skirmishes being fought around our world today. I feel that the on-going battle with our own human selfishness and need for individual vindication. We cannot banish selfishness from our make up as a fallen people, but we can, by humbly baring our back to our neighbors in and not in Chirst, show that we are capable of more than our own selfishness existence, and seek the light that God gifts us with should we choose Him
which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously—no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be a real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner—no mere tolerance or indulgence, which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment. Next to the Blessed Sacrament
itself, your neighbour is the holiest object presented to your senses. If he is your Christian neighbour he is holy in almost the same way, for in him also Christ vere latitat—the glorifier and the glorified, Glory Himself, is truly hidden.” ~ The Weight of Glory
This quote, I feel, captures the ultimate test of our faith as Christians. Our ultimate calling. To accept one another for the God created creatures we are. It is so easy with the differences that divide us, different languages, denominations, countries, to forget that we are all striving for the same goal; salvation through Christ. While these differences cannot be ignored, as each difference is a beautiful facet of God’s world, they should not be used to reduce that person’s right to be saved.
Being a good neighbor is even more difficult a battle than the skirmishes being fought around our world today. I feel that the on-going battle with our own human selfishness and need for individual vindication. We cannot banish selfishness from our make up as a fallen people, but we can, by humbly baring our back to our neighbors in and not in Chirst, show that we are capable of more than our own selfishness existence, and seek the light that God gifts us with should we choose Him
Monday, January 11, 2010
Liberal Arts=Freedom To Choose+x (Gods will)
I will not deny that two years ago when I sat down to look at colleges, Calvin was not my first choice. I was looking for a specific major, two actually, and specific minor, again two, and a college that would except someone as difficult as myself. The reason I chose Calvin was not because it was private, or Christian, or a good place to find a husband. I chose Calvin for it's Japanese department and the fact that I would be required to take a philosophy course. I am what you could call an academic.
The speech we read for class, which C.S. Lewis no doubt read for his English class, is one I wish had been read to me my first 8 am morning sitting in Calvin's English 101 a year ago. Though it has been stated many time (perhaps too many times) that Lewis is a genius with the English language, I will have to say that objectively, Lewis hit the nail on the head, and most likely scared many freshmen with just how "fish-out-of-water" they were supposed to feel.
The line,"The student is, or ought to be, a young man who is already beginning to follow learning for its own sake, and who attaches himself to an older student, not precisely to be taught, but to pick up what he can", is exactly true. The first time I had to have a one-on-one verbal final exam was the first time I realized just how much I wanted to be an English major. Talking my professor through 17th century literature and my thoughts on the subject opened to door to what I've now found to be an endless barrage of questions that should be answered.
Education for the sake of education is one of the best experiences you can have. Education for the sake of education led me, in high school, to the majors that I now love, and also has enriched my life. When I told my freshmen education adviser that I wanted to be in a music ensemble, even though my requirements said I didn't need to, he looked at me as if I had two heads. His reasoning for why I shouldn't be in an ensemble (and for why I shouldn't be a Japanese major) was simply, "You're a freshmen. You don't know what you want." Needless to say, I found a new advisor.
This brings up my other point (the first being I agree with Lewis).It's so easy to let other people take our "humanity" , as Lewis calls it, away. Monetary constraints, time constraints, all contribute to limiting what knowledge we are capable of getting. How many students we are able to latch on to. I say, don't let it. Libraries are great places for latching to take place. All you need is the drive to learn new things and the world becomes your classroom. And thus, you can create your own curriculum to go with it. When you are given the freedom to control your learning, you are given the freedom to find out what God has planned for you.
The speech we read for class, which C.S. Lewis no doubt read for his English class, is one I wish had been read to me my first 8 am morning sitting in Calvin's English 101 a year ago. Though it has been stated many time (perhaps too many times) that Lewis is a genius with the English language, I will have to say that objectively, Lewis hit the nail on the head, and most likely scared many freshmen with just how "fish-out-of-water" they were supposed to feel.
The line,"The student is, or ought to be, a young man who is already beginning to follow learning for its own sake, and who attaches himself to an older student, not precisely to be taught, but to pick up what he can", is exactly true. The first time I had to have a one-on-one verbal final exam was the first time I realized just how much I wanted to be an English major. Talking my professor through 17th century literature and my thoughts on the subject opened to door to what I've now found to be an endless barrage of questions that should be answered.
Education for the sake of education is one of the best experiences you can have. Education for the sake of education led me, in high school, to the majors that I now love, and also has enriched my life. When I told my freshmen education adviser that I wanted to be in a music ensemble, even though my requirements said I didn't need to, he looked at me as if I had two heads. His reasoning for why I shouldn't be in an ensemble (and for why I shouldn't be a Japanese major) was simply, "You're a freshmen. You don't know what you want." Needless to say, I found a new advisor.
This brings up my other point (the first being I agree with Lewis).It's so easy to let other people take our "humanity" , as Lewis calls it, away. Monetary constraints, time constraints, all contribute to limiting what knowledge we are capable of getting. How many students we are able to latch on to. I say, don't let it. Libraries are great places for latching to take place. All you need is the drive to learn new things and the world becomes your classroom. And thus, you can create your own curriculum to go with it. When you are given the freedom to control your learning, you are given the freedom to find out what God has planned for you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
