Liberating you from bad ideas about God
This is awesome. I think we should reinstate trial by combat, but the combat should be combat juggling.
Maybe this is how governments could solve their problems too… Ha!
And as long as we are talking about juggling skill… this is crazy amazing:
Ok, ok… YouTube is addicting. After I watched that previous video, I saw this one, and decided to share it also. (Really, I’m done now!)
Can I just say that the human mind is amazing!?
I am constantly amazed at how the creativity which God has placed into the hearts of men shines through, even in places where the fall has brought devastating and paralyzing consequences.
Cerebral Palsy, while not a sin, is still a consequence of living in a fallen world, but watch the following video and see the sort of beauty that comes off the fingertips of a man who suffers from this disease.
Some Christians are wary of efforts to protect and preserve nature. I think that part of their concern is that some environmental efforts seem to make an idol out of nature, or even make nature more important than humans.
Here is an example of what I am talking about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HaxLpjPZTbU
I believe there Christians are called to protect and tend the plants, trees, animals, water, and other elements of nature in this world, but you will never find me asking a tree if I can hug it or share my energy with it.
But here is the thing… just because we don’t want to go off the deep end and idolize nature or damage and destroy human lives for the sake of nature, this does not mean that we can ignore the environmental needs of the world or just consume and destroy the natural resources of this plant in any way we want.
One of the first instructions of God to humanity was that we would tend to the plants and animals of creation (Genesis 2:15f). Our fall into sin has not done away with this responsibility.
In fact, since the world and everything in it is God’s good creation, should not people who follow God be the greatest champions of the environment? Yet all too often, we adopt the mentality that “it’s all going to burn away” so we might as well rape the land, kill the animals, and destroy the environment.
(And by the way, I don’t think it all going to burn anyway… God will purify creation, but we are still going to be living in creation. But that’s a subject for a future post.)
I am NOT saying that we need to worship the earth, treat animals as more important than humans, or pray to the sun and trees. No, this is idolatry. But there is a vast difference between idolatry and ignoring our God-given responsibility to tend for the earth, care for the animals, and do what we can to protect the earth and its resources for future generations.
So Christians can be tree huggers in the sense that we want to protect the environment God made. But first and foremost, we will be God lovers and people huggers who recognize that tending creation is one way to love both God and other people.
What are your thoughts on the subject?
This post is part of the September Synchroblog. Here is a list of other contributors:
The April-June 2008 issue of Bibliotheca Sacra has an article by Dr. Gordon Johnston about the connections between Genesis 1 and Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths.
I sat under Dr. Johnston while I was in seminary, and along with this information about Genesis 1, he taught seveeral other ideas that challenged some of my traditional theology. I wrote about some of these areas here, which led to me getting fired from a ministry job… Thanks Dr. Johnston! (Ha!)
Anyway, when it comes to Genesis 1, Johnston argues that Moses borrowed heavily from some Egyptian Creation Myths.
Dr. Johnston concludes his article with this statement:
This suggests that Genesis 1 was originally composed, not as a scientific treatise, but as a theological polemic against the ancient Egyptian models of creation which competed against Yahwism for the loyalty of the ancient Israelites.
I agree with Dr. Johnston.
But notice what he is not saying. He is not saying that creation did not occur in six 24-hour periods. He very well may believe that it did. But it seems that there are only two possible ways to believe that Genesis 1 teaches that creation occurred in six 24-hour days while knowing what we now know about the many parallels with Egyptian Creation Myths.
First, it could be argued that creation happened, and the account was passed down by oral tradition through the centuries, being slowly changed over time, until the Egyptians recorded their version. When Moses came on the scene, God revealed to him what really happened, and this is what Moses wrote down. This would partially account for other similarities in other pagan creation myths found around the world.
But even under this understanding, Moses did not write Genesis 1-2 to disprove evolution. No ancient person ever imagined that everything simply came about by chance. Everybody believed that a God or gods created all that was. So to read Genesis 1 as a scientific treatise defending creationism against evolution is nothing short of reading modern issues back into ancient texts (aka eisegesis).
If Dr. Johnston is correct, people who use Genesis 1 to argue against evolution should start admitting that they are using this passage in a way neither Moses nor the original audience would have understood. Only then are we being honest with the text.
Which brings us to the second possible way Genesis 1 could be read in light of the parallels with Egyptian Creation Myths. It is possible, I suppose, that God, as the divine author, could have intended more than Moses, the human author, and the Israelites, the original human audience understood.
It is possible that God, peering down the corridors of time, foresaw that Charles Darwin would invent his theory of evolution and God wanted to show this for the error that it is. And so He had Moses write a “creation account” that kept the Israelites 3500 years ago keep from worshipping Egyptian deities, and keeps Christians today from believing in evolution.
It’s possible.
But again, if that is how you want to view Genesis 1, you need to admit it.
Personally, I think the strongest way to teach Genesis 1 is to teach it with the message Moses originally intended. And what is that message?
Here are a few suggestions:
Our God is more powerful, loving, kind, personal, immanent, and transcendent than any other god there is.
God made humanity the center of His creation. That’s how much He cares for us and wants to relate to us.
We are not here by accident, but He made us and put us here for a reason. You have purpose. You matter to God.
This world was made for you to enjoy, and God wants to enjoy it with you.
Out of the chaos of your life, God creates order, light, and beauty. God fills the voids with meaning and significance.
To me, that is a much greater message than “God created the world in six days and evolution is evil.”
But in my opinion, no matter how you view Genesis 1, it’s nothing to get fired up over…
I’m beginning to scare myself.
Why?
Long-held doctrines that I’ve held unswervingly to for years are beginning to teeter in my mind.
I can’t decide if this is good or bad, but one thing is for sure…it’s making me more humble. (You know you’re humble when you can brag about it.)
I’ve been noticing this shift for a while, but I was bowled over by it this morning on my walk to work. I was listening to a message by Donald Miller, author of Blue Like Jazz
I remembered the first time I was introduced to this book. It was about 5 years ago. I was the Senior Pastor of a church, and someone gave it to me and told me I must read it.
I got through twenty or thirty pages before I tossed it in the garbage can. Literally. I think his book is the only book I have ever thrown out. I have books on my shelves written by Muslims and Mormons, none of which I have thrown out. Miller’s book got thrown across the room as hard as I could and into the garbage can (True story!).
Now, I find myself laughing and agreeing with what he is saying.
So I asked myself this morning, “What has happened to me in 5 years?!?”
Some would answer “You went to seminary.”
That might be true. Seminaries (sometimes) have a way of making heretics out of us all. But just as one person’s garbage is another person’s treasure, so also, one person’s heresy is another person’s cardinal doctrine.
It is just that I seem to have fewer and fewer cardinal doctrines. Several of my “Doctrines to die for” are no longer so important.
“What doctrines?” you ask?
Not the “core fundamentals” like the Trinity, the inerrancy of Scripture, the deity of Jesus, and justification by faith alone in Christ alone. If I ever start to have misgivings these, please, somebody come kick me in the head…hard. I will defend these to my grave.
No, I am raising questions about various doctrines within ecclesiology, eschatology, angelology, and a few others.
How is this happening?
Some of these beliefs of mine are being undermined by the weight of exegesis. In other words, Bible study is making me doubt some of the theology I have been taught.
Below are a few areas I feel toppling.
Note that they haven’t toppled yet; they may right themselves, or like the Tower of Pisa, just lean over a bit. But I do not hold to these things as firmly as I once did.
I still believe these things to be true and biblical, but I am now aware of different ways of approaching these doctrines which require further study on my part.
Here is my current list of doctrines which I am questioning, and which might cause some to label me as a heretic:
These are just a few of my own personal heresies.
Now you see why I have to go into church planting. There are not many churches in the country that would hire a pastor who has misgivings about this list of doctrines. (Are there any?)
The simple act of raising questions about these doctrines will probably cause some to brand me as a heretic.
In fact, in some churches and ministries, if I started to investigate alternative understandings for these doctrines, I’d probably get fired or cause a split.
…Maybe I should just sell cars or clean carpets…
As it turned out, I did get branded as a heretic. This post was written in December of 2007. Two months later, after some blog readers informed my boss I had written this post, I was fired from my job at a Christian publishing company.
And guess what? After months of searching for a job, I ended up cleaning carpets! I may be a heretic, but I am also prophetic! Kind of scary.
Here are some of the posts that explain more:
Eventually, I will write a book with chapters on each of the seven doctrinal areas above. Make sure you subscribe to the free email newsletter to get news, information, and a free copy of this book when it comes out.
Until then, what are your thoughts on any of the seven doctrines above which I had questions about? What do you think of branding people as heretics? Do you think a church or ministry should fire pastors and employees who begin to question their personal beliefs? Join the conversation below!
