What do you think of answering the problem of evil by supposing that God used to be omnipotent, but voluntarily gave up some of that power to make room for humanity -- therefore (1) there are things God can't do on God's own anymore, and (2) it's up to us to repair the universe and heal the broken pieces that God can no longer reach?
---Ben
--------------------------------
Thanks for the question, Ben!
It certainly is an interesting way to approach the problem of evil, and offers an answer. I even agree with it to a certain extent... the idea that the existence of humanity in the world enables the possibility of evil part, certainly.
It's the thought process on omnipotence where I start to quibble.
I'm a huge believer that theology can't just explain things. With the diversity of ideas to be found in the scriptures and the commentaries that have come after, simply having a workable grand theological theory isn't enough for me. I need that theory to serve a purpose, to be itself part of the Good News.
And for me, that requires that God's Omnipotence remains intact.
Like I said before, my personal approach to the problem of evil is similar to this one wherein I believe that there are things that God DOESN'T do because at some point in the process God made a choice concerning free will, allowing humanity to choose it's own course. The way I think of it, however, God still COULD do those things. Whether or not God acts is a choice, rather than God having given up the agency to act.
I resist Process theology, and other similar schools of thought that solve the problem of evil through downplaying the Power of God, because to my mind, once you have taken that path, you haven't just removed a power level from God, you have removed God.
I am not interested in a God who means well, but can't effect the change in the world we'd like to see. That is a God who basically exists to bring the world into existence, and everything else is up to us. So what then is the point of Christ, or the Holy Spirit? The God this leaves us is a God who made us, and maybe even loves us, but now is basically ineffectual.
I'd rather believe in the God that is more problematic theologically (so WHY can't you stop Bone Cancer, again?) but can actually be effectual in the world beyond Aunt Nellie style well wishes. I like the idea that though God has chosen not to intervene now for whatever reasons, God will someday, and while I do believe that we are called to work in the world to make it a better place, that the onus for that work does not, ultimately, lie with us.
If the only way to reconcile ourselves with God is to make God no longer God, I feel like it would be more intellectually honest to simply be atheist.
Still, a good question! How we think about these different theological approaches, and why we favor one approach over another, is a very important part of how our worldviews and our faith interact.
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Tuesday, May 17, 2016
The World is Not Our Enemy
What do you think of all the Christian fixation on Transgendered people in Bathrooms? -Anonymous
----
I don't think much of it at all, Anon.
Sometimes I wonder if there is a certain type of person in the world who feels the need to have an opponent in life, a fight to win. Since everyone wants to be the hero of their own story, you pick a target you're pretty sure you can beat. Targets may vary, especially as the world changes. Ethnic minorities and Gay people, for instance, used to be much easier targets than they are now (Though they certainly get way more than their share of persecution.) and so it seems that lately people have decided to go to war over where, precisely, a Trans person is permitted to pee.
When the person looking for a fight is Christian, the impulse usually comes from a certain mindset that can be quite prevalent in North American Christianity. We want to be in the Lord's Army, we want to fight the good fight. To be seen as warriors for the good! Superheroes, powered by faith. It makes for a good sermon, gets people pumped and ready to go, gets money into the offering plate. So we look for someone to fight. And now that the Gay community has won a couple of bouts and people are being made to look like backwards idiots for attacking them, folks are transitioning their more public scorn to the trans community.
Theologically, the Biblical argument against the state of Transgender is even shakier than the one against homosexuality, which was always far more tenuous than people tended to think. At least the argument against homosexuality had some basis, a scripture or two that supported them. While the scriptures have several things to say about how men and women should behave, the genders are never defined. Not once, not remotely, no definition even IMPLIED.
When it comes to the state of Transgender, the scriptures are silent. So if you want a Biblical Crusade against Transgendered people, you're out of luck... all you have to campaign on are your own prejudices, which the Scriptures happen to say A LOT about, oh ye with logs in your eye.
There's another small problem, though, for those seeking targets for their Biblical Campaign against the world. The Bible is pretty clear on the point that our approach towards the world is not meant to be one of conquerors. And it isn't particularly subtle about it.
My favorite example of this is in the Gospels, when the guards come to arrest Jesus. Peter (always a great analogue for the church) pulls a sword and swings it, cutting off the ear of the slave of the High Priest. (So yeah, when Peter decided to be a revolutionary, he attacked the slave. Not, you know, the people with actual power or soldiers. He's a zealot, but he's not stupid.) Jesus gives him a "are you kidding me?" look and tells him, "look, fisherman Bob. If I needed soldiers, I would have soldiers. Legions upon Legions of Angels, remember? Heavenly Host ring a bell? What makes you think I need you swinging a sword for me?" (This is a loose paraphrase.)
If you, as a Christian, truly believe in an all-powerful God, isn't it just a little bit egotistical to believe that the only reason the All-Powerful Creator of Everything hasn't gotten His Way yet is because you haven't yelled at anyone today?
It gets better, though! A great story from the Book of Acts tells how Paul and Silas, two Christians on a world tour, got beaten and thrown into jail for driving a demon from a slave girl. While in prison, God sent an earthquake and, rather than bringing the whole building down on their heads, it opened the doors to their cells and removed their chains.
How is that for a Faith Based Superpower!? Super-precise Earthquakes!
When the Jailer heard of the Earthquake and came and saw the gates open, he prepared to take his own life. (Roman law was particularly harsh on Jailers who lost their prisoners.) He was surprised, however, to hear Paul's voice... still in the cell, with Silas. Amazed that they hadn't escaped, he came and asked them about this God they kept prattling on about... because obviously something was different about them.
To hear it from the average "crusading Christian" that you might encounter on the streets or in social media, Paul should have just taken off, shouting "The Power of Christ, Bitches! That'll show you!" and rode off into the sunset. But instead Paul showed love, and compassion. And curiously it was the love and compassion, not the super Faithquake, that earned to respect and curiosity of the jailer.
We are no good for the world when we are fighting it. Instead we are petty, petulant brats who earn all the vitriol we receive. But when Christians focus, instead, on loving those around them, caring for them and upholding dignity and decency, people start to wonder about us and think that maybe, just maybe, there may be something to all this faith stuff we drivel on about.
So don't bother attacking Trans people on Biblical grounds. You don't have a scriptural leg to stand on, and even if you did, it's not like you've bothered following all of Leviticus, anyway. But more importantly, stop looking for that scriptural fight. God doesn't need your defending, has never needed it. Instead, God has sent you to love, care for, and respect the world he created, and all the people in it.
When you do that, you can really, finally, be an effective messenger of your faith.
----
I don't think much of it at all, Anon.
Sometimes I wonder if there is a certain type of person in the world who feels the need to have an opponent in life, a fight to win. Since everyone wants to be the hero of their own story, you pick a target you're pretty sure you can beat. Targets may vary, especially as the world changes. Ethnic minorities and Gay people, for instance, used to be much easier targets than they are now (Though they certainly get way more than their share of persecution.) and so it seems that lately people have decided to go to war over where, precisely, a Trans person is permitted to pee.
When the person looking for a fight is Christian, the impulse usually comes from a certain mindset that can be quite prevalent in North American Christianity. We want to be in the Lord's Army, we want to fight the good fight. To be seen as warriors for the good! Superheroes, powered by faith. It makes for a good sermon, gets people pumped and ready to go, gets money into the offering plate. So we look for someone to fight. And now that the Gay community has won a couple of bouts and people are being made to look like backwards idiots for attacking them, folks are transitioning their more public scorn to the trans community.
Theologically, the Biblical argument against the state of Transgender is even shakier than the one against homosexuality, which was always far more tenuous than people tended to think. At least the argument against homosexuality had some basis, a scripture or two that supported them. While the scriptures have several things to say about how men and women should behave, the genders are never defined. Not once, not remotely, no definition even IMPLIED.
When it comes to the state of Transgender, the scriptures are silent. So if you want a Biblical Crusade against Transgendered people, you're out of luck... all you have to campaign on are your own prejudices, which the Scriptures happen to say A LOT about, oh ye with logs in your eye.
There's another small problem, though, for those seeking targets for their Biblical Campaign against the world. The Bible is pretty clear on the point that our approach towards the world is not meant to be one of conquerors. And it isn't particularly subtle about it.
My favorite example of this is in the Gospels, when the guards come to arrest Jesus. Peter (always a great analogue for the church) pulls a sword and swings it, cutting off the ear of the slave of the High Priest. (So yeah, when Peter decided to be a revolutionary, he attacked the slave. Not, you know, the people with actual power or soldiers. He's a zealot, but he's not stupid.) Jesus gives him a "are you kidding me?" look and tells him, "look, fisherman Bob. If I needed soldiers, I would have soldiers. Legions upon Legions of Angels, remember? Heavenly Host ring a bell? What makes you think I need you swinging a sword for me?" (This is a loose paraphrase.)
If you, as a Christian, truly believe in an all-powerful God, isn't it just a little bit egotistical to believe that the only reason the All-Powerful Creator of Everything hasn't gotten His Way yet is because you haven't yelled at anyone today?
It gets better, though! A great story from the Book of Acts tells how Paul and Silas, two Christians on a world tour, got beaten and thrown into jail for driving a demon from a slave girl. While in prison, God sent an earthquake and, rather than bringing the whole building down on their heads, it opened the doors to their cells and removed their chains.
How is that for a Faith Based Superpower!? Super-precise Earthquakes!
When the Jailer heard of the Earthquake and came and saw the gates open, he prepared to take his own life. (Roman law was particularly harsh on Jailers who lost their prisoners.) He was surprised, however, to hear Paul's voice... still in the cell, with Silas. Amazed that they hadn't escaped, he came and asked them about this God they kept prattling on about... because obviously something was different about them.
To hear it from the average "crusading Christian" that you might encounter on the streets or in social media, Paul should have just taken off, shouting "The Power of Christ, Bitches! That'll show you!" and rode off into the sunset. But instead Paul showed love, and compassion. And curiously it was the love and compassion, not the super Faithquake, that earned to respect and curiosity of the jailer.
We are no good for the world when we are fighting it. Instead we are petty, petulant brats who earn all the vitriol we receive. But when Christians focus, instead, on loving those around them, caring for them and upholding dignity and decency, people start to wonder about us and think that maybe, just maybe, there may be something to all this faith stuff we drivel on about.
So don't bother attacking Trans people on Biblical grounds. You don't have a scriptural leg to stand on, and even if you did, it's not like you've bothered following all of Leviticus, anyway. But more importantly, stop looking for that scriptural fight. God doesn't need your defending, has never needed it. Instead, God has sent you to love, care for, and respect the world he created, and all the people in it.
When you do that, you can really, finally, be an effective messenger of your faith.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)