In order for this post to make sense for those who are unaware or unfamiliar with the problem of pain, I'll spend this first segment explaining it. The problem of pain refers to the paradox/proof that a purely benevolent, omnipotent God cannot exist because evil exists. I'll break down that statement: if God is all-good and all-powerful, He would use His ultimate power to prohibit evil from occurring. Evil exists in our world; ergo, the aforementioned God cannot exist. Fairly simple proof and fairly logical, and therein lies the problem (for a logic-driven Christian, such as myself).
For those who didn't know, this very problem sidelined me (spiritually) for a good year and a half. I finally got to a place where I could ignore the above proof and just say to myself that He is a mysterious God that none of us will understand Him fully. There's a lot more to it, but it essentially boils down to that. It's at this point that I'll make my (inevitable) plug to Donald Miller and his book Blue Like Jazz (available for $4.00 (incl. shipping) on Amazon) for pointing out that, much like love, God cannot be placed into a formula, He cannot be explained, He just is Himself. But that just isn't a good conclusion to this story. As great as Miller is, he really only taught me a good way to ignore the problem (a perfectly good solution because we can't really solve this problem with our human minds anyway). This wasn't really good enough for me, but the problem was gone for a bit.
Fast forward to today: this problem was discussed at church today (if you're ever in Madison, WI some day, join me at Blackhawk Church downtown (also, I'll take any excuse to promote anything I enjoy in my life)). For some reason, I feel like I got it. Plenty of people probably tried to explain it to me (maybe in the exact same way), but I never really pieced it together until today. So, let's start at the beginning (there is no beginning, but we'll start before our universe is created) and we'll take this God and give Him the power to create animals which have sovereignty to make their own decisions (whatever that means and however that happens) (this kind of leads to a reduction of His power, but if His desire is to create animals with this ability, then it is within His power to do so somehow). Inherent in that previous assertion is the ability for these animals to choose an action which is not in line with the benevolent, omnipotent God. With that, evil can occur. However, despite this, God still has the power to redeem these animal creatures from the beds they've made for themselves (probably with straw and ropes rather than with memory foam). This isn't exactly a logical proof, but it seems to at least try to reconcile the all-goodness and all-powerfulness with the existence of evil in a realistic way.
There's still much more to wrestle with when considering the implications of such a problem. I'm not done tackling the issue, but I'm starting to make progress. I think the next step is reading C.S. Lewis' The Problem of Pain. I don't think I'll ever be able to fully understand even this small aspect in the infinite ocean of attributes that is God, but any closer I can get is better than nothing.
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God. Show all posts
23 October 2011
18 September 2011
Complaint #004: Pharisees
Let me first point out that the Pharisees are not simply a group of people from biblical times, but, rather, Pharisaic thought continues to plague people even into the present, and it may lurking in places that we wouldn't have expected it.
If there's one thing you learn about Pharisees in church, it's that Jesus wasn't really a fan. Now Jesus is a pretty smart dude, so he probably had a good reason for this. So, let's investigate: Matthew 23:2-3a - Jesus says, "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you…" Apparently, the Pharisees were incredibly religiously intelligent people. And you say "But Will, you just told me that Jesus was less than supportive of the Pharisees. He's praising them!" which is why I made sure to add the ellipsis at the end of that quote. If you've been to any significant amount of church services, you probably know why. Well, let's dig a little deeper: Matthew 23:3b - "…But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach." Ahh, there it is: they're hypocrites. If you read around, you get a sense of the Pharisees' lifestyle: they are religious in public and make themselves known because of it and they ridicule anyone who doesn't live this way. So what we should take away from this is that we should not act like a Pharisee (even if you do heed their spoken advice on how to live).
But you didn't come here to let me give you a (less than fulfilling) Bible lesson. No, you're here because you saw my post on Facebook or Twitter or something, know how awesome my posts have been in the past, and decided to waste time reading this rather than doing something more constructive. Ok, the second part probably isn't entirely accurate, but I digress. You came here to hear me complain, and so I will. Smart Christian people should know pretty much everything I stated in my previous paragraph. Therefore, no smart Christian people should act like Pharisees, right? Now, I'm not qualified to judge the intelligence of the Christian community, so I'm going to assume there are enough intelligent people in the societal Christian church to make my point valid. (I should probably take this moment to address the fact that I make a good number of remarks about "the societal Christian church". Yes, I am making wide generalizations, but as we all know, wide generalizations are almost always accurate to the group as a whole and only have problems when applied to individuals or small groups within the larger group. I'll play the percentages and make a wide generalization. Also, please note that a majority of the real Christians I know are not part of the societal Christian church, but rather only a part of the true Christian church. Unfortunately, the societal church is what society sees as the Christian church.)
OK, back on topic: Christians shouldn't act like Pharisees. This will be shocking: I am complaining because they do. I think the very fact that I can refer to the "societal Christian church" and you know what I am talking about speaks to the fact that it is too loud in acting religious and not being religious. This, however, is not my main contention. If people want to hurt themselves, I'll warn against it, but I get angry when people try to negatively affect others. This is where I'm going to get the angry comments, from both sides. And I say, bring it on! But please do read the entire post before yelling at me.
There is a hierarchy of sins in the church (not in the Bible, just in the church). For some reason, committing homosexual acts is right near the top, maybe just under rape and murder. Abortion is tied with murder. Pride and using the LORD's name in vain are pretty low. Some acts, that aren't sins intrinsically like using certain four-letter words or sleeping in the same house (maybe even the same bed) as someone who isn't your spouse, somehow make the list. The first point regarding this needs to be that all sins are equal in the eyes of God. All sins separate us from God. Look at it this way: it's kind of like points in a football game. In the eyes of humans you either lost the game by three points (for pride) or 45 points (for rape). In the eyes of God, you lost the game. Luckily, He provides us with a infinite-point opportunity to win the game, if we just accept it.
One thing Christians should know is that all people sin. It is in our nature. For some reason, we, as humans, act like humans and we sin. I do believe that the following are sinful acts: murder, rape, pride, using God's name in vain, abortion, homosexual acts, using those four-letter words in a hurtful way (admittedly, this is often the case), sleeping with that person who isn't your spouse if it causes either of you to struggle sexually (admittedly, this is often the case). The interesting point, however, is that the above point system apparently applies to heaven or the church building. If you're losing by more than ten points, there's no way you make it to heaven and we don't like you stepping into our church building. It's for nice, quietly sinful people. You know, on the level of pride. This is all well and good in the human point system. Heck, it's downright logical. But the viewpoint that counts is God's. He just sees everyone as sinful and accepts those who love Him despite themselves.
This comes as a shock to some Christians. There are gays and murderers and rapists in heaven. This comes as a shock because apparently these people don't read their Bibles. Paul, who wrote like half of the New Testament, murdered Christians because they were Christians. He is in heaven (or I'm hedging my bets that he is). David, who had sex with another man's wife and then killed said man to cover his own steps, is in heaven. Rahab, a prostitute, is in heaven. Another prostitute, the woman of the passage Luke 7:36-50, is told by Jesus that she is saved. And with whom is He sitting? A Pharisee. A Pharisee who He says may be forgiven, but is filled with little love.
It is because of this, I believe, we are told not to judge. Not only do we have no authority, but we'd get it wrong. The murderers and prostitutes would go to hell and the people with little love would go to heaven, and they'd all be arguing who is more righteous and what everyone else was doing incorrectly. That being said, I'll leave the job up to God.
If there's one thing you learn about Pharisees in church, it's that Jesus wasn't really a fan. Now Jesus is a pretty smart dude, so he probably had a good reason for this. So, let's investigate: Matthew 23:2-3a - Jesus says, "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you…" Apparently, the Pharisees were incredibly religiously intelligent people. And you say "But Will, you just told me that Jesus was less than supportive of the Pharisees. He's praising them!" which is why I made sure to add the ellipsis at the end of that quote. If you've been to any significant amount of church services, you probably know why. Well, let's dig a little deeper: Matthew 23:3b - "…But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach." Ahh, there it is: they're hypocrites. If you read around, you get a sense of the Pharisees' lifestyle: they are religious in public and make themselves known because of it and they ridicule anyone who doesn't live this way. So what we should take away from this is that we should not act like a Pharisee (even if you do heed their spoken advice on how to live).
But you didn't come here to let me give you a (less than fulfilling) Bible lesson. No, you're here because you saw my post on Facebook or Twitter or something, know how awesome my posts have been in the past, and decided to waste time reading this rather than doing something more constructive. Ok, the second part probably isn't entirely accurate, but I digress. You came here to hear me complain, and so I will. Smart Christian people should know pretty much everything I stated in my previous paragraph. Therefore, no smart Christian people should act like Pharisees, right? Now, I'm not qualified to judge the intelligence of the Christian community, so I'm going to assume there are enough intelligent people in the societal Christian church to make my point valid. (I should probably take this moment to address the fact that I make a good number of remarks about "the societal Christian church". Yes, I am making wide generalizations, but as we all know, wide generalizations are almost always accurate to the group as a whole and only have problems when applied to individuals or small groups within the larger group. I'll play the percentages and make a wide generalization. Also, please note that a majority of the real Christians I know are not part of the societal Christian church, but rather only a part of the true Christian church. Unfortunately, the societal church is what society sees as the Christian church.)
OK, back on topic: Christians shouldn't act like Pharisees. This will be shocking: I am complaining because they do. I think the very fact that I can refer to the "societal Christian church" and you know what I am talking about speaks to the fact that it is too loud in acting religious and not being religious. This, however, is not my main contention. If people want to hurt themselves, I'll warn against it, but I get angry when people try to negatively affect others. This is where I'm going to get the angry comments, from both sides. And I say, bring it on! But please do read the entire post before yelling at me.
There is a hierarchy of sins in the church (not in the Bible, just in the church). For some reason, committing homosexual acts is right near the top, maybe just under rape and murder. Abortion is tied with murder. Pride and using the LORD's name in vain are pretty low. Some acts, that aren't sins intrinsically like using certain four-letter words or sleeping in the same house (maybe even the same bed) as someone who isn't your spouse, somehow make the list. The first point regarding this needs to be that all sins are equal in the eyes of God. All sins separate us from God. Look at it this way: it's kind of like points in a football game. In the eyes of humans you either lost the game by three points (for pride) or 45 points (for rape). In the eyes of God, you lost the game. Luckily, He provides us with a infinite-point opportunity to win the game, if we just accept it.
One thing Christians should know is that all people sin. It is in our nature. For some reason, we, as humans, act like humans and we sin. I do believe that the following are sinful acts: murder, rape, pride, using God's name in vain, abortion, homosexual acts, using those four-letter words in a hurtful way (admittedly, this is often the case), sleeping with that person who isn't your spouse if it causes either of you to struggle sexually (admittedly, this is often the case). The interesting point, however, is that the above point system apparently applies to heaven or the church building. If you're losing by more than ten points, there's no way you make it to heaven and we don't like you stepping into our church building. It's for nice, quietly sinful people. You know, on the level of pride. This is all well and good in the human point system. Heck, it's downright logical. But the viewpoint that counts is God's. He just sees everyone as sinful and accepts those who love Him despite themselves.
This comes as a shock to some Christians. There are gays and murderers and rapists in heaven. This comes as a shock because apparently these people don't read their Bibles. Paul, who wrote like half of the New Testament, murdered Christians because they were Christians. He is in heaven (or I'm hedging my bets that he is). David, who had sex with another man's wife and then killed said man to cover his own steps, is in heaven. Rahab, a prostitute, is in heaven. Another prostitute, the woman of the passage Luke 7:36-50, is told by Jesus that she is saved. And with whom is He sitting? A Pharisee. A Pharisee who He says may be forgiven, but is filled with little love.
It is because of this, I believe, we are told not to judge. Not only do we have no authority, but we'd get it wrong. The murderers and prostitutes would go to hell and the people with little love would go to heaven, and they'd all be arguing who is more righteous and what everyone else was doing incorrectly. That being said, I'll leave the job up to God.
28 August 2011
Complaint #001: Prayer
I'm starting this blog off with a bang. I've recently realized that I'm not a fan of the term "prayer" and how, in general, the Christian community handles it.
A little background: At its core, Christianity is a lifestyle centered on creating a relationship with the one, true God. It's not merely a set of rules and regulations to obey for the reward of getting to heaven. Life is meant to be the journey of creating and building a relationship with God.
It is because of this that I have come to dislike the term "prayer". Denoting an action as "prayer" automatically makes it a separate entity from other, more relationship-oriented words: "conversing", "speaking", "discussing".
However, we're all smart people; we know what synonyms are, so why is prayer any different than the other words? So maybe the actual word "prayer" isn't to blame, but rather, how we use it. Herein lies the issue: the general public uses the verb "pray" and most often associates it with the preposition "to". We pray to God. We pray to Jesus. This is problem. We need to fix our mindset and turn it from "to" to "with". "to" denotes a single direction; "with" creates mutual interaction. How much better do you feel, how much more do you feel appreciated, when you're "talked with" rather than "talked to"? The term "relationship" is predicated on the fact that there are two parties and they are both involved.
On top of this, we need to make our prayer like our conversations with others. Do you pray in the same manner that you talk to the people you love? How much more loving should your conversation with God be when it's compared with your conversations with other humans? If I had a spouse to whom I spent all of my communication (or any significant portion) setting out my list of problems and asking her to fix them, I don't think she'd feel too loved. Don't get me wrong, praying for things we want to see happen through the work of God is an important part of prayer (heck, this blog is centered on making worthwhile complaints), but our focus should be on the love and appreciation of Him and refining our relationship with him (unfortunately, I don't think I'm qualified to write a blog on love, at least one that will be of any use to anyone).
So, pray/talk/speak/converse with God. Focus on the relationship, not on your problem list (and by shifting your focus, notice how many of your problems go away/don't matter). Listen for His responses (this takes good discernment). Grow.
A little background: At its core, Christianity is a lifestyle centered on creating a relationship with the one, true God. It's not merely a set of rules and regulations to obey for the reward of getting to heaven. Life is meant to be the journey of creating and building a relationship with God.
It is because of this that I have come to dislike the term "prayer". Denoting an action as "prayer" automatically makes it a separate entity from other, more relationship-oriented words: "conversing", "speaking", "discussing".
However, we're all smart people; we know what synonyms are, so why is prayer any different than the other words? So maybe the actual word "prayer" isn't to blame, but rather, how we use it. Herein lies the issue: the general public uses the verb "pray" and most often associates it with the preposition "to". We pray to God. We pray to Jesus. This is problem. We need to fix our mindset and turn it from "to" to "with". "to" denotes a single direction; "with" creates mutual interaction. How much better do you feel, how much more do you feel appreciated, when you're "talked with" rather than "talked to"? The term "relationship" is predicated on the fact that there are two parties and they are both involved.
On top of this, we need to make our prayer like our conversations with others. Do you pray in the same manner that you talk to the people you love? How much more loving should your conversation with God be when it's compared with your conversations with other humans? If I had a spouse to whom I spent all of my communication (or any significant portion) setting out my list of problems and asking her to fix them, I don't think she'd feel too loved. Don't get me wrong, praying for things we want to see happen through the work of God is an important part of prayer (heck, this blog is centered on making worthwhile complaints), but our focus should be on the love and appreciation of Him and refining our relationship with him (unfortunately, I don't think I'm qualified to write a blog on love, at least one that will be of any use to anyone).
So, pray/talk/speak/converse with God. Focus on the relationship, not on your problem list (and by shifting your focus, notice how many of your problems go away/don't matter). Listen for His responses (this takes good discernment). Grow.
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