Divided Faith Versus Singularity of Heart

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The greatest form of idolatry today is not that people will bow down to a statue but that people will cling to someone or something other than the one true God. (As I’ve noted in an earlier post, even atheists have a god: whatever they trust.)

True faith teaches a singularity of heart, to have one’s confession of faith, one’s life, and one’s actions focused upon and giving honor to The One. Because our lives are so hectic, it becomes more and more difficult to have this singularity of heart. Mere busyness delivers us from idleness but pushes us toward idolatry as we struggle to meet all our commitments. The One—the true God—becomes for us a face in the crowd rather than the object of our devotion, set apart and consecrated above all things.

In the end, true faith calls for more than a different belief but a different way of life that expresses that belief. Life with God and living for God go hand in hand. We see this most clearly in the person and work of Jesus. The balance in His life is truly remarkable. He had great gifts of teaching and healing so that crowds sought Him and huddled about Him, to the point where He was jostled and pushed and overwhelmed by them. Mark 1 records:

That evening at sundown they brought to [Jesus] all who were sick or oppressed by demons. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him. And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. And Simon and those who were with him searched for him, and they found him and said to him, “Everyone is looking for you.” And he said to them, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.”

Even when everyone around Jesus demanded His attention—and deservedly so—He slipped away to pray to His Father, to commune with Him but also to intercede for His disciples and those who came to Him with all their needs. This singularity of heart, focused on the Lord and His calling, helped Jesus with the day to day struggles as well as His ultimate commitment: His calling from the Father. As a man, Jesus was overrun with demands yet He remained singularly devoted to His Father and entrusted all His cares and burdens to the Father for the sake of those who would listen to Him.

Theology. A Cut-Away Life

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I enjoy paging through a great book, The Art of National Geographic: A Century of Illustration.

On pp. 121-122, there are illustrations by Ned M. Seidler, “Unseen Life of a Mountain Stream” and “Teeming Life of a Pond.” I love these “cut-away” views of life below the surface with diving frogs, wriggling invertebrates, and swaying weeds.

There’s a cut-away in the Christian life, too. When we confess our sins, we also reveal a cut-away: many of our sins of thought, word, and deed are unseen or unheard. We reveal the complex: complications of what it is to be a human being and a Christian struggling against sin like nature struggling against tin cans, worn out tires, and heavy metals.

Again, when we confess our faith in Christ to others, we show a cut-away of life below the surface. People can’t see our faith and how it changes us unless we let them in. When we confess Christ, we show how He takes away our sins and brings forth new life in all its diving, wriggling, swaying splendor. People see us as we are: a sinner who is yet a saint, what theologians call simul justus et peccator (“Righteous and sinner at the same time”).

Creative Writing and Articles of Faith

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“Articles of faith are derivatives, namely, conclusions taken from the Scriptures. Therefore not they but Scripture itself is the only and proper principle of theology.” Gerhard, Theological Commonplaces: Exegesis I, p. 25.

What I write and teach is derived from Scripture and must remain subject to the Scripture—the principle of knowing about God, who is Himself the principle of being and the first cause of theology.

When I’m writing for God, I’m connecting people to the Scripture, which connects them to the greatest writer—God Himself—who composes a word and brings things into being through it (Gn 1:3). Now that’s creative writing!

God—Scripture—my writing/teaching—reader

Remarkably, God chooses to work through me and through you.

Episcopal Priest Elizabeth Edman’s Method of Biblical Interpretation

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In ‘Queer Virtue,’ Rev. Liz Edman examines not only what it means to be a queer priest, but how Christianity is a queer religion.

CHR Comment: Edman’s comments in the interview show that she holds to a loose reading of the canon of Scripture in which some texts are ignored in order to emphasize other texts or “overall message” as she puts it. In this approach, the canon becomes no canon at all since the full canon does not actually rule or guide the reader. (“Canon” is from a Greek word for a reed that was used as a measuring tool in antiquity.) It’s a bit like rounding all your measurements up to feet and saying that the inches aren’t that important even though you can’t possibly have feet without inches. Such an approach to measurement would not work practically beyond very general estimates.

Additionally, her description of John 2:1–11 provides a thorough allegorical use of the passage. Allegory, which takes things symbolically, may be useful for illustration purposes but it is not a helpful tool for determining what something actually means. Allegory may illustrate doctrine but it does not establish doctrine as Edman seems to propose. Edman’s “progressive” methods result in a separation of biblical teaching from its original context.

Source: Exploring the Queerness of Christianity with Episcopal Priest Elizabeth Edman

“Grandiose Religious Delusion of Revelation”

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A remarkable case report describes the brain activity in a man at the moment that he underwent a revelatory experience. According to the authors, Israeli researchers Arzy and Schurr, the man was 46 years old. He was Jewish, but he had never been especially religious. His supernatural experience occurred in hospital where he was undergoing …

CHR Comment: Neuroskeptic is a Discover Magazine sponsored blog that comments in a popular style on technical neurological studies. In this post, the blogger describes a case where an Israeli man had a religious experience while undergoing a brain scan investigating his epilepsy. The researchers concluded that as a result of the man’s medical condition, he had a delusional experience of seeing God. The blogger speculated about whether this man’s experience was similar to those of biblical prophets who founded Judaism and Christianity.

A key difference between this case and those described in the Bible would be that biblical writers commonly describe religious experiences shared by multiple people such as the entire nation of Israel at Mount Sinai or the crowds that witnessed the miracles of Jesus or saw Him after the resurrection. In the Bible, the truth of a person’s testimony would be confirmed through witnesses (two or three; cf. Deuteronomy 19:15–21; John 5:30–47); a prophet’s claims also had to come true in order to have the trust of the people (Deuteronomy 18:15–22). Although this modern case in Israel is helpful for understanding the religious experiences of some people—and is very interesting—it does not follow that this example explains the religious experiences of all people or that religious experiences are necessarily delusions. For example, if the man’s experience was that he saw himself kicking the winning goal in a football match, that would not mean that others who have similar experience were delusional at the time. Their experiences could be quite real as many of us have witnessed at football games.

Source: The Neural Basis of Seeing God? – Neuroskeptic

Iran Re-Arrests Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani

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Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani, a house church leader from the Church of Iran denomination who was acquitted of apostasy in 2012 after being sentenced to death by hanging, was arrested once again, this time along with his wife and a church member, by Iranian authorities on Friday, according to U.K.-based Christian Solidarity Worldwide.

CHR Comment: The article explains that officials repeatedly arrest Christians as a strategy for intimidating the community so that others will not support Christianity or become Christians. In this most recent case, the pastor’s wife and another Christian were also arrested.

Source: Iran Re-Arrests Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani Who Was Once Sentenced to Death

2016 Methodist Conference to Continue Forty-Four Year Debate

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CHR Comment: David Gushee’s opinion piece released by the Religion News Service notes that United Methodist conferences have been debating the issue of homosexuality and church life since 1972. Recently, activists in the Reconciling Ministry Network have stepped forward to declare themselves homosexual. This action challenges the existing United Methodist standards on the issue, opening the possibility that those who have outed themselves could be disciplined. Gushee also includes some brief listing of biblical texts and arguments about why the United Methodist Church continues to teach that homosexual acts are sinful and a cause for repentance.

Source: The Methodists gather to argue about gay people again | Religion News Service

“Inhuman” Torture of Christians in Pakistan

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Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, party chairman, said the human rights abuses against the Christians could not be tolerated.

CHR Comment: Pakistani police picked up two Christians while investigating a mugging. During interrogation, police tortured the men. Four officers were suspended when photographs of the Christians’ injuries were released to the public. Christians are a minority in Pakistan, which is predominantly Muslim.

Source: Pakistan party leader condemns ‘inhuman’ torture of Christians | Christian News on Christian Today

Religion Declining, Secularism Surging (Perhaps)

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CHR Comment: Phil Zuckerman, Professor of Sociology and Secular Studies, Pitzer College in Claremont, CA, provides an interesting look at the secularization trend described by a variety of polls. However, as I read the article, I wonder whether the polling fully accounts for persons who might described themselves as spiritual but are unaffiliated with a particular religion. He also oddly connects secularization with internet access as though internet use might dispose someone toward secularism. In any event, the anticipated number of church closings he describes in places like Holland are important cultural developments and sure indicators of change. Christians need to view countries with state churches as important mission fields.

Source: Religion Declining, Secularism Surging

Study of Ordaining Women Deacons

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Pope Francis said he wants to study the possibility of ordaining women as deacons, a step that could for the first time open the ranks of the Catholic Church’s all-male clergy to women.

CHR Comment: The word “deacon” literally means “servant,” and was variously used in the Scriptures and in church history. The article explains that currently ordained Roman Catholic deacons are allowed to preach at Mass but cannot consecrate the Sacrament. Whether women deacons would have the same office and service as the male deacons would be part of the study. In any case, “deacon” has meant many things over the centuries.

Source: Pope Francis: Let’s study possibility of ordaining women deacons