The Cross 07/30/2010
 "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." - 1 Corinthians 1:18 NIV The solidarity of YHWH with the poor, despised and oppressed of this world is nowhere made clearer than the cross of Jesus. From Abel forward throughout the biblical narrative God has demonstrated a preference for the underdog. The weak are embraced and the strong rejected. This God called a man, Abraham, from city life to a nomadic existence and granted him and his wife a son, although both he and his wife are said to have laughed at the promise given in their old age. This God rescued suffering, enslaved Israel from Egyptian bondage, then generations later sent the nation into Babylonian captivity for their wickedness. What had Israel done? Among other things, they neglected or abused outright the poor, needy and outcast in their midst. When God came to live among us, he opted for a humble, poor family of the house of David (who himself had been called from the obscurity of the sheep pasture to the throne). Loved by many only for the blessings received through him, including healing and food, he was opposed by the religious authority of his day. Rejected by those who should have thrown arms open wide to him, his words were distorted and falsehoods were concocted against him. Handed over to the civil authority as a rabble-rouser, Jesus was condemned to the cross. "...looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God." - Hebrews 12:2 ESV Some well-intentioned believers in our day grumble about the cross. They say that wearing a cross symbol or singing hymns about the cross is like singing about an electric chair. It was a method of execution. What these people miss is that the cross, for the people of the first century, was a horror greater than a noose or needle. The cross was a symbol not of trial-by-jury and (debatable) justice served in a democratic system ruled by laws. The cross was an instrument of terror and oppression, utilized by the deified state to keep the subjected masses under control. Roman citizens were not crucified. This form of execution was reserved for the non-citizen subjects. It was also a quite common form of execution. After uprisings hills were often dotted and roads lined with crosses bearing the dead or dying rebels. Bloodied, unclothed Jesus was subjected to the shame of the cross, and so God himself experienced directly the public disgrace of seemingly failed purpose. "When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him." - Colossians 2:13-15 NASB The ultimate tool of the fallen powers, torture and death, was turned back upon them. Facing down the systemic evil of this world and the demonic forces that back them, Jesus took the full brunt of their fury and came out victorious. It is a mistake at the Lord's supper to mention the resurrection. Of course, we meet on the first day of the week in celebration of our Savior's resurrection. That is not the point of what some call the "Eucharist." In the bread and fruit of the vine we commemorate not the empty tomb, but the empty cross. A common and shameful form of death was accepted by our Lord and used for our salvation. In the cross we see victory. "Then he said to them all, 'If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will save it.'" - Luke 9:23-24 NRSV The course of Jesus' life, and indeed the entire narrative of Scripture, is one that followed the course of humility, hardship and rejection. It also culminates in ultimate victory and vindication. If this is true of the way of God with mortals, how can we who invoke his name and claim to follow him expect to experience anything else? Add Comment Book Review: The Tripersonal God 07/23/2010
 If you are looking for a simple, introductory study of the Trinity, this probably isn't the book for you. Despite its relative brevity (240 pages), The Tripersonal God is a depthy book with plenty of Bible references and notes to chase down. The writer, Gerald O'Colllins, S.J., takes the reader through the history and development of the doctrine of the triune nation of God, beginning with the Hebrew Scriptures and working his way into modern times. Thus the approach is structured along historical lines, rather than broken up into categories usually employed by systematic theology. This strategy works well, for the most part. There are a few things in particular that I really appreciate about this book, aside from its structure. First, the writer (a Roman Catholic theologian) does not hesitate to quote cite those books identified outside the Roman Catholic and Orthodox communions as "apocrypha." From a Protestant perspective I appreciate the inclusion of Old Testament apocryphal sources, as it contributes to understanding the popular mindset and understandings that were current in the times of Jesus, his disciple and the early church. Second, Rev. O'Collins accepts and utilizes the perspective of contemporary higher criticism. Although I have my doubts about some aspects of higher criticism, O'Collins manages to handle this method of scripture analysis intelligently and faithfully, never undermining the core essentials of the Christian faith nor denying the role of the canon in shaping our understanding of God's nature. Third, with plenty of notes and citations, one can easily spend a rewarding few weeks or even months exploring the information presented. Though I would by no means recommend this book to someone just starting out on their exploration of the topic, it is a very good text for anyone who is willing to take some time and do some serious thinking about the Trinity. Ezekiel 18 and Original Sin 07/17/2010
My first semester attending Central Christian College of the Bible (CCCB) was a rough one. Thankfully, I wasn't enrolled full-time, but instead was living in the dorm, taking one class and carrying a full course load over at Moberly Area Community College. Had I been full-time I might have dropped out sooner and missed some important things, like unlearning hereditary original sin as a doctrine. A little research after I started at CCCB turned up that this movement of churches, the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement, generally rejects hereditary original sin. That being the teaching that children are already born guilty of sin, though not their own. Still, one of my classmates, who then was an "evangelical" outsider like me at the time, came to me one day in near-total shock, having discovered that "this bunch rejects original sin." To be completely clear, the people of this movement don't deny that there was a "fall." Rather, it is the idea of being "born in sin" that is rejected. I came around to their perspective over the course of a couple of years and still hold this view, but have trouble with one of the passages used to support it: Ezekiel 18. In Ezekiel 18 three generations of men are described. The first does what is right in the sight of God, the second does what is evil and the third may either follow in the corrupt and violent ways of his father or choose the path of righteousness. These verses are commonly utilized to support moral individualism. Again, I agree with this perspective on the human condition. I just don't think that's what this passage was talking about specifically. In context, the prophet was referring to successive generations of kings: Josiah, Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin. The trouble with the people of God was reflected in their kings, or vice versa. In any event, while free will is evident and repentance clearly an option, the real story was one of prophetically declared options and the purposes of God. In a pinch I would still use Ezekiel 18 to demonstrate that guilt isn't inherited and that options really do exist that can be freely chosen or rejected. My understanding, however, would be deeper and informed by the knowledge that this is really the story of Israel, her kings and the faithfulness of God to his promises and his own nature. "Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, all of you according to your ways, says the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions; otherwise iniquity will be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed against me, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, says the Lord God. Turn, then, and live." - Ezekiel 18:30-32 NRSV Book Review: An Unsettling God 07/09/2010
 When Brian Nicklaus mentioned he had bought a copy of "An Unsettling God" by Walter Brueggemann, I knew I'd have to borrow it. I'm glad I did. This slim volume, consisting of "only" around 176 pages of text divided in 6 chapters, is dense reading. Seriously, I think I could camp out on this book for a year working out everything Dr. Brueggemann says here. As with virtually everything I read, there are some aspects of the writer's viewpoint I couldn't quite accept, such as Brueggemann's rejection of what he terms "supersessionism," the belief that in Jesus of Nazareth a new covenant has come that supercedes the old. Rather than risk misrepresenting Dr. Brueggemann's position here, I'll just say that I follow the advice of my professors at Harding University: I treat the text like chicken, eating the meat and spitting out the bones. Dr. Brueggeman discusses in this book the nature of God as revealed in the Old Testament Scriptures as one of relationship with four "partners,": Israel, the Human Person, the Nations and Creation. All four were fantastic in their analysis of the text, from a faithful critical perspective. I was especially encouraged by the description of YHWH's relationship with the human person. He spoke in terms of a person at ease living in obedience, discernment (wisdom) and trust, while the person in crisis acts in complaint, petition and thanksgiving. After the crisis is resolved comes praise and hope. In my opinion, the best part of Brueggeman's handling of the Old Testament biblical texts is how he looks at them on their own internal merits, in the light of solid critical scholarship, without undue regard to the later re-interpretations of Christian writers. While, as I mentioned above, I disagree with his position on "supersessionism," I respect his ability to set aside the lens of classical Christian thought in his reading and analysis. Below I include a rather lengthy set of quotations from this book. Read through them slowly and I believe they will make sense, even without their original context. Better yet, buy a copy of "An Unsettling God" and see everything I failed to mention or quote. ________________________________ “The God of Christians, understood in the midst of God's revelation to ancient Israel, is a God deeply at risk in the drama of fidelity and infidelity in the world.” - page 11 “In these ancient texts and in its ongoing life in the world, Israel is indeed an oddity and a mystery, because Israel is a theological phenomenon that has concrete sociopolitical embodiment and is expected to live differently in a world of power.” - page 19 “The command to justice is understood as marking the polity of the community of Israel. That is, justice is not charity, nor is it romantic do-goodism. It is rather a mandate to order public policy, public practice, and public institutions for the common good and in resistance to the kind of greedy initiative that damages the community.” - page 28 “For our purposes, it is enough to see that for reconstituted Israel it is a sure datum that the future is not in hock to the present and will not be extrapolated from it. The future, moreover, is not to be determined by Israel's obedience; the future, as it has been since Israel's most daring core testimony, is in the hands of the One who is sovereignly faithful and faithfully sovereign.” - page 51 “These themes thus form one coherent construal of Israel's unsolicited testimony about its life as YHWH's primary partner: (a) loved to existence, (b) commanded to obedience, (c) scattered to exile, (d) recipients of YHWH's hidden turn, and (e) gathered to obedience and hope.” - page 52 “I have no itch to dismiss either the notion of image or the ancient physiology reflected in the text. But I do not want to be sidetracked from what seems to me the central concern of Israel regarding humanity: namely, that the human person is a person in relation to YHWH, who lives in an intense mutuality with YHWH.” - page 60 “These three aspects of humanness – obeying, discerning, and trusting – are of a piece, even though they are characteristically evidenced in different circles of tradition. These three habits (or disciplines or practices) of humanness articulate the sine qua non of what it means to be human in the purview of Israel's testimony. Humanness requires:
"There is no doubt that YHWH relates to human creatures as free and sovereign. They are created out of YHWH's great generosity, and perhaps out of YHWH's yearning. They are situated in the midst of YHWH's sovereignty and commanded to live on YHWH's terms. When those terms are violated, trouble comes. The world of human persons in their life with YHWH is a fairly tight moral system. The amazing alert offered in these texts is that in the midst of the sanctions that YHWH pronounces, in the face of guilt and in the face of mortality, in the face of both situations in which the human person is helpless, YHWH is attentive. Full of steadfast love and compassion, YHWH is like a father who pities, like a mother who attends. YHWH is indeed for human persons, for them while they are in the Pit, willing and powering them to newness. It is the central conviction of Israel that human persons in the Pit may turn to this One who is powerfully sovereign and may find that sovereign One passionately attentive. That is the hope of humanity and in the end its true joy." - page 97 “Wisdom is the critical, reflective, discerning reception of YHWH's gift of generosity. That gift is not for self-indulgence, exploitation, acquisitiveness, or satiation, all practices of 'foolishness.' Wisdom urges careful husbanding, so that resources of creation may be used for the protection, enhancement, and nurture of all creatures. Wisdom is the careful, constant, reflective attention to the shapes and interconnections that keep the world generative. Where those shapes and interconnections are honored, there the whole world prospers, and all creatures come to joy and abundance. Where those shapes and interconnections are violated or disregarded, trouble, conflict and destructiveness are sure.” - page 141 “The world, as YHWH's creation, requres daily, endless attention to the gifts of creation, for their abuse and exploitation can harm and impede the generosity that makes life possible. Creation, moreover, has within it sanctions to bring death on those who neglect the enhancement of generosity.” - page 141 “Israel bears witness, as did its antecedents, to an enduring force of chaos in its life. This chaos may go by many different names – Tiamat, Leviathan, Rahab, Yam, Mot – which we may summarize under the names of Death or Nihil. In a variety of texts, this rhetoric in Israel points to a recognition that something is at work in the world seeking to make impossible the life of blessing willed by YHWH.” - page 143 “This is a powerful, irresistible, transformative resolve, to be undertaken with a high level of emotional intensity. It is a burst of generativity that is going to change everything and create a newness. This is a God who will not forsake: 'I will not forsake them' (42:16); 'You shall no more be termed Forsaken' (62: 4). In this resolve to new creation, YHWH promises to overcome all forsakenness and abandonment known in Israel and in the world. When creation is abandoned by YHWH, it readily reverts to chaos. Here it is in YHWH's resolve, and in YHWH's very character, not to abandon, but to embrace. The very future of the world, so Israel attests, depends on this resolve of YHWH. It is a resolve that is powerful. More than that, it is a resolve that wells up precisely in tohu wabohu and permits the reality of the world to begin again, in blessedness.” - page 161 Living Christ's Present Reign 07/02/2010
Originally published on IgneousQuill.net July 20, 2008 "And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall this kingdom be left to another people. It shall crush all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever" (Daniel 2:44 NRSV). It amazes me how Christianity in the West has become a matter of private spirituality rather than a public faith. The roots of Christianity, found in the Hebrew Scriptures, anchor the faith firmly in the present world. What God promised was not a revolutionary new way to know God or a better for of personal religiosity, but the invasion of this present world by His reign. The passage from Daniel above is just one example of how the prophets spoke of the then-yet-to-come reign of God. Into the midst of the many nations of the world, and not out of them, would come a kingdom that would endure forever, one that would overcome all others. This image of a coming kingdom that would "crush" all others in the world was near and dear to the Jews in the first century. Oppressed by the Romans and betrayed by the collaboration of many of their own leaders with the Gentile rulers, Palestinian Jews in particular feared mingling with the Gentiles. Hellenized Jews there and in other parts of the world rejected to varying degrees the customs and laws of Israel, and this was seen as infidelity to the true faith of the one God. The hope of many was that the Messiah, the true and promised King of Israel, would come and vanquish the Gentiles. Israel, according to this vision, would become the supreme nation and free forever from invasion and outside control. Temple, law and sacrifices and priesthood had all already been restored. All that was needed was the Messiah. Many came, before and after Jesus of Nazareth, promising military victory but dying in the process of trying to bring it about. The message of Jesus, though, was wholly different. He promised not a triumph brought about by force, but the defeat of evil and liberation of Israel through his own death and resurrection. In all this, he in no way denied that his kingdom was real. Further, he never taught that his kingdom was a disembodied heaven "somewhere over the rainbow." "Jesus answered, 'My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here'" (John 18:36 NRSV). A lot of translations get this wrong, but the New Revised Standard Version gets it right. Jesus' kingdom is not "from this world." It is from somewhere else, from the very presence of God, and it is breaking into our reality. The reign of Jesus arose not from natural causes or conquest, but through the act of God in becoming man and fulfilling Israel's vocation to be the light of the nations. "Pilate therefore said to him, 'Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?' Jesus answered him, 'You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin'" (John 19:10-11 NRSV). It is the false belief of every governing authority that they are not subject to any higher authority. Even those who have believed in the poorly conceived "divine right of kings" doctrine have fallen prey to their own arrogance. For a time God has ordained that worldly powers with reign on the earth, but as we are told in Daniel, their time is limited and the reign of God will overpower them. The earthly powers and authorities exist by force, but the kingdom of God is founded on love and justice that has origins in the very nature and character of the Creator. "Let every person be subject to the governing authorities; for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval; for it is God’s servant for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority does not bear the sword in vain! It is the servant of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be subject, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience. For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, busy with this very thing" (Romans 13:1-6 NRSV). The apostle Paul has long been misunderstood by establishment types to be affirming the status quo. This is always the position of those in the dominant culture, those with everything to lose should their "power" be shaken. Reading carefully the 13th chapter of Romans, though,we find not a carte blanche for government, but a mandate and basis for judgment. Authority exists in order to approve of what is good and punish evil. Who would want to live in a society in this present age without any police force at all? Even anarcho-capitalists can't imagine life without privatized security. The task God has given to worldly rulers and authorities is to uphold truth and justice. When they fail to fulfill this duty, they are subject to judgment. Every human attempt to resolve the world's problems without addressing the reality of sin and submitting to the Lordship of Christ is bound to failure. Such is demonstrated time and again, so that when the present Lordship of Jesus is revealed and all enemies are defeated (including death) God will reign fully and manifestly and all will know that only He is capable of restoring us and setting our world right. "But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He will transform the body of our humiliation that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, by the power that also enables him to make all things subject to himself" (Philippians 3:20-21 NRSV). We who are Christians recognize Jesus as our Lord, above all other so-called "lords." We may have citizenship in one or more nations of this world, but they will fade. We now hold the greatest citizenship as children of God. Notice the word "from" in the text from Philippians. We saw this word as it came from the lips of Jesus in speaking to Pilate. Our citizenship is "in heaven" and it is "from there that we are expecting a Savior." This in no way means that we are awaiting our chance to sit on a cloud and strum a harp in some distant place, but that we are expecting our citizenship, secure in the throne room of God, to come to us in the person of our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus. Putting this all together, Daniel spoke of a kingdom from God crushing all others. Jesus affirmed that his kingdom was not from this world and wouldn't be established by sword and strife as earthly kingdoms are. The apostle Paul set the boundaries and conditions for human government and reminded us that our citizenship is in heaven, and from there our Savior will come. So, what does this say about God and politics in the here and now? First, the church must recognize and proclaim the Good News that Jesus in Lord now. He is Lord not only over the church, but is the one true Lord of the universe. If this message is true, then we must be living in accordance with this fact. Second, the kingdom of God does not leave the powers and authorities alone. It keeps their feet to the fire and demands that justice be done on earth. We cannot have a private spirituality that involves only accepting Jesus as a personal Lord without insisting that he is also the one to whom all nations and their rulers will have to give account. If children somewhere in the world are starving, women are being exploited and dehumanizing corruption is rampant in societies, it is our job to peaceably and prayerfully intervene. Our mission of calling the world into fellowship with God involves both personal invitations to walk with Jesus as disciples, and also to actively be disciples by living out this discipleship publicly, laboring for peace and justice in the present time. This is our prayer, taken from the prayer Jesus taught his disciples, that His "will be done, on earth as in heaven." Not someday... now. However you vote or whatever political party you may claim, the radical discipleship to which we are summoned is far deeper and more significant than anything most of us have yet tried. "Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one" (Matthew 6:9-13 NRSV). | 
Adam Gonnerman - Former missionary, ESL teacher, customer service rep, social media manager and web producer; currently employed as a project manager in New York and volunteering through HOPE worldwide.
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