Category Archives: Relativism

Gazing with Angels

Posted by on 2012/04/12 No comments | 71 views

Welcome back to Inklingz. No promises but will try to get back to posting with some reasonable regularity in the coming months. I was asked to write a guest blog for a friend, but this one didn’t make the cut:) so I figured I’d share it here. Her blog follows M’Cheyne’s annual Bible reading plan, so it’s based on tomorrow’s reading: Psalm 31 and 1 Timothy 2. This is roughly her format as well, though to be honest, not enough so to publish! Haha. Anyway, welcome back!

***

It is not for kings, Lemuel—
it is not for kings to drink wine,
not for rulers to crave beer,
lest they drink and forget what has been decreed,
and deprive all the oppressed of their rights.
Let beer be for those who are perishing,
wine for those who are in anguish!
Let them drink and forget their poverty
and remember their misery no more.

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
for the rights of all who are destitute.
Speak up and judge fairly;
defend the rights of the poor and needy.    -Proverbs 31:4-9

 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—  for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people.   -1 Timothy 2:1-6

Nuance: Peter reminds us that even angels long to look into these things (1 Peter 1:12)—that is, the Truth of Jesus Christ as preached through the Holy Spirit, the Word of God. And here we see some intriguing aspects of that Truth: that we should pray for and obey those who have authority over us, irrespective of their leadership; that leaders should not crave alcohol, yet for those in anguish drunkenness may serve as a respite. Pray for and obey even oppressive leaders? Buy beers for the homeless? What nuance is shown in the Word of God that even angels do not tire of contemplating the beauties and complexities of it!

Extremes: There are two equal and opposite mistakes we can make in approaching God’s Truth. The first mistake is oversimplifying it. The God of Creation understands all the complexities herein! For believers, the risk is a faith that is hard to apply to life’s circumstance. The framework of such faith is not robust enough to support the weight of life’s complexities. For thoughtful skeptics, this thin framework is easy to dismiss as naive and inapplicable. Perhaps the more common mistake for modern Western individuals is over-complicating the Truth. Skeptics often does so intentionally. If we remove all hard Truth from it Christianity’s claims, the Word is toothless, for it is then no different from all other truth claims. Believers tend to use this as an excuse to live loose lives.

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To drink before the Lion

Posted by on 2010/09/14 4 comments | 475 views

Another thread of thought on “home”…

“Are you not thirsty?” said the Lion.

“I’m dying of thirst,” said Jill

“Then drink,” said the Lion.

“May I—could I—would you mind going away while I do?” said Jill.

The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And as Jill gazed at its motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience. The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly frantic.

“Will you promise not to—do anything to me, if I do come?” said Jill.

“I make no promise,” said the Lion.

“Do you eat girls?” she said.

“I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors, cities and realms,” said the Lion. It didn’t say this as if it were boasting, nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.

“I daren’t come and drink,” said Jill.

“Then you will die of thirst,” said the Lion.

“Oh dear!” said Jill, coming another step nearer. “I suppose I must go and look for another stream then.”

“There is no other stream,” said the Lion.

From C.S. Lewis’ The Silver Chair, one of the Chronicles of Narnia

See Home: or a fruit remembered but never tasted for the first post in the series on “home”.

Get out your red pen; “exclusivism” revised

Posted by on 2010/09/02 1 comment | 323 views

…for the new Redeemer blog

Redeemer Presbyterian is starting a new blog for Seekers, or those who are considering the claims of Christianity (and other world religions).  They have offered me an opportunity to do some writing. I wrongly supposed I could simply take content from inklingz and allow them to post it on the new blog, but they’ve asked me to trim (that is, massively edit) my work.  Here’s an edit below of Exclusivism that welcomes all. I’m curious to hear if you prefer the shorter version to the original post. Get out your red pens and have at it.

An exclusive invitation for all, revised and revisited

Christianity is unique among world religions because of the unique claims of Jesus Christ. No other religious leader (of a major religion) claimed to be God or promised to destroy death; and followers of no other religion claim its leader’s resurrection. Therefore, I contend that Christianity is either “better” or much worse than all other faiths. I use the word “better” simply because Christianity is based on truth claims that supersede all other truth claims. That is, either Jesus was God and was resurrected from the dead; or not. If not, then Christianity is a farce based on lies; I accept that.  But what if?

I recognize the intellectual problem presented by exclusive truth claims particularly for thoughtful modern people (that is, True Truth or truth that is universally true for all all people at all times–The Lens through which all other truth claims must be viewed). The general form of the argument against True truth is often illustrated with a story about blind men trying to understand the full nature of an elephant. One feels its trunk and believes the elephant is snakelike. Another man feels a leg and thinks the elephant much like a tree. A third man feels the tusks and has quite a different interpretation. Each man understands a part of the elephant, but none of them has the full picture. Such is life, the argument suggests. All any of us can hope to offer is the unique understanding we derive from our experiences, but none of us can understand the full elephant, as it were. That is to say, a person’s truth claim will reflect (only) his limited understanding, but it cannot be the complete picture–it cannot be True Truth.

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