Michel Serres

A friend of mine is hosting a website which contemplates and reviews some of the ideas of philosopher Michel Serres.  I have not read Serres.  But i saw a link on his site to an introduction of a book on hope which contains a chapter where the author, Mary Zournazi, interviews this thinker.  That is an aside for me because the book is entitled "Hope: New Philosophies for Change."  I am a bit of a scavenger when it comes to reading and i was quite happy to read the intro. to this book and move on.  What i like is that she challenges some of the easy hope that we cultivate at times, even in the face of terrible social tragedies.  Can we really hope in the future when we are ignoring the poor?  Or can Christians know the fullness of the cross without embracing the call to join in the suffering of others?  I mean, i would like to hear this question addressed in a community of faith during a communion service.  

Rowan Williams

I was going to write more from Rowan William's superb book "the wound of knowledge" but got busy building a retainer wall in my back yard--Ugh.  Sore lower lumbar situation.  

But there is a really cool interview between the archbishop and a skeptical interviewer here.  

RW gets into the theory of personalism which he describes as the "fascination with the unfathomable in each person."  Wow, that is pretty cool.  If you have read Dostoyevsky you will totally get what RW is onto here.  The human texture that D. creates is breath-taking at times and even truthful.  And it seems to be that in a culture of equal rights and excessive fair play rules that we need to assert a sense of the depth factor in each individual.  Enjoy.   

The Wound of Knowledge

"I have been working through Rowan Williams magnificent book entitled "The Wound of Knowledge."  It is an impressive work on Christian Spirituality because it avoids both the flat moralism of many Evangelical works and the anti-supernaturalism found in certain liberal circles. Instead Williams navigates a portion of the history of Christian spirituality with a keen eye for the way that it has helped its devoted followers to interpret their personal experiences in light of the paradox of God becoming flesh in Jesus Christ.  

About this mysterious God he writes:

"If God is to be seen at work here, he is indeed a strange God, a hidden God, who does not uncover his will in a straight line of development, but fully enters into a world of confusion and ambiguity and works in contradictions--the new covenant which both fulfills, and radically alters the old, the Messianic age made real amid the suffering and failure of the present time."

That is good stuff!
He is a thoughtful theologian who captures the subtleties and texture of the Christian experience in their various manifestations. More to come...

Valedictorian Address

A friend of mine wrote a brilliant address to his fellow classmates at Taylor University College and Seminary.  If you want to read something really interesting about the future of the Evangelical church check it out here.  It was not just the lecture that i enjoyed but also his honesty and courage to say something that could create tension or disagreement.  Great stuff!

You can find lots of cool stuff on his site too.  

Upside Down Church

Wow, i think this picture can invite all sorts of commentary about the status of the church in modern day culture.  Anyone want to take a shot?

How (Not) to Speak of God Part 3

I also enjoyed a section entitled: "The End of Apologetics."

In this small section Rollins builds on his overall argument. In one ay we might say that "the end of apologetics" is the end of trying to talk people into being Christians or rationally convince them that Christianity is truer or better than any other religion or world view. To sum up, he means that we try to explain or over-explain who God is. When the truth is that words are ultimately unable to explain the un-explainable. That is, our words can give us insight and understanding of who God is but God is always more than our descriptions or metaphors can describe. I think, from a personal standpoint, there are a number of reasons we do this, maybe fear, the desire to be in control and hatred (that is for another blog).Practically this means that in trying to build airtight cases for Christianity or theism, we actually turn listeners off.

If traditional preachers try to prove God is real over and against our doubts then Rollins is advocating for the postmodern Christians to simply be a "hint" for God. This is much less programmatic than the traditional Evangelical approach and also more spiritualist. This sections reads like an epistemological rational for the apologetics of the famous Emergent thinker/ practitioner Brian McLaren. Instead of rehearsed scripts on God and faith, we are asked to walk in faith or take a leap of faith in how we communicate the good news. Thus we are asked to embrace an indirect communication. And through this indirection people's curiosity will be kindled.

Some might be suspicious of this approach and it might easily degenerate into a quietism or passivity that postmodern cynicism generates but it is actually far from lacking the guts to "tell it like it is."  On the contrary, the postmodern person will need to summon the courage, discipline and work required to simply befriend others--without any other agenda. That is, to love others simply because they are human creatures that God made. It is strange that we have come to a day where we have to defend the idea of loving others without strings attached but i think it might reveal the great disconnect between Christian institutions and their founding principles.

How (Not) To Speak of God Part 2

I could say quite a bit about this book. I will start by saying it is a trenchant assault on the idea that we know who God is and exactly how he operates in the world. Rollins is saying on one level this is true, but on another level it is false. Their might be things that theology or experience can tell us about God but God is always more than our theologies or experiences reveal to us. And it is the acknowledgement of the existence of this "more" that drives us forward in our Christian faith.
Therefore, an important part of Christian Spirituality is an acknowledgement of the transcendence of God and our inability to know Him just as he is. This is acutally a common form of healthy spirituality even though it may not get much spotlight in churches. Rollins refers to psalm 97:2 where it talks about clouds and thick darkness surrounding God. We see in this verse a God who is hidden from our curious eyes. This obscurity of God is not a curse or indictment on our level of faith but, again, kindles our desire to know him more.
The problem we have in our day and age is a Christianity which is too positivist. That is, modern churches and books often claim too much knowledge of God and of the faith. A lot of North Americans are not interested in entering into the mysterious aspects of the Christian faith, they just want solutions to make their lives work better. That is a weakness. On the other hand, emergent thinkers who embrace this understanding God presented by Rollins want to acknowledge that their are often mysterious and unpredictable elements to our lives. And that their are not always "solutions" or easy to find reasons why we suffer and things don't work out. But the mystery is ok, normal and even good as it keeps us searching and stretching.

How (Not) to Speak of God

Like many Christian pastors i have followed the development of a group called the "Emergent Church" with quite a bit of interest.  I have found some of their spokespersons and ideas to be really great while others unsatisfying.  I bought this book by an Irishman named Pete Rollins based on the recommend on the cover by Brian McLaren.  The book sat of my shelf for about 7 months and i could not really bring myself around to read it. 

Well, i started digging into it last week.  It is not a book for everyone.  It is not a how to do church work book.  Nor is it a defense of conservative Christian theological positions.  Instead it is a bit of a beginner introduction to the philosophical underpinnings of the Emergent church theology.  Rollins does not claim to speak for everyone, let alone God!  But what he does do, is lay out how some Christians are convicted that God is beyond our language about Him.  And also that this can leave us breathless or maybe dazzled by this experience.  He believes it is good and proper to describe God through doctrine and theology but that this will always fall short.  Practically it means that churches need to, at times, communicate this inability to speak of God. 

I really like this book.  I like it because it voices for me some of the deepest beliefs i have about God with such honesty.  Though i have familiar metaphors that help me envision who God is, He is always more.  And sometimes its wise just to "be still and know that God is."   

I will follow this post up in a day or two with more from the book. 

Smiling Addiction

I saw this video the other day and found it a bit creepy. I think it is because it strikes so close to home. A video that exposes how we use all sorts of vices or fixes to help us cope with the painful aspects of our humanity is unsettling. It reminded me a bit of the old Pink Floydd song "comfortably numb." Our tendency as humans is not to face the painful realities that sometimes encroach upon our lives but to medicate and escape from them.

The Witch of Portobello

I picked up a copy of Paulo Coelho's newest novel before I took off on vacation two weeks ago. I read it in spurts and did not find the story totally compelling.  I am pretty open to different story lines but not sure i really jibed with this one.  

The most interesting part may have been a short explanation by the author in the last couple of pages for this peculiar subject matter.  The subject was about a lady named Athena who is on a search of understanding and truth and inadvertently discovers the feminine side of divinity through her search.  This leads her away from traditional religious groups and ideals and into trance-like states where she expresses the ideas of the divine.  

Coelho describes part of his rationale this way: "today's society is so preoccupied about coherence that many get trapped in the misconception that all is explainable.  Society tries to convince us that we have to be completely ourselves.  There is where the danger lies.  It's necessary to admit that some things can't be grasped, that our empty spaces exist, and that we have to respect and honor the mystery."    

This is an interesting point.  The idea of a witch being an expression of the mysterious part of reality may be objectionable to some, but clearly makes sense for Coelho.  I found a link on-line which connected me to a book forum about this book.  There were 530 responses to this with people expressing deep interest in understanding who God is and what it means to know the truth about life.  Interesting to see how much spiritual interest is out there in this world.