A Theology of Codependency…

Are We Supposed to be Codependent on God?

You know versions of God are “man-made” when God seems to be, oddly, co-dependent upon our attention, love, and relationship with Him. Really, it’s an unconscious reflection of the fallible men who created God in their own image.

So, I’ve been reading this book, err, devotional titled “Christian Perfection.” It’s written by a guy named François Fénelon – it’s weird to be reading Christian literature post my exodus from western Christianity. It’s as if when I read it I’m reading it from a different angle; it changes everything.

Much of what he’s saying I both agree with and definitely do not agree with.

But, Fénelon, he was a Catholic priest. Just reading through his Wikipedia he seemed to be authoritarian by nature; as his “missionary work” is defined by authoritarianistic forcefulness.

For instance:

“…in the end, he was willing to resort to force to make Protestants listen to his message. He believed that ‘to be obliged to do good is always an advantage and that heretics and schismatics, when forced to apply their minds to the consideration of truth, eventually lay aside their erroneous beliefs, whereas they would never have examined these matters had not authority constrained them[3].’”

(Honestly, this tidbit makes me want to stop reading through this devotional as it just highlights the discomforts I’ve felt when reading through it…)

You know versions of God are “man-made” when God seems to be, oddly, co-dependent upon our attention, love, and relationship with Him. Really, it’s an unconscious reflection of the fallible men who created God in their own image.

What is codependency? And, Why Does This Even Matter?