{"id":1548,"date":"2020-01-11T10:05:36","date_gmt":"2020-01-11T18:05:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/?p=1548"},"modified":"2020-01-11T10:05:36","modified_gmt":"2020-01-11T18:05:36","slug":"christian-we-dont-have-to-baptize-everything","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2020\/01\/11\/christian-we-dont-have-to-baptize-everything\/","title":{"rendered":"Christian: We Don\u2019t Have to Baptize Everything"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

One of the heresies of modern times is that we live in a two-story universe.\u00a0 Here below is the \u201cnatural\u201d the material, the physical, and the \u201csupernatural\u201d belongs to the upper story, the heavens, the spiritual, that world we can\u2019t touch or see.\u00a0 Of course, if one is an atheist, then it\u2019s all a one-story universe, pure material\/physical, pure matter-in-motion, whether up or down.<\/p>\n

Christian orthodoxy however believes the entire universe, existence, is, like the Incarnation, both.\u00a0 Like the atheist, we agree, there is only a one-story universe.\u00a0 However, Christians believe it is a created space, both physical and<\/em> spirit.\u00a0 It\u2019s rather simple: The physical creation is<\/em> spiritual, is<\/em> supernatural, which is to say, it is<\/em> natural, it is<\/em> material.\u00a0 To the either\/or question, we respond: Yes.<\/p>\n

This means there isn\u2019t a \u201csecular\u201d space or some neutral non-spiritual habitat, whether material, social, political, cultural, scientific, or any other category one cares to name.\u00a0 You don\u2019t have to agree with me.\u00a0 I\u2019m simply stating what Christians have traditionally believed, or believed anyway, before modernity and its bifurcation of everything.<\/p>\n

One of the greatest capitulations to modernity, to the secular, as manifested in a supposed invisible hand and neutral market, is the idea we need to create Christian versions of everything.\u00a0 Christians consider themselves just one more sub-group living in a two-story universe, wherein we now compete in the marketplace for influence here \u201cbelow,\u201d while we wait for heaven, up there, \u201cabove.\u201d<\/p>\n

The dominant aspect of modernity, which is the rule of mammon, capital, looks at all these competitive imitations of each other and thinks, \u201cHow cute.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thus, we get manufactured \u201cChristian\u201d music, movies, art, writing, comedy, science, diet plans, vacations, health care, dating sites, politics, etc.\u00a0 We look for Christian plumbers and electricians.\u00a0 We look for the fish symbol to guide our choices.\u00a0 In conceding every area of life, thought, and endeavor to a heretical vision, we play along in a never-ending fantasy of supposed influence or market gain.\u00a0 This is not \u201cout-narrating\u201d the other stories.\u00a0 This is a capitulation to the dominant narrative of market capitalism in a supposed God-less space.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not speaking to the issue of Christian kitsch, which is another matter.\u00a0 I\u2019m speaking to the idea all these areas of life are compartmentalized and seen as the neutral material we can fashion into something that now acts as propaganda or a conduit to get our \u201cmessage\u201d out.\u00a0 The idea is to baptize everything, make it \u201cChristian,\u201d and then try and re-market it.<\/p>\n

More than a capitulation, it is completely backwards.\u00a0 The entire cosmos, being created, is already infused with the Wisdom of God, the Holy Spirit, or as the Orthodox put it: \u201c\u2026the Spirit of truth, who is in all places and fills all things\u2026\u201d\u00a0 All cultural endeavor, work, and creativity already has within it the stamp of God\u2019s imprint as creator, no matter to what use it may be put or if such is even recognized or believed.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s true as well that creation, because of rebellion, is also broken.\u00a0 Thus, it can certainly be put to bad ends, or be ugly and false.\u00a0 However, that doesn\u2019t change the matter of its being created, declared \u201cgood,\u201d and now redeemed, even if that redemption is both now and not yet, or eschatological.<\/p>\n

As Sergius Bulgakov<\/a> has noted, the earth is the holy grail, as it was the chalice into which Christ\u2019s blood fell.\u00a0 So too, we could add, has the earth been baptized as it also drank in the water from his pierced side.\u00a0 To discover the grail is to look around.\u00a0 To wonder if something can be made \u201cChristian,\u201d or baptized, is to wonder about something already accomplished.\u00a0 The earth is the Lord\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Thus, we don\u2019t need to make Christian versions of everything or to baptize every cultural work.\u00a0 Baptism is only for people as we follow the rest of creation.\u00a0 We need only produce what is good, beautiful, and honest, regardless of whether it mentions God, the divine, or carries a fish symbol.\u00a0 Take that which is already baptized and simply make it what it already is when fashioned out of love and spun into something good, true, and beautiful.<\/p>\n

Even if a work is meant specifically for Christians, such is more a matter of worship and formation than a specific version of something.\u00a0 After all, non-Christians, atheists, and people of other faiths can also produce that which is good, beautiful, and true simply as it relates to being human and sharing this existence.<\/p>\n

Let the other narratives mimic and compete as the market and capital wink and count their money.\u00a0 Christians though should rather live in the Real (As opposed to the simulacrum world created by the market) and by their work and endeavors produce that which transcends themselves, the market, place or time, and becomes a treasure for everyone.<\/p>\n

I have a Patreon<\/a> Page\u2014please consider supporting my writing.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the heresies of modern times is that we live in a two-story universe.\u00a0 Here below is the \u201cnatural\u201d the material, the physical, and the \u201csupernatural\u201d belongs to the upper story, the heavens, the spiritual, that world we can\u2019t touch or see.\u00a0 Of course, if one is an atheist, then it\u2019s all a one-story […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3524,"featured_media":1554,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[792,35,80,795,473],"class_list":["post-1548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-baptism","tag-bulgakov","tag-creation","tag-formation","tag-theology"],"yoast_head":"\nChristian: We Don\u2019t Have to Baptize Everything<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"One of the heresies of modern times is that we live in a two-story universe.\u00a0 Here below is the \u201cnatural\u201d the material, the physical, and the\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2020\/01\/11\/christian-we-dont-have-to-baptize-everything\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Christian: We Don\u2019t Have to Baptize Everything\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One of the heresies of modern times is that we live in a two-story universe.\u00a0 Here below is the \u201cnatural\u201d the material, the physical, and the\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2020\/01\/11\/christian-we-dont-have-to-baptize-everything\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Divergence\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-01-11T18:05:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/1004\/2020\/01\/nature-conservation-480985_640.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Darrell Lackey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@darrelllackey1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Darrell Lackey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2020\/01\/11\/christian-we-dont-have-to-baptize-everything\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2020\/01\/11\/christian-we-dont-have-to-baptize-everything\/\",\"name\":\"Christian: We Don\u2019t Have to Baptize Everything\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-01-11T18:05:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-01-11T18:05:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/#\/schema\/person\/d88a32b8d4b5f40fbd6ccbfce4e0f813\"},\"description\":\"One of the heresies of modern times is that we live in a two-story universe.\u00a0 Here below is the \u201cnatural\u201d the material, the physical, and the\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2020\/01\/11\/christian-we-dont-have-to-baptize-everything\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2020\/01\/11\/christian-we-dont-have-to-baptize-everything\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/2020\/01\/11\/christian-we-dont-have-to-baptize-everything\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Christian: We Don\u2019t Have to Baptize Everything\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/divergence\/\",\"name\":\"Divergence\",\"description\":\"Commentary Regarding Fundamentalism - 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