{"id":5540,"date":"2015-03-09T08:50:31","date_gmt":"2015-03-09T00:50:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jacksonwu\/?p=5540"},"modified":"2021-04-20T01:46:55","modified_gmt":"2021-04-19T17:46:55","slug":"reply-to-doug-coleman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jacksonwu\/2015\/03\/09\/reply-to-doug-coleman\/","title":{"rendered":"Reply to Doug Coleman (Part 1)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
\u00a0Over at Doug Coleman\u2019s blog<\/a>, he raises a good question\"reply-97622_640\"<\/a> about recent discussions of honor and shame. I think others have similar concerns. This post is my response.<\/div>\n

Here is an excerpt from Doug\u2019s blog post<\/a>:<\/p>\n

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At one point in the video below, Jayson Georges discusses theological issues related to honor and shame. He notes that \u201cWestern\u201d theology tends to define sin as \u201cmissing the mark,\u201d but Jayson goes on to suggest that Scripture views sin more in a relational or covenantal context. \u201cSin is disrespecting God,\u201d he says. \u201cSin rejects God\u2019s honor and pursues a worldly honor.\u201d<\/span>\u2026.My concern lies in the seemingly vague way in which sin is described as dishonoring God or His name. The question that immediately comes to mind for me is, \u201cHow<\/em>\u00a0have we dishonored God or His name?\u201d And my thoughts always circle back around to the matter of \u201cmissing the mark.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

For example, think of Adam and Eve in the garden. Did they dishonor God? I think so. How? By missing the mark God had established. God gave them a clear, specific command, and they disobeyed. As a result, they were guilty, ashamed, and afraid. But the sense of shame, guilt and fear all resulted from the fact that they missed the mark. It seems that the problem was not a vague dishonoring of God, but a very specific dishonoring of God by disobeying His specific command\u2026.<\/span><\/p>\n

I agree that Jesus\u2019 atonement takes away our shame. But how? If \u201cmissing the mark\u201d is indeed an essential aspect of the definition<\/span> of sin, then Jesus takes away the shame we deserve because we have missed the mark. He takes away the shame of our sin, the shame resulting from our dishonoring God by our sin<\/span>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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First of all, I disagree with the way that both Jayson (from honorshame.com<\/a>) and Doug link \u201cmissing the mark\u201d and law-language. In my opinion, \u201cmissing the mark\u201d is the far more vague wording. There is nothing inherently legal about this archery imagery. Keep in mind that we are dealing with metaphors.<\/p>\n

\"4600503019_368e08f915_o_d\"<\/a>Discerning if<\/i> and how<\/i> different metaphors relate is not easy.<\/p>\n

What I have argued previously<\/a> (and I think Jayson would say) is that dishonor<\/b><\/i> is the core problem that makes sin the evil it is. As Paul conveys in Romans 1:18\u201423, dishonoring God is the essence of unrighteousness. Although Romans 1 is a long tirade against sin, Paul never once appeals to law breaking. In Romans 2:23\u201324, Paul\u2019s grammar itself reinforces the point as well. Breaking a law is but one way that people dishonor God.<\/p>\n

We also shouldn\u2019t forget Romans 5:13\u201314. Paul says<\/p>\n

\u2026or sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sin existed even when there was no law.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Which Metaphor?<\/span><\/h1>\n

Explaining sin via law depends on our using a broader, royal metaphor whereby God is king. Though an utterly important truth, this is not the only metaphorical description of God. For example, God is elsewhere described as a father and shepherd.<\/p>\n

Not only that, honor-shame language also perfectly suits royal imagery. Citizens are supposed to honor the king. Laws are simply explicit statements about how<\/i>\u00a0people should honor the king. Conceivably, someone could think of a way of dishonoring a king that does not direct break a stated law. Yet, no one would argue that the king will tolerate such shameful behavior on a technicality.<\/p>\n

In a presentation called \u201cIs Our Theology Enslaved to the Law?<\/a>\u201c, I illustrate how honor-shame serves as a very flexible paradigm that includes legal and familial metaphors.<\/p>\n

Shame is Two-Faced<\/span><\/h1>\n

Finally, there is one more issue that I think is relevant here. Shame is both the fruit and the root<\/i>\u00a0of sin. Shame is both a subjective and <\/i>an objective reality<\/span>. <\/strong><\/p>\n

In other words, our sin shamefully reckons God unworthy of honor. Sin brings shame upon God\u2019s name. This is not merely a subjective, psychological problem. This is a publicly manifest evil. As a consequence, people become shameful in God\u2019s eyes (i.e. objectively). Furthermore, sin result in humans experiencing shame (subjectively).<\/p>\n

Recognizing these two dimensions of shame may help to allay people\u2019s concerns about what shame is in relation to sin.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

I really appreciate Doug\u2019s sincerity in raising these issues.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Sometimes, I find that people are defensive and therefore a bit combative when they sense that traditional ways of thinking are being challenged. Doug is a first-rate missiologist. I would encourage people interested in contextualization or who work among Muslims to check out his dissertation, which was published in the EMS dissertation series under the title A\u00a0Theological Analysis of the Insider Movement Paradigm from Four Perspectives: Theology of Religions, Revelation, Soteriology and Ecclesiology<\/i><\/a>.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Photo Credit: proadventurephotos.com \/flickr<\/span><\/div>\n
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\u00a0Over at Doug Coleman\u2019s blog, he raises a good question about recent discussions of honor and shame. I think others have similar concerns. This post is my response. Here is an excerpt from Doug\u2019s blog post: At one point in the video below, Jayson Georges discusses theological issues related to honor and shame. He notes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2368,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,9],"tags":[93],"class_list":["post-5540","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-honor-shame-face","category-missiology","tag-doug-coleman"],"yoast_head":"\nReply to Doug Coleman (Part 1)<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u00a0Over at Doug Coleman's blog, he raises a good question about recent discussions of honor and shame. I think others have similar concerns. 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