Jesus read Isaiah. Luke relates Jesus’ first recorded teaching moment, after his baptism and temptation.

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:14-21)

Listening to – or reading – the Bible straight through, repeatedly and regularly, has many benefits. As I have continued the practice of listening on my morning commute – for almost a decade now – the dependence of the New Testament on the Hebrew Scriptures has become unmistakable, sometimes cropping up in the most unexpected places. What pops to mind when hearing Isaiah 22:21-22? “He will be a father to those who live in Jerusalem and to the people of Judah. I will place on his shoulder the key to the house of David; what he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.“

Echoes, allusions, and quotes from the Old Testament, permeate the New. The Psalms, prophets, especially Isaiah, lead the list. References to Isaiah average more than one a page. Ben Witherington III in his recent book Isaiah Old and New: Exegesis, Intertexutality, and Hermeneutics notes: “Almost everywhere one turns in the NT, one finds fingerprints of Isaiah. In some 300 pages of most any translation of the NT there are over 400 quotes, paraphrases, or allusions to Isaiah.” (p. 13) Even in this count, it is likely that we have missed some, the book was that important in the first century Jewish community and the early Christian church. Direct quotes are only the tip of the iceberg. For the Jew or Christian with a “Scripture-saturated way of thinking” paraphrases or allusions to Isaiah came automatically to mind. It is one of the best preserved books we have, with virtually the entire book in the Great Isaiah Scroll from Qumran (ca. 150 BC).

Jesus read Isaiah. Not as a proof text, but because the book was and is important. This alone should make the Isaiah worth careful consideration – both in its own context and in the way it is used by the Jesus, the Gospel writers in the letters of Paul, Peter, and James and in the book of Revelation. The NT use of Isaiah does not stand in a vacuum – with a new significance unattached to the original meaning of the book. Ben Witherington works through this in his book, “trying to understand its meaning in its original contexts first, before then asking and answering the question of how this same material is used by Jesus and the writers of the New Testament.” (p. 10)

We will join with Ben and consider the book of Isaiah and the echoes and allusions to the book in the New Testament.

What strikes you most about the book of Isaiah and the way it is used in the NT?

If you wish to contact me directly you may do so at rjs4mail[at]att.net

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How can a loving God create humans in his image only to consign millions make that billions of them to hell?

The current population of earth is around 7.7 billion. It is estimated that something around 108 billion humans have ever been born (live births only). The exact number isn’t really important. Only a fraction, even of those alive today, have ever heard the gospel of Jesus Christ. A smaller fraction of those alive in 1700 AD had an opportunity to hear.

Rebecca McLaughlin (Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion) considers this the most significant question confronting Christianity today. “This one is about the end of the story, and it is the most difficult thing Christians are called to believe.” (p. 210) It is also the final question addressed in her book. She provides no answer … not even a real hint at an answer.

There are some important observations. Judgment is an important part of the story. Humans are morally accountable – such accountability is an essential part of being human. “Unless we are willing to rob humans entirely of their moral agency, we must sometimes say that evil is evil, and that it comes from the heart. And if we cannot say this, we must also never say that love is love.” (p. 211)  All of us can be tempted to evil in some ways and in some circumstances. Peer pressure, the ends justify the means, greed, arrogance. Guilt requires judgment.

Jesus took on this burden – Paul writes ” For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” (1 Cor. 15:3) and Jesus tells Nicodemus “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:17)

God through Jesus will judge the world. Jesus himself is the judge (Acts 10:42), but he is more than judge. He is the bread of life, the living water, the shepherd, the sacrificed son. Incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection are all part of the story. Rebecca points out the importance of incarnation. “Jesus is not the passive victim of God’s wrath, he is God himself.” (p. 217) God himself bore the consequences of sin. No divine child abuse, no sacrificed “innocent.” Yes Jesus was innocent, but here the divine nature is important. God through Jesus redeemed his people.

God is merciful, a theme that runs through Scripture. Read Jonah with this in mind …

But who are his people? Are these the ones who heard and at one time said the right words? Is it it only those who have been baptized? Is it only those lucky enough to be “chosen,” born at the right time, in the right place, into circumstances making them receptive?

Ultimate judgement isn’t the hard question. The opportunity for salvation is the hard question, and coming in a close second, the nature of hell.

Rebecca doesn’t answer the question of who … but she does dig into the idea of heaven and hell a bit.

Heaven, in biblical terms, is not primarily a place. It is a shorthand for the full blessing of relationship with God. It is the prodigal son come home. It is the bride being embraced by her husband with tears of joy. It is the new heavens and the new earth, where God’s people will be upgraded … Heaven is home: an embodied experience of deep relationship with God and his people on a recreated earth.

Hell is the opposite. It is the door shut in the face of the wastrel son, the divorce certificate delivered at the moment of remorse, the criminal receiving his just deserts. (p. 218)

Hell is, Rebecca argues, loss of Jesus: starving, darkness, wandering alone and lost, eternal death, and paying the price … because Jesus is bread, light, shepherd, life, and lamb who bears the sins of the world.

But this still leaves us with who and how. Yes, how is through the blood and faithfulness of Christ.  But how does God save or condemn individuals in any fashion that could be regarded as “fair?”

At this stage of my life, I am content to leave this to God, resting in the knowledge that he is just and merciful.

We are called to follow and to make disciples.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Mt 28:19)

What do you think?

Is this the hardest question for Christians?

If you wish to contact me directly you may do so at rjs4mail[at]att.net

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If there is a single question that has stood the test of time it is the problem of pain. How could a loving God allow so much inherent pain and suffering? The question has stood the test of time because answers are neither easy or straightforward. Rebecca McLaughlin addresses this question in chapter 11 of her book Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion. She has no knock down answer, but does offer some thoughts worth considering.

First, she doesn’t find the atheist option any improvement on Christianity. To take this approach is to resign oneself to an ephemeral existence with no real meaning. “We are just children making sandcastles in the face of a relentless tide. Or rather, we are not children. We are computers with delusions of personhood. … If there is no God, we still suffer, but there is no “universe” to care. There is no design, no purpose, no evil, no good – nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.” (p. 195)

The Buddhist approach of detachment, breaking the ties of attachment, offers little solace, and removes many of the greatest joys in life. It avoids disappointment, but at what cost. “To love is to be vulnerable. To desire and strive is to risk disapointment. … But they can also bring treasures nonattachment cannot find.” (p. 197)

Christianity tells a story. It has a beginning in creation and a consummation in New Jerusalem. “The loving, omnipotent God of our imagination would move swiftly from creation to new creation, from the garden of Eden of Genesis to the heavenly Jerusalem of Revelation.” (p. 204) But this isn’t the story we have.  We are not living in some kind of nightmarish detour – with a God who needs to get the world back on track. Rebecca elaborates: “Jesus’ death is no accident. It is not even plan B. It is the lynchpin around which all human history revolves, the central peg of reality itself.” (p. 204)

So why the story line we live, with pain and suffering, doubt and anguish? Some will suggest that free will is an essential part of the plan. The freedom to follow without compulsion. Perhaps so, but this alone is not enough. I have favored the idea that growth to maturity as individuals and as a people of God is a necessary part of God’s plan. Maturity and wisdom require space to grow and to be tested. Rebecca has a slightly different take that emphasizes relationship. A strong relationship with God and with each other requires living through trying experiences together.  Without fellowship in life including suffering the characters in a story (including our real-life story) cannot really bond and grow. God in the incarnation, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, enters into the fabric of our lives. Alongside as well as Father Almighty and Creator.

Rebecca uses John 11, the story of Lazarus’ death and resurrection, to frame the discussion.

“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” (11:21-27)

Jesus turns the discussion from Lazarus and his condition, from the grief of Martha and the other mourners, to himself as the Messiah, the resurrection and the life. We have ultimate promises for the future, but in the present Jesus lives alongside and with us through the ups and downs. In the story of Lazarus he wept with and for the family.  This builds mature and strong relationships of dependence that cannot come through existence in a utopian garden transformed into a city.

Perhaps suffering and the uncertainties of life are a necessary part of God’s plan and of the Christian story.

Thoughts?

Could suffering be a necessary part of God’s plan?

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Luke Timothy Johnson concludes his recent book Miracles: God’s Presence and Power in Creation, with some pastoral advice – for pastors in particular. There are some great insights and ideas in this chapter.  The problem is a serious one. It goes beyond a belief in Scripture to accept divine agency as a very personal reality.

The challenge facing contemporary Christians in the matter of miracles is daunting. … Incarnation and resurrection alike evade strictly evade strictly historical categories. Because they speak of divine agency in the empirical realm, they demand the language of myth. The same believers, especially pastors and preachers, are profoundly shaped by the worldview of modernity. Secularism has no place for the miraculous. For many calling themselves Christians today are more than difficult: they are intellectually embarrassing. (p. 277)

The answer isn’t intellectual assent to a literal reading of Scripture. As though miraculous activity and divine agency was merely an ancient fact to be believed … on faith. The answer is a re-focused approach to the whole topic of our faith in God’s divine agency in the world. Johnson suggests “four places in the church’s life, or four ecclesial practices, that can work together to shape such a symbolic world, within which believers can expect, perceive, and celebrate the manifestations of God’s presence and power in creation:  teaching …, preaching, prayer, and pastoral care.” (p. 278) In these he speaks especially to those in leadership positions, with the responsibility to shape life together as a church.

Teaching should shape and form people – and this requires an immersion in the world of Scripture. “Through whatever specific avenue of approach, we want Christians to learn how to imagine the world that Scripture imagines, how to cultivate a robust theology of creation, how to hear and honor personal experience, and how to appreciate the truth-telling qualities of myth.” (p. 279)  Myth is not a synonym for fiction or falsehood – as though something is either historical or mythical. Rather myth is “language that seek to express what cannot be otherwise adequately expressed.“(p. 286)  Neither science nor simple reporting of facts are adequate to describe and convey the full range of human experience. We need stories – the personal stories of fellow Christians and the ancient stories contained in Scripture. Stories that must be more than matter-of-fact reports.

When was the last time someone shared their testimony in your church?

Or the last time there was corporate prayer for specific needs?

When was the last community sing, taking requests from the congregation?

Is worship a sterile performance or a community experience of life together?

Johnson argues that sterilized Christianity, divorced from the real world lives of the people in the congregation, will never fully appreciate the truth of miracles, or of God’s agency in the world.  “If the church, then, is to learn how to hear and appreciate the miracles in Scripture, it must learn how to hear and appreciate the miracles that occur in the lives of ordinary human beings both within and outside the church. … The church needs to recover the distinctive importance of personal witness, above all the witness to God’s working in human lives.” (p. 284)

Preaching and teaching are not the same – but they serve similar purposes in different ways. In a sermon he preached on the transfiguration and includes in this book, Johnson digs into the resonances between the experiences of Moses on Sinai and Jesus on Tabor. “The Gospel account of the transfiguration participates in revelation rather than simply reports it. The transfiguration story uses symbols of God’s presence and power to disclose deeper dimensions of the humanity of Christ.” (p. 291) The way we approach miraculous events in Scripture – as one-offs deep in the past, separated from the fuller story, and divorced from God’s agency in our world today – makes it hard to appreciate miracles for what they are, then and now.

My more important point is that God continues to reveal his presence and power just as truly in our world today. God is the ever-living God. The same God who created “in the beginning” continues to create at every moment and discloses his presence and power through what he brings into being. The same God who spoke through Moses also speaks through prophets and witnesses today. The same God who acted in Jesus Christ to heal and drive out demons continues to act in our world today to liberate and restore. (p. 292)

Prayer is an implicit and explicit acknowledgement of God’s divine agency today as in the past. “Prayer is more than a form of cognition: it is the activation of a relationship, moving the human person to the most explicit and naked stance possible before the mystery of existence, and calling out to the heart of that mystery, “God our Father!” (p. 296) Prayer makes it real … “Without the practice of prayer, the world imagined by Scripture is at best a fascinating construction of ancient minds; but with the practice of prayer, that world becomes an actual world in which to live.” (p. 298)

Pastoral care and counseling … getting into the messy lives of others when they need it most. When the preacher does not also participate in such pastoral care, the church is impoverished. Or so Johnson argues. Why? Because preaching isn’t simply a performance art and a preacher who is not engaged with the congregation cannot be fully aware of the power of God at work among the people. Miracles become extraordinary (past) events rather than the continuing reality of God at work today.

Miracles, as the title of Johnson’s book proclaims, are God’s presence and power in creation.

The church’s greatest gift and its mightiest challenge is to declare God’s self-revelation within the world that God brings into being, the One from whom creation derives, and the One to whom creation is ordered. Failure at this is utter failure. (p. 300)

Miracles, signs, and wonders are not just revelations in the deep past. God remains active today if we know where to look (and take the time and effort to do so). In our secular age we either discount miracles or attempt to explain them rationally. Ice floes in the Sea of Galilee might permit walking on water? Many Christian demand intellectual assent to the literal words of Scripture, but undervalue the power of God revealed in the story – and what it means for us today.

Johnson’s book is well worth reading. Miracles are a hard sell in our modern secular age. We know better – or so we are told. The approach of the fundamentalist – making assent to miraculous events in the deep past a litmus test for faith – doesn’t help matters. God’s divine agency is the heart and soul of Scripture. We need to tell the Story, not defend every detail. The incarnation is the pinnacle, the culmination of the Story in Scripture, but it isn’t the end of the story of God’s agency in the world. God continues to be active in his people. If we lose this, we’ve lost everything.

If you wish to contact me directly you may do so at rjs4mail[at]att.net

If interested you can subscribe to a full text feed of my posts at Musings on Science and Theology.

The link to the book above is a paid link. Go with this one if you prefer: Miracles: God’s Presence and Power in Creation.

We’ve been working through Luke Timothy Johnson’s recent book Miracles: God’s Presence and Power in Creation. The focus in this book is on the New Testament miracles, signs and wonders of Jesus recorded in the Gospels as well as the by the Apostles recorded in the book of Acts. Having looked at the miracles recorded in the synoptic Gospels and Acts, it is fitting to conclude with the book of John.

The book of John contains no infancy narrative, and the fewest miracles – only about seven or so. No exorcisms, several healings, a few nature miracles, and, of course, the resurrection. But this certainly does not make it more “down to earth.”  In fact, … “we can consider the entire Gospel narrative to be the manifestation of God’s presence and power within creation. … The miracle that the entire Gospel expresses is the miracle of incarnation.”  (p. 251) From beginning to end.  As what is likely the latest of the Gospels, it “reveals signs of continuing reflection on the mystery of Jesus and is intricately worked to accomplish its effects.” (p. 254) The focus on incarnation is apparent from the opening lines – and it certainly doesn’t need a birth narrative to achieve the purpose.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
…
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. …
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (1:1-5, 9-11, 14)

The Gospel of John sees Jesus as the center of everything, and the very presence of the living God in the world.  “Everything in John centers in Jesus – he draws all titles, all metaphors, to himself – because as the Word, it is Jesus’ function to “reveal God” in the world (i:18). In John, the drama of God’s self-disclosure in the world … is made explicit in the drama of God’s Word becoming flesh in the humanity of Jesus.” (p. 255)

The miracle stories in the Gospel serve the purpose of illuminating the power of God through Jesus as the bread of life. After the feeding of the five thousand men (plus women and children) in John 6 the story continues with deep questions and answers … it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. … I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. (6:32,35) and moves on to John’s version of the Eucharist meal (6:53-56)

The true light gives sight to the blind. When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (8:12) And after restoring the man blind from birth: For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind. (9:39)

The signs and wonders also serve to identify Jesus as from God. Nicodemus: Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him. (3:2) and the people after being fed: Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world. (6:14)  and after the restoration of life to Lazarus as the chief priests and the Pharisees sought to get rid of him (ha!) Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. … Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. (12:37, 42)  The signs and wonders were a mixed bag – they demonstrated the power of God and provoked fear in the leadership.

But the greatest sign, Johnson argues, is the glorification of the Son. Incarnation ends in enthronement – but not before or without execution.

If we understand the terms “glory” and “glorify” as they have been used throughout John’s Gospel, we understand that this is the time when God’s presence and power are to be most manifest in the flesh of Jesus, not in the signs that he performs, but in the symbol or sacrament that he himself is. God’s saving presence is, as much for John as for the evangelist Mark, paradoxically most real where it seems to be most absent, in the passage of Jesus to God through a violent and shameful death by state execution. (p. 272)

The ultimate sign in John’s Gospel from beginning to end, is that God has entered most intimately into the fabric of our human condition, and having so entered, is carrying that frail human condition into the full presence of God. (p. 273)

Following the resurrection, Jesus appears to Mary, and then to the disciples on three separate occasions. The ultimate in signs and wonders. Here he commissions them to carry on the mission. “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” and after the final miracle in the Gospel, a catch of many fish, specifically to Peter he gives the command to “feed my sheep” and worry about himself rather than the call and fate of others … “you follow me.”

If you wish to contact me directly you may do so at rjs4mail[at]att.net

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The link to the book above is a paid link. Go with this one if you prefer: Miracles: God’s Presence and Power in Creation.

The painting by James Tissot (1836-1902)  – What Our Lord Saw from the Cross – provides an interesting perspective.

He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Luke 4:16-21

The Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles together form one coherent story.  According to Luke Timothy Johnson in his recent book Miracles: God’s Presence and Power in Creation:

It is no small measure due to Luke’s theological vision and literary skill that we see the story of the church as continuing the story of Jesus, now as risen Lord working through his prophetic followers in the power of the Holy Spirit; that we see the story of Jesus and the church together as the fulfillment of  God’s promises in Scripture; and that we see the entire story, from beginning to end, as suffused with the presence and power of the Creator God, who through multiple “signs and wonders” accomplishes his will in the world. (p. 249-250)

The miracles performed by Jesus and recorded in the Gospel of Luke continue on through the book of Acts, now performed by the apostles, especially by Peter and Paul in the name of Jesus accompanied by occasional instances of direct divine intervention (e.g. Peter’s release from jail in Acts As we saw in the book of Mark, these are not arbitrary deeds performed for convenience or for applause. They establish Jesus as God’s Messiah, with the Spirit of the Lord upon him. Jesus is clearly a prophet of the living God of Israel.  He is more than this, but the signs and wonders he performs don’t establish this – they witness the power and purposes of God, the Father. Johnson makes this explicit:

Luke makes the argument that Jesus is the prophet like Moses whom “God has raised up,” in his ministry (Luke 7:16) and above all through his resurrection and exaltation (Acts 3:22, 7:37), and his witnesses continue his prophetic witness in the world. (p. 228)

Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit went about with the power of God – and God raised him from the dead. This is how Peter puts it in the house of Cornelius: You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. … They killed him by hanging him on a cross, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. … He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” (Acts 10:38-43)

Luke also makes it clear that Jesus Christ, who was anointed by God, is Lord of all. It is through his name and power that the apostles perform signs and wonders. In Acts 3 Peter heals a lame beggar “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” There is no indication that the apostles heal through their own power, it is the power of God through the name (and power) of Jesus. “Peter and Paul perform parallel wonders, and the deeds of both echo Jesus. … what is significant is … the power of God at work in the world through God’s prophets:what better way to show this than through the prophets performing similar wonders.” (p. 238)

The birth, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the establishment of the church, the extension to include both Jews and Gentiles in on united family of God. All of this is through the Spirit and power of God. The miracles, signs, and wonders recorded in Luke-Acts display the liberation from the power of Satan and the coming kingdom of God. This is the power of God at work in the world.

The miracles apart from the story are meaningless arbitrary acts. In the context of the story they play a central role displaying the power of God.

If you wish to contact me directly you may do so at rjs4mail[at]att.net

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The link to the book above is a paid link. Go with this one if you prefer: Miracles: God’s Presence and Power in Creation.

I am not a city person – I find the great outdoors far more interesting. Sometimes we are lucky and the great outdoor comes to us!

Saturday morning we were treated to a window seat as ‘nature’ took its course. An eight point buck was bedded down and patiently waiting in the back yard. We often see does and fawns in the yard (they devoured two of our young cherry trees last year! – we will have to protect the new ones better), but this was the first buck in the 12 years we’ve been in the house. His patience was rewarded when a doe came out from hiding under the spruce tree. A chase ensued, he caught up to her, and nature took its course (as this is a family blog I’ll skip those pictures – I’ve had some claim that even deer deserve their privacy – of course, then they should stay out of the back yard!). Suffice it to say that we might expect yet another fawn in the spring.

God’s creation is fascinating!

So why are conservative Christians as a group (with many individual exceptions) anti-science when it comes to these kinds of issues: pollution control, environmental protection, climate change? It boggles my mind because there is no good theological reason for this attitude. In fact such virtues as stewardship and love for others dictates that we of all people should care. Not as radical green idealists who put the rest of nature over human flourishing, but as humans, God’s image, in the world to care for it and for others. Air pollution is a devastating problem in many cities around the world – as Southern Californians know quite well. Anthropogenic climate change is also a reality. How devastating might be up for debate – I don’t think this is an entirely settled question – but that doesn’t mean that we should sit back and do nothing, or worse yet, accelerate our pursuit of technologies suspected of making it worse.

Katherine Hayhoe, an evangelical Christian, a climate scientist, and a voice advocating for careful consideration of the issues in the evangelical church (she isn’t willing to give up the term even though it has been tarnished by some of us) has an opinion piece in last Sunday’s New York Times. It is well worth the read. Although behind a paywall in general, the NY Times allows a certain number of free reads a month, so you may be able to access it even if not a subscriber. She concludes the piece:

By beginning with what we share and then connecting the dots between that value and a changing climate, it becomes clear how caring about this planet and every living thing on it is not somehow antithetical to who we are as Christians, but rather central to it. Being concerned about climate change is a genuine expression of our faith, bringing out attitudes  and actions more closely into line with who we already are and what we most want to be.

This is why she continues to speak up and speak out – from her expertise and her faith. I have long encouraged the church to develop the wisdom to listen to faithful Christians with deep expertise in science (all sorts) and then act on this base of knowledge. Don’t count credentials – listen to the arguments and reasoning. This goes for the evolution ‘debate’ but many other issues as well – and creation care, from pollution control to climate change, has far more significant consequences than our in-house arguments about the age of the earth and the process of evolution.

Thoughts?

If you wish to contact me directly you may do so at rjs4mail[at]att.net

If interested you can subscribe to a full text feed of my posts at Musings on Science and Theology.

The miracles and wonders recorded in the Gospels are not mystical proofs of the divinity of Jesus or an apologetic argument for Christian faith. Yet they are an essential part of the story. Luke Timothy Johnson, in his recent book Miracles: God’s Presence and Power in Creation, looks at the miracles recorded by Mark. But first a reminder…

Our concern is steadfastly with the way in which the evangelists use the miracles of Jesus to express dimensions of the good news: how the Son of God liberated humans from captivity to alien powers, restored people to health and full communion with people, showed compassion toward individuals and multitudes, and manifested the presence and power of God within creation. (p. 193)

The Gospel of Mark moves at lightning speed, from the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in his adult life inaugurated with his baptism by John to the empty tomb following his crucifixion. As Mark relates the story he weaves in exorcisms, healings, compassionate provision, and power over creation.

Demon possession was violent and degrading … and a sign of Satan’s rule. Satan is strong, but Jesus is stronger yet. According to Mark, when Jesus begins to proclaim the good news of God. … “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (vv.  14-15) he calls disciples and drives out an impure spirit, with power to expel the intruder “The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.” (v. 26)  The exorcisms in Mark, along with Jesus’ exchange with the teachers of the law “How can Satan drive out Satan?” (3:23) illustrate that this is a cosmic battle. “Human freedom is not a matter of utter independence, but a matter of being in allegiance to cosmic rulers, whether God or Satan. Therefore liberation of human freedom … involves the overcoming of one spiritual domination by another powerful enough to overcome it.” (p. 198)

The healing miracles (including the restoration of the Synagogue leaders daughter to life) physical ailments are at the root of the problem. In both the exorcisms and the healings, human beings are restored to normal society and human companionship. Here, however, the emphasis isn’t of cosmic powers and spiritual domination, but on the pain and suffering and distress of the people. Jesus makes people whole, a clear harbinger of the coming Kingdom. It is also significant that Jesus shows concern, compassion, and mercy for the people he encounters. He brings sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf in more ways than one.

An additional six miracles reported by Mark can be described as power over creation or control over the natural order. In this group Johnson includes walking on water, calming the sea, cursing the fig tree, the transfiguration, and the feedings of the five and four thousand. Clearly the first two, and perhaps the third belong in this classification, but connection of the other three seems somewhat strained. The transfiguration is a class of its own. The feedings demonstrate the power of God to provide for the needs of his people – recalling the manna provided for the Israelites in the wilderness. This includes as an aside power over creation, but more importantly they demonstrate the compassion of Jesus (and God) for the people. “Jesus’ exercise of power is not an arbitrary display but a response to human need.” (p. 210)

The cursing of the fig tree, far from an arbitrary and extravagant display of power, is something of an enacted parable. Johnson outlines the sequence: (1) Entering Jerusalem and the temple Jesus looks around and then leaves. (2) Returning to Jerusalem the next morning he sees the fig tree without fruit and curses it. “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” (3) The next day Jesus returns to the temple and drives out the money changers combining ideas from Isaiah and Jeremiah:  “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’” (Mk 11:17) (4) The next day Peter calls attention to the fig tree withered to the roots.

The point of these juxtapositions is plain: if the temple does not yield the fruit of righteousness demanded by God, it will be destroyed; the fig tree stands as an obvious symbol for the fate of the temple and of the people: see the parable of the vineyard, which follows immediately and also involves fruitfulness (12:1-11) (p. 213)

But before the parable of the vineyard, Mark also uses the story to make a point about prayer. “It sets up Mark’s most explicit teaching on the necessity of faith an prayer for the divine power to be fully effective. … Jesus’ response to Peter does not focus on the power he exercised in withering the tree, but on the power that the disciples will have through the prayer of faith.” (p. 214) Mark collects sayings on prayer that appear separately in Matthew, including the admonition to forgive “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.” (Mk 11:25, see also Mt. 6:14-15)

Far from being extravagant or arbitrary acts of power, all of the miracles recorded in Mark serve to move the story forward. As Johnson notes, they “serve the function of revealing Jesus as the powerful inbreaking of God’s reign.” (p. 195) It is with this in mind that we should read them and seek understanding.

If you wish to contact me directly you may do so at rjs4mail[at]att.net

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This is the next question raised in Rebecca McLaughlin’s recent book Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion.

On this question, I take a slightly different tack from that taken by Rebecca. To start to explore this question we need to define the word “condone.” According the Merriam-Webster condone means “to regard or treat (something bad or blameworthy) as acceptable, forgivable, or harmless.” Another dictionary on my shelf (Webster’s 20th Century Unabridged) defines condone as “to pardon, forgive, or overlook an offense.“

Second, we need to consider what we mean by “Christianity.” The key questions here: Is God an objective reality? and Is Christianity … i.e. following Jesus as Messiah and Lord … an objective truth? As a scientist I find this to be an important point.  Is there an objective truth I seek, or is all religion inherently and irreducibly subjective? Putting this differently, Is God constrained and defined by our human understanding and Christianity by human practice of the faith?

If ‘Christianity’ is defined by human practice, we must acknowledge that some forms have done far worse than condone slavery. They have actually endorsed, enforced, and preached it as God’s ordained truth. Other forms of Christianity (for example, the black church in the US) have found hope and freedom and comfort in the teaching that hears the cry of the oppressed and that justice will be served. The tyrants will receive their just reward (… i.e. punishment). Christians were also active, as an expression of their faith, in the abolition movement that ultimately ended slavery in the US.

But is there a Christian truth that transcends human practice, that is objectively true? And does this condone slavery?

I am fully aware that my understanding (and yours) will always be finite, limited, and flawed in one way or another.  This goes for my science and for my faith in God. But I also believe that there is an ultimate truth, and it is this that we seek to the best of our ability.

Nothing we have in the New Testament calls for a radical overthrow of the institution of slavery as it was practiced in the first century Roman world.  In this way we could, perhaps, say that Christianity condones (overlooks) slavery. Many of the early Christians were slaves. Paul tells them to be content as they are (although gain freedom if possible 1. Cor. 7:21). However, slaves are to treat their masters well and masters are to treat their slaves well. (The overriding command is clear: love your neighbor as yourself.)

In Christ there is no distinction of slave and free (Gal. 3:28, Col. 3:11). Paul’s letter to Philemon when he sent his runaway slave Onesimus back makes the point even more clearly. “although in Christ I could be bold and order you to do what you ought to do, yet I prefer to appeal to you on the basis of love. … So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me.” (v. 8,9, 17, 18)  The slave is now a brother to be welcomed as though it was Paul himself returning to Philemon. Paul didn’t see this as the time and place to overthrow the social conventions of his culture, but he did turn the reality upside down for those who followed Christ. Nothing in the Christian faith endorses the human exploitation of one human for the benefit of another.

Christianity does not endorse slavery or consider it harmless. But it does call us to live as Christians in less than ideal conditions, if that is where we find ourselves.

There is a reason why Christianity has always found a fertile ground in the oppressed and enslaved. Many in the early church (and the church today) come from those who are less privileged. Slaves in the US found Christianity a powerful hope rather than an oppressive philosophy.

Rebecca concludes her chapter:

The church must face its moral failures: many Christians have sinned with respect to slavery, and many white Christians have sinned against black victims of that oppressive and dehumanizing institution. But we must also ask, how many generations of faithful black believers do there need to be in America before we stop associating Christianity with white slave-owners and start listening to the voices of black believers that echo down to us through the blood-stained centuries? And how long will it be before we listen to the longing of Fredrick Douglass and thousands of other slave evangelists, whose conversions made them abhor slavery more than ever, but whose “great concern was to have everybody converted”? (p. 192)

Christianity does not condone slavery as acceptable and harmless. It overturns it and asserts the equality of everyone in Christ. It calls us lo love our neighbors (especially, but not only, fellow Christians) as ourselves.

Thoughts?

Does the history of Christian complicity in slavery undermine the truth of Christian faith?

If you wish to contact me directly you may do so at rjs4mail[at]att.net

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The link to the book above is a paid link. Go with this one if you prefer: Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion.

Merriam-Webster defines a miracle as “an extraordinary event manifesting divine intervention in human affairs.“

How can a modern, educated Western adult believe in miracles?

More personally, How can a scientist believe in miracles? Isn’t believing scientist something of an oxymoron?

Given that Christianity is a resurrection religion, the miraculous is part of the package. As Paul wrote: If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. …. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. (1 Cor. 15:17, 19) The resurrection is clearly an example of an extraordinary event requiring divine intervention. But what of the other miracles recorded in the Gospels?  What are we to make of these?

Timothy Luke Johnson, in his recent book Miracles: God’s Presence and Power in Creation digs into the wonders, signs, and miracles attributed to Jesus in the Gospels. These are not random acts and they do not serve as apologetic arguments for the Christian faith. As though we can ‘know’ that Jesus was the Son of God because some ancient men wrote of miracles?! Unlike some of the non-canonical writings from the early church, where miracles are sometimes fanciful, ‘just because he can,’ or even capricious, the miracles recorded in the canonical Gospels play an important role in the story. They portray the reality of the coming Kingdom of God. See for example the summary statement in Matt.8:17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.”  and in Matt 12:15-21 for a longer quote of Isaiah.

The response Jesus gave to John’s disciples makes the same point as recorded in Luke makes the same point:

At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” Luke 7:21- 23

The signs and wonders performed by Jesus are not an apologetic for the faith, they are an enactment of the coming Kingdom. Johnson summarizes:

Christians therefore do not approach the miracles of the Gospels with the eyes of critical historiography, asking which of these reports is accurate and which not, but with the eyes of faith, seeking to understand the meaning of the signs and wonders they narrate: what do they tell us about Jesus, and what do they tell us about life in Christ?” Nor do Christians approach the miracles of the Gospels with a theological anxiety concerning the basis of their faith; they read, rather, to understand more profoundly the one whose obedience to God was vindicated when God “exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil. 2:9-11) (p. 171)

The Gospels are sophisticated compositions, compiled and structured to convey the meaning of Jesus’s life, death, and resurrection to Christians some forty to sixty years after his death and preserved for subsequent generations.  Jesus didn’t heal to prove he was divine; he provided (temporary) healing because this is a sign of the coming Kingdom.

Johnson takes this a bit further and suggests that the reality of the Resurrection to the early Christians shaped their understanding of Jesus and his life.  He is living, not dead, powerful and active even in their day and communities. So too, for us today.

What meaning do you take from the signs and wonders recorded in the Gospels?

What do they teach us about Jesus?

If you wish to contact me directly you may do so at rjs4mail[at]att.net

If interested you can subscribe to a full text feed of my posts at Musings on Science and Theology.

The link to the book above is a paid link. Go with this one if you prefer: Miracles: God’s Presence and Power in Creation.