{"id":3758,"date":"2008-01-16T00:30:06","date_gmt":"2008-01-16T05:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/jesuscreed\/2008\/01\/16\/gods-rivals-8\/"},"modified":"2008-01-16T00:30:06","modified_gmt":"2008-01-16T05:30:06","slug":"gods-rivals-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/01\/16\/gods-rivals-8\/","title":{"rendered":"God’s Rivals 8"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

One of the issues permeating the question of why there are world religions has to do with the massive diversity in the world and \u2014 to be blunt about it all \u2014 the \u201cluck\u201d or \u201cchance\u201d involved in some hearing the gospel or being nurtured in a more favorable environment. Interestingly enough, Origen thought about this intensely and Gerald McDermott, in chp 8 of God\u2019s Rivals<\/a>\"\"<\/em>, has a full sketch of Origen\u2019s interesting ideas.
\nThis is our last post on McDermott\u2019s book (the conclusion summarizes and points out areas of value for today). What\u2019s next? Two more books: N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope:<\/a>\"\":<\/em>Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church<\/em>, and Randy Balmer, God in the White House<\/a>\"\"<\/em>.
\nOrigen, some of you may know, was eventually considered a heretic. In spite of this, there has been a fairly wide scale theological appropriation of Origen and a recognition that Origen\u2019s speculative ideas, the ones that got him in trouble (and some of them in the concern of this book), were experimental and not ones he taught as gospel truth. Origen always taught his own submission to the Church.
\nOrigen comes of age theologically in an age of intense religious pluralism so he makes for a great example for McDermott\u2019s study.
\n1. Study of the religions is only for the mature according to Origen.
\n2. The religions prepare others and the world to receive the gospel.
\n3. The issue facing Origen\u2019s world was why all the diversity; and the world was perceived to be filled with angels and spirits and demons.
\nNow his big ideas:
\n4. Origen believed in preexistence where everything was equal and free and where everyone sinned and where everyone was assigned to his or her status in this world and there are four big ones:
\na. Archangels \u2014 least sinful
\nb. Angels \u2014 next in line
\nc. Humans
\nd. Demons
\n5. Thus, everything about this diverse world is rooted in the merits and demerits of preexistence and thus the entire world is just.
\n6. Everyone and everything remains free to change; God\u2019s grace remains open; eventually all may be restored to union with God. (Origen is the first to hint at universalism, but Origen\u2019s ideas were speculative and rejected as inconsistent with the gospel and rule of faith.)
\n7. Yet, God remains providentially in control. Origen\u2019s ideas are seemingly compatibilist.
\n8. World religions are shaped by angels who did not convert to Christ and who lead those under them, extending to entire nations (a common view in the ancient world), astray. But those led astray are in that condition according to their own merits and demerits.
\nCan we learn from him?
\nReligious diversity, McDermott contends, emerges in part for spiritual reasons. Religions need to be respected as spiritual powers and they can be preparations for the gospel.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the issues permeating the question of why there are world religions has to do with the massive diversity in the world and \u2014 to be blunt about it all \u2014 the \u201cluck\u201d or \u201cchance\u201d involved in some hearing the gospel or being nurtured in a more favorable environment. Interestingly enough, Origen thought about […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[337],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3758","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-theology"],"yoast_head":"\nGod's Rivals 8<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"One of the issues permeating the question of why there are world religions has to do with the massive diversity in the world and -- to be blunt about it\" \/>\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\/jesuscreed\/2008\/01\/16\/gods-rivals-8\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"God's Rivals 8\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"One of the issues permeating the question of why there are world religions has to do with the massive diversity in the world and -- to be blunt about it\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/01\/16\/gods-rivals-8\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2008-01-16T05:30:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.assoc-amazon.com\/e\/ir?t=jescre-20&l=ur2&o=1\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Scot McKnight\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/01\/16\/gods-rivals-8\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/01\/16\/gods-rivals-8\/\",\"name\":\"God's Rivals 8\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2008-01-16T05:30:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2008-01-16T05:30:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\"},\"description\":\"One of the issues permeating the question of why there are world religions has to do with the massive diversity in the world and -- to be blunt about it\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/01\/16\/gods-rivals-8\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/01\/16\/gods-rivals-8\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2008\/01\/16\/gods-rivals-8\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"God’s Rivals 8\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\",\"name\":\"Jesus Creed\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight on Jesus and orthodox faith in the 21st century\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\",\"name\":\"Scot McKnight\",\"description\":\"Scot McKnight is a recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. 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