{"id":44297,"date":"2013-10-14T00:02:01","date_gmt":"2013-10-14T05:02:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/?p=44297"},"modified":"2013-10-14T07:03:43","modified_gmt":"2013-10-14T12:03:43","slug":"certainty-is-idolatry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2013\/10\/14\/certainty-is-idolatry\/","title":{"rendered":"Certainty is Idolatry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>Here\u2019s the argument: we are born with an ache and yearning to find love in the unconditional love of God, and we find this yearning in our desire for \u201cmore\u201d and the idea of Sehnsucht<\/em>; this yearning is to enter into the love of God \u2014 the trinitarian community love of Father, Son and Spirit; this love is seen most clearly in the cross of Christ \u2014 Calvary; in that revelation we see pure divine love for us. Yet, our sinfulness distorted our yearning and turned into forms of idolatry. We are addicted to idols.<\/p>\n

This is the central theme of Greg Boyd,\u00a0Benefit of the Doubt: Breaking the Idol of Certainty<\/em><\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The key orientation, certainty, is found in a number of ways \u2014 craving the next experience, sexual satisfaction, more possessions, peak experiences, etc.. But his concern is the Idol of Theology and Scriptures, and his favored text here is John 5:39-40:<\/p>\n

You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

His point is that love of knowledge of Scripture was the tripping point; to quote JI Packer, they knew\u00a0about<\/em> God but didn\u2019t know God. There is confidence in knowing about Scripture and the Idol of Certainty is when that knowledge becomes the center \u2014 our theology, our beliefs, our creeds, etc.. It is rooted in a false view of God: that God loves diligent Bible study more than people. [I have often pondered this: Will there be Bible study in the kingdom? My conclusion is No. What we seek after in the Bible will be realized in the kingdom. The Word will be Present. May I suggest that if you think we will need Scripture study in the kingdom then you may be in Boyd\u2019s mind with the idol of certainty in theology and Scripture.] Certainty-seeking faith is the same as the opponents of Jesus in John 5. That is, they certainty is in what they know about God more than in God himself \u2014 as the Person.<\/p>\n

Now to two powerful quotations from Boyd:<\/p>\n

If I am anxiously striving to make myself feel certain that all my beliefs are true, fearfully avoiding anything that might cause me to doubt them, and fearfully suppressing any doubts that I may already be experiencing, doesn\u2019t this indicate that I am\u00a0not getting my core need for love, worth, and security from the God who is revealed on the cross?<\/em> (69)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

From the opposite angle, then:<\/p>\n

As long as a person remained confident enough in the belief that Jesus is the true revelation of God that they can get their\u00a0life from him\u2026 would then ever be afraid of confronting ideas that might cause them to doubt any of their other beliefs?<\/em> (69)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It all comes down to this: Is this about the authority of Scripture or the authority of the God of Scripture? Do we engage God in Scripture or do we engage Scripture?<\/strong> There\u2019s a difference. One taps into the idol of certainty, the other into God.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here\u2019s the argument: we are born with an ache and yearning to find love in the unconditional love of God, and we find this yearning in our desire for \u201cmore\u201d and the idea of Sehnsucht; this yearning is to enter into the love of God \u2014 the trinitarian community love of Father, Son and Spirit; […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[456,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bible","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nCertainty is Idolatry<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Here's the argument: we are born with an ache and yearning to find love in the unconditional love of God, and we find this yearning in our desire for\" \/>\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\/2013\/10\/14\/certainty-is-idolatry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Certainty is Idolatry\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Here's the argument: we are born with an ache and yearning to find love in the unconditional love of God, and we find this yearning in our desire for\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2013\/10\/14\/certainty-is-idolatry\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Jesus Creed\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-10-14T05:02:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-10-14T12:03:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/files\/2013\/10\/Screen-Shot-2013-10-10-at-7.20.43-PM.png\" \/>\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=\"3 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\/2013\/10\/14\/certainty-is-idolatry\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2013\/10\/14\/certainty-is-idolatry\/\",\"name\":\"Certainty is Idolatry\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-10-14T05:02:01+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-10-14T12:03:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/#\/schema\/person\/5919e847c58ffe6efb5899fb61797252\"},\"description\":\"Here's the argument: we are born with an ache and yearning to find love in the unconditional love of God, and we find this yearning in our desire for\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2013\/10\/14\/certainty-is-idolatry\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2013\/10\/14\/certainty-is-idolatry\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2013\/10\/14\/certainty-is-idolatry\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Certainty is Idolatry\"}]},{\"@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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