A False Start
The first thing to bear in mind is that we exaggerate the separation of the emotion and the will as two distinct faculties of operation—some kind of misshapen two-headed monster. Think, for example, of the caricature we make of one difference between men and women. We seem to think that women are more emotionally driven and men more cerebrally driven. If that caricature were true, why is it that more men fall into infidelity after marriage than do women? If women are more emotionally driven, should it not be the other way around? I think it more appropriate to say that women in general recognize the emotional ramifications of their acts better than men do. Men do feel emotion, but they do so selectively and fail to face the consequences of reality. Betray a man and you find out that his emotions surge to the top. I believe that a legitimate understanding of what is happening here can preserve the grand union between emotion and will.

Without the will, marriage is a mockery; without emotion, it is a drudgery. You need both.

We like the side dealing with emotion, not the will. I have now been married more than thirty years. I often look back at the time when I was on the other side of the marital line and remember how I thought about marriage then.

A Conversation
One particular conversation stands out. A year before I was married, I was sitting in a Christian education class when the professor quite dramatically started to philosophize about life. Commenting on the home, he said, “I want you students to know that love is hard work.”

I leaned over to my classmate and whispered, “I wouldn’t want to be married to anybody who goes around telling everybody how hard it is to love me.”

He said, “I agree with you. Why don’t you ask him about it?” Like a fool, I did.

I stood up and said, “Excuse me, sir . . . I am not quite comfortable with your categorization of love as ‘hard work.’”

The professor stared at me, evidently not taking too kindly to my challenge, and demanded, “Zacharias, are you married?” When I responded, “No, sir,” he said, “Then why don’t you just be quiet and sit down? You don’t have a clue what you are talking about.” I sat down.

Being married
One year later I was married. After being married all these years, I can unblushingly say, he was right. Love is hard work. I would carry it one step further. It is the hardest work I know of, work from which you are never entitled to take a vacation. You take on burdens and cares. You inherit problems. You have to feel beyond yourself. You have to think of things other than yourself. Your responsibilities are now multiplied, and you are trusted with greater commitments.

You see, the easiest part of our marriage was the wedding ceremony. I remember arriving at the church early. I could hardly wait. As the church filled with guests and the appropriate music was played for the ceremony to begin, I turned to see my bride enter the sanctuary. No, I did not think of all the weddings I had gate-crashed or of all the ceremonies I had witnessed. This was not someone else’s wedding; this was a special moment for us. It was one of the most ecstatic feelings the human heart could ever endure. There is no word in the English dictionary to describe it except the word Wow! It was the crystallization of my every romantic dream. That which was once far off was now near. That which I longed for was now in hand.

As Margie came up the aisle to join me at the front of the church, my heart was in a flutter. So much so that when the minister told me in old English to “salute the bride,” out of sheer nervousness I was on the verge of literally saluting her. There is nothing so magnificent as a beautiful, blushing bride behind a veil that cannot hide the radiant glow of a dream coming true. If the flutter of a heart were all that one needs to fly, the groom would soar to celestial heights. No! The groom does not need to soar at that moment, for God Himself comes near and says, This is My precious gift to you. Receive it with reverence and guard it with diligence.

The ceremony was followed by the reception. What a wonderful way to celebrate with friends. At the end of the reception we drove to the honeymoon capital of North America—Niagara Falls—where we stayed for the night at Michael’s Inn. (Thankfully, Michael wasn’t.) From there it was on to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. I remember carrying her over the threshold. My heart was as full as I had hoped it would be. I had an overwhelming sense of gallantry as I carried her into the room.

At about two o’clock in the morning, Margie got up. I thought, Surely the honeymoon couldn’t be over already . . . where is she going? So I asked, “Where are you going, honey?” She answered, “I’m going to get a glass of water.” I said, “Stay right here, I’ll get it for you.” That was May 6, 1972. I was thrilled to get up at two o’clock in the morning and get her a glass of water. My! What sacrifice!

But five years go by. Someone has wryly quipped, “Sacrifice in America is when the electric blanket doesn’t work.” So one night I find myself comfortably tucked in bed, and about two or three o’clock, I hear the rustle of the sheets. She’s getting up again, and the temptation is to pull the covers over my face and cease to hear anything at that moment—for at least one reason. She looked different. You see, on May 6, 1972, she looked grand. Absolutely grand! But five years later, she had some funny things in her hair at night that generally prompted one question, “What stations are you able to get under that influence?” I have been chided for that remark many times so I should add that she no longer wears them. Times have changed. But I do recall that sight. Somehow the first word that leaped into my mind was not the word Wow! But I still do the right thing, because the tug of love is a commitment stronger than merely the flutter of the heart.

Chivalry in love has nothing to do with the sweetness of the appearance. It has everything to do with the tenderness of a heart determined to serve. That is the first hard lesson to learn. You do not act under the impetus of charm but out of a commitment to make someone’s life the joy you want it to be. In the early days of marriage, joy precedes the act. Tragically, as the years go by joy can be severed from the act until finally, the act itself is no more. This ought not to be. Over time it is the companionship that brings joy, and service is the natural outworking of the joy of commitment. Failure to act kills it.

William Doherty begins his excellent book Take Back Your Marriage with a powerful illustration. His office is located in St. Paul, Minnesota, not far from the farthest point north on the Mississippi River. He describes the river’s formidable but silent current that drives its waters southward. “Everything on the water that is not powered by wind, gasoline, or human muscle” heads south. Then he adds these words: “I have thought that getting married is like launching a canoe into the Mississippi at St. Paul. If you don’t paddle, you go south. No matter how much you love each other, no matter how full of hope and promise and good intentions, if you stay on the Mississippi without a good deal of paddling—occasional paddling is not enough—you end up in New Orleans. Which is a problem if you want to stay north.” 1

But this kind of commitment does not come easily. Only if it is taken seriously does it become a sheer delight of the heart. I will also add that this kind of commitment is not seen much in the times in which we live. The reason we have a crisis in our gender relationships is not that we are culturally indoctrinated but that we would rather be served than serve. We would rather be the head than the feet. The Christian faith stands unique in pointing out that the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost. The Son of Man came to serve. This means that the service He gave to humanity was given even when we least merited that sacrifice. There is a joy in service that transcends emotional temporariness.

to be continued….

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Sun, 14 May 2006

May 14, 2006, 17:23 [top]
Parents want religion for their kids, but not themselves

From the Washington Post:
Some Parents Who Shy From Religion Want Their Children to Taste Its Psychological and Spiritual Comforts

FULL STORY HERE

Q&A about psychological faith
Click Here

- Mystery Blogger


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Tue, 09 May 2006

May 09, 2006, 23:30 [top]
Hymn Series 3: Jesus Paid It All
On New Year’s night, 1886, some missionaries were holding open-air services in order to attract passers-by to a near-by mission, where meetings were to be held later. “All to Christ I owe” was sung, and after a gentleman had given a short address he hastened away to the mission. He soon heard footsteps close behind him and a young woman caught up with him and said:

“I heard you addressing the open-air meeting just now; do you think, sir, that Jesus could save a sinner like me?”

The gentleman replied that there was no doubt about that, if she was anxious to be saved. She told him that she was a servant girl, and had left her place that morning after a disagreement with her mistress. As she had been wandering about the streets in the dark, wondering where she was to spend the night, the sweet melodies of this hymn had attracted her, and she drew near and listened attentively. As the different verses were being sung, she felt that the words surely had something to do with her. Through the whole service she seemed to hear what met her oppressed soul’s need at that moment. God’s Spirit had showed her what a poor, sinful and wretched creature she was, and had led her to ask what she must do. On hearing her experience, the gentleman took her back to the mission and left her with the ladies in charge. The young, wayward woman was brought to Christ that night. A situation was secured for her in a minister’s family. There she became ill and had to be taken to a hospital. She rapidly failed and it became evident that she would not be long on earth. One day the gentleman whom she had met on New Year’s night was visiting her in the ward. After quoting a few suitable verses of Scripture, he repeated her favorite hymn, “All to Christ I owe” and she seemed overwhelmed with the thought of coming to glory. Two hours afterward she passed away.

I hear the Savior say,
“Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray,
Find in Me thine all in all.”

Jesus paid it all,
All to Him I owe;
Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

For nothing good have I
Whereby Thy grace to claim,
I’ll wash my garments white
In the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb.

And now complete in Him
My robe His righteousness,
Close sheltered ’neath His side,
I am divinely blest.

Lord, now indeed I find
Thy power and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots
And melt the heart of stone.

When from my dying bed
My ransomed soul shall rise,
Jesus died my soul to save,
Shall rend the vaulted skies.

And when before the throne
I stand in Him complete,
I’ll lay my trophies down
All down at Jesus’ feet.


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May 09, 2006, 00:35 [top]
Marriage: Part 1
Mystery Blogger’s note: This is an excerpt from Ravi Zacharias’ book I, Isaac, take Thee, Rebekah.

I have heard it said that the longest journey in life is from the head to the heart. Others say that the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Yet another aphorism of our time is that beginning well is a momentary thing; finishing well is a lifelong thing.

All of these point to one reality: our knowledge and our response are not always in keeping with each other. We put asunder what God intended to remain joined together. Solomon proved this centuries ago. He made a fascinating statement in the Book of Ecclesiastes. He relates all the areas in which he searched for meaning, pleasure, riches, power, fame, and everything else one could imagine.

Through all of these forays into a search for fulfillment, he says, “My wisdom stayed with me” (Ecclesiastes 2:9). How is that possible, we ask, when his day-to-day life was a colossal mess? I understand him to mean that in the midst of his duplicity, his theoretical knowledge of right and wrong never left him. He knew how to discern. But he was volitionally weak and unable to resist the tug of attraction into wrong behavior.

The Role of the Will in Love
I have shared the following story many times over the years. Those from parts of the world to whom this is foreign shake their heads in disbelief, wondering how this can even be theoretically plausible, let alone practically workable. But read the reasoning first and then I will try to explain.

I give you an example of my older brother, who lives in Toronto, Canada. The story dates back to the late 1960s. At that time he was a systems engineer with IBM. Since that time, he has gone on to do several very mentally impressive things in the world of computer software.

In other words, he is mentally all right. He doesn’t have any major problem as far as his IQ is concerned. I say that because you may begin to wonder as I tell his story.

When he was in his mid-twenties, my brother came to my father and said, “You know, Dad, I’ve always maintained even when we were in India that I’m only going to marry the girl you choose for me. I guess I am ready now. Would you please begin a search for a girl for me to marry?”

I really didn’t believe he’d go through with it. We were living in Toronto, thousands of miles and a cultural planet away from the land of our birth. But this was his choice. He wanted my parents to help in “The Search.”

My father and mother said, “Fine. Tell us the kind of young woman you’re looking for.” He gave his “ideal partner” speech and proceeded to describe the kind of person he would choose to marry.

Thus began his quest and what I called our family entertainment hour every night around the table. My father wrote to his sister in India who was doing the ground work, and in response came numerous letters with suggestions, photographs, and information sheets ad nauseam.

Oh! The jokes that would fly! The unsolicited advice from every member of the family was profuse.

He narrowed the “applicants” to a short list and, finally focusing on one person, began to correspond with her. Then they advanced to telephone conversations, but not many because that was “too expensive.”

One could tell that reality was closing in. Finally, believe it or not, they both felt this was it. The dates for the engagement and the marriage were set with these two never having met.

My brother and my father flew from Toronto to Bombay. More than one thousand wedding invitations were sent before my brother and his bride-to-be had ever seen each other. Two days after his arrival was the engagement date and a day or so later was the wedding date. He would then bring his bride back to Canada, all within a week, and they would live “happily ever after.” That, at any rate, was the plan.

I thought to myself, Oh my! You know, this is faith. Maybe it is even less than that. This is credulity! I began to get really concerned, so before my brother left for Bombay I mustered up the courage to caution him.

I said, “I don’t want to challenge anything you’re doing, but I do have a brief question. What are you going to do when you arrive in Bombay, come down the Jetway and see a young woman standing there with a garland in her hand, and say to yourself, Good grief! I hope that’s not her. I hope that’s somebody else! Or she looks at you and thinks to herself, I hope that’s not him, I hope that’s his brother! What on earth will you do? Are you going to take her aside, talk it over, and then make an announcement saying, ‘We have met . . . we will not be proceeding with our plans’? Will you get on the telephone or write letters to everybody and say, ‘Folks, we’ve met. The wedding is off.’”

My brother just stared at me. He said, “Are you through?” I told him that for the moment I was just awaiting his answer.

Then he said something that was absolutely defining for him: “Write this down, and don’t ever forget it”
“Love is as much a question of the will as it is of the emotion. And if you will to love somebody, you can.”

to be continued…

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Fri, 05 May 2006

May 05, 2006, 00:01 [top]
Hymn Series 2: My Jesus I Love Thee

A famous actress, walking down the street, passed an open door, through which she saw an invalid girl laying on a couch watching people pass by. Thinking to cheer her up, she went inside. The sick girl was a devout Christian. The actress, impressed with her words, her patience, her submission, her heaven-lit countenance, and the manner in which she lived her religion, was lead to seriously consider the claims of Christianity. She was thoroughly converted and became a true follower of Christ. She told her father, the leader of the theater troupe, of her conversion and her conviction that she could not live a consistent Christian life and still be an actress. Her father was upset, attempting to convince her that their living would be lost and their business ruined if she persisted. Because she loved her father dearly, she consented to fill the published engagement set for a few days from then, of which she was the star. The play was set to go on. That evening came and the father rejoiced that he had won back his daughter and their living was not to be lost. However, as the actress came out on stage to the applause of the large audience, she stepped forward. A light beamed from her beautiful face. To the now-silent audience she repeated:

‘My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign;
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ‘tis now.’

Through Christ she had conquered. She left with the audience in tears, and retired from the stage, never to appear on it again. But through this, her father was converted. Through their combined evangelistic labors, many were led to Christ.

- Ira Sankey

“My Jesus, I love Thee” was written by a sixteen year old boy, William Ralph Featherston, at the time of his conversion to Jesus Christ. He sent a copy to his aunt who encouraged him to have it published. It appeared anonymously in The London Hymn Book in 1864. The original copy of the hymn, in the author’s handwriting, is still a cherished treasure in the family.

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Mon, 01 May 2006

May 01, 2006, 02:11 [top]
Hymn series #1: It is Well with My Soul
In 1871, tragedy struck Chicago as fire ravaged the city. When it was all over, 300 people were dead and 100,000 were homeless. Horatio Gates Spafford was one of those who tried to help the people of the city get back on their feet. A lawyer who had invested much of his money into the downtown Chicago real estate, he’d lost a great deal to the fire. And his one son (he had four daughters) had died about the same time. Still, for two years Spafford—who was a friend of evangelist Dwight Moody—assisted the homeless, impoverished, and grief-stricken ruined by the fire.

After about two years of such work, Spafford and his family decided to take a vacation. They were to go to England to join Moody and Ira Sankey on one of their evangelistic crusades, then travel in Europe. Horatio Spafford was delayed by some business, but sent his family on ahead. He would catch up to them on the other side of the Atlantic.

Their ship, the Ville de Havre, never made it. Off Newfoundland, it collided with an English sailing ship, the Loch Earn, and sank within 20 minutes. Though Horatio’s wife, Anna, was able to cling to a piece of floating wreckage (one of only 47 survivors among hundreds), their four daughters—Maggie, Tanetta, Annie, and Bessie—were killed. Horatio received a horrible telegram from his wife, only two words long: “saved alone.”

Spafford boarded the next available ship to be near his grieving wife, and the two finally met up with Dwight Moody. “It is well,” Spafford told him quietly. “The will of God be done.”

Though reports vary as to when he did so, Spafford was led during those days of surely overwhelming grief to pen the words to one of the most beautiful hymns we know, beloved by Christians lowly and great.
It is well with my Soul
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.


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Sun, 30 Apr 2006

Apr 30, 2006, 13:29 [top]
A Fusilier and his Wings


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Sun, 23 Apr 2006

Apr 23, 2006, 20:38 [top]
A Cry in the Midst of Suffering

Hello,

In suffering, I think of the powerful testimony of a woman named Annie Johnston Flint (1866-1932). She was one who lived most of her life in pain. Orphaned early in life, her body was embarrassed by incontinence, weakened by cancer, and twisted and deformed by rheumatoid arthritis.

She was incapacitated for so long that according to one eyewitness she needed seven or eight pillows around her body just to cushion the raw sores she suffered from being bedridden. Yet her autobiography is rightly called The Making of the Beautiful. Almost like a minstrel from heaven she penned words that touch the heart in its despairing moments. One of her best-known poems, put to music, reads:

He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater.
He sendeth more strength when the labors increase:
To added affliction, He addeth His mercy,
To multiplied trials His multiplied peace.

When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
When our strength has failed e’re the day is half done,
When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
Our Father’s full giving has only begun.

His love has no limit,
His grace has no measure,
His power has no boundary known unto men;
For out of His infinite riches in Jesus He giveth,
and giveth, and giveth again!

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Apr 23, 2006, 18:10 [top]
Modern Thinker’s Creed

On Postmodernism….
Modern Thinker’s Creed
Steve Turner, English journalist

Here is the creed for the modern thinker. We believe in Marx, Freud and Darwin. We believe everything is okay, as long as you don’t hurt anyone to the best of your definition of hurt and to your best definition of knowledge. We believe in sex before, during and after marriage. We believe in the therapy of sin. We believe that adultery is fun. We believe that sodomy is okay. We believe that taboos are taboo. We believe that everything is getting better despite evidence to the contrary. The evidence must be investigated and you can prove anything with evidence. We believe there is something in horoscopes, UFO’s, and bent spoons. Jesus was a good man just like Buddha, Mohammad and ourselves. He was a good moral teacher, although we think basically his good morals were really bad. We believe that all religions are the basically the same, at least the ones we read were. They all believe in love and goodness. They only differ on matters of creation, sin, heaven, hell, God and salvation. We believe that after death comes nothing because when you ask the dead what happens they say nothing. If death is not the end, and if the dead have lied, then it’s compulsively heaven for all except perhaps Hitler, Stalin and Genghis Khan. We believe in Masters and Johnson. What is selected is average, what’s average is normal, and what’s normal is good. We believe in total disarmament. We believe there are direct links between warfare and bloodshed. Americans should beat their guns into tractors and the Russians would be sure to follow. We believe that man is essentially good-it’s only his behavior that lets him down. This is the fault of society; society’s the fault of condition; and conditions are the fault of society. We believe that each man must find the truth that is right for him and reality will adapt accordingly; the universe will readjust and history will alter. We believe that there is no absolute truth, except the truth that there is no absolute truth. We believe in the rejection of creeds and the flowering of individual thought.

If Chance be the Father of all flesh, disaster is His rainbow in the sky. And when you hear: “State of Emergency,” “Sniper Kills Ten,” “Troops on Rampage,” “Youths go Looting,” “Bomb Blasts School,” it is but the sound man worshipping his maker.

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Fri, 21 Apr 2006

Apr 21, 2006, 00:05 [top/articles]
Earth Day

Saturday is Earth Day - not exactly an event that hits the top of our calendars admittedly, but still something that I think deserves our attention.  Stewardship of the environment is a topic at which, historically at least, Christians have done a pretty crummy job.  Here’s what God commanded of us regarding how we should interact with our environment (Genesis 1:27-30):

“27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” 29 Then God said, “I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food.” And it was so.”

This command is actually given before the fall - so this is the “ideal” that God has in mind for us and how we interact with the world.  I guess the key word in that passage which has caused so much difference of opinion is the word “subdue” - that is, what does it actually mean to have dominion over creation?  If you keep reading in Genesis (2:15, also pre-fall), I think this point is clarified somewhat: 

“15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it”

Based on this passage, the bottom line seems to be that we don’t own the earth - we are merely rent-free tenants living here at the pleasure of The Owner and are expected to work to take care of the place to earn our keep.  Looking at it another way, what better model do we have of what it means to have dominion over something than Jesus Himself?  Jesus proclaims His authority over all of creation in Matthew 28:18 (“All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me” ).  So, naturally, Jesus would rule with an iron fist, exploiting the earth and its people for His pleasure right?  Um, not exactly:

Phillipians 2:6-8: “ 6Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  8And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!”

Colossians 1:16-20: “16For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.”

So, from this perspective, being given dominion over something doesn’t just let us do as we please with it; instead, it actually enhances our responsibility to take care of it to the best of our ability. 

So, Earth Day seems to be as good a time as any to do something about this (or at least consider how we can be good stewards of the gift that God has given us).  Little things can make a big difference - I have driven a bag of empty pop cans 2500km across the country because I couldn’t find a recycling bin (Caring or psychotic?  Discuss.)  There are also the options driving less, turning up our thermostats a bit as the weather gets warmer, or (big gulp from the polymer chemist!) changing the types of materials we use.  There are also these options in terms of community events in Hamilton.  Anyway, this is just something that has been on my mind recently, so I thought I’d put it out there.

- Todd

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Thu, 20 Apr 2006

Apr 20, 2006, 00:32 [top/funstuff]
Pictogram Contest Is Back

It’s been a while since we’ve had a good contest on the blog, so I figured I would throw together a few of these pictograms and see how things go (usually, these contest posts generate a record number of comments… let’s see if we can beat our record of 7 comments!  Yes, this is me hopelessly sucking up to you “blog lurkers” out there, but I’m not above that!).  If you’ve never seen these before, you can check out the previous versions of the contest here or here to get an idea how these work.  As usual, post your answers in the comments and I will post the full list of answers in a week or so.  Prize for most correct answers: the satisfaction of a job well done.  I will even give you a shout out in the weekly e-mail if you wish (I know, these are pretty great prizes!  Control yourselves people!). 

- Todd

WARNING - The answers are now posted in the comments… so if you don’t want to know the answers just yet, DON’T CLICK ON THE COMMENTS LINK!

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Apr 20, 2006, 00:29 [top/articles]
We Are Untrustworthy

… that is, according to the general populace of Canada, at least when it comes to picking a prime minister.  Check it out here.  The saddest part of the poll results (and their interpretation):

“(the poll) suggests a growing divide in Canadian culture where religion can become that wedge that pushes people apart” 

What a mess we have made of the actual story of faith, no?  But it’s still kind of sad that, in the name of political correctness, the option of choice seems to be to discriminate against the “scary” Christians.

- Todd

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Apr 20, 2006, 00:11 [top/articles]
Rationalizing the Jesus Story

Interesting article in the Ideas section of the Toronto Star on Sunday (a fantastic section - the Sunday paper is about half the size of the rest of the week but takes me twice as long to read). 

Jesus vs. the gods of science, Pier Giorgio di Cicco, The Toronto Star 04/16/06

The basic argument: in our headlong rush to try to explain scientifically how Jesus did miracles (i.e. the recent explanation at how Jesus walked across water on ice floes instead of “because He was God and could do it if He wanted” ) and essentially extract every trace of mysticism and “glamour” (as the author puts it) from the story of Jesus, society has basically just become zealots of a different religion — agenda-driven science and political correctness.  Highlight excerpts:

“The world is divided between two kinds of people: Those who think “seeing is believing” and those who think “believing is seeing.” The “truth,” in our time, is held captive by the former, in the notion that if you can’t prove it, it doesn’t exist. What does this do with the “unseeables” — hope, love, goodwill, etc? These remain insubstantial ideals until we track them in the DNA. Such is our faithlessness in what makes us tick.”

“We fail to see that science is a lens that will yield the results you look for or don’t look for…..  As for good reasoning, as current physics tells us, each scientific paradigm is a metaphor for the world. There are many metaphors. Wisdom is about knowing which metaphor you can live with. That is the bottom line on faith and science.  A metaphor is not a falsehood or a fiction; it is a privileged look at the nature of reality.  The metaphor of Jesus walking on the water is the venue of belief of those who want to believe we are more than earthbound; the resurrection is the belief that we are not finite. We die, or are reborn. Choose your metaphor.”

That is the bottom line - it’s impossible to live life by putting your faith in nothing.  The difference between the most committed Christian and the most agnostic, empirical person on earth isn’t faith versus reason - it’s just a matter of which unprovable things you choose to believe in. 

Warning: the article is written by a philosopher/poet and it shows (more than a little pretentious - I had to read it twice before I really got a good handle on the arguments)

- Todd

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Wed, 19 Apr 2006

Apr 19, 2006, 23:50 [top/articles]
The Gospel of Judas

You may have seen references to the recent release of “The Gospel of Judas”, a 3rd century manuscript which seems to suggest that Jesus and Judas were essentially in cahoots — that is, Jesus commands Judas to betray Him and Judas, although committing the acts he is described to have committed in the Gospels, was simply being obedient to God’s will.  Naturally, this has sparked a huge kerfuffle with people suggesting that this “new development” undermines the entire Passion story.  I find this all very strange because (a) it seems a bit rich for people who proclaim the inaccuracy of the mostly independent, widely copied, four original Gospels (written within a few decades of Jesus’ time) are the same people seizing on this 3rd century, single copy manuscript as being “truth” (b) whether or not Judas was operating as a traitor (the Gospel version) or a conspirator (the Gospel of Judas version), the point of the Passion story really remains exactly the same.  The Judas story, although undoubtedly interesting, isn’t the point of the story - Christ’s sacrifice for us is.  I think one of the better responses to all of this fuss is found in this article — here’s the excerpt I liked the best which looks at this story from the undeniable viewpoint that Judas is a theologically tricky guy to handle (i.e. how could God basically condemn Judas by “appointing” him the traitor?):

“All too often Christians want to see themselves as Jesus on the cross, when in fact the inescapable condition of human weakness — and the high ideals of Christian doctrine — will lead us to betray his teachings. O Felix culpa! as the glorious Exultet of the Easter vigil proclaims, “O happy fault that gained for us so great a Redeemer!” It is the pilgrimage back to grace that is at the heart of Christianity, and the source of hope embodied in the passion of Judas.  So perhaps, instead of reading the Gospel of Judas as a literal narrative, it is best to consider it as an early marker in a long literary tradition. Maybe the authors of this text were simply trying, in those tumultuous early centuries after Christ, to grapple with the mysteries of the faith rather than claiming, as some today may be tempted to do, to have discovered an alternative account of the deeds and words of Judas.  Instead of clinging to a few sheets of tattered papyrus in hopes of absolving the problematic Judas, believers may be more faithful to Christian history if they read themselves into his story, and from there find a path out of despair and toward the redemption that Judas himself may have finally discovered.”

I think Lane is talking about this and the Da Vinci code (don’t even get me started on that… over the next couple of weeks on Sunday morning… should be interesting…

- Todd

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Fri, 14 Apr 2006