Christian Carnival CXLII has been posted at Nerd Family. It looks like a pretty rich source of good posts. As usual, I’ll be posting some of my favorites over on Threads from Henry’s Web.
Thanks to Nerd Family for hosting and for an excellent post.
Author: henry
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Understanding and Acting
There are many on the right who complain whenever someone tries to understand evildoers, or to explain the reason for their actions. They assume, not always incorrectly, that the person who is explaining also intends to excuse, that finding a reason, other than that certain people are evil, must remove any justification for reprisal or punishment.
On the other hand, there are those who justify just such an attitude by believing that somehow an explanation is also a solution. A murderer comes before the court, and either in the trial of the facts or during the sentencing phase provides an explanation, perhaps a very difficult childhood with abuse, or deprivation as an adult. The jury or the judge is supposed to accept the explanation as, in some sense, a solution.
Now those on either side can accuse me of expressing the extreme views here. Conservatives are not opposed to explanations in principle, nor are liberals satisfied with only an explanation. But it often appears that way. What are we to do with the murderer who was mistreated by his parents or guardians? Perhaps his plight can arouse our sympathy, but does it allow us to increase the threat to others? An explanation, to be valuable in this case, needs to lead us to a course of action that is effective, and better than existing options.
What about terrorism? I think I do understand, to some extent, the reasons why terrorists become terrorists. It is not simply that they were born evil and wanted to kill lots of people. They and their people have real problems to solve. But that’s only part of the explanation. They also have goals that are incompatible with ours. Muslim extremists, for example, are frustrated by the success of our lifestyle, which to them is morally bankrupt and should fail. There is a great deal of anger that can result when your high moral values don’t produce their equivalent in material resources.
Timothy McVeigh was frustrated because the American people repeatedly didn’t vote for the type of policies he wanted. He saw–correctly I might note–that his vision for America would never come about in the normal course of events. So he blew up a building. An additional cause here, I believe, was that he really wasn’t all that smart. So there’s an explanation. That explanation, however, leads up to one point, the point at which hundreds of people had to pay with their lives for McVeigh’s frustration. Does the explanation help us deal with the action? Not that much.
Now we have some people who are annoyed whenever anyone suggests that terrorists might have reasons for what they do. Of course they have reasons. Some of them are even good reasons–to do something, not to blow people up. And why are we the target? Because we’re the largest roadblock to their plans. I don’t want to minimize the provocation of bad behavior as a nation. An inconsistent foreign policy encourages others to believe they can get by with treating Americans badly. An arrogant attitude on our part makes Americans unpopular in some places. But most people respond by overcharging American tourists or saying nasty things.
The problem with terrorism by Muslim extremists is that part of the explanation for their anger with us is simply who we are. They don’t want us to exist. They don’t like our freedom and what appears to them as our decadence. They do want a world that is dominated by their particular view of Islam. That doesn’t mean they haven’t been mistreated, but it’s not just by the United States. The UK and France had a good part in creating the current mess as well. But we are the ones in the center of the target because we are the biggest roadblock.
Recognizing both legitimate and illegitimate grievances should not be either our license to give up on the grounds that we really have been the bad guys many times in our past, nor should it be our excuse to hate indiscriminately. It should be the occasion for us to defend ourselves appropriately and in a reasoned manner, and at the same time for us to correct those elements of our behavior (inconsistency and arrogance come to mind) that are legitimate grievances. It is naive to assume, however, that because we correct legitimate offenses, that suddenly peace and friendship will break out.
What understanding does give us is an opportunity to decide how to act without the level of hatred and anger, to use a measured response (not a weak response) to produce just the result we want.
Explanations provide the pattern for effective action, not the excuse for inaction.
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Secondary Spirituality
When writing research papers students are frequently warned against using secondary sources. If one must use a secondary source, one must be certain that it’s reliable, and indicate the actual source. Scholars get in the habit of using primary sources as often as possible.
But in spirituality, I notice that many people tend toward the secondary. Particularly in Christian circles, many people today prefer to read books by modern authors that deal with scriptural concepts. They are not just one step away, such as reading a commentary or other expository work, but several steps away, reading a book about Christian living, for example, that claims to be built on a scriptural foundation.
Now I don’t have a problem with reading books about spirituality and spiritual experiences by modern authors. But what does surprise me is that so many Christians claim to follow the Bible and so few actually read and study it for themselves. Frequently in teaching Sunday School classes or weekend programs I’ll read from a passage, or have someone in the class read, and then ask people for their thoughts on a particular point. Inevitably someone reads a note from their study Bible and presents that as the answer to whatever question I asked.
There are many study Bibles, and they don’t all agree. I want to ask each person this: “What do you believe that means?” Now I’m not suggesting that experts aren’t helpful. They can be. But in the end a person needs to know what he or she thinks, and how that thought relates to the text. I recall a number of times when people have brought me a passage from a commentary or a note from their study Bible and asked me just how it was that the presumably expert commentator got what they said from the text on which they were commenting. In many cases I have to respond that I have no idea. As far as I can tell, the text says one thing, and the commentator says something else.
Even more frightening to me is the tendency of people to catch me in the hallways of the church and ask Biblical questions. I don’t mind being questioned, but I do mind it when people expect a one sentence answer, and I am very concerned when they simply accept what I say without checking further for themselves. I know that at least in some cases the answers are never checked, because I’ve gotten them back several generations removed in other classes.
The point of this rant is to make two major points:
- If you believe the Bible contains, conveys, or is God’s word, then you need to actually read the Bible and not just books about it, or distantly derived from it.
- If you are going to read the Bible for yourself, you’re going to have to take the time to actually read it, study it, meditate on it, ask questions about it, share it with others, and get input.
All this is going to take more than five minutes per day, and it will require you to say “I don’t know” from time to time. People don’t like it when I say “I don’t know” because they feel that if I don’t know after the amount of time I’ve studied, not to mention reading Hebrew and Greek to which they attach excessive importance, how will it be possible for them to ever know?
You can consult experts. They are most useful in providing background and connection information, but they are also very valuable in checking your own positions against the work of others. They provide a kind of accountability to your scriptural interpretation. But in the end you need to study for yourself, and move beyond the bounds of what others suggest you study.
(For suggestions see the pamphlet I Want to Study the Bible.)
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Charisma Books Expo Reports
My wife Jody and I will be doing some reports and impressions from the Charisma Book Expo in Atlanta, September 27-30, 2006. I believe some readers of this blog will be interesting. The reports will be on our Energion Publications Announcements Blog, and in addition I will be reviewing some materials that I found at the show that I think will be of interest to Christian educators on the Pacesetters Bible School Newsletter blog.
The expo was intended to provide a spiritual experience and atmosphere along with an opportunity to pick up some of the best new things in the Christian book industry, especially from a charismatic perspective. Our experience was positive, and we plan to be at the next one.
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Gender Roles as Essential
Peter Kirk has written an excellent post about the essentials of the Christian faith. I’ll let you go to his blog for the many references he has used in his discussion, and the reason for this post at this moment.
My reason for commenting on it is simply that Peter has highlighted a number of the reasons why I believe it is important for us to clearly identify what we hold as essentials of the faith and why. I think I made a fairly clear statement on the issue in my post, Unity, Diversity, and Confusion. In that post I suggested that when we have too few essentials we become confused and rudderless and when we have too many, we become rigid. I could also note that when those essentials are not well-defined and carefully chosen we can do unintended damage throughout the church.
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Maturity or Masculinity
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God: Nice or Not?
One of my Old Testament professors once told me that he thought survey courses might better be left to the end of one’s program, that one could greatly benefit by a survey course after one had studied more deeply into the various elements. I agree, though I would suggest a starting survey and then a finishing survey. I think this idea works in Bible study too, though I put less emphasis on the later survey or fast read. Sometimes we use too narrow of a context in interpreting a passage, which is a hazard of serious study of the particular text.
So today I was read Hebrews 1-6 in Greek for my morning devotions, and some things started popping out at me as I read, just as though I had them highlighted. Some I did have marked in my text, and some not. Now I noticed this list of texts first, and then saw the question afterward, but I’m going to present you with the issue first, and then look at two questions that they help answer. (I added the second question in later!)
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Denominational vs Non-Denominational
My wife and I have had several discussions recently about apportionments in the United Methodist Church. For those of you who are not Methodist, apportionments are funds paid by the local church to their conference or other higher authority to support the work of the broader church. Many of these funds go to administrative functions that are just not very sexy. Others go to agencies whose mission (or lack of it) concerns us.
But at the same time if one claims membership in an organization, then one ought to support that organization. For us personally, that means tithing. We don’t ask each time we put a check in the offering plate whether we would personally vote for every project to which the money goes. That’s the money we give to the local church, and the church as a whole is responsible at that point for how it is used. Similarly, since our congregation has a sign out from that shows the cross and flame, and reads “United Methodist Church,” we owe something to the organization to which that name and logo belong.
Sky Lowe-McCracken (Hat Tip: Locusts and Honey MBWR #85) talks about this issue in his post The United Methodist Connection – Plus or Minus?. He weighs various points about the connection, which he says has been very good to him, as a pastor. But what about the laity?
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Gleaning from the Christian Carnival
A good start for blogging on my return after a few days out is to link to a few of the entries from the Christian Carnival CXLI that caught my attention. As always, I’d love to read and comment on more of these entries, but I don’t have time to essentially redo the carnival. Go check it out yourself.
Here are some entries that particularly caught my attention:
- Revelation Introduction
Michele of Life Under the Sun began a series on the book of Revelation. Based on the thoroughness of her introduction (I have a tendency to tell people to grab a commentary for this sort of thing) I suspect we will get some interesting and substantial material as she works her way through. I’m planning to follow this. I’ve been thinking in terms of doing some blogging on prophecy, so there may be a connection. - The First Fantasy of the Bible
Here Adam Graham talks about the Parable of the Trees (Judges 9) and makes some interesting and helpful comments on the value of this genre of literature. This entry is a definite highlight in my blog reading. - Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Not Political Parties
OK, this is the third time in a row I’ve highlighted a post from Laura on Pursing Holiness, but how could I possibly resist this excellent post? I think some of my views would make her wish to “crush [my] argument into oblivion” and vice versa. But it is a good idea to remember that “brother and sister” thing that goes with the “love” thing! - Collins – A Believer Looks at the Human Genome – Epilogue
This is the conclusion of a series, and it’s worthwhile reading the whole thing. I would simply comment here that I think the effort to find evolution in the Bible is not a constructive one, though the effort at seeing how it might be possible is really well done. I think that the Bible comments on God’s place in creation and the fact of creation. Evolution is derived from the physical evidence and comments on the “how.” Nonetheless, this is good reading and will challenge your thinking no matter what position you start from. - Faith and Conversion
This little article discusses the problem of attempting conversion by force. It is good to remember that Christians have tried to do this in the past. Some Muslims would like to do it in the present, and in neither case was it right. This post addresses this issue from the Chrsitian perspective.
- Revelation Introduction
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Christian Carnival CXLI
This is just a bit late, because I was out of town. Christian Carnival CLI is now up at A Penitent Blogger. I will try to take a look through and highlight some posts that attract my attention before the next one is posted.
You can expect to find some impressions from the Charisma Book Expo that I just attended over on Energion Publications Announcements and Pacesetters Bible School Newsletter.