I was just in Lithuania, a former soviet state with a very similar
relationship to Russia. I am irate, NATO had promised to protect
Georgia, but when the chips fall they walk away. The Rebel areas of
places like Georgia are often encouraged by Russia, who still sees the
former states sort of like ungrateful and rebellious Teenagers.
Russia is saying that this is a "defense" of their citizens, but they
have been bombing areas far away from the the Conflict regions.
I am Completely biased, but I think this was a very well planed
attack by Russia. They slowly escalate rebel forces in Georgia, arm
them and then just as the world turns it's attention to China for the
Olympics they snatch up the most outwardly westernized former soviet
bloc.
I have been to the KGB museum in Vilnius. It was like going to a
concentration camp, and what they did to Georgia was no different.
What these people have been through is unfathomable.
Yet the world watches the Olympics, as Georgia watches their freedom
and land stripped from them.
Saturday, 16 August 2008
Monday, 9 June 2008
Godfather, or God the Father?
The early church was a group of people defined by their discontinuity to the Greco-Roman household system. The Christian Ecclesiae became an alternative household, in which allegiances shifted from the earthly pater to God the pater. This new community was sustained by repetitions of actions embodied by Jesus Christ, through the church as a sociological structure, martyrdom, the practice of Eucharist overseen by the bishop, and by the reading of early Jewish and Christian scriptures through the rule of faith. These foundational traditions held the community in sync with the life of Jesus and defined the Christian performance.
Jesus Christ was not simply a messenger; he was the message. His physical body was the actual incarnation of God and how he used his body and ministry redefined socio-political and theological paradigms in light of himself. The system in place was the Greco-Roman household, based on emperor worship and competition between different paters. The pater was the “man of the house” – one who asserted his power in order to gain social mobility. The system instigated violence amongst and within families by its own nature.
However, Jesus Christ established the Kingdom of God through which Christians could escape the internal follies of the household system. As the author of I Timothy writes, “You will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God.” Becoming a Christian was a profound political statement and caused much unrest. No Pater wanted to be shamed by his son’s, daughter’s, or even wife’s refusal to give honor to Caesar; it tarnished his own loyalty and therefore his social standing. Christians were not, however, trying to make an enemy of Rome; we see in I Timothy 2:1-6 that Christians were called to pray for the authorities, so that they could live peaceful and holy lives.
As the church grew it began to attract members of higher social classes. This was beneficial to the community because these members were able to offer a higher degree of safety for the community as a whole. In this process, however, the church adopted some performances from the Greco-Roman household system, such as the marginalization of women and slaves. The role of women still remained distinct, as seen in the stories of Martyrdom as we can see in the Acts of Thecela.
The highest expression of Christian devotion was to repeat the suffering and death of Jesus. The early church strove to live out the life of Jesus with their bodies. Their repetitions and practices were developed to imitate Christ. There was no better way to “take up your cross” than to share in the pain and suffering of Martyrdom. The act of martyrdom was not one of victimization, but faithfulness. The stories of the martyrs were told as the stories of heroes, almost as bedtime readings. In the Martyrdom of Polycarp, we see an old man brought before an angry mob, not unlike Jesus, questioned and given a chance to recant, not unlike Jesus, and finally we see him die a horrible death pressed against rough wood. This act was lived out of allegiance to Christ, and showed non-conformity to the repetitions of the Roman households.
Martyrdom was a central act of the Christian church until the Constantinian bifurcation. The bifurcation was the recontextualization of the Christian household after the conversion of Constantine. In the matter of a decade Christians went from being hunted down to calling the emperor a “brother in Christ.” This divided the Christian community into two different segments. Eusebius describes it in Demonstration of the Gospel, book 1, chapter 8.
“Two ways of life were thus given by the law of Christ to His Church. The one is above nature, and beyond common human living; it admits not marriage, child-bearing, property nor the possession of wealth, but wholly and permanently separate from the common customary life of mankind, it devotes itself to the service of God alone in its wealth of heavenly love! ... And the other more humble, more human, permits men to join in pure nuptials and to produce children, to undertake government, to give orders to soldiers fighting for right; it allows them to have minds for farming, for trade, and the other more secular interests.”
This bifurcation created a normative Christian life that no longer necessitated non-participation, but rather encouraged responsible participation in the Roman patronage system. In essence, this ended the function of martyrdom in the Greco-Roman household. Instead, the same performance could be lived out through another practice: monasticism.
In the Life of Anthony we see this new monasticism. A young pater, Anthony, turns away from the life of the household and takes on a life of discipline, a life in pursuit of perfection. He deprives himself of sex, food, sleep, and all other comforts. He lives among the dead and suffers his flesh so that he may nurture what is spiritual. He wars against the temptations of the carnal and does battle with his various demons. In doing so he seeks the same perfection as was sought by the martyrs that preceded him.
Yet before Constantine redefined Christianity’s role in the Roman world, the church was living out Christ through other practices. The most preeminent of these practices was participation in Eucharist. As Robert Wilkins writes, “before there were disputes about the teaching on grace, or essays on the moral life, there was awe and adoration before the exalted Son of God alive and present in the Church’s offering of the Eucharist.” It was a mode of acknowledging Christ’s presence in the ecclesiae and it was administered by the bishop.
The role of the bishop was established as a way to keep the church unified while under the great duress of Roman oppression. The position was elected by the local church body, and then was confirmed by other bishops. This maintained orthodox teachings of baptism and Eucharist. The bishop became an extremely important role in the church, in a letter to the Ephesians, Ignatius writes, “let us be careful not to oppose the bishop so that we may be obedient to God.” The bishop was seen as God’s direct acting agent in the community of believers. The role of bishop was also instrumental in the defense of Christianity from heretics.
During the second and third centuries Gnostics gained upward mobility, and this Gnostic “Christian” performance was based around a faulty interpretation of Christ, creation, and the early Christian scriptures. In order to keep interpretation unified, and to discriminate between true Christian repetitions and pseudo-repetitions, the Rule of Faith was created. This Rule of Faith was a lens for interpretation and was the “plot” or hypothesis of the scriptures and was the foundation of what would later become the Apostles’ Creed. “The Rule [itself] was not a creed, nor a formula, but an abbreviated body of doctrine wherein the genuine articles of the Christian faith were articulated.” The church reading the scriptures through the Rule of Faith solidified orthodoxy and fought off the primary dangers to the community. The first of these primary dangers was assimilation into the old patronage system, and the second was fragmentation from within.
In a profoundly ironic way, Constantine accomplished through inclusion what centuries of previous Caesars could not accomplish through oppression. Christians were effectively assimilated into the now “Christianized” Roman patronage system, and were fragmented by the bifurcation of early monks from the laity. While the bifurcation may have appeared to be a godsend to the community that one decade earlier had witnessed “…houses of worship demolished to their foundations, the inspired and sacred Scriptures committed to flame…” it may have actually been a cunning poison. It was a poison that was attempted to be absorbed by the early Christian monks.
The role of monks was to take on that which the multitude was no longer obligated to obtain: perfection. They challenge the laity by their example of piety, giving credence to the traditions and performances of the Christian faith. Their criticism of the patronage system is not stark. The monks of early Christianity acted as a counterbalance to the patronage system by remaining isolated from, yet not in total conflict with, it.
Jesus Christ was the incarnation of God, one who did not simply bring a message but was himself the message. His body, broken and resurrected, was the model for Christian performance. The ecclesia lived out his life with their bodies by joining God’s household, sharing in his death through martyrdom, partaking in Eucharist, and reading the Christian scriptures through the Rule of Faith. These central convictions were refined and challenged by Monks in the Post-Constantinian bifurcation. The Church, built upon the life of Jesus and strengthened by the blood of the martyrs continues these repetitions in her longing to one day be reunited with her bridegroom.
Jesus Christ was not simply a messenger; he was the message. His physical body was the actual incarnation of God and how he used his body and ministry redefined socio-political and theological paradigms in light of himself. The system in place was the Greco-Roman household, based on emperor worship and competition between different paters. The pater was the “man of the house” – one who asserted his power in order to gain social mobility. The system instigated violence amongst and within families by its own nature.
However, Jesus Christ established the Kingdom of God through which Christians could escape the internal follies of the household system. As the author of I Timothy writes, “You will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God.” Becoming a Christian was a profound political statement and caused much unrest. No Pater wanted to be shamed by his son’s, daughter’s, or even wife’s refusal to give honor to Caesar; it tarnished his own loyalty and therefore his social standing. Christians were not, however, trying to make an enemy of Rome; we see in I Timothy 2:1-6 that Christians were called to pray for the authorities, so that they could live peaceful and holy lives.
As the church grew it began to attract members of higher social classes. This was beneficial to the community because these members were able to offer a higher degree of safety for the community as a whole. In this process, however, the church adopted some performances from the Greco-Roman household system, such as the marginalization of women and slaves. The role of women still remained distinct, as seen in the stories of Martyrdom as we can see in the Acts of Thecela.
The highest expression of Christian devotion was to repeat the suffering and death of Jesus. The early church strove to live out the life of Jesus with their bodies. Their repetitions and practices were developed to imitate Christ. There was no better way to “take up your cross” than to share in the pain and suffering of Martyrdom. The act of martyrdom was not one of victimization, but faithfulness. The stories of the martyrs were told as the stories of heroes, almost as bedtime readings. In the Martyrdom of Polycarp, we see an old man brought before an angry mob, not unlike Jesus, questioned and given a chance to recant, not unlike Jesus, and finally we see him die a horrible death pressed against rough wood. This act was lived out of allegiance to Christ, and showed non-conformity to the repetitions of the Roman households.
Martyrdom was a central act of the Christian church until the Constantinian bifurcation. The bifurcation was the recontextualization of the Christian household after the conversion of Constantine. In the matter of a decade Christians went from being hunted down to calling the emperor a “brother in Christ.” This divided the Christian community into two different segments. Eusebius describes it in Demonstration of the Gospel, book 1, chapter 8.
“Two ways of life were thus given by the law of Christ to His Church. The one is above nature, and beyond common human living; it admits not marriage, child-bearing, property nor the possession of wealth, but wholly and permanently separate from the common customary life of mankind, it devotes itself to the service of God alone in its wealth of heavenly love! ... And the other more humble, more human, permits men to join in pure nuptials and to produce children, to undertake government, to give orders to soldiers fighting for right; it allows them to have minds for farming, for trade, and the other more secular interests.”
This bifurcation created a normative Christian life that no longer necessitated non-participation, but rather encouraged responsible participation in the Roman patronage system. In essence, this ended the function of martyrdom in the Greco-Roman household. Instead, the same performance could be lived out through another practice: monasticism.
In the Life of Anthony we see this new monasticism. A young pater, Anthony, turns away from the life of the household and takes on a life of discipline, a life in pursuit of perfection. He deprives himself of sex, food, sleep, and all other comforts. He lives among the dead and suffers his flesh so that he may nurture what is spiritual. He wars against the temptations of the carnal and does battle with his various demons. In doing so he seeks the same perfection as was sought by the martyrs that preceded him.
Yet before Constantine redefined Christianity’s role in the Roman world, the church was living out Christ through other practices. The most preeminent of these practices was participation in Eucharist. As Robert Wilkins writes, “before there were disputes about the teaching on grace, or essays on the moral life, there was awe and adoration before the exalted Son of God alive and present in the Church’s offering of the Eucharist.” It was a mode of acknowledging Christ’s presence in the ecclesiae and it was administered by the bishop.
The role of the bishop was established as a way to keep the church unified while under the great duress of Roman oppression. The position was elected by the local church body, and then was confirmed by other bishops. This maintained orthodox teachings of baptism and Eucharist. The bishop became an extremely important role in the church, in a letter to the Ephesians, Ignatius writes, “let us be careful not to oppose the bishop so that we may be obedient to God.” The bishop was seen as God’s direct acting agent in the community of believers. The role of bishop was also instrumental in the defense of Christianity from heretics.
During the second and third centuries Gnostics gained upward mobility, and this Gnostic “Christian” performance was based around a faulty interpretation of Christ, creation, and the early Christian scriptures. In order to keep interpretation unified, and to discriminate between true Christian repetitions and pseudo-repetitions, the Rule of Faith was created. This Rule of Faith was a lens for interpretation and was the “plot” or hypothesis of the scriptures and was the foundation of what would later become the Apostles’ Creed. “The Rule [itself] was not a creed, nor a formula, but an abbreviated body of doctrine wherein the genuine articles of the Christian faith were articulated.” The church reading the scriptures through the Rule of Faith solidified orthodoxy and fought off the primary dangers to the community. The first of these primary dangers was assimilation into the old patronage system, and the second was fragmentation from within.
In a profoundly ironic way, Constantine accomplished through inclusion what centuries of previous Caesars could not accomplish through oppression. Christians were effectively assimilated into the now “Christianized” Roman patronage system, and were fragmented by the bifurcation of early monks from the laity. While the bifurcation may have appeared to be a godsend to the community that one decade earlier had witnessed “…houses of worship demolished to their foundations, the inspired and sacred Scriptures committed to flame…” it may have actually been a cunning poison. It was a poison that was attempted to be absorbed by the early Christian monks.
The role of monks was to take on that which the multitude was no longer obligated to obtain: perfection. They challenge the laity by their example of piety, giving credence to the traditions and performances of the Christian faith. Their criticism of the patronage system is not stark. The monks of early Christianity acted as a counterbalance to the patronage system by remaining isolated from, yet not in total conflict with, it.
Jesus Christ was the incarnation of God, one who did not simply bring a message but was himself the message. His body, broken and resurrected, was the model for Christian performance. The ecclesia lived out his life with their bodies by joining God’s household, sharing in his death through martyrdom, partaking in Eucharist, and reading the Christian scriptures through the Rule of Faith. These central convictions were refined and challenged by Monks in the Post-Constantinian bifurcation. The Church, built upon the life of Jesus and strengthened by the blood of the martyrs continues these repetitions in her longing to one day be reunited with her bridegroom.
Thursday, 15 May 2008
Oxford
With high green blades and forgotten dew
the sun bakes in the day
Rolling out the summer breeze and Peace again made new
fragrant whispers touch the air as yellow flowers sway
The brook through the wood winds slowly
keeping pace with the clouds above
Lending a humility to make even a King feel lowly
school boys play and get wet with a simple shove
the sun bakes in the day
Rolling out the summer breeze and Peace again made new
fragrant whispers touch the air as yellow flowers sway
The brook through the wood winds slowly
keeping pace with the clouds above
Lending a humility to make even a King feel lowly
school boys play and get wet with a simple shove
Wednesday, 30 April 2008
Statement of Faith
I.
a. I believe in God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth. God of God and Light of Light.
b. I believe in Jesus Christ, the savior redeemer of the world’s sin; who is co-equal with the father and of one substance with the father. Yet he is also a divine paradox, being fully man and fully God. Not of two natures or a mix of the two, but two completely diametrical wholes held in tension. He lived to establish the Kingdom of God, his teachings are a call to live by God’s power and not by man’s. The Sermon on the Mount is his manifesto, his cross is the in breaking of the Kingdom of God. Jesus death was a complete refusal to obey the world’s orientation, and in this act atoned for the sins of the world. He died and remained dead for three days until he literally, physically, and historically rose from the dead, defeating death and vindicating his teachings. He died to give us freedom from sin and freedom in the spirit. He will one day come again to establish a New Heaven and a New Earth.
c. I believe in the Holy Spirit who is co-equal and of the same substance with God; Father and Son. The life of the spirit is the fruit of the Kingdom of God, and the Holy Spirit works in our hearts to stir us to repentance, to death and to new life daily. It is our advocate, our comforter and the power that moves in us to perform great works.
I trust that God is a merciful God. I trust that my sins are forgiven and that one day I will be among those Resurrected into the New Earth. I trust that God sees not only actions but the condition of ones heart. I trust that God is with me and that I have the power of the Holy Spirit in my life.
My security comes from the understanding that I have already died with Christ. I do not have to fear death because death has no grip on me when I remain in Christ Jesus. My security is that in doing God’s work I may suffer, but in that suffering I find solace in the suffering servant, and vindication in his resurrection. I am secure because God has given me eternal life here and now.
This gives my life meaning, because I am no longer running away from the impending doom of death, but free to be the creative and productive being God created me to be. I no longer seek power just to feel secure, but use the blessings given to me to help those in need. I find meaning in God’s affirming value of me, and the Spirit’s ability to work in and through my life.
I Hope in the fullness of the Kingdom of God; that one day I will walk with God as Adam walked with him in the Garden. It is faith in these things that give me strength and peace and desire. A desire to help others see and take part in my hope, and to take part in the wonderful redeeming death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. My faith shapes the way I live my life by giving me a reason to live. To live to establish God’s eternal Kingdom here and now, welcoming others into the folds of God’s redeeming grace.
a. I believe in God the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth. God of God and Light of Light.
b. I believe in Jesus Christ, the savior redeemer of the world’s sin; who is co-equal with the father and of one substance with the father. Yet he is also a divine paradox, being fully man and fully God. Not of two natures or a mix of the two, but two completely diametrical wholes held in tension. He lived to establish the Kingdom of God, his teachings are a call to live by God’s power and not by man’s. The Sermon on the Mount is his manifesto, his cross is the in breaking of the Kingdom of God. Jesus death was a complete refusal to obey the world’s orientation, and in this act atoned for the sins of the world. He died and remained dead for three days until he literally, physically, and historically rose from the dead, defeating death and vindicating his teachings. He died to give us freedom from sin and freedom in the spirit. He will one day come again to establish a New Heaven and a New Earth.
c. I believe in the Holy Spirit who is co-equal and of the same substance with God; Father and Son. The life of the spirit is the fruit of the Kingdom of God, and the Holy Spirit works in our hearts to stir us to repentance, to death and to new life daily. It is our advocate, our comforter and the power that moves in us to perform great works.
I trust that God is a merciful God. I trust that my sins are forgiven and that one day I will be among those Resurrected into the New Earth. I trust that God sees not only actions but the condition of ones heart. I trust that God is with me and that I have the power of the Holy Spirit in my life.
My security comes from the understanding that I have already died with Christ. I do not have to fear death because death has no grip on me when I remain in Christ Jesus. My security is that in doing God’s work I may suffer, but in that suffering I find solace in the suffering servant, and vindication in his resurrection. I am secure because God has given me eternal life here and now.
This gives my life meaning, because I am no longer running away from the impending doom of death, but free to be the creative and productive being God created me to be. I no longer seek power just to feel secure, but use the blessings given to me to help those in need. I find meaning in God’s affirming value of me, and the Spirit’s ability to work in and through my life.
I Hope in the fullness of the Kingdom of God; that one day I will walk with God as Adam walked with him in the Garden. It is faith in these things that give me strength and peace and desire. A desire to help others see and take part in my hope, and to take part in the wonderful redeeming death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. My faith shapes the way I live my life by giving me a reason to live. To live to establish God’s eternal Kingdom here and now, welcoming others into the folds of God’s redeeming grace.
Monday, 7 April 2008
Reflections on Soviet and Modern Russia
The following are from my journal while traveling to Russia. They are incomplete and rough in every way, so cut me some slack...
3/8/08
The shake of the car is unsettling and lulling at the same time. The train pulls and shakes and jolts, all the while surging forth into the utter darkness. As we journey eastward towards Moscow I can't help but marvel at our past. The tensions, the hate, the confusion and the ideals of the Soviet era all still lingering. They are a residual echo of lost souls and futures.
Yet today our train rattles onward, carrying Americans to partake in the overwhelming force that is materialism. It has taken hold of America, Russia and all who will listen to its voice. A siren calling good men to her idolatry. She may be tied to liberty, but she does not have liberty at heart. Not the Common Good but the goals of the hedonist.
Moscow lost the utopian ideals of communism in exchange for this sirens beauty. Abandoned one false hope for another. Russia is now privy to the faults and foibles of a new dictator. She grinds and lies and cheats, in the U.S and now in Russia. But may we never forget that Moscow stood for ideals never made manifest; and now joins our bondage to the materialism we call freedom.
3/10/08
Moscow is Beauty. It glows at night with an almost magical antiquity and color. The cold bites in the wind, yet the bustle of the city leaves you warm as you travel. The Soviet Union has been broken, so much so that the statues and monuments that once stood as a symbol for communism are now a product sold to tourists, themselves used for the ends of capitalism.
The people move quickly, flowing rapidly through the metro, or streets. The metro itself is a testament to the grand dream of the USSR. That each human could forego personal wealth so that the community could have a lavish form of public transportation. One with marble stairs and bronze statues of wheat. It is like walking through a palace, one that was built for the people of Moscow. I can see its charm, the glorious society that they could build together. One where even the metro is paved in gold.
The Marxist and the Christian look towards hope. A hope of a better world. Yet the Marxist is under the false allusion that humans can undo the core of humanity, and the Christian assumes that we must daily struggle and be taken in by Grace. The world Marx envisioned was on of total equality: one where all people can prosper. This hope will eventually be fulfilled, not by the quantified reason and inner goodness of Man, but by the redeeming Blood of Christ.
So stands Christ the Savior church in Moscow. The enormity and beauty of which is breathtaking. Its high ceilings and golden domes, its icons and candles; They radiate in worship, calling sinners into the awe and pwer of a majestic God. While I walked across its polished marble floors I was stirred in absolute wonder.
Moscow seeks and yearns to find a utopia for her people. Marxism left her scared and empty, depraved and robbed of her own cultural heritage. I can only pray that the Church can bind her wounds.
3/8/08
The shake of the car is unsettling and lulling at the same time. The train pulls and shakes and jolts, all the while surging forth into the utter darkness. As we journey eastward towards Moscow I can't help but marvel at our past. The tensions, the hate, the confusion and the ideals of the Soviet era all still lingering. They are a residual echo of lost souls and futures.
Yet today our train rattles onward, carrying Americans to partake in the overwhelming force that is materialism. It has taken hold of America, Russia and all who will listen to its voice. A siren calling good men to her idolatry. She may be tied to liberty, but she does not have liberty at heart. Not the Common Good but the goals of the hedonist.
Moscow lost the utopian ideals of communism in exchange for this sirens beauty. Abandoned one false hope for another. Russia is now privy to the faults and foibles of a new dictator. She grinds and lies and cheats, in the U.S and now in Russia. But may we never forget that Moscow stood for ideals never made manifest; and now joins our bondage to the materialism we call freedom.
3/10/08
Moscow is Beauty. It glows at night with an almost magical antiquity and color. The cold bites in the wind, yet the bustle of the city leaves you warm as you travel. The Soviet Union has been broken, so much so that the statues and monuments that once stood as a symbol for communism are now a product sold to tourists, themselves used for the ends of capitalism.
The people move quickly, flowing rapidly through the metro, or streets. The metro itself is a testament to the grand dream of the USSR. That each human could forego personal wealth so that the community could have a lavish form of public transportation. One with marble stairs and bronze statues of wheat. It is like walking through a palace, one that was built for the people of Moscow. I can see its charm, the glorious society that they could build together. One where even the metro is paved in gold.
The Marxist and the Christian look towards hope. A hope of a better world. Yet the Marxist is under the false allusion that humans can undo the core of humanity, and the Christian assumes that we must daily struggle and be taken in by Grace. The world Marx envisioned was on of total equality: one where all people can prosper. This hope will eventually be fulfilled, not by the quantified reason and inner goodness of Man, but by the redeeming Blood of Christ.
So stands Christ the Savior church in Moscow. The enormity and beauty of which is breathtaking. Its high ceilings and golden domes, its icons and candles; They radiate in worship, calling sinners into the awe and pwer of a majestic God. While I walked across its polished marble floors I was stirred in absolute wonder.
Moscow seeks and yearns to find a utopia for her people. Marxism left her scared and empty, depraved and robbed of her own cultural heritage. I can only pray that the Church can bind her wounds.
Thursday, 6 March 2008
Bathed in Grace- What Words Cannot Express
It was the most important day of my life. The sun was streaming through the skylights and onto the light pinewood rafters. I gazed up at the light thinking that there was only one thing left to do; Jump. I was only 11 years old, but I looked up into the sunlight and cried out to God.
“I don’t feel like you are real, I don’t know you are real. But I know that I am throwing myself into you. If I fall, I fall. But God I know, by no means of explanation that I won’t. I want to believe in you, I want you to catch me.” So I jumped. I took the preverbal leap of Faith and got “Saved.”
Over the years I was baptized in a frozen lake, witnessed a healing and had visions and dreams that make no sense what so ever. Yet I knew that there was something radically other that had entered my life. My charismatic worldview was the only thing that could explain what had taken hold of me, but it was not one that held up well under scrutiny. It fell apart so easily, and it left me with very little peace.
But this collapse of my worldview does not change what I have seen; it does not change what I have experienced. It just leaves me to find a new explanation. I have been told over and over again that “those silly Charismatic Christians are faking, the gifts of the spirit died with the apostles.” It is no use though; I have seen things, felt things and known things in the depths of my being that do not equate.
So I am going to try and explain the unexplainable. I am going to try to communicate the incommunicable. What Kierkegaard called “Abraham’s silence.”
I do this knowing fully that I will fail, but it is worth alluding to. It is worth writing about even if all that I can offer is a shadow and a scent of that which is Other.
I was once by the side of a pond on a late summer afternoon in New Hampshire. I sat in what I can only call prayer, but I did not speak. I listened but I did not hear anything but the lapping of little waves against the dock. It was as if instead of telling me, God just knew me, and for that brief instant he allowed me to know his fragrance. I knew that I was being allowed into the folds of God’s beautiful Grace. Not because of words, or thoughts or beliefs but because I gave in to the spirit of God. I was at the foot of the Cross and blood flowed onto my head. I was at the table with Jesus and wine flowed over my hands. I was on the shore of a small pond and wind swept past my face. It was the presence of God, in every raw, frightful and soothing way. I was covered in Christ’s blood so that I could sit in the fire around me and not burn, but rather bathe.
It is so inadequate to call it a feeling. I was not feeling God like I feel joy or sorrow. I was feeling God like one feels the rip tides pull them under the sea. It was a fall into chaos and yet far more a fall into a fierce and unallocated peace.
In my life there have been moments of weakness, pain, desire and longing that are too great for my mind to quantify. They are too great to overcome, just as sin is far to great for me to overcome. When the whole of my created being cries out to God to be cleansed I sit and wait. When I take the Eucharist I am covered in the blood of Christ, and then emblazoned with the Holy Spirit to burn away the chafe. It overcomes my inadequacy, loosing my tongue in such a way as to express what words cannot: The beauty of Gods Grace, the pain of Sin and the utter inadequacy of my heart. It is in full submission that I am allowed the gifts of the Spirit. It is not the power of my own will, piety or faith. But rather in the lack of all of these things that the Holy Spirit can come, heal and burn.
As on the Day of Pentecost; I am overcome by the Spirit of God. In my Pride it stirs humility. In my hate it stirs Love, and in my utter destruction I am Bathed in Grace.
“I don’t feel like you are real, I don’t know you are real. But I know that I am throwing myself into you. If I fall, I fall. But God I know, by no means of explanation that I won’t. I want to believe in you, I want you to catch me.” So I jumped. I took the preverbal leap of Faith and got “Saved.”
Over the years I was baptized in a frozen lake, witnessed a healing and had visions and dreams that make no sense what so ever. Yet I knew that there was something radically other that had entered my life. My charismatic worldview was the only thing that could explain what had taken hold of me, but it was not one that held up well under scrutiny. It fell apart so easily, and it left me with very little peace.
But this collapse of my worldview does not change what I have seen; it does not change what I have experienced. It just leaves me to find a new explanation. I have been told over and over again that “those silly Charismatic Christians are faking, the gifts of the spirit died with the apostles.” It is no use though; I have seen things, felt things and known things in the depths of my being that do not equate.
So I am going to try and explain the unexplainable. I am going to try to communicate the incommunicable. What Kierkegaard called “Abraham’s silence.”
I do this knowing fully that I will fail, but it is worth alluding to. It is worth writing about even if all that I can offer is a shadow and a scent of that which is Other.
I was once by the side of a pond on a late summer afternoon in New Hampshire. I sat in what I can only call prayer, but I did not speak. I listened but I did not hear anything but the lapping of little waves against the dock. It was as if instead of telling me, God just knew me, and for that brief instant he allowed me to know his fragrance. I knew that I was being allowed into the folds of God’s beautiful Grace. Not because of words, or thoughts or beliefs but because I gave in to the spirit of God. I was at the foot of the Cross and blood flowed onto my head. I was at the table with Jesus and wine flowed over my hands. I was on the shore of a small pond and wind swept past my face. It was the presence of God, in every raw, frightful and soothing way. I was covered in Christ’s blood so that I could sit in the fire around me and not burn, but rather bathe.
It is so inadequate to call it a feeling. I was not feeling God like I feel joy or sorrow. I was feeling God like one feels the rip tides pull them under the sea. It was a fall into chaos and yet far more a fall into a fierce and unallocated peace.
In my life there have been moments of weakness, pain, desire and longing that are too great for my mind to quantify. They are too great to overcome, just as sin is far to great for me to overcome. When the whole of my created being cries out to God to be cleansed I sit and wait. When I take the Eucharist I am covered in the blood of Christ, and then emblazoned with the Holy Spirit to burn away the chafe. It overcomes my inadequacy, loosing my tongue in such a way as to express what words cannot: The beauty of Gods Grace, the pain of Sin and the utter inadequacy of my heart. It is in full submission that I am allowed the gifts of the Spirit. It is not the power of my own will, piety or faith. But rather in the lack of all of these things that the Holy Spirit can come, heal and burn.
As on the Day of Pentecost; I am overcome by the Spirit of God. In my Pride it stirs humility. In my hate it stirs Love, and in my utter destruction I am Bathed in Grace.
Tuesday, 4 March 2008
The Gospel According to Brandon...Sort of..
I am in a Synoptic Gospels class here in Lithuania. It has been a very interesting and is led by a young professor who just got his Ph.D at 29! One of the assignments was to evaluate the editing process of the Gospel authors by writing our own gospel. I know it sounds heretical, but it was really fun! It has been a great opportunity for me to processes how I see Jesus.
The following is FICTION that I have written by drawing upon various source material from the canonical Gospels as well as from the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas and my own imagination. It is followed by a comprehensive analysis. Here we go...
It was in the second year of Jesus ministry that he took the twelve to the Jordan. As they walked Philip came up to Jesus and asked him:
“Why is It that you do not mind the company of Gentiles, are they not unclean?”
Jesus Replied: “We have lived in a time where the purity of ones hands has defined their righteousness, but in the Kingdom of God it is not filth on ones hands that makes one unclean but rather the wickedness that has taken hold of their hearts. I tell you the truth that in the coming age the gentile will be grafted into the lineage of Abraham and receive through faith brotherhood among God’s people. For the Gentile will now be offered new life, Just as it is written:
“Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!”
So too will the Gentile may enter into the Kingdom if they repent. After saying this Jesus walked to the shore and cried out; “ Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God . Stand in the river and I will show you how the Kingdom will come.” So the twelve came down to the river, but the current was very strong so the disciples call out to Jesus saying to them, “ Jesus, the current is too strong, we will surely be swept away if we enter it.”
Jesus turned to them and said:
“ The Kingdom will not be calm and cool water, it will be violent and threaten to tear at your flesh. Yet only those who offer themselves up to the promises of God will be able to obtain it. “
Peter threw his cloak around himself and entered the stream. The water surged and tossed him under its foaming waves. The other disciples called out in agony but were too afraid to help him. In a loud voice Jesus parted the river and the water heaped upon it self. There at the bottom lay Peter. Jesus walked over to him and said loud enough for all of the disciples to hear.
“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” With this he breathed on Peter and he was raised from the dead. All the Disciples now were amazed and rushed to Peter and after embracing him fell at Jesus feet.
Jesus told them : “Just as Joshua has parted this river to lead his people into the Promised land I separate it to bring you into the Kingdom of God. Just like Peter you must be willing to suffer. For whoever loses his life will gain it, but those who are not willing to suffer will not be able to enter into life eternal.”
After this Jesus and the disciples began their journey to Jerusalem. It was a long and hot day when they came through a small village. They stopped there to eat, and drink from their well. As they were sitting in the shade Jesus said to his disciples, "Compare me to someone and tell me whom I am like."
Simon Peter said to him, "You are like a righteous angel."
Matthew said to him, "You are like a wise philosopher."
Thomas said to him, "Master, my mouth is wholly incapable of saying whom you are like."
Jesus said to him, “Are you intoxicated? Have not you walked with me for two years now, listening and seeing what acts the Son of Man has performed to proclaim the coming Kingdom of God!”
Jesus told them this story.
“ The Greeks have many false gods and tell tales of their ‘greatness’. One story is of Prometheus . A god who looked down on mankind and saw that they were without protection; without claws to hunt or fur to stay warm. Prometheus went to Zeus and asked permission to give man fire in order that they might live in light and not darkness. Zeus refused to allow man to have fire, to let man have light. But Prometheus brought fire to man anyways, for this act he was tortured and endured great suffering. This world is based around the power of the strong dominating the weak, just as Zeus has dominion over man in this Greek myth. In this world the Son of Man has come to bring light unto the world and release the hearts of men from their greed for domination. Just as Prometheus I will be persecuted by the powers of this world and will suffer the most brutal death.” He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter.
"Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."
Then he called a crowd to him along with his disciples and said:
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."
After hearing this Jesus’ disciples were perplexed, and did not understand what he was saying. So Jesus looked at them and said.
“I have not come to overthrow Rome but to overthrow something that Rome bows to. Adam and Eve brought sin into the world, that sin which makes brother kill brother and gives man the desire to dominate one another. It is this hierarchy of Power that I have come to negate. My teachings are a manifesto to the Kingdom of God, which inverts this fallen power structure and reestablishes right relation from man to fellow man, and from man to God. I will die to this fallen flesh and rise again as the first new creation, bringing to reality what will be made in full at the end of the age.
The following is FICTION that I have written by drawing upon various source material from the canonical Gospels as well as from the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas and my own imagination. It is followed by a comprehensive analysis. Here we go...
The Gospel According to Brandon Walsh
A follower of Jesus
It was in the second year of Jesus ministry that he took the twelve to the Jordan. As they walked Philip came up to Jesus and asked him:
“Why is It that you do not mind the company of Gentiles, are they not unclean?”
Jesus Replied: “We have lived in a time where the purity of ones hands has defined their righteousness, but in the Kingdom of God it is not filth on ones hands that makes one unclean but rather the wickedness that has taken hold of their hearts. I tell you the truth that in the coming age the gentile will be grafted into the lineage of Abraham and receive through faith brotherhood among God’s people. For the Gentile will now be offered new life, Just as it is written:
“Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!”
So too will the Gentile may enter into the Kingdom if they repent. After saying this Jesus walked to the shore and cried out; “ Come here and listen to the words of the LORD your God . Stand in the river and I will show you how the Kingdom will come.” So the twelve came down to the river, but the current was very strong so the disciples call out to Jesus saying to them, “ Jesus, the current is too strong, we will surely be swept away if we enter it.”
Jesus turned to them and said:
“ The Kingdom will not be calm and cool water, it will be violent and threaten to tear at your flesh. Yet only those who offer themselves up to the promises of God will be able to obtain it. “
Peter threw his cloak around himself and entered the stream. The water surged and tossed him under its foaming waves. The other disciples called out in agony but were too afraid to help him. In a loud voice Jesus parted the river and the water heaped upon it self. There at the bottom lay Peter. Jesus walked over to him and said loud enough for all of the disciples to hear.
“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” With this he breathed on Peter and he was raised from the dead. All the Disciples now were amazed and rushed to Peter and after embracing him fell at Jesus feet.
Jesus told them : “Just as Joshua has parted this river to lead his people into the Promised land I separate it to bring you into the Kingdom of God. Just like Peter you must be willing to suffer. For whoever loses his life will gain it, but those who are not willing to suffer will not be able to enter into life eternal.”
After this Jesus and the disciples began their journey to Jerusalem. It was a long and hot day when they came through a small village. They stopped there to eat, and drink from their well. As they were sitting in the shade Jesus said to his disciples, "Compare me to someone and tell me whom I am like."
Simon Peter said to him, "You are like a righteous angel."
Matthew said to him, "You are like a wise philosopher."
Thomas said to him, "Master, my mouth is wholly incapable of saying whom you are like."
Jesus said to him, “Are you intoxicated? Have not you walked with me for two years now, listening and seeing what acts the Son of Man has performed to proclaim the coming Kingdom of God!”
Jesus told them this story.
“ The Greeks have many false gods and tell tales of their ‘greatness’. One story is of Prometheus . A god who looked down on mankind and saw that they were without protection; without claws to hunt or fur to stay warm. Prometheus went to Zeus and asked permission to give man fire in order that they might live in light and not darkness. Zeus refused to allow man to have fire, to let man have light. But Prometheus brought fire to man anyways, for this act he was tortured and endured great suffering. This world is based around the power of the strong dominating the weak, just as Zeus has dominion over man in this Greek myth. In this world the Son of Man has come to bring light unto the world and release the hearts of men from their greed for domination. Just as Prometheus I will be persecuted by the powers of this world and will suffer the most brutal death.” He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter.
"Get behind me, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."
Then he called a crowd to him along with his disciples and said:
"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his Father's glory with the holy angels."
After hearing this Jesus’ disciples were perplexed, and did not understand what he was saying. So Jesus looked at them and said.
“I have not come to overthrow Rome but to overthrow something that Rome bows to. Adam and Eve brought sin into the world, that sin which makes brother kill brother and gives man the desire to dominate one another. It is this hierarchy of Power that I have come to negate. My teachings are a manifesto to the Kingdom of God, which inverts this fallen power structure and reestablishes right relation from man to fellow man, and from man to God. I will die to this fallen flesh and rise again as the first new creation, bringing to reality what will be made in full at the end of the age.
Comprehensive Analysis of The Gospel of Brandon
This Gospel provides both narrative and discourse that play into Brandon’s interpretation of the Kingdom of God and what it costs to be a disciple. The Gospel starts out with a discourse between Jesus and Philip about why Jesus eats with gentiles. His response calls on various Old Testament texts and shows clear connection to Pauline theology in the book of Romans.
Next we enter into a narrative at the riverbank of the Jordan, Where Jesus tells the disciples to go into the water. But they refuse because of the rapid current. Jesus quotes Joshua and alludes to the symbolic act of crossing the river into the holy land of Israel. After Jesus rebukes the disciples for not understanding that the Kingdom of God will be painful, Peter jumps into the river and is swept away. The disciples cry out in anguish but Jesus parts the river, just as Joshua parted the river to enter the promise land and Elisha did to legitimate his prophetic anointment in 2 Kings 2. Jesus sees Peter lying dead at the bottom of the river and brings him back to life.
Jesus then interprets his actions by telling them that just as Joshua led his people into the Promised Land that he would lead them into the Kingdom of God, and that in order to enter the Kingdom one must being willing to suffer, like peter. Jesus then leads them into a small town where he asks them a passage from the Gospel of Thomas. It is a request somewhat like the one found in Mark 8, where Jesus asks his disciples to tell him who he is. In this Gnostic version though Peter tells Jesus that he is like a “righteous angel” and the Matthew says he is like a “wise philosopher.” Then Jesus rebukes Thomas for not knowing. Brandon now adds the story of Prometheus that Jesus uses to explain his role in the world, saying that he goes against the will of the power that has dominion over the hearts of man and that by bringing them the Kingdom that he will be persecuted.
Then we see the exact words of Mark 8 transferred into this text. Where Jesus predicts his death and Rebukes Peter of denying it. Here again we see the theme of the cost of discipleship and Jesus ends the Gospel with a explanation of all of these actions. Jesus explains that he has not come to overthrow Rome but to overthrow something bigger, the fallen power structure of humanity.
This Gospel’s Genre is a mix between several different themes. It includes discourse on Jew and Gentile relations, a prophetic legitimating narrative and several discussions on the purpose of the Kingdom of God. It incorporates the narrative into this text with the discourse so that they can co-interpret each other. The discourse brings new understanding to the parting of the Jordan and the parting of the Jordan brings new meaning to the cost of discipleship teachings.
There are four distinct sources in the writing of this gospel and each is used differently to make the Gospels central argument. The canonical scriptures are used, including the Old Testament, as well as the Gospel of Thomas, Greek mythology and unique material that I will call “special B.” The OT verses used to support the prophet legitimation also provide a new way to interpret how they could be read in their original context.
The source material from the Gospel of Thomas is put in a new context to provide a new framework for Jesus’ own interpretation of who he is like, Prometheus. This element of Greek mythology is unique to this Gospel. It shows the authors interaction with Greek culture and possibly even language. This story itself is reinterpreted in order to show Jesus as the Prometheus and Zeus as the power (Satan) that rules the world.
Special B is a unique source material that seems to mix various elements of Canonical themes with modern interpretations of the meaning of Jesus. The source includes the parting of the Jordan, not found in any other source, and the final discourse at the end of the Gospel that describes the Kingdom’s new power structure.
The Christology that we see in this Gospel is not unlike Matthew and Luke. Jesus is clearly calling himself the Son of Man and performing tremendous miracles to show he is the chosen one of God, but he does not use any “I am” statements as he does in the Gospel of John. Jesus is still human enough to want to stop and get a drink of water in the village, but divine enough to raise Peter from the dead. This Christology reflects the orthodox paradox of Christ, both fully man and fully God.
The Ideology of the Gospel is one of Christ’s purposes to restore what was lost in the Garden of Eden. Jesus has come to give an alternative way to live, according to the power structure of the Sermon on the Mount rather than the strongest dominate the weakest.
Next we enter into a narrative at the riverbank of the Jordan, Where Jesus tells the disciples to go into the water. But they refuse because of the rapid current. Jesus quotes Joshua and alludes to the symbolic act of crossing the river into the holy land of Israel. After Jesus rebukes the disciples for not understanding that the Kingdom of God will be painful, Peter jumps into the river and is swept away. The disciples cry out in anguish but Jesus parts the river, just as Joshua parted the river to enter the promise land and Elisha did to legitimate his prophetic anointment in 2 Kings 2. Jesus sees Peter lying dead at the bottom of the river and brings him back to life.
Jesus then interprets his actions by telling them that just as Joshua led his people into the Promised Land that he would lead them into the Kingdom of God, and that in order to enter the Kingdom one must being willing to suffer, like peter. Jesus then leads them into a small town where he asks them a passage from the Gospel of Thomas. It is a request somewhat like the one found in Mark 8, where Jesus asks his disciples to tell him who he is. In this Gnostic version though Peter tells Jesus that he is like a “righteous angel” and the Matthew says he is like a “wise philosopher.” Then Jesus rebukes Thomas for not knowing. Brandon now adds the story of Prometheus that Jesus uses to explain his role in the world, saying that he goes against the will of the power that has dominion over the hearts of man and that by bringing them the Kingdom that he will be persecuted.
Then we see the exact words of Mark 8 transferred into this text. Where Jesus predicts his death and Rebukes Peter of denying it. Here again we see the theme of the cost of discipleship and Jesus ends the Gospel with a explanation of all of these actions. Jesus explains that he has not come to overthrow Rome but to overthrow something bigger, the fallen power structure of humanity.
This Gospel’s Genre is a mix between several different themes. It includes discourse on Jew and Gentile relations, a prophetic legitimating narrative and several discussions on the purpose of the Kingdom of God. It incorporates the narrative into this text with the discourse so that they can co-interpret each other. The discourse brings new understanding to the parting of the Jordan and the parting of the Jordan brings new meaning to the cost of discipleship teachings.
There are four distinct sources in the writing of this gospel and each is used differently to make the Gospels central argument. The canonical scriptures are used, including the Old Testament, as well as the Gospel of Thomas, Greek mythology and unique material that I will call “special B.” The OT verses used to support the prophet legitimation also provide a new way to interpret how they could be read in their original context.
The source material from the Gospel of Thomas is put in a new context to provide a new framework for Jesus’ own interpretation of who he is like, Prometheus. This element of Greek mythology is unique to this Gospel. It shows the authors interaction with Greek culture and possibly even language. This story itself is reinterpreted in order to show Jesus as the Prometheus and Zeus as the power (Satan) that rules the world.
Special B is a unique source material that seems to mix various elements of Canonical themes with modern interpretations of the meaning of Jesus. The source includes the parting of the Jordan, not found in any other source, and the final discourse at the end of the Gospel that describes the Kingdom’s new power structure.
The Christology that we see in this Gospel is not unlike Matthew and Luke. Jesus is clearly calling himself the Son of Man and performing tremendous miracles to show he is the chosen one of God, but he does not use any “I am” statements as he does in the Gospel of John. Jesus is still human enough to want to stop and get a drink of water in the village, but divine enough to raise Peter from the dead. This Christology reflects the orthodox paradox of Christ, both fully man and fully God.
The Ideology of the Gospel is one of Christ’s purposes to restore what was lost in the Garden of Eden. Jesus has come to give an alternative way to live, according to the power structure of the Sermon on the Mount rather than the strongest dominate the weakest.
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