Belief in the Age of Skepticism

Here is a video dealing with the problem of religious exclusive truth claims (primarily Christian). Tim Keller (author of The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism), senior pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC. Keller is more evangelical in his beliefs; he offers some good ideas and there is an interesting question and answer time with Keller and students at UC Berkley.


via videosift.com

If I was a book, which one would I be?

Notes from the Underground author, Steve Hayes, posted a link to a book quiz at the Blue Pyramid. Answer a few questions and it sizes you up and spits out a book that is most like you. According to this quiz, if I were a book I would be:

You're Cry, the Beloved Country!

by Alan Paton

Life is exceedingly difficult right now, especially when you put more
miles between yourself and your hometown. But with all sorts of personal and profound
convictions, you are able to keep a level head and still try to help folks, no matter
how much they harm you. You walk through a land of natural beauty and daily horror. In
the end, far too much is a matter of black and white.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

I'm not exactly sure how I feel about this depiction, but I am what I am! :) Go and do the quiz for yourself and then come back and let me know what it said about you! Oh, there are also some more quizzes that you can take as well that when completed will give you other glimpses into your personality. If only it were this easy to figure our own selves out!

It's Not My Fault! Or, Is It?

The following in an excerpt of a book I'm reading by Stephen R. Holmes entitled, Listening to the Past: The Place of Tradition in Theology. Upon reading this, part of me wants to recoil in horror of the insinuations made by the piece and the other part of me wants to say a hearty "Amen." You read it for yourself and tell me what you think. If nothing else, it should definitely provoke thought; it certainly did for me. 

Reflecting upon the thought of Jonathan Edwards, the eighteenth century philosopher and reformed theologian (remembered most for his unfortunate sermon, "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God"), Holmes recounts some of Edward's thought on free will and freedom of choice: 

"...The prophets of this brave new world are Darwin, Marx, and Freud, whose followers will tell anyone foolish enough to listen that it was, notoriously, 'not your fault', it was biological instinct, or inevitable social forces, or 'subconscious urges', and so what is needed is more awareness of the 'self' which such themes define. If the first consequence of such positions is to alienate me from the society of which I  am a part, the second is to alienate me from my now-isolated individual 'self'. When 'I' am alienated from 'myself' the response is counselling, the new universal liturgical practice of the self-absorbed Western world. As if Narcissus needed to become more 'self-aware'!

With the axioms set for the  discussion, however, the cure is worse than the disease. What will happen  if I finally 'find' my 'self' in counseling or therapy? I will become fully aware of my self-alienation. Seeing all the  causes of my actions, and so knowing why I do each thing I do, I will realise that I am almost totally unfree (according to this definition of freedom). My social background and my parents' failures and psychic make-up conspire to make me act in this way; I see myself doing it, and I understand why I do it, but I cannot change it; I can merely observe the causes of my actions. The result under the terms of the argument is the standard one observed in those who have 'successfully' completed counselling or therapy: they have 'learnt to forgive themselves'. Their actions have not changed, but they now understand what causes these actions, see that they are freely chosen with the definition of freedom that is being advanced, and so do not hold themselves culpable. 'Their doctrine [of freedom] excuses all evil inclinations', says Edwards, 'because in such inclinations, they are not self-determined.' Thus perhaps the one great 'triumph' of Christian pastoral theology this century: we have learnt how to convince sinners with tender consciences that they have no need of Christ's atoning work." [92-3] (Holmes adapts much of the above from The Works of Jonathan Edwards. vol 1: Freedom of the Will, edited by Paul Ramsey, Yale University Press, 1957

Now obviously, there are certain facets and insinuations in there that I wholeheartedly disagree with. The values of counseling for those who really need it can not be overstated. But, I do often wonder about the nature of our  therapeutic culture and how unhealthy the lack of personal responsibility is. I know this is not popular and certainly not politically correct, but as a society we have to find a way to strike a balance between personal acccountability and a reasonable appraisal of mitigating circumstances.   

Pope says humanity needs 'saving' from homosexuality

Pope says humanity needs 'saving' from homosexuality - Telegraph

His remarks were immediately denounced as "totally irresponsible and unacceptable in any shape or form" by the Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement.

Its chief executive, the Rev Sharon Ferguson, said: "It is more the case that we need to be saved from his comments. It is comments like this that justify homophobic bullying that goes on in schools and it is comments like this that justify gay bashing.

"There are still so many instances of people being killed around the world, including in western society, purely and simply because of their sexual orientation or their gender identity.

"When you have religious leaders like that making that sort of statement then followers feel they are justified in behaving in an aggressive and violent way because they feel that they are doing God's work in ridding the world of these people."

I absolutely HATE bringing attention to something so negative right here on the eve of our Advent celebration. Certainly there are more pleasant things to concentrate upon during this wonderful time of year. The Pope is Pope to all Catholics, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, many of whom struggle with their sexual disposition as it relates to the church. I would not expect anything different, in terms of ideology, from the Pope. However, I do not understand the choice to further ostracize a not so insignificant group of people who are often persecuted from within and without.

Obviously, the reaction by gay and lesbian groups is predictable and in my opinion, justified. In much of the world this debate is carried on in somewhat of a civilized manner; however, there are many Catholics living in societies that are much less civilized that would be very prone to use the Pope's rhetoric here to justify social cleansing of undesirables. How horrifying it would be if some group took the Pope's language as a mandate and even one gay, lesbian, or transgendered person was injured or killed. By virtue of his position as the Vicar of Christ, the representative of the man who loved sinners and publicans, ate with tax collectors and befriended prostitutes and Samaritans, Pope Benedict should chose his words more carefully and with more grace.

Another issue I have here is the dangerous theoretical separation between the saving of our environment and the protection and care of the human species. Our environment is on a fast track to annihilation and when this occurs, humankind as we know it will be no more. Consequently, saving the rain forest, protecting our planet against global warming and the wholesale destruction of our world by the proliferation of nuclear weapons and the like is, by very definition, attending to and safeguarding the very existence of humanity.

I would not want Pope Benedict's job for nothing, but if I had it I hope I would chose my remarks more carefully. The Catholic faith is one that I have grown to appreciate; its unique appeal to authority and its clarity on many issues, whether or not I agree with them or not, is often refreshing to me. Over the years I have grown to respect Papal authority in matters of faith and doctrine, but in this issue, I can not help but plead for the utilization of less exclusive language and care in issuing what could easily be mistaken as decrees by much of the world's population whose religious practices are often saturated with superstition, prejudice, and bigotry.

Many Poses, One Portrait: God defined by the World's Religions

My growing understanding of God as transcendent is fascinating to me. I think I am beginning to understand what Ghandi is saying here:

"After long study and experience, I have come to the conclusion that all religions are true; all religions have some error in them; all religions are almost as dear to me as my own Hinduism, in as much as all human beings should be as dear to one as one's own close relatives. My own veneration for other faiths is the same as that for my own faith; therefore no thought of conversion is possible." (M. K. Gandhi, All Men Are Brothers: Life and Thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi as told in his own words, Paris, UNESCO 1958, p 60.) [retrieved from Wikipedia article on Universalism]

If God transcends all human understanding, defies human language to define and articulate; if the human mind is limited in its ability to comprehend what God is, then how naive is it to believe that one religion is in and of itself capable of embodying all the truth that is God? Wow! Now there's a question for you!

As my personal understanding of the relevance of religion continues to expand, I am beginning to believe that not only are all the world's religions representations of this single transcendent being/force etc, but all of them are necessary to depict all that God is. Just as Ghandi says that all religions have errors, including his own in this indictment, all religions have some facet of truth which when unified, gives us a clearer and more comprehensive portrait of who God is; albeit, even this is an obscure portrait of the divine. However, with such an understanding, it behooves me to search for truth in all faiths, building as comprehensive a composite of the divine as possible.

I recently began reading a book that I've had on my shelf for sometime entitled, Listening to the Past by Stephen R. Holmes. This book seeks to validate the role of historical theology (Christian) and the importance of tradition in the development of Christian dogma. One thing that drew my attention to the book was a statement made on the back cover:

"...theology is an irreducibly communal task."

The idea that come to mind when I read this small statement is obviously not contextually accurate to what Holmes is trying to get at in the book. But, the statement is nonetheless applicable to the idea here that all religions bear the task of revealing the divine. It is, indeed, a communal task; from the world's inception to the present, the balance of man's search and pursuit of God as expressed in the world's religions is a communal effort to explain and reveal the One that transcends all things yet is immanent in all things as well.

I am sure that I have not done these thoughts justice. I do, however, hope that it has invoked some communal resolve to continue our quest to know God through the various faith perspectives of our fellow human inhabitants of this temporal space.