“Religious Experiences”: Quirks of the Nervous System?

…In the last post, I explained how evolution can be thought of as God’s design – his means for making human beings in his image. This idea can be generalized: God uses the physical world, which he made and which is also, in a sense, “in his image,” as a means to reveal things to human beings, who are both physical and spiritual creatures. This is not to say that God made the universe only for this purpose. Rather, the emphasis is on the fact that the universe was made by God and is therefore not just matter and spacetime and physical things, but physical things that belong to God, who may use it for many purposes, one of which is revelation to human beings.

Allow me to offer three examples of this idea. First, “religious experiences.” Last year in my Psychology 101 class, the professor described how scientists have discovered how to control the nervous system in such a way as to produce in the mind “visions” or “religious experiences.” One might be tempted to jump to the conclusion that this discovery shows that all religious experiences in history are nothing more than events inside the brain just as many have jumped to the conclusion that humans are nothing more than biological byproducts of primordial slime. But our professor stressed that these discoveries have no such implications. Rather, just as one would expect God to use a mechanism like evolution to create humans, one would expect him to use the physical human brain in order to reveal himself. And just as our existence in physical bodies does not contradict the fact that as beings we have spiritual significance, the physical brain as a means of visions does not imply that such visions are devoid of spiritual meaning.

Assuming God wants a given person to see a vision, one would not expect him to halt the laws of nature and bestow the glorious vision from outside the universe right into the person’s brain. Rather, one would expect him to make use of the brain as a means of revelation, just as evolution is a means of creation...

Read More...

Evolution: God’s Instrument for Our Creation

…Far from disproving God, evolution fits very well with theism, and in particular with the idea of a Creator who designed the physical world and used it as a means to bring into existence creatures in his image (see “C. S. Lewis on Theistic Evolution”). Suppose God exists and wants to make human beings. Assuming he is a God of order and continuity, one would not expect him to blip humans into existence instantaneously, without any created environment. Rather, one would expect God to prepare for physical human beings a physical world – without such a context, the existence of a physical being would be a jarring and ugly rift in reality. One would expect a God of order to create an entire world, into which the human being will fit with perfect order and continuity, like a puzzle piece – without the world, the physical body makes no sense. And assuming that this God values simplicity, one would not expect him to randomly blip into existence a complex world with incredibly intricate cells and organisms. This too would be arbitrary, lacking order and background. Rather, one would expect God to cause the desired world (which must, in one sense, be complex, because the desired humans are complex) to emerge in a gradual and orderly way from a simple and elegant beginning. In short, if one supposes a God like the “Christian God” to exist, one would expect him to use something like evolution as a means to create humans. And it seems that that is in fact what he has done…

Read More...

Evolution Is Not Inherently Atheistic

Most Christians (it seems to me) are not totally OK with evolution – they think that it contradicts the Bible or Christian theology, and/or they doubt that there is sufficient evidence for it. I’ve suggested elsewhere (see “Creation, Genesis, and the Big Bang,” and “Theism and Evolution”) that evolution may not be as blatantly at odds with the book of Genesis as it seems to be, and I’ll defer to the biologists as far as the evidence goes. Here I want to argue that evolution is completely consistent with Christian theology.

Since Darwin, the idea of evolution has developed from a more strictly biological theory almost to a philosophical worldview. It is understood by many to imply naturalism, the philosophy that there is nothing beyond the physical world, and therefore to imply atheism. Indeed, some atheists point to evolution as if it were evidence against God – “science has explained yet another gap in our understanding; evolution demonstrates that science is on track to explain everything and thus entirely to eliminate the need for God.” Reactions to evolution like this, I suspect, cause equally ignorant Christians to take the atheist’s word as truth and therefore anathematize the demonic dogma of Darwinism.

But strictly speaking, evolution is a scientific theory and not a philosophy (the philosophical worldview into which many have stretched it may be termed “atheistic evolutionary naturalism” or something like that). It does not account for the Big Bang or explain the origin of the universe. In short, it does not explain existence, and that is a gap that science will never fill* (see “The Domain of Science”). Evolution accounts only for the development of molecules into cells and organisms – it must assume the existence of molecules as a starting point…

*While science filling one gap does suggest that other gaps will be filled (and by gaps I mean gaps in our knowledge of the physical world, that is, things that science could possibly explain), it does not follow that science will or can provide a full explanation or description of the world, and it certainly does not in the least suggest that science can explain all reality. Things such as beauty, moral values, good and evil, suffering, death, existence, meaning and purpose – these are realities that cannot be described in terms of particles and fields and dimensions. They lie outside the domain of science.

Read More...

Another Miracle: Our Ability to Understand the World

…It’s worth noting that the best video game graphics or visual effects technology cannot compare to the human brain. Depth perception is rendered flawlessly, visual information processed in great detail and at great speed. No computer can process such enormous quantities of information at such a rate; no video card can continuously render a changing 3D environment with such smooth precision. And on top of all that, our brains compile sight and sound together with other senses to make a comprehensive environment layered with incomparable texture and intricacy – one wonders that our nervous system doesn’t break down under this immense task. And we take it all for granted. We generate “second lives” online and retreat to video games and movies (not that such things are bad, but they are often pursued at the expense of our involvement in the real world), as if our own world lacked visual splendour or an interesting plot. But what could be more worth pursuing than one’s own story and adventure! (see “Life: It’s Not a Drill”).

In these last few posts I’ve been saying that things we observe in the world deserve our awe simply because they are there. What’s equally amazing is that we are able to see and hear these things and to make sense of our world, and not just in a rudimentary way, but with mental processing that far eclipses any computer. This ability to understand the world is truly incredible, and it is no more to be taken for granted than the world itself and the things we see in it. This world exists! We exist! And we can understand the world! These are truly remarkable facts.

Read More...

Be Alive to Reality: A Richly Layered Composition

…And it is not just the toaster in itself or the blade of grass by itself that deserves our awe simply because it so majestically exists, but all the more the toaster in its kitchen environment, the blade of grass in the context of its little clump of grass. Yes, wonder at each thing itself. But wonder all the more at the motion of the tablecloth against the stillness of the wall, the light and heat and color of the sunlight as it carves a path into the otherwise grey and cool room. Stand in amazement not only at each part of your environment in itself, but at your environment as a whole, and at the dynamic contrast or interaction between any two or more things you see. Consider each sound in light of each sight, and vice versa. Imagine the whole of your world as it would be without one particular smell, and then be amazed not only at the smell, but at what your whole world is like because that smell is there. Wonder at the motion and movement of all these things in time – at clouds rolling and twisting and reforming as they move, at silence not only as silence but as a new thing that follows sound, and then at sound all the more because it is where before it was not. Each note of music is a miracle because of how it so perfectly follows all that precedes it. Take it all in, delight in it – the big picture formed by the five senses as it changes throughout time. Reality is so rich, so layered, so wonderful!* There is no bottom, no end to which even the simplest of things can be probed – even a scrap of paper holds infinite divine wisdom! There is always more to find in any given thing, always deeper treasures to discover. “Rejoice evermore!” in the words of Saint Paul (see this post). So take nothing for granted, but delve deep into the miracle and the mystery of even the simplest of things.

“He dwells (all of Him dwells) within the seed of the smallest flower and is not cramped: Deep Heaven is inside Him who is inside the seed and does not distend Him. Blessed be He!” – C. S. Lewis, Perelandra

Read More...

Be Alive to Reality: Even Ordinary Things Are Extraordinary

…This summer I visited Victoria Falls, the largest waterfall in the world. It was incredible. Not only was it majestic, truly great, in sheer size and power (being surrounded by the falls in a 3D environment is much more amazing than the pictures), but there are so many little details to notice about the falls – the way the water cascades down, the little streams and rivulets of water that fall hundreds of feet side by side with the larger sections of thundering water, the way the water from a narrow section of falls sprays in all directions when it hits a rock or the water below, the little droplets of water that are blown up to the tops of the cliffs on the other side, the large waterfalls at the top and bottom of the 300-foot drop that look tiny compared to the real falls, the sunlight hitting a particular tree on a cliff and lighting it up, the vertical path traced by any particular jet of water, etc. I stood there and just observed, taking it in.

It’s not as difficult to see the wonder and majesty in something like Victoria Falls. We’re wired to gasp at a thing that great and that beautiful. But we’re no less capable of standing in awe of everything in nature, and not only nature, but even the more mundane and dull inventions of man. Even a toaster demands our awe! It’s funny, but true. The ordinary is not “just” what it is – in fact, it’s not ordinary. To call something ordinary is to assume a standard of expectation, but why should one make such an assumption? Nothing is ordinary. Rather, everything is extraordinary simply because it exists. Even if a thing had no other property than existence, it would still be a glorious wonder. But of course all things are so much more than that – they are particular in many ways, and therefore beautiful. Each rock an untold treasure, each leaf a priceless piece of art, each atom of our world a gem of heaven, even each integer – a divine masterpiece.

So again, take nothing for granted, not even a toaster (it is a miracle that the universe should produce such a thing more than it is that man should invent it), not even existence, for why should there be a reality at all?!* If we can learn to be alive to reality, to take no thing’s existence for granted but rather see the beauty and the miracle of being in all things, to look at trees and cars and people with awe and wonder simply because they are, then perhaps we will see the need for a firm foundation to existence. This world is amazing, and the more we realize that, the more we will see the need for an explanation of its miraculous existence. It is this issue that I explore in my posts on “The Foundation of Existence.”

Read More...

Be Alive to Reality: Everything That Exists Is a Miracle

Everything that exists is a miracle – it is a miracle because it exists. And what’s sad is that we go about our day to day lives as if there was nothing out of the ordinary. We take not only our relationships and joys and daily bread for granted, but our very world. We take this reality for granted, as if it is simply…what one would expect. But reality itself is extraordinary! What could be more unexpected than existence? What could be more surprising than this world, than the fact that we find ourselves in this world and not another? What could be more stunning than the five fingers on your hand, simply because they are there. Do you ever think, “my God, I exist!,” “Good God! This blade of grass, with such perfect form and texture and color – it is just what it is and not something else! What a miracle!” Hardly anyone does. It’s as if we were walking around the world blindfolded, because to take the existence of anything for granted is to blind yourself to the glorious miracle of its being – the fact that it is there just as it is, when it might not have been.

And what would happen if we took the blindfold off? What would happen if we opened our eyes to this remarkable reality? Perhaps we could learn to gasp not only at a gorgeous sunset, but at the light spot the sun makes behind a cloud on a rainy day. Perhaps we could learn to wonder not only at that but at each raindrop as it falls, so perfectly formed – a tiny bead of water falling from the heavens. Even the rust on a car door, with such exquisitely detailed texture, even the crumbs on your empty plate, so stunningly unique in form, so amazingly particular in the way they are arrayed against their background. Take nothing for granted, but instead, be alive to reality! Train yourself to see all things as miracles…

Read More...

Resurrection to Eternal Life (1 Corinthians 15, 2 Corinthians 2:9)

…I sometimes find myself wishing that I could find a portal to another world where I would find exciting adventures, perhaps a wardrobe or a picture or a book, as in Lewis’ Narnia. But the fact is that our deepest longings can only be satisfied in the life to come, to which death is the portal, as we have seen. There is life beyond death, and it is not merely the life of renewed consciousness in a bodiless spiritual realm, or of return to a physical body in another realm (reincarnation), or of return to the same physical body (resuscitation). Heaven is the everlasting life of love and joy in the presence of God, life in a resurrected, perfected, glorified, and imperishable physical body (1 Corinthians 15), life so glorious that no mind can conceive it (1 Corinthians 2:9), life where every tear is wiped away and every wound healed (Revelation 21:4, 22:2), life that has no end and is lies ever before us, life that grows and branches out into reality in ever-increasing wonder and joy, life where the things that bring us greatest happiness in this mortal world are shown to be foretastes and reflections of the far greater things of God. Surely hope for this life gives us reason to await death with anticipation, even excitement. As Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15,

“What you sow does not come to life unless it dies…What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power…Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’”

Most people today operate as if the natural movement of things is from life to death. We live for several decades, and then we die – so we might as well make the most of our lives. This life-to-death direction may be biologically natural, and natural within the context of the universe as it is now (see my posts on “Integrating Scientific and Biblical Eschatologies”). But there is a deeper nature of reality, in which death to life is the fundamental direction. Not life ending in death, but death first, and then – only then – life to the fullest. Death gives birth to life: a flower from dry rock, water in the desert, fire from ashes. This is the secret that Christianity has found, the treasure of resurrection.

Read More...

There Is Always Hope, Even in Death

…“When there is no answer for death, hopelessness inevitably invades life” (Ravi Zacharias, Can Man Live Without God, p. 53).* But the answer we have seen in Christianity is an answer that can be held high in life as a torch of hope, a hope of unbreakable strength, a hope that burns through death itself. For if death is imminent and certain there is hope in death itself. And if there are far worse things than death at hand, the pain may be great, but it will never be the pain of despair. So never give up. Never despair, no matter what. There is always hope. ALWAYS.

It must be remembered that this hope, which is offered to all, is grounded in the cross, the center of Christianity. This is where death was destroyed. The flame of hope which is given to us to hold as we face death is the cross, a light in dark places when all other lights go out (see “Hope and Strength from the Cross”). The cross and the resurrection is Christianity’s bright and glorious answer to the problem of death.

*See also p. 54: “Bertrand Russell affirmed that his life was built on the foundation of unyielding despair. Perhaps that is why he issued a joint statement with Albert Einstein, just two days before Einstein’s death, confessing that ‘those of us who know the most are the gloomiest about the future.’” For more thoughts on the absurd hopelessness of atheism, see my post “Whispers of Eternity: The Absurdity of Atheism.”

Read More...

Christianity’s Answer to The Problem of Death

…What this means is that death has lost its sting not only in the exchange that took place on the cross, but because of that exchange, death is changed and transformed throughout God’s creation, and in particular, in each person’s life. Death is an evil, but it has been so thoroughly knitted into God’s design for eternal life for his people that we ought not fear it, but rather embrace it, rejoicing in victory. This is Christianity’s answer to death: look forward to it. Eagerly anticipate the moment when you will pass through that dark veil.

Christ has removed death’s sting and eucatastrophically overturned it from something evil, something to be feared, even dreaded, to a defeated thing, an instrument of victory, even a blessed thing, blessed because it is the path to God for the redeemed, the climax of our transformation into Christ’s image (2 Corinthians 3:18), the threshold from which we will enter into the presence of the Trinity. The mystery and the miracle of Christianity is that death, which humans dread, is now the key to victory over sin and suffering and the door to eternal life. It is the path to God himself – the road to ultimate reality.

So have no fear of death, but look forward to it. If we follow Christ we die spiritually to ourselves in life. Rejoice in the chance to take up your cross and follow him to the end, to resurrection and victory. And when loved ones who followed Christ die, rejoice that they have followed Christ to the end and are like him more fully in death than they ever were in life.

A professor of mine said something like this: fleeing from the difficulties of life is like running away from the coming night and towards the setting sun. What we need to do instead is to run into the night and towards the dawn. The knowledge and hope of the coming dawn will be a light in the darkest places. It is the same with death itself. When it comes, confront it with the fact of victory and resurrection and rejoice in death as the door to this victory.

Death is the path, and we must face it, submit to it, and thereby pass through death, pass on to what lies beyond. The road continues. Death is not the end. So do not fear death. Do not fear it! There is no reason to fear it – its sting is gone. Death is not the termination of your life, but the climax, the goal, the great event through which we are resurrected to a higher and better life. It is not the wall at the end of the journey, but the peak at the end of the climb, and as the final destination of our journey in life, our understanding of death ought to define the way we live.* This is the answer that Christianity gives to the terrible fact of death, “philosophy’s greatest problem.”

*See Ravi Zacharias, Can Man Live Without God, p. 53.

Read More...

“Blessed Spiritual Death to Self” (C. S. Lewis, Miracles)

What does this mean for us? What does this victory over death mean in a world where death still reigns at the end of every human life, where death still has an iron grip of fear in the hearts of so many? Christianity’s answer is this: we participate in Christ’s death and resurrection. We join him in his death and therefore share in his new life and victory over death. In Jesus’ words, “whoever loses his life will find it,” “whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” In C. S. Lewis’ words, “Our enemy…becomes our servant: bodily Death, the monster, becomes blessed spiritual Death to self” (Miracles ch. 14). Again, this is an answer to death that ought to make us burst with joy. For a more complete description, see “The Paradox of “Whoever Loses His Life Will Find It” (Matthew 16:25),” “Saint Paul and C. S. Lewis: Death to Self and Life in Christ,” and “Death and Resurrection” Parts II, III, and IV.

Read More...

Victory over Death in the Cross (C. S. Lewis, Miracles)

…Christianity has an answer to this “problem of death.” Death has been defeated, miraculously overturned, “swallowed up” in victory and life – it is reason for great celebration! A great evil has been transformed into God’s instrument for the greatest good. This was accomplished on the cross, in which Christ triumphed over his enemies, and revealed in the resurrection. C. S. Lewis puts it this way:

“On the one hand Death is the triumph of Satan, the punishment of the Fall, and the last enemy. Christ shed tears at the grave of Lazarus and sweated blood in Gethsemane: the Life of Lives that was in Him detested this penal obscenity not less than we do, but more. On the other hand, only he who loses his life will save it. We are baptized into the death of Christ, and it is the remedy for the Fall. Death…is Satan’s great weapon and also God’s great weapon: it is holy and unholy; our supreme disgrace and our only hope; the thing Christ came to conquer and the means by which he conquered.” – C. S. Lewis, Miracles, ch. 14

Through Christ’s death, then, death was destroyed. Christ paid the price for the sins of mankind on the cross, thereby fully and finally eliminating sin, which is the sting of death (1 Corinthians 15:56). In other words, Christ defeated the last enemy, the great weapon of the evil one, by turning it against itself. Death destroyed by death: it is a truly beautiful paradox. For a more complete description, see my posts on “The Victory of God,” especially “Death Destroyed by Death.”

“The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” – 1 Corinthians 15:26

“I am the resurrection and the life.” – Jesus, John 11:25

“‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ‘O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” – 1 Corinthians 15:54-55

“It was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.” – Acts 2:24

Read More...

The Mystery of Death: Philosophy’s Greatest Problem?

“For the fear of death is indeed the pretence of wisdom, and not real wisdom, being a pretence of knowing the unknown; and no one knows whether death, which men in their fear apprehend to be the greatest evil, may not be the greatest good.” – Socrates, in Plato’s Apology

It has been said that death is the greatest problem in philosophy. If we can find the answer to this mystery, many other things will be understood. Death is indeed a remarkable fact, and it is not to be taken for granted. It’s a remarkable fact about human existence – that life is finite: it starts at a point and then at another point it ceases, it ends. This is true of every human life. And, of course, death is something that we are all confronted with when a loved one passes away – what has become of them? It’s a fact that begs for explanation – not a mere physical explanation of how it is that the body breaks down, but a larger and deeper explanation of why death should be part of reality, and of our experience.

I for one find it inconceivable that we exist merely for a finite span of time. The fact of our existence is so stunning, so remarkable – it is not to be taken for granted. Surely a sentient being – a being with consciousness and thought and emotion – is of great, great value. Consciousness, thought, and emotion – there is such wonder and depth and mystery! Can we possibly say that a thing as significant as a living, sentient being would be simply snuffed out of existence like a candle? Can we answer this miracle of existence by saying we will simply cease to be? No, the heart and mind cry out together against this idea: We know that the road goes ever on, through death and beyond death. We know that there is a meaning and purpose to our existence that goes beyond this mortal life.

There is a seed of hope burning deep in every heart – confident, grounded, self-evident hope* for some great eucatastrophic (see “The Eucatastrophe”) climax at the end of all things – of history, of our lives, even of all reality (see “The Problem of Good,” “Whispers of Eternity: A Deeper Longing”). It is certainly glory and joy that awaits us, not the dark abyss of nonexistence. There are moments for each of us when this becomes clear as day: perhaps it is hearing a beautiful piece of music, or seeing your newborn child, or gazing up at the starry host above. It is self-evident.*

Death is shrouded in mystery. It is a great mystery, this black veil which awaits us all and towards which we hasten in time. We will all come face to face with it. What lies beyond it? What does it mean to pass through it? If our mortal bodies are left behind, what form of existence awaits us? Surely there are answers to these questions, surely the answers are among death’s secrets…

*For my argument that the heart, or emotion, can guide us to truth in a rational and reasonable way, see my posts on “The Reason of the Heart.”

Read More...

“The Murderer and the Harlot” Reading the Raising of Lazarus (Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment)

An excerpt from Crime and Punishment. Sonia and Raskolnikov, both desperately crushed by poverty, read together of the raising of Lazarus:

Everything about Sonia seemed to him stranger and more wonderful every moment. He carried the book to the candle and began to turn over the pages.

"Where is the story of Lazarus?" he asked suddenly.

Sonia looked obstinately at the ground and would not answer. She was standing sideways to the table.

"Where is the raising of Lazarus? Find it for me, Sonia."

She stole a glance at him.

"You are not looking in the right place. . . . It's in the fourth gospel," she whispered sternly, without looking at him.

"Find it and read it to me," he said. He sat down with his elbow on the table, leaned his head on his hand and looked away sullenly, prepared to listen…

…Sonia opened the book and found the place. Her hands were shaking, her voice failed her. Twice she tried to begin and could not bring out the first syllable.

"Now a certain man was sick named Lazarus of Bethany . . ." she forced herself at last to read, but at the third word her voice broke like an overstrained string. There was a catch in her breath…

…"And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother.

"Then Martha as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming went and met Him: but Mary sat still in the house.

"Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

"But I know that even now whatsoever Thou wilt ask of God, God will give it Thee. . . ."

Then she stopped again with a shamefaced feeling that her voice would quiver and break again.

"Jesus said unto her, thy brother shall rise again.

"Martha saith unto Him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection, at the last day.

"Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life: he that believeth in Me though he were dead, yet shall he live.

"And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?

"She saith unto Him,"

(And drawing a painful breath, Sonia read distinctly and forcibly as though she were making a public confession of faith.)

"Yea, Lord: I believe that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God Which should come into the world."

She stopped and looked up quickly at him, but controlling herself went on reading. Raskolnikov sat without moving, his elbows on the table and his eyes turned away. She read to the thirty-second verse.

"Then when Mary was come where Jesus was and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying unto Him, Lord if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

"When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled,

"And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto Him, Lord, come and see.

"Jesus wept.

"Then said the Jews, behold how He loved him!

"And some of them said, could not this Man which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?"

Raskolnikov turned and looked at her with emotion. Yes, he had known it! She was trembling in a real physical fever. He had expected it. She was getting near the story of the greatest miracle and a feeling of immense triumph came over her. Her voice rang out like a bell; triumph and joy gave it power. The lines danced before her eyes, but she knew what she was reading by heart. At the last verse "Could not this Man which opened the eyes of the blind . . ." dropping her voice she passionately reproduced the doubt, the reproach and censure of the blind disbelieving Jews, who in another moment would fall at His feet as though struck by thunder, sobbing and believing. . . . "And he, he – too, is blinded and unbelieving, he, too, will hear, he, too, will believe, yes, yes! At once, now," was what she was dreaming, and she was quivering with happy anticipation.

"Jesus therefore again groaning in Himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.

"Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto Him, Lord by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days."

She laid emphasis on the word four.

"Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?

"Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me.

"And I knew that Thou hearest Me always; but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me.

"And when He thus had spoken, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.

"And he that was dead came forth."

(She read loudly, cold and trembling with ecstasy, as though she were seeing it before her eyes.)

"Bound hand and foot with graveclothes; and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him and let him go.

"Then many of the Jews which came to Mary and had seen the things which Jesus did believed on Him."

She could read no more, closed the book and got up from her chair quickly.

"That is all about the raising of Lazarus," she whispered severely and abruptly, and turning away she stood motionless, not daring to raise her eyes to him. She still trembled feverishly. The candle-end was flickering out in the battered candlestick, dimly lighting up in the poverty-stricken room the murderer and the harlot who had so strangely been reading together the eternal book.

Read More...

Ravi Zacharias: “Level your scrutiny at the person of Christ” (from Can Man Live Without God)

A story from Ravi Zacharias’ book Can Man Live Without God?:

May I take the liberty of making a personal suggestion here? As discomforting as it is to admit, much of what the church has had to face by way of criticism has been deserved. Much wrong has been perpetrated in the name of Christ. In many parts of the world today the church has a poor name, and a look back at her track record in those settings often reveals valid reasons for that contempt. But this may also be falsely seen as all-encompassing, because the deviants often get more attention than do the normal. In our day, much of what is offered on Christian television programming leaves not only the skeptic bemused but also many Christians embarrassed. Those who have used the name of Christ for personal gain will stand accountable before God. But I point you not to them or to any man; rather, I point you to the person of Jesus Christ. Look at who He is and who He claims to be.”

There is a magnificent story in Marie Chapian’s book Of Whom the World Was Not Worthy. The book told of the sufferings of the true church in Yugoslavia where so much wrong has been perpetrated by the politicized ecclesiastical hierarchy. That which has gone on in the name of Christ for the enriching and empowering of corrupt church officials has been a terrible affront to decency.

One day an evangelist by the name of Jakov arrived in a certain village. He commiserated with an elderly man named Cimmerman on the tragedies he had experienced and talked to him of the love of Christ. Cimmerman abruptly interrupted Jakov and told him that he wished to have nothing to do with Christianity. He reminded Jakov of the dreadful history of the church in his town, a history replete with plundering, exploiting, and indeed with killing innocent people. “My own nephew was killed by them,” he said and angrily rebuffed any effort on Jakov’s part to talk about Christ. “They wear those elaborate coats and caps and crosses,” he said, “signifying a heavenly commission, but their evil designs and lives I cannot ignore.”

Jakov, looking for an occasion to get Cimmerman to change his line of thinking, said, “Cimmerman, can I ask you a question? Suppose I were to steal your coat, put it on, and break into a bank. Suppose further that the police sighted me running in the distance but could not catch up with me. One clue, however, put them onto your track; they recognized your coat. What would you say to them if they came to your house and accused you of breaking into the bank?”

“I would deny it,” said Cimmerman.

“‘Ah, but we saw your coat,’ they would say,” retorted Jakov. This analogy quite annoyed Cimmerman, who ordered Jakov to leave his home.

Jakov continued to return to the village periodically just to befriend Cimmerman, encourage him, and share the love of Christ, with him. Finally one day Cimmerman asked, “How does one become a Christian?” and Jakov taught him the simple steps of repentance for sin and of trust in the work of Jesus Christ and gently pointed him to the Shepherd of his soul. Cimmerman bent his knee on the soil with his head bowed and surrendered his life to Christ. As he rose to his feet, wiping his tears, he embraced Jakov and said, “Thank you for being in my life.” And then he pointed to the heavens and whispered, “You wear His coat very well.

Do yourself a favor and get your eyes off the shortcomings of institutions, people, and history’s dark spots. Level your scrutiny at the person of Christ, and you will see the One who wears His Father’s coat very well.

Read More...

William Lane Craig on Human Freedom and God's Knowledge and Sovereignty (Molinism, Calvinism, Romans 9...)

Check out these three very thought-provoking articles by William Lane Craig. He is a brilliant man, and although this subject takes some serious thought, he presents it in clear and understandable language. I haven't thought this issue through as much as I would like, but I find Craig quite persuasive.

Read More...

The Paradoxes of Christianity (Jesus, Paul, C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton)

Here is a list of links to the each post in this series of posts I've been doing on paradoxes:

The Paradoxes of Christianity
The Paradox of the Trinity: Unity and Diversity
The Paradox of Christ: God and Man (Philippians 2)
The Paradox of ‘Beauty Marred’: A Fallen World (Romans 1, 8)
The Paradox of God’s Kingdom on Earth: “Already, But Not Yet”
The Paradox of Sinful Man
The Paradox of Free Will and Predestination
The Paradox of Jesus: Philippians 2 in Action
The Paradoxes of Jesus’ Way of Life
The Paradox of “The Last Shall Be First” (Luke 9:48)
The Paradox of “Foolish Wisdom” (Matthew 11:25, 1 Corinthians 1)
The Paradox of “When I Am Weak, Then I Am Strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10)
Socrates on “Foolish Wisdom” in Plato’s Apology
The Paradox of “Whoever Loses His Life Will Find It” (Matthew 16:25)
Saint Paul and C. S. Lewis: Death to Self and Life in Christ
The Paradox of “Sorrowful Yet Always Rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:10)
John Adams: “Rejoice Evermore!”
The Paradox of Awaiting Eternity: Matthew 6 and 1 Corinthians 7
C. S. Lewis and A. W. Tozer on Joy and Longing
The Paradox of “My Yoke Is Easy, and My Burden Is Light” (Matthew 25:28)
The Paradox of Love (John 13:14)
The Paradox of the Empty Cup Overflowing, “Having Nothing, Yet Possessing Everything” (2 Corinthians 6:10)
A Variety of Language, But One Paradoxical Truth
The Paradox of the Cross
G. K. Chesterton on the Paradoxes of Christianity (ch. 6 of Orthodoxy)
“That Queer Twist About It That Real Things Have” (C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity)
The Valley of Vision: “Let Me Learn by Paradox”
Wave-Particle Duality and Bohr’s Complementarity: Paradox in Physics

Read More...

Wave-Particle Duality and Bohr’s Complementarity: Paradox in Physics

One of my physics professors mentioned that the realms of his two greatest quests for truth, Christianity and physics, were both filled with paradoxes. I’ve already given many instances of paradoxes in Christianity. But consider the physical world as well. A particle is the same thing as a wave – matter/energy is both simultaneously, but only one characteristic (either one observes, a wave, or one observes a particle) can be observed at any moment. (This is closely related to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle.) This concept of wave-particle duality influenced Niels Bohr as he developed his philosophy of complementarity, which states that a particle can have seemingly contradictory properties, but that we cannot observe both properties at once. The physical world, like Christianity, seems to bear the mark of paradox – perhaps here too we see a glimpse of the Creator.

Read More...

The Valley of Vision: “Let Me Learn by Paradox”

From The Valley of Vision:

Lord, high and holy, meek and lowly,
Thou has brought me to the valley of vision,
where I live in the depths but see thee in the heights;
hemmed in by mountains of sin I behold thy glory.
Let me learn by paradox
that the way down is the way up,
that to be low is to be high,
that the broken heart is the healed heart,
that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit,
that the repenting soul is the victorious soul,
that to have nothing is to possess all,
that to bear the cross is to wear the crown,
that to give is to receive,
that the valley is the place of vision.
Lord, in the daytime stars can be seen from deepest wells, deepest wells,
and the deeper the wells the brighter thy stars shine;
Let me find thy light in my darkness,
thy life in my death,
that every good work or thought found in me
thy joy in my sorrow,
thy grace in my sin,
thy riches in my poverty
thy glory in my valley.

Read More...

“That Queer Twist About It That Real Things Have” (C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity)

…I’ve described paradoxes in God himself, in his creation, and especially in the way of life he has demonstrated, in Jesus Christ, for his people. I’ve suggested that paradoxes in the Christian life are derived from the cross of Christ, which was planned by God as the ultimate revelation of his character, and that the very fabric of created reality is marked by paradox. Indeed, if what I have called paradox (see the first post in this series, “Paradoxes in Christianity”) can be found in the Triune God himself, as I have suggested, and God designs creation such that it is marked by the his attributes and qualities, then we would expect no less. God is seen in creation, and in what he does within that creation (see “A God-Centered Reality”), and if is paradoxical, then we ought to expect to see the beauty of paradox in what he does.

These paradoxes are not merely doctrines of the intellect or vague descriptions of reality, but tensions that affect our day-to-day lives. I hope that anyone who sees these paradoxes in Scripture will not only acknowledge their presence there, but find the secret of what it means to live as the last and lowliest servant, as one who has lost his life and emptied himself, and is therefore rewarded by God with the treasure of overflowing joy in knowing Jesus Christ. I for one have much to learn about how one follows Jesus’ paradoxical way in our world today.

All these posts have assumed the truth of Christianity, and I hope to share with fellow believers the great beauty I see in Christianity. To the skeptic, I say this: consider G. K. Chesterton’s description of the paradoxes of Christianity in Orthodoxy. Even if you don’t believe the Bible, consider whether these paradoxes do or do not seem to describe life, or perhaps whether or not there is a measure of beauty in them, as I think there is, and as Chesterton seemed to think as well. If beauty is the mark of truth (see “The Reason of the Heart”), then perhaps Jesus’ words are, to a limited extent, their own defense.

“Reality, in fact, is usually something you could not have guessed. That is one of the reasons I believe Christianity. It is a religion you could not have guessed…It has just that queer twist about it that real things have.” – C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Read More...

G. K. Chesterton on the Paradoxes of Christianity (ch. 6 of Orthodoxy)

…G. K. Chesterton gives a very interesting description of the theme of paradox in Christianity in his book Orthodoxy. Christianity, observes Chesterton, is “attacked on all sides for all contradictory reasons.” For example, the doctrine of the depravity of man was ridiculed as excessive pessimism, while the doctrine of heaven and the salvation of the world was written off as a fairy tale. Chesterton writes,

“One great agnostic asked why Nature was not beautiful enough, and why it was hard to be free. Another great agnostic objected that Christian optimism, “the garment of make-believe woven by pious hands,” hid from us the fact that Nature was ugly, and that it was impossible to be free. One rationalist had hardly done calling Christianity a nightmare before another began to call it a fool’s paradise.”

What, asks Chesterton, are we to make of the strange claims of Christianity? Perhaps, he wonders, the wide range of errors of which it is accused actually reflect a diversity of errors in the thoughts and attitudes of its attackers – pride in the one who regards the idea of the sinful nature as an insult to humanity, a lack of proper desire, joy, or awe towards reality in the one denies that there is a spiritual reality beyond the physical (seeing no reason why there should be any; C. S. Lewis wrote in “The Weight of Glory” that we are far too easily pleased), or life beyond death, a stubborn lack of imagination in the one who sees no order or beauty in Nature, impatience in the one who sees moral rules as restrictive or legalistic, etc. (I am merely speculating here as to what might be the cause of peoples’ views.) Perhaps Christianity, although it is accused from all sides, is in fact the right shape, the norm, the center. Perhaps these paradoxical claims balance each other with a beautiful irregular symmetry such that neither side is compromised, but rather both shine undiminished:

“We want not an amalgam or compromise, but both things at the top of their energy; love and wrath both burning…the idea of this combination is indeed central in orthodox theology…both things at once and both very thoroughly.”

“Can the lion lie down with the lamb and still retain his royal ferocity? That is the problem the Church attempted; that is the miracle she achieved.”

“The Church not only kept seemingly inconsistent things side by side, but, what was more, allowed them to break out in a sort of artistic violence otherwise possible only to anarchists.”

“Christianity was like a huge and ragged and romantic rock, which, though it sways on its pedestal at a touch, yet, because its exaggerated excrescencies exactly balance each other, is enthroned there for a thousand years.”

In view of this “great and daring experiment of the irregular equilibrium,” Chesterton concludes that “there never was anything so perilous or so exciting as orthodoxy.”

Read More...

The Paradox of the Cross

…The way of life described by these paradoxes is demonstrated supremely by Christ, and it is from the ultimate Gospel paradox of his death and resurrection that these beautiful paradoxes are derived (see “The Victory of God”). It in the cross of Christ that we see most fully what it means to be last, to be foolish in the world’s eyes, to lose one’s life, to know sorrow, to bear a burden, to be empty, to be nothing, to die. And it is in the victorious resurrection of Christ that we see most clearly and brightly the last becoming first, foolishness becoming wisdom, sorrow giving birth to joy, emptiness overflowing, and death turned to life. Evil is used as a means for the greatest good, the greatest pain purchases the highest joy, and the death of God himself makes possible the defeat of death, the most complete revelation of God, and the eternal life of his children. This is the ultimate paradox, the center of Christianity, and the most beautiful thing I know – I describe it much more fully in “The Victory of God.”

It must also be remembered that these paradoxes describe life in a fallen world, and in them we see what it means for the world to be fallen and broken (see “The Paradox of ‘Beauty Marred’: A Fallen World (Romans 1, 8)”). I believe that God intended a fallen world to exist so that there would be a place for the cross, which was God’s perfect design from the beginning (see “The Cross Predestined”). To make it possible, he set the stage for the fall of man and then for his own incarnation. We still live in that fallen world, and we must follow Jesus to the cross. It is for this reason that life in a fallen world, and especially life for followers of Christ, is marked by paradox.* It all revolves around the cross of Christ, for which the world was made and in light of which we live.

*One last thought: finite temporal life itself seems paradoxical. The more one lives, the closer death approaches. The more life one has experienced, the closer one is to losing life. Thanks to my friend Josh Sales for this thought.

Read More...

A Variety of Language, But One Paradoxical Truth

… The last shall be first, the ‘foolish’ receive a hidden wisdom, he who loses his life will find it, joy will grow from sorrow, our burden is light and easy in Christ, to be empty is to be filled, to have nothing is to have everything, and death will give birth to life. These paradoxes are closely linked. I see them as describing one truth with different language, or approaching one truth from different perspectives or in different contexts. Furthermore, it is not as if the language used in Scripture for each perspective is separate or compartmentalized from the language used for the others. Rather, they overlap, thus illustrating the continuity and relatedness of the paradoxes. Here are some specific observations:

• All of these paradoxes were taught by Jesus. From the whole of his teaching, it seems clear that he saw then as closely related.
• Paul used much of the same language in his writing, focusing in particular on the foolish/wise, sorrow/joy, and death/life paradoxes. He used this wide range of language to describe one thing: the Gospel, and how it affects our lives.
• The last/first and foolish/wise paradoxes are much the same idea (see earlier posts), although the language is different. The main difference is Paul’s application of the foolish/wise language to the “word of the cross.”
• The lose life / find life (death/life) and sorrow/joy paradoxes are also particularly similar. As with the “foolish wisdom,” the sorrow/joy language is used mostly by Paul.
• The empty/filled paradox is, again, much the same idea, although I have connected it to love because, I think, the language lends itself to that idea well.
• The obedience/freedom paradox is less tied to the others. It is more of a distinct, separate idea (see earlier post).
• 2 Corinthians 6:9-10, “as dying, and behold, we live, as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing, as poor, yet making many rich, as having nothing, yet possessing everything,” brings together the death/life, sorrow/joy, and last/first paradoxes.
• James 3:13, “Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom,” brings together the foolish/wise and last/first paradoxes.
• “In him are everlasting strength for the weak, unsearchable riches for the needy, treasures of wisdom and knowledge for the ignorant, fullness for the empty” – The Valley of Vision, p. 21

Read More...

The Paradox of the Empty Cup Overflowing, “Having Nothing, Yet Possessing Everything” (2 Corinthians 6:10)

…How, one might wonder, will there be any life or joy or strength left if we are continually laying down our lives and giving ourselves sacrificially, becoming weak, nothing? The paradox, the mystery, the miracle is that it is in this self-emptying act that we ourselves are filled – it is in giving that we receive (Acts 20:35), in losing all that we gain everything, in emptying ourselves that we are filled to the point of overflow. Father Rodney Kissinger writes, “Love is always fulfilling itself by emptying itself. This is the kenosis of the Incarnation and the Paschal Mystery and this is the new math of Christianity: you add by subtracting.”

God’s love is ‘expended in self-giving, wholly expended, without residue or reserve, drained, exhausted, spent,’ and yet, paradoxically, his love is infinitely deep, without end, constantly overflowing – there has been love within the Trinity from eternity past, and God will never cease to love. God is never empty, his cup of life and joy never runs out! Although he has poured it out fully, emptying himself unto death, his cup became fuller than ever – it overflowed in the very act of emptying! He gained victory in the very act of dying! From the cross, the tree of death he hung, and from the same tree burst fruit, even eternal life! One day perhaps we will enter the kingdom of heaven and see “the river of the water of life” (Revelation 22:1) flowing from God’s throne and giving water to “the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit” (Revelation 22:2). And perhaps beside that tree will stand another tree, the very cross of Christ, adorned with the leaves, fruits, and flowers of the tree of life. Even as “the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations” (22:2), so also is the cross for the healing of the fallen, the redemption of the lost. They are the same tree. It is the same cup that is emptied in sacrificial love that overflows eternally.¹

Just as God, although he empties himself, is always full, so we who are “partakers in the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4) will, although we must become nothing like Christ, be filled to the point of overflow and inherit the “treasures in heaven” (Mark 10:21, Matthew 6:20) we store up in this life. We will partake in the community of the Triune God, the persons of whom² have, from eternity past, loved one another with the self-emptying yet ever-overflowing divine love, and although the love shared in that community will be the same love Christ showed in making himself nothing, we will be, at the same time, always full, lacking nothing we desire. To be empty is to be full, “to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21),³ “having nothing yet possessing everything” (2 Corinthians 6:10). It has been called “the secret of Christianity, the secret of spirituality and the secret of happiness.” There is indeed, I think, a great secret in this paradox – a mystery woven into the very pattern of reality.⁴

“He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.”
– Isaiah 40:28-31

¹“In the spending of love is the enriching of the spirit” (Ravi Zacharias, Can Man Live Without God 107).
² Surely in death the secret of secrets is hidden. Death is the climax of our earthly life, an end and a beginning to prepare for eagerly beforehand, not put off or dread. Death is not a mere end or obstacle to what we seek to achieve in life – it is itself the goal, the great challenge. It is to prepare ourselves and others for death that we must live now.
³ Bet you’ve never read that phrase, “the persons of whom.”
⁴ And a mystery which ultimately reflects something about God. What that is I do not know. We have certainly glimpsed paradox in the Trinity.

Read More...

The Paradox of Love (John 13:14)

6. The Paradox of Love

I have called this last paradox “the paradox of love” because I think that love is in fact what it describes. Jesus, having washed his disciples’ feet and thus shown “the full extent of his love” (John 13:1), says, “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet” (John 13:14). Their Lord and Teacher, their Savior and God, has emptied himself (Philippians 2:7) of his divine fullness and become flesh (John 1:14); he has humbled himself to servanthood, even death on a cross (see “The Paradox of Christ: God and Man (Philippians 2)”). He has made himself the last of all. All this he has done out of love for his disciples, and for all men, even though we scorned him.

Now he says “you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” And in John 13:34-35, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” As he has loved, we are to love. As he has emptied himself for others, we are to empty ourselves for others. As he said “Father, forgive them” (Luke 23:34), we are to “love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). As he became poor for us (2 Corinthians 8:9), we are to “sell what you possess and give to the poor” (Matthew 19:21). As he submitted, as he laid down his life, so we are to lay down our lives. To become nothing, to give ourselves. This is love: “in humility count others more significant than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3), to pour oneself out for others, as Christ did.* The washing of feet, described as an act of love, is clearly also an act of humility – one cannot love fully without humility. We are to value the good of others, even at great cost to ourselves – to exchange the natural inclination to value ourselves first for a humbling, emptying, others-centered love (see “The Love of God”)…

*This is how we are to be known as Christians to the world, how we are to shine the light of Christ as a city on a hill, as the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13-16). We are to demonstrate to the world in our own actions the sacrificial love of Christ, and thus not only tell but show people the Gospel. Many in the Church are doing this, but many more are not. Pray that we will give the world an accurate impression of what Christ did for us in what we do for others.

Read More...

The Paradox of “My Yoke Is Easy, and My Burden Is Light” (Matthew 25:28)

5. Freedom in Obedience

“I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free.” – Psalm 119:32

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30, see also 1 John 5:3

This paradox in the Christian life is related to our paradoxical position as sinful creatures (see “The Paradox of Sinful Man”). Since we are fallen and sinful, we are naturally inclined towards disobedience (for example, abuse of the gift of sexuality, or taking vengeance into our own hands in our excessive hatred and anger). God commands us to stand strong against our sinful inclinations. This often seems restrictive and legalistic, when we are inclined to do otherwise. Yet obedience, according to Scripture, gives a new and better freedom, the freedom from sin that comes from new life in Christ (see “Saint Paul and C. S. Lewis: Death to Self and Life in Christ”).

You might look at it this way (thanks to Dr. Duane Litfin, president of Wheaton College, for the analogy): A gorilla is free to play a piano with total autonomy. He has no restrictions at all – he can move his hands wherever he wants and play as hard as he wants. What could be better? Quite obviously, listening to the music of a seasoned pianist. He has a different and much better kind of freedom, the freedom of understanding the notes and chords so that he can play beautiful pieces of music. Nothing is preventing the gorilla from doing this, but he doesn’t understand the secret of knowing and understanding the rules of the piano.

¬Similarly, it can be a joy to learn God’s commands and, by his grace, obey them. Yes, there is, I suppose, some short pleasure in being able to bang on the keys however you want in life, but there is a greater joy in knowing and following Christ. What a joy it is to submit to God, surrender to God, give up oneself, and be given a new life in which one is no longer trapped in sin, but freed from the prison of pride – free to live without the fear of failure or the burden of having to prove anything, because Christ is already victorious, and our “success” as the world calls it, our honor, is in him. This freedom from pride, a freedom to live for something greater than oneself, is truly liberating – it is something I long for. Although it takes time, God will give to those who seek him joy in obeying his commands out of gratitude and honor for him. He gives the strength to obey with a heart of gladness and bears with us the burden of obeying his commands (Matthew 11:30) – because Christ himself was obedient unto death (Philippians 2:8).

Read More...

C. S. Lewis and A. W. Tozer on Joy and Longing

…Pleasure and pain, joy and sorrow are often mingled in this world. Yet another paradoxical effect of living in a bittersweet world can be seen by looking at the human experience of perceiving and desiring beauty. We find glimpses and hints of it in the beauty of the world, but final contentment eludes us (see “Whispers of Eternity”). To perceive beauty is to perceive something unfulfilled in this world. It is to see a beam of light from beyond the walls of the world – we cannot yet approach the source of that light. One cannot find joy in this world for long without desiring something more. Even in our happiest and most beautiful moments, the height of the beauty only points all the more to heights of beauty that are higher still – indeed so high that they reach into eternity. A deep longing to climb yet higher fills us even when we are on the peaks. C. S. Lewis spoke poignantly of this in his autobiography Surprised by Joy – it was what led him to God, that thirst for fulfillment that always seems to be one step ahead of us. For Lewis, joy itself was desire, pleasure was filled with longing. Or, in A. W. Tozer’s words, “I long to be filled with longing, I thirst to be made more thirsty still” (The Pursuit of God 20).

Read More...

The Paradox of Awaiting Eternity: Matthew 6 and 1 Corinthians 7

…The authors of Scripture say still stranger things concerning grief and joy. Paradoxically, we are to grieve as though we were not grieving, and to be happy as though we were not happy:

“Let those…who mourn [live] as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away.” – 1 Corinthians 7:29-31

Why are Christians to live in such as strange way? Because, says Paul, the present form of this world is passing away. This is not a world of permanence, for which we long, but a passing realm, a frail and fleeting vapor (see “Whispers of Eternity”). It therefore makes little sense to invest our emotions so heavily in the momentary pleasures and pains this life offers – they are nothing compared to the larger Story that is being told. We must live fully, yet not as though this world is the fullness of life. We are travelers, and our home lies beyond death, through which we must pass. Jesus has a very similar message in his famous words in the Sermon on the Mount:

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also...Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” – Matthew 6:19-21, 25-33

The reason for this paradox – not building treasures in this world, or being anxious, or as Paul says, rejoicing as though we were not – is much the same as that for the paradox of joy and sorrow being intertwined – it is the nature of a fallen and passing world – not a world that is being destroyed, but a world that is being redeemed, and must therefore die first.

Read More...

John Adams: “Rejoice Evermore!”

…There is beautiful and bittersweet scene at the end of HBO’s John Adams miniseries in which Adams exemplifies this theme of “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.” Adams’ life, although filled with great accomplishments for the nation, was filled with heartbreak and tragedy. Adams disowns his son, who dies an alcoholic; later his daughter dies of cancer. Towards the end of his own life, Adams wanders the cornfields with his son Thomas, who has remained faithful to him in the midst of his losses. He says this:

“Still, still I am not weary of life. Strangely. I have hope. You take away hope and what remains? What pleasures? I have seen a queen of France with eighteen million livres of diamonds on her person, but I declare that all the charms of her face and figure, added to all the glitter of her jewels, did not impress me as much as that little shrub. [pointing with his walking stick to a small white flower in the field] Now my mother always said that I never delighted enough in the mundane, but now I find that if I look at even the smallest thing, my imagination begins to roam the Milky Way. Rejoice evermore. Rejoice Evermore! It’s a phrase from St. Paul, you fool! REJOICE EVERMORE! I wish that had always been in my heart and on my tongue. I am filled with an irresistible impulse to fall on my knees right here in admiration.”

Read More...

The Paradox of “Sorrowful Yet Always Rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:10)

4. Joy Can Be Found in Sorrow

A similar paradox, or perhaps, the same paradox described with different language, is this: sorrow gives birth to joy.

Pastor and theologian John Piper has noted that “Joy in God is never unmixed with sorrow. Never. Love won’t allow that” (Spectacular Sins, p. 29). One of the strange qualities of living in a fallen world is that our deepest joys are marked by tears – great sadness and great happiness are expressed in the same way. Tolkien captured this well in The Lord of the Rings:

“Their hearts, wounded with sweet words, overflowed, and their joy was like swords, and they passed in thought out to regions where pain and delight flow together and tears are the very wine of blessedness” – J. R. R. Tolkien, The Return of the King

Joy in this world is tainted with sorrow, yet in the same way, sorrow is weakened by the joy that can be found in the midst of it. As we saw in the last post, it is sorrow that has a tendency to give birth to joy even as new life tends to rise from the dead and desolate ground:

“You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.” – John 16:20-21, see also Jeremiah 31:13, Isaiah 35:1

“Rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings…If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed” – 1 Peter 4:13-14, see also Colossians 1:24, James 1:2, Matthew 5:12

“In all our affliction, I am overflowing with joy.” – 2 Corinthians 7:4

“…as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing…” – 2 Corinthians 6:10

How strange it is that the authors of Scripture should speak so plainly of both joy happiness and sadness, pleasure and pain being present at the same time – what a paradox! Yet this is the nature of life in a fallen world (see “The Paradox of a Fallen World”) – a dying world, filled with grief, yet still God’s world, and therefore a world in which hope and joy will never be fully lost – indeed, a world in which hope must triumph in the end. For more thoughts on finding joy in sorrow, joy that is a foretaste of a greater joy to come, see this meditation by John Piper.

Read More...

Saint Paul and C. S. Lewis: Death to Self and Life in Christ

…Christ calls us to follow him, to lose all we have in this world, even ourselves, or who we thought we were, in exchange for the priceless treasure of being a beloved child of God, embraced in his arms, written in his book. But we must lose all – all worldly possessions, all success, accomplishment, ability, all relationships, even ownership of ourselves and direction of our own lives. C. S. Lewis puts it this way:

“Christ says, ‘Give me All. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it…Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked – the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. In fact, I will give you Myself: my own will shall become yours.’…[We] must be ploughed up and re-sown.” – Mere Christianity, pp. 167-168

We must indeed be plowed up and resown; in Jesus’ words, we can bear no fruit unless we fall into the ground and die like a seed. We are to follow him, and to follow him is to walk his path, a path of suffering and persecution, a path to death.* It does not end there, though. Mysteriously, it is death that gives birth to life in its fullest. From the ashes the phoenix rises; from the ground where the seed fell the fruit-bearing tree grows; made perfect by suffering, we know and see his glory more fully (see “The Victory of God”). Satan’s greatest weapon, death, is turned into a blessing – we die spiritually to ourselves, and are therefore, paradoxically, given a new life in Christ (see “Death and Resurrection, Part IV”):

“One who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.” – Romans 6:7-8

“…always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” – 2 Corinthians 4:10-12

“If we have died with him, we will also live with him.” – 2 Timothy 2:11

“I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.” – Galatians 2:20

*Paul sets a worthy example for us in his costly commitment to Christ. He describes it simply but powerfully: “I die every day!” (1 Corinthians 15:31). And yet we know from his letters that he had found life to the fullest in Christ.

Read More...

The Paradox of “Whoever Loses His Life Will Find It” (Matthew 16:25)

3. One Must Die in Order to Live

Another paradox in Jesus’ way of life is one of loss before gain, suffering before glory, death before life. It is not just a sequential relationship, but a causal relationship: one must lose everything in order to gain the greatest treasure, suffer in order to find the greatest joy, die in order to live fully. Jesus taught this message to his disciples and lived it out on the cross.

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” – Matthew 16:24-25 (cf. also Mark 8:34-35, Luke 9:23-24, Matthew 10:39)

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” – John 12:24-25*

“Any of you that does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple” – Luke 14:33 (cf. also 14:27, 17:33; cf. Philippians 3:7-8)

“Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” – John 11:25

“…as dying, and behold, we live…” – 2 Corinthians 6:9

As we have already seen, this paradox was embodied in Jesus himself: he lost his life, and in so doing he gained it, and ours. He died, and in so doing defeated death.

*Jesus uses similar language in describing how faith as small as that of a mustard seed can move mountains (Matthew 17:20), and in describing the kingdom of God, which is like a mustard seed. From the smallest of seeds grows the largest of plants (Matthew 13:31); similarly, the kingdom of God comes in power and glory, but it grows from the smallest and lowliest of beginnings – a peasant girl named Mary and a stable in the town of Bethlehem.

Read More...

Socrates on “Foolish Wisdom” in Plato’s Apology

…Interestingly, one encounters similar language (wisdom, foolishness, knowledge) and ideas in the recording of Socrates’ trial in Plato’s Apology. Socrates is recorded as saying:

“I found that the men most in repute were all but the most foolish; and that others less esteemed were really wiser and better.”

“God only is wise…he intends to show that the wisdom of men is worth little or
nothing.”

“I am better off than he [who] knows nothing, and thinks that he knows; I neither know nor think that I know.”

In Socrates’/Plato’s view, true wisdom is found in acknowledging with humility that our human knowledge and wisdom is severely limited. One wonders whether Paul, who was a highly educated Jewish scholar, was acquainted with this writing since he uses such similar language in writing to the Corinthians, especially 1 Corinthians 1. Socrates is also recorded as saying “I say that to die is gain” (cf. Philippians 1:21, “to live is Christ and to die is gain”).

Read More...

The Paradox of “When I Am Weak, Then I Am Strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10)

…Paul expands on this theme of wisdom and foolishness in his letters to the Corinthians:

“Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God.” – 1 Corinthians 3:18-19

“Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?...For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men…God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are.” – 1 Corinthians 1:20, 25, 27-28

“For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God.” – 2 Corinthians 13:4

“When I am weak, then I am strong.” – 2 Corinthians 12:10

He first applies the language of wisdom and foolishness to the Gospel, “the word of the cross” (1 Corinthians 1:18). In the world’s eyes, especially to first-century Jews and to citizens of the Roman empire, it was foolish – seemingly contradictory – to think that a Savior or Messiah would be “crucified in weakness” (Paul calls it “a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles”; see “The ‘Foolish’ Wisdom of the Cross,” “A Strange Way to Triumph”).

The paradoxical wisdom of the cross flows into the lives of God’s people, who are given understanding only when they learn to be weak and humble “little children” (see previous post). Furthermore, God consistently uses people who are weak, lowly, poor, or unworthy in the world’s eye (see “The Paradox of ‘The Last Shall Be First’ (Luke 9:48)”) in order to accomplish his purposes (characters such as David, the unlikely shepherd boy, youngest of eight brothers – see 1 Samuel 16). Why? Paul’s answer is clear: “so that no human being might boast in the presence of God” (1 Corinthians 1:29) – so that we would see clearly that it is not man’s strength or knowledge, but “a secret and hidden wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 2:7) that triumphs, the paradoxical wisdom that chooses “things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are.”

Read More...

The Paradox of “Foolish Wisdom” (Matthew 11:25, 1 Corinthians 1)

2. God’s Wisdom Is Foolishness to Man

This paradox is very similar to the one just described. It is, I think, largely the same idea, described in somewhat different language, particularly language of wisdom, knowledge, understanding, foolishness, ignorance, etc.

“Jesus declared, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.’” – Matthew 11:25-26, see also Luke 10:21, Psalm 8:2, Matthew 21:16

Those who think themselves “wise” are prideful, thinking that they can understand the things of God on their own. It is not these to whom God delights to reveal his ways, but to the humble – those who acknowledge their childlike weakness and dependence on God.* It is to these “children” or “infants” that God will give knowledge and wisdom. (John Piper expands on this theme in chapter 10 of The Pleasures of God – a book well worth reading.) This concealment from the “wise and understanding” was the purpose of Jesus’ speaking in parables, as he describes in Matthew 13:10-17 (see also Luke 8:9-10). Jesus knew that Israel was, as a nation, largely stubborn and hard-hearted, unready to hear the secrets of the kingdom explained fully; he thus spoke in parables, and only those who were humble, lowly, “little children,” like his disciples, were told the fuller meaning.

*The same idea is present in the Old Testament. See, for example, Jeremiah 9:23-24: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me”; Jeremiah 8:9, “The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and trapped. Since they have rejected the word of the LORD, what kind of wisdom do they have?”; Isaiah 5:21, “Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!”; Psalm 131:1, “O LORD, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me.” See also Job 5:12-13, 37:24; Proverbs 21:30.

Read More...