To answer some of the questions left by Kevin in my last post, I've decided to answer quickly as November shall become a crazy month for me and I will (if I can withhold from posting) stop posting until November is over. I think we've began an awesome conversation within the last few weeks since the start of T'shuva, although it has been mainly subjected to me posting, but the conversation continues.
So here I am in respond: (I realize each of these could result on a blog entry of its own)
Yes indeed I've slowly started my library of progressive, post-modern theological books like Brian Mclaren and Rob Bell etc. But I don't think I quite fit within the more liberal Emergent window due to a few truths that I cling on to as part of my belief.
1. Divinity of Christ, resurrection of the body etc
- At this point of my journey, I continue to believe strongly that Jesus is indeed the son of God who came to show me a new way of life, also dying for my sins and then coming back to life 3 days later. I belief this to be one of the essential truths I hang on to. Contrary to dudes like Marcus Borg who thinks other wise in the resurrection of Christ, and I know N.T. Wright had a tough time dealing with his good buddy Borg not accepting that and yet still wanted to classify Borg as a Christian because Borg loved Christ as any other believer. (Maybe Kev you could relate to Borg?)
2. The Bible
- I believe in reading the Bible as an unfolding narrative and the power that is within it (kind of liberal in some ways). I also believe the Bible is written as we call "inspired by God". Although I am not opposed to the interpretive approach in reading the Bible, I think at this part of my journey, I have come to a keen liking for the narrative appraoch.
I believe the Bible to be true, just as I believe that I am in reality in existence and that is truth. We might argue that the Bible is full of biases, opinions, contextual, and personal agendas of the authors who wrote them (it carries the full blunt of the humanity of its authors), and hence making it decrease its reliability and truth. I think Mclaren gives the best example and I will try to reuse it here: God created me, Eugene a human being, but I am also a pro-creation of my parents. I am shaped by my culture, society, schooling, friends, etc...to make Eugene the Eugene I am today. All these other influences don't take away the truth that God created me. In the same way, I believe the Bible came out is like that, it's "pro-created" by human hands, influenced by culture, history etc. But it doesn't take away from the truth that God created the Bible, just as I am created by God.
3. I believe in TULIP (I actually like to call this Post-Calvinisim)
- I'm still working on this one. I can say I used to oppose the acrostic of TULIP. But as I keep on coming across, I do see why this doctrine in so many churches today. (More on this on another day)
How I hold on to reform theology in a post-modern world:
I believe Jesus was on a mission here on earth and has left this mission for us to continue after he returned to Heaven. This mission is unchanging. So in this sense, I think (as Wing does) that there is an underlying truth that we must cling to (stuff from the above). However, I also believe we need to be constantly reforming (not in theology) but rather how to be an example of these truths in this world. Not because our past history as Christians or churches have gotten it wrong, nor are we moving closer to getting this whole journey right. Our mission field is dynamic and changing, and hence our actions of being and doing good like Jesus must also try to fit in this dynamic scenario. (I think Jesus highlighted 2 very important truths for us to follow which is to Love God with all our heart and soul and mind, and loving our neighbors as ourselves)
As mentioned by Dan tonight during dinner, I'm sure I will come back to this some time soon and revisit and continue to reform these beliefs. But as of this point of my journey, I've reach that as I am a mere Christian, trying to love God and people in this post modern world.
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1 comment:
Excellent response, Eug. I think I understand your position much better now.
What surprises me is that you're so comfortable reading progressive theology (e.g., McLaren and Bell). You don't automatically kick into apologetic mode. That is a sign of religious maturity (imo). Being able to critically interact with differing beliefs, learning from what you can, is something that many on the Right side of religion seem to lack. Many of them become very defensive and argumentative when they come up against differing beliefs. Perhaps that has to do with their epistemology of certainty and foundational truths. Who knows?
I used to be really into Tom Wright. I own most of his books, and they were what really got me interested in biblical studies. As for Borg, I heard Wright talk about him so much that I just decided to go read him myself. I've read a couple of Borg's books, one of which I posted a preview of here. Reading that old post of mine, I realized that Borg did talk about the "emerging paradigm" of Christianity. Perhaps that's the same 1st stream which you described Eug.
And for the record, I can relate quite well with Borg (and Hick, if you ever have a chance to read him).
I wiki'd TULIP and I assume you're talking about the "five points of Calvinism". After a quick skim of the wiki article, I would say that I'm opposed to almost everything TULIP stands for. But, I know everyone has their own unique formulation. So Eug, before you go on your month without blogging, mind posting on how you understand TULIP? I'd love to know how you interpret it.
It's also interesting to see you talk about narrative theology. I recall coming across that in second year. At the time, I thought it was an interesting approach. Remember the Book of Judges discussions? Yeah, that was a mix of historical-critical and narrative criticism.
Lastly, thanks for explaining your approach to reform theology in postmodern culture. I think I can see where you're coming from. I look forward to seeing your thoughts develop some more.
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