In the beginning, God created skies and earth.
Welcome back…glad you came. I pray my blog finds you growing in
faith. Below are some more theses.
53. The
Parousia is a poetic motif that courses through the Christian Bible. From the time Jesus announced to a crowd of
people that some of them would see the Son of Man coming in his glory to
Darbyism, to Hal Lindsey and Tim LaHaye, the Parousia has been badly
misunderstood.
54. If
we keep insisting people are going to fly out of their cars, off of their
commodes, or away from their beds to meet Jesus in the sky with his posse of
avenging saints, then our faith will seem sillier with each coming generation.
55. Early
Christian writers dealt with the delay of the Parousia in diverse ways. Our generation needs to realize that Jesus
comes again and again with each generation of Christians that love one another
and the rest of humanity.
56. A
lot of believers remain baby Christians all of their lives. Imagine grownups raised to believe in Santa
Claus. Imagine only good girls and boys
who are past 21 get presents only if they believe Santa Claus is real and his
story is history. Anyone who does not
believe sleighs and reindeer can fly are not allowed to celebrate
Christmas.
57. If
Christians continue to rely on superstition to promulgate the gospel, the faith
will diminish to a cult. It is already
happening.
58. We
should be thankful that Christians today do not insist that to be a Christian
one must believe the earth does not move because the Bible says it is fixed
upon a foundation.
59. God
does not live in the sky. God does not
sit on a throne with Jesus sitting next to God.
God does not have a body part that enables sitting. Such language is poetry.
60. To
speak of God, people must use figurative language. Precise scientific language is impossible and
undesirable. God is the ground of all
being.
61. God
is beyond all gods. Any language about
One so lofty must itself be lofty. Any
logic about One so lofty must itself by sublime.
62. God
is that which is perceived to be personal that resists nonbeing.
63. When
we see God we see ourselves, but God is infinite and we are finite. We must gaze beyond our finitude to begin to
grasp God’s infinity.
64. We cannot imagine God without those
structures in our minds that allow us to perceive transcendence.
65. When
we read the Bible, we see God evolve from a tribal deity to a universal deity
mainly because human consciousness transformed over time.
66. Not
every doctrine in the Bible is worthy of God.
For instance, the Deuteronomic Theory of history states that God blesses
his people with prosperity as long as they obey God’s law and God punishes his
people with suffering if they disobey.
Jews returning from the Babylonian Exile questioned that theory. Books like Job, Ecclesiastes, and other
post-exilic writings questioned that theory of history. Many no doubt felt that they had followed the
temple religion faithfully, yet Yahweh still punished them. They began to realize that bad things happen
to everybody.
67. The
truth is that we all get our comeuppance.
The rain falls on the wicked and the faithful.
68. Jesus
preached the kingdom of God here in the love of his disciples. It is a great commission that has yet to be
attempted in earnest.
69. Jesus
did not come to establish a new piety. The
world through the centuries had been drowning in pious, rapacious men. Jesus offered a new way of being kosher. It is a cleanliness based on the way we treat
one another. It is a way of being kosher
by renewing ourselves with love.
70. Being
worldly has nothing to do with having fun.
What is opposed to Christ is not about pleasure, but about manmade
domination systems that grind people down.
Caesar rode a horse and led armies that murdered innocent people in
order to force Roman ways onto other cultures.
71. The
image of Jesus as a conquering, bloody Caesar arriving from the sky is an
idol. Jesus rode a donkey and led
followers who save the world from oppressive power, greed, and violence.
72. Jesus
was a Jewish man living under brutal Roman rule. Stories are told about his wondrous deeds for
the purpose of preaching. They were not
told to convince people that the supernatural happens.
Thanks for letting me share with
you today. I’ll finish my 95 Theses tomorrow. Blessings…
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