There are many issues on which Christians differ such as the methods of baptism, for instance, but there are some things that are non-negotiable in order for one's theology to remain Christian. One such non-negotiable tenet of Christianity is the fact that Jesus Christ was both fully God and fully man. To promote any contrary idea about the nature of Jesus the God-man is to promote heresy.
In this week's class, we learned that it did not take long after Christ's death and resurrection for various heretical teachings to appear. Who was this man called Jesus of Nazareth? Most claimed that Jesus was merely human and not divine at all. Others said that he was indeed divine but not really human. There were those who taught that Jesus was divine but that his appearance/life as a human was more like that of a phantom. Ideas such as these continued to be wide-spread throughout the early centuries of Christendom. The early church councils were convened to combat heresy and articulate a common creed, a statement of faith.
The author of our textbook devotes an entire chapter to the discussion of the Apostles' Creed. It was noted that, at first glance, this might seem like overkill on the subject! However, after looking at the context of the church councils and the need to promote orthodoxy, especially at that time, one can understand that this one chapter is only scratching the surface of what could be researched and written on the subject. Jesus Christ was, and is, fully God and fully man. There is no room for compromise on this issue.
Based on the illustrations found primarily in the Gospels, we began a discussion about the ways in which we see both the divinity and the humanity of Jesus. There is no way that we can totally mine the depths of the riches of this doctrine, and yet there is so much that IS available to us! We will continue to explore it further next week.
http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/view-image.php?picture=holy-bible&image=4031
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Non-Negotiable
Thursday, January 28, 2010
An Essential Element
If there is only one thing that you, as a student, can take away from our class, I would hope that it would be the ability to articulate the difference between absolute truth and relativism. If we do not hold to absolute truth, then nothing else matters! Our ideas, our beliefs, have consequences. Truth matters. "According to a recent George Barna scientific poll, only 6% of all teens believe in absolute moral truth. What’s more alarming is Barna’s statistic that only 9% of all evangelical teens believe in absolute moral truth.How are Christian teens going to act differently than the prevailing culture if they think and view the world the same way?" (1)
Truth is absolute, universal, objective,transcendent, and immutable. Any other approach to truth is relative, subjective, and as unstable as shifting and sinking sand. I will not define all these terms here since we have already done so in class; however, I do hope that you will resolve to articulate the difference between these two worldview approaches. In today's society, the communication of the gospel depends on it. ( You may want to revisit an earlier post: "Rooted in the Absolute")
(1) Commentary on the Rewired curriculum series co-produced by Chuck Colson and Teen Mania. Available at www.breakpoint.org/generic.asp?ID=2540; accessed August 29, 2006.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
"Created for another world"
Welcome to 2nd semester, and thanks for such a great discussion group yesterday! I really enjoyed our time together. Personally, I find that it always makes for good conversation to dig into the news and entertainment headlines, and James Cameron's new blockbuster movie, Avatar, has certainly stirred up some interesting responses. In an online article entitled Avatar Blues, CNN.com reports that some who enjoyed the movie tremendously, nevertheless "say they have experienced depression and suicidal thoughts after seeing the film because they long to enjoy the beauty of the alien world Pandora." Online forums and chat rooms have developed to help these fans "cope with the depression of the dream of Pandora being intangible." This may seem unbelievable to us. After all, it's only a movie! Right? Well, yes, but the response of those who are longing for Pandora brings something, and someone else, to mind for me as well. That someone is C. S. Lewis.
At some point in his spiritual journey, Lewis came to believe that he was "created for another world." Why would he believe such a thing? It was because he recognized desires within himself that could not be fulfilled in this present world. He felt that he was allowed glimpses of this other world at times and that created in him a sensation that he called "joy." This longing for another world is not unique to Lewis; it is common to all men. Please don't get me wrong. I am not, in any way, comparing Cameron's Pandora to our heavenly home! In this instance, 'heaven' is more of a pantheistic oneness with nature, but like Lewis, these moviegoers feel a stirring for something more than this world can offer.
In our textbook, Kenneth Samples puts it like this: "Because the Creator made human beings in his image, they are "networked" to think and speak the same language. God accommodates himself to the finite limitations of human beings whenever he reveals truth in a way they can understand. Because of truth's objectivity, availability, and knowability--the failure to seek it dooms an individual to live an inauthentic life that has monumental consequences now and forevermore." Because we are "networked" by our Creator, "he has put eternity into man's heart."
Imagine feeling this desire for another world and longing for something as "inauthentic" as a fictional planet. On the Albert Mohler Radio Program recently, guest host Dr. Russell Moore and columnist Ross Douthout "analyze the message behind the movie and what it reveals about American culture. As they point out, people are hungry to believe the pantheistic worldview, as they seek for something to fill their heart's desire for worship, which has been left empty by the fall and sin. Christians should learn from movies like Avatar that culture is not moving towards secularism. As this movie indicates, running from the truth only leaves people hungry to find cheap substitutes for the worship they were created to give."
Ecclesiastes 3:11.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Movies/01/11/avatar.movie.blues/index.html
Kenneth Richard Samples, A World of Difference: Putting Christian Truth-Claims to the Worldview Test (
The Albert Mohler Program Notes, "Avatar: Rambo in Reverse