Jesus is God's Apology
The big problem with God is that He is not as we are.
The very use of the gendered pronoun as a means to speak of God should make us realise just how different He is, for it is a phonemic reference to a physical reality which, by definition, would be to place false limitations upon God. Any attempt to speak of God is no more than an articulation of our almost complete incomprehension of His Being.
The last two words of that last sentence being a case in point. To speak of God’s Being is to create a distinction between God and Being. For beings who happily inhabit a dualistic nature, this is almost unavoidable. We humans exist between the physical and the metaphysical, the objective and the subjective, the body and the mind. Duality comes so naturally to us we barely recognize it. Duality is merely a consequent of existing physically in a reality that might be something more.
To limit and control God, we refer to Him as a ‘transcendental signified’, a something beyond which imposes limits and hierarchy upon our conceptions of the world. Derrida builds his ‘deconstructive strategy’ around an undermining of this idea of the transcendental, and poststructuralism has enjoyed its time in the sun, playing meaningless games which have destroyed all ideas of respect and authority. The present incumbent of the White House owes his tenure directly to the success of poststructuralism. If there are no limits, boundaries or authorities to demarcate the right from the wrong there is nothing to prevent even the silliest idea gaining traction. Armageddon has arrived and it is the sociopolitical dualistic struggle taking place in America, upon the outcome of which the future of humanity may very well rely.
While standing in opposition to poststructuralism, there is reason to call into question the idea of the transcendental. Not as the poststructuralists do; because it is wrongly focused. That which is ‘transcendent’ is that which lies beyond the normal or the merely physical experience of humanity. If we think of God as transcendent, we think of Him in terms of our way of perceiving reality. By calling God transcendent we seek to belittle Him, control Him, define Him.
Unfortunately, while in Seminary, I wasn’t a particularly good student and paid far less attention than I should have, especially to lecturers I found boring. Consequently, I am unable to reference the Theology lecturer who, one day, provided me with the most succinct definition of God I’ve yet encountered. He told us that God is the “Ongoing Being of Being itself.” On a practical level, this tells us nothing about God – but nothing human ever can! What it does do, however, is encapsulate the very incomprehensibility of God. Once you are willing to grasp this idea, everything that is said about God makes sense, for it can be nothing but an expression of that incomprehensibility.
Recongising this, all becomes nothing more nor less than stories told as a mechanism of understanding. This is not to say that some stories don’t actually recount historical events, but they do so in a way to aid understanding. And, surely, understanding our lives, our selves and our purpose is the whole reason we tell stories.
The story of the Nephilim is one which should be embraced today as supportive of our rebellious nature. If even angels can disobey God - creatures created before human beings, creatures so great that they could entertain the idea of usurping God, yet still creatures prone to jealousy – surely, we should expect no more of ourselves. Why should we live with the burden of sin so that it cripples our expression of ourselves when it is clear that our weakness is inherent in God’s creative act?
I do not say that we should seek to defy God. I just don’t think He cares as much as some would have us believe.
If God is the ‘ongoing being of being itself’ then Jesus is Being trying to understand itself. Jesus is God’s apology to humanity.
American Christianity has a tendency to focus on the Old Testament. Whenever one listens to a so-called Christian Evangelists their intent is no more than the instilling of Old Testament retribution. Of course, their purpose is clear – fear pays more than forgiveness. It ignores Christ’s life, purpose and sacrifice.
‘All Souls’ is merely an expression of this American fascination with the Old Testament God, before He humbled Himself in Christ, before He became human so that He could understand us. The Old Testament is not how we should live our lives for God; the New Testament is how God came to live His life for Humanity.
The very use of the gendered pronoun as a means to speak of God should make us realise just how different He is, for it is a phonemic reference to a physical reality which, by definition, would be to place false limitations upon God. Any attempt to speak of God is no more than an articulation of our almost complete incomprehension of His Being.
The last two words of that last sentence being a case in point. To speak of God’s Being is to create a distinction between God and Being. For beings who happily inhabit a dualistic nature, this is almost unavoidable. We humans exist between the physical and the metaphysical, the objective and the subjective, the body and the mind. Duality comes so naturally to us we barely recognize it. Duality is merely a consequent of existing physically in a reality that might be something more.
To limit and control God, we refer to Him as a ‘transcendental signified’, a something beyond which imposes limits and hierarchy upon our conceptions of the world. Derrida builds his ‘deconstructive strategy’ around an undermining of this idea of the transcendental, and poststructuralism has enjoyed its time in the sun, playing meaningless games which have destroyed all ideas of respect and authority. The present incumbent of the White House owes his tenure directly to the success of poststructuralism. If there are no limits, boundaries or authorities to demarcate the right from the wrong there is nothing to prevent even the silliest idea gaining traction. Armageddon has arrived and it is the sociopolitical dualistic struggle taking place in America, upon the outcome of which the future of humanity may very well rely.
While standing in opposition to poststructuralism, there is reason to call into question the idea of the transcendental. Not as the poststructuralists do; because it is wrongly focused. That which is ‘transcendent’ is that which lies beyond the normal or the merely physical experience of humanity. If we think of God as transcendent, we think of Him in terms of our way of perceiving reality. By calling God transcendent we seek to belittle Him, control Him, define Him.
Unfortunately, while in Seminary, I wasn’t a particularly good student and paid far less attention than I should have, especially to lecturers I found boring. Consequently, I am unable to reference the Theology lecturer who, one day, provided me with the most succinct definition of God I’ve yet encountered. He told us that God is the “Ongoing Being of Being itself.” On a practical level, this tells us nothing about God – but nothing human ever can! What it does do, however, is encapsulate the very incomprehensibility of God. Once you are willing to grasp this idea, everything that is said about God makes sense, for it can be nothing but an expression of that incomprehensibility.
Recongising this, all becomes nothing more nor less than stories told as a mechanism of understanding. This is not to say that some stories don’t actually recount historical events, but they do so in a way to aid understanding. And, surely, understanding our lives, our selves and our purpose is the whole reason we tell stories.
The story of the Nephilim is one which should be embraced today as supportive of our rebellious nature. If even angels can disobey God - creatures created before human beings, creatures so great that they could entertain the idea of usurping God, yet still creatures prone to jealousy – surely, we should expect no more of ourselves. Why should we live with the burden of sin so that it cripples our expression of ourselves when it is clear that our weakness is inherent in God’s creative act?
I do not say that we should seek to defy God. I just don’t think He cares as much as some would have us believe.
If God is the ‘ongoing being of being itself’ then Jesus is Being trying to understand itself. Jesus is God’s apology to humanity.
American Christianity has a tendency to focus on the Old Testament. Whenever one listens to a so-called Christian Evangelists their intent is no more than the instilling of Old Testament retribution. Of course, their purpose is clear – fear pays more than forgiveness. It ignores Christ’s life, purpose and sacrifice.
‘All Souls’ is merely an expression of this American fascination with the Old Testament God, before He humbled Himself in Christ, before He became human so that He could understand us. The Old Testament is not how we should live our lives for God; the New Testament is how God came to live His life for Humanity.
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