Blogs of an Unscrupulous Man/ The End of Christianity

This blog post is a response to the Bill Nye, Ken Ham debate on the viability of a creationist young earth model upon modern scientific teaching. This is satire, with the intention of addressing the proper contextualization of the debate to a modern Christian.

To all my faithful readers:

It is with much sadness and lamentation, that I report to you that Christianity is over. The nails in the coffin have unceremoniously been pounded in. Ken Ham, our glorious leader, has been deposed by William Nye in glorious debate, and as he falls so all Christendom falls with him. I ask myself, how is this possible our Saint Ham, the one who created the ivory tower, and greatest of all theological institutions, the shining star of Christianity known as the Creation Museum, fall at the feet of this “science person.” All is lost friends, for there can be no recovery from this defeat. Who in Christendom is greater than Ken Ham? To what authority can we appeal to that is greater than that vanguard?

(The glorious leader Ken Ham with his faithful velocaraptor)

Obviously there is none, and so we throw down our weapons, our scriptures that we once held as sacred, as they are useless to stop the oncoming onslaught that is Science. Where did this Science come from? I had not heard of this shadowy beast until this very day! Had we known the power it possessed, the power to answer every question of human existence perfectly without deviation or failing, perhaps we could have stopped it. How did Nye the Destroyer know that the key to unraveling all of scripture was within the size of Noah’s ark? I suspect we have had a spy in our midst.

(Seriously a bunch of animals in a boat)

But now as Christianity has fallen and all the seminaries are being crushed to rubble and all religious books are being burned, I reflect on better days. I remember when medical books were being torn out of the hands of our children and replaced with bibles. Children who wanted nothing more than to cure debilitating diseases were put into bible schools and drained of all logical thought. Alas this is no longer the case, as we must now allow the one thing that we hate above all else: progress. We are now a conquered people, and our new overlords may graciously allow us to practice our ignorant rituals in silence but they demand that our children learn and adopt the tenets of the Scientific Method which will be our new god.We were so close to raising a generation of students who do not know and appreciate the process of science, and William Nye has ruined this for us today.  Friends, we had a good run of it, 2000 years of suppressing knowledge is a pretty solid accomplishment.

(We could have done a lot worse)

As this is the end to Christianity, this is also the end of my writings on said God, and as I have spent my entire life attempting to understand the infinite cosmos by way of a more infinite God, but Overlord Nye has liberated us from our simple backwards ways and I shall wall myself into a room and attempt to contemplate the mysteries of Science as best this feeble mind is able. I bid you adieu my faithful readers. May Science have mercy on our souls.

Thank you for reading my attempt at satire, if you enjoyed this or learned something please share it on Facebook or twitter so that more people can read and enjoy.

The Armchair Theologian.

 

Christian Basics 4

If one does not put his belief in Jesus Christ alone he is damned to spend eternity in Hell. There is no other path to heaven, no good work that can justify ourselves to a Holy God. If a Christian or anyone else believes that good works or being a “good person” can quench the flames of their own demise they are sorely mistaken. Those who praise self esteem and self confidence as highest of the noble virtues will at the judgement day find that their confidence has abandoned them, and find that their esteem has been misplaced. All created beings must fear a holy and righteous God. All humanity has condemned themselves through their sin since the progenitors Adam and Eve.

(Well, I feel great right now)

All hope is not lost though, as infinite as God’s wrath is, his mercy is greater. God sent his son Jesus to rectify the sinful nature of man by means of Jesus’ death on a cross. Which being the perfect sacrifice through his sinless life atones for sin. Not just the sin of one man, but the sins of all who believe on Jesus. Those that believe on Jesus are reconciled to God through Jesus, by means of the Holy Spirit, and will spend eternity in Heaven with God. This is the Gospel, without it we are hopeless, with it we are given the greatest gift imaginable, as well as a job; to spread this good news to all who will hear it. An important aspect of this message is the virgin birth.

(Our hope is in Christ alone)

This is the fourth blog post on the topic of christian basics. The topics covered are organized under the framework of the Apostles creed. Topics covered previously include The existence of God, the Trinity, and the hypostatic union, which conveys the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ. In this blog, we will continue the discussion of Jesus Christ, specifically the virgin birth.

3. Conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit, and born of a virgin, Mary.

I am writing the majority of this blog on December 23rd, which is two days before Christmas, it is a happy coincidence that I am writing on the birth of Jesus today, because I would happily write on this topic at Arbor day if this was the topic at hand.

Christians believe that Jesus was born or a virgin named Mary who was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. There is one question that must be asked at this point, and that question is “how can a virgin be pregnant?” For those of us who have grown up in the church, we take this for granted because we have heard this account long before we really knew what a virgin was. In the interest of clarity Matthew and Luke, the two synoptic gospels that address the birth of Jesus describe Jesus’ mother Mary as a virgin which means that she had not had sexual relations with a man at the time of her pregnancy. This is very strange as every other person who has ever lived and will live excluding Adam and Eve had been conceived due to the fertilization of the mother’s egg by the father’s sperm.

(Can you talk about this in a Christian Blog?)

because of this biological certainty Mary’s at once virginity and pregnancy is put into the realm of the miraculous. This miracle, according to Matthew 1:22-23 fulfills a prophecy given in Isaiah. “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” There is a discussion on the validity of Isaiah 7:14 being a prophecy, based on the wording used in the Hebrew. Opponents of the prophetic nature of the virgin birth claim that the use of עַלְמָה or (almah) means virgin, but also can be translated young woman and that בְּתוּלָה or (bethulah) is a much clearer form of the word virgin.

(Well of course, doesn’t everybody know that?)

They go on to ask the question if bethula can be much more clearly translated as virgin than the somewhat ambiguous almah why was it not used? They then postulate that it is because it was not a prophecy of the virgin birth but rather simply referring to a pregnant young woman. The rebuff of this argument is two-fold, first off it is likely that Isaiah’s use of  almah is signifying the virginity and the young age of the prophesied woman. Secondly and more importantly the scripture itself, specifically Matthew 1:22-23 teach that this virgin birth was the fulfillment of prophecy, and because Christian’s hold to the authority of scripture, we recognize this fulfillment of prophecy through the virgin birth. The reason that this is vitally important is that the fulfillment of Isaiah clearly identifies Immanuel which means “God with us” which attributes divinity to Jesus as well as messiah.

As the holiday season comes and goes we understand that Jesus is not the “reason for the season” he is to a Christian the reason for every season. The virgin birth of Jesus is a sign to Christians of the uniqueness of Jesus among men.

Christian Basics 3/ The Hypostatic Union

In the last Christian Basics, we addressed the difficult issue of the Trinity and the difficulty that one has in comprehending the divine attributes of God that appear no where outside of this context. As we continue utilizing the apostles creed as a framework for our basic understanding of Christian beliefs we find another beautiful yet unique and therefore difficult aspect of Christian Theology, The God/Man.

(I don’t remember this anywhere in Kumbaya)

2. And in Jesus Christ his only begotten son, our Lord.

Christians believe in Jesus of Nazareth, the real historical God-man who is the prophesied Christ described in Old Testament texts.  “Christ” is a title that expresses the character and nature of Jesus as descendant of King David and restorer of God’s Kingdom on Earth. Christians depart from Jewish customs regarding the Christ in two ways: first, most Jews do not believe Jesus to be the Christ, and second they do not necessarily see Christ, or Jesus as the unique Son of God. This may seem arbitrary, but seeing Jesus as God’s only Son as expressed in John 3:16 is incredibly important to the Christian faith. Israel is described as the children of God (Deut. 32:8-9, Hosea 1:10) and Christians are described as adopted children, (Rom. 8:15,Gal. 4:5 Eph. 1:5), but when John describes Jesus as the “only begotten son.” he is describing the unique connection between the Father, and Jesus the Son. (This is why the “little gods” doctrine of the Word of Faith Movement is a false teaching and heretical, in that it elevates the position of man to equality with Jesus.)

(Hey, it’s not fair using the Bible, thousands of years of Church history and doctrine to prove us wrong.)

Before we go on, I feel that it is necessary to express Jesus as God-man. As a person who fancies himself a theologian, I have invariably balked at the idea of describing the dual nature of Jesus. It is so difficult to understand because the concept, like the Trinity is so far outside of the natural understanding of man that attempting to explain it in a way that is understandable is always treading on the thin ice that easily breaks into heresy. So to forego an incredibly lengthy discussion of the theology of the dual nature of Christ, I will attempt to explain it simply but effectively.

Jesus is fully God, and fully man.

Jesus is the Son, the second person of the Trinity. This is clearly expressed in the prologue of the Gospel of John, John  describes Jesus in several ways: Word, light, and life. When John describes Jesus as the Word, he ascribes divinity to Jesus as clearly as possible by saying “The Word was God.” And in fact, it is often said by scholars that one of the points of John is to call attention to and express the reality of the divinity of Jesus. As I was studying, I found it very interesting, namely the way that the Gospel of John states the divinity of Jesus. At first it bothered me that John did not begin with three words “Jesus is God” as that would make things concise and clear, conciseness and clarity being something that I strive for in my writings. Thankfully John was inspired by God rather than me and wrote the Gospel with  a much broader, and accurate view of who the second person of the Trinity actually is. John expresses the nature of the Son of God thusly: He is the Word, He was with God at the beginning, He was God at the beginning,(which may seem paradoxical but with a proper understanding of the Trinity this can be clarified) He is a vital part of creation, and He is the life and light of men. This Word then became flesh, and was identified by the harbinger John the Baptist who then through the rest of the chapter identifies Jesus as the one he has been foretelling about. In this way John’s Gospel identifies Jesus as God.

(Wait, so how is this supposed to make me rich?)

The reality of the divinity of Jesus as the second person of the Godhead is an incredibly important truth, and equally important is the reality of the humanity of Jesus. Jesus was a real man who lived in the Roman controlled area of the Middle East known as Judea (now called Israel), at approximately what we understand today as 1 B.C.E to 33 C.E (give or take a few years). Orthodoxy states that Jesus had a real body, which acted in the same way that bodies tend to act. While this may seem arbitrary, the heresy of Docetism claimed that Jesus was without any real form and this understanding is simply not consistent with Scripture.

The hypostatic union is the term that theologians use to describe Jesus’ nature as fully God and fully man. It is in fact this completely unique aspect of Jesus’ nature  even among the Godhead that allows his sacrificial death on the cross to atone for sins. No other thing in existence is fully God and fully man, not even the Father. This unique attribute of the Son allowed Jesus to be tempted as a human, but  he was also able to abstain from sin at every occurrence as God. This made Jesus able to be the unblemished sacrifice that would atone for the sins of the world.

If you enjoyed this or learned something please share it on Facebook or twitter so that more people can read and enjoy.

The Armchair Theologian.

The Death of Christianity at the Hands of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism

If Christianity can die, it will not die at the loud, and methodical hands of atheism, rather it will die a slow and whimpering death at the hands of Therapeutic Moralistic Deism.

I was having a discussion over coffee with a good friend about Matthew 7:22.  Jesus talks about people prophesying and casting out demons in Jesus’ name, but when the rubber hit the road and judgement day was at hand Jesus said that he never knew them. My friend was concerned about being one of these people and was afraid of the possibility that he was in fact not a Christian but rather a Moralistic Therapeutic Deist. At first I was trying to comfort him and dismiss the subject by telling him that if he was not a Christian than I certainly was already feeling the fiery tongues of hell. I began to think about what I knew of exegesis and hermeneutics (what did the original author intend the original hearer to hear), and how we as modern Christians can take that understanding and apply it to our lives. I began to see that through the parable Jesus was trying to express that some of the people who were following him would be surprised about their position outside of the Kingdom of God. As modern Christians we are asked to do the same thing and look critically at our lives and evaluate our spiritual journey. I concluded that my friend was actually on the right track even though he was having a difficult time with the answers. I must note at this point two things that I am not saying: I am not saying that we are to be perpetually afraid of hell and God’s wrath, nor am I saying that in any way do we contribute to our own salvation. We as Christians are completely in the hands of a merciful God, who is the sole actor in our salvation. What I am saying is that if we believe ourselves to be Christians then not evaluating our position with God can have dire consequences.

(these sorts of consequences)

Before we get into the ramifications of Moralistic Therapeutic  Deism we must identify what it actually is. The following is a excerpt from a paper I wrote about youth ministry that directly identifies Moralistic Therapeutic Deism

Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is a parasitic spirituality that is being unknowingly adopted by teenagers of almost every faith. In order to fully understand the concept of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism it must be broken down into its three parts. The moralistic component is not equivalent to the notion of traditional morals, but rather whether or not one is “fitting in” to the society that they are a part of.[1] This simplistic look on morality from the perspective of normative social interactions dominates the American youth culture, it is as if the students know that morals are good, but some of them may or may not apply to the student. What is much more important is that the individual interacts with his society in a way that is acceptable to the general population. Autonomy is the goal of every person, everyone must find what makes them happy and then they pursue that. [2] It is vital to this understanding that one feels good about themselves, as this is a fundamental in this kind of morality. The second aspect of this new belief system gives believers a goal, and that goal is to be happy at all cost; this is the therapeutic side. [3] If the aim of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is to be a well adjusted member of society, the ultimate goal of this belief system is to be happy. As simplistic as this understanding seems to be, it seems that a deity is at the beck and call of his followers. This deity’s goal is only to make the believer happy, therefore the goal of prayer, for example, is because it makes one “feel happy.” The third and final component of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is a take off of the concept of Deism and completely removes the deity from the earthly realm. [4] A removed deity is the final component to this belief system. It seems as though Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is an amalgamation of both fundamentalist Christian ideas and liberal ideologies. It’s as if the tension that previous generations have struggled with have produced an ideological offspring that may be somewhat ignorant of either parent. The father being Fundamentalist Christian ideals, that instill a need for morals and rules, and a mother in liberalism that promotes thinking and love as its highest virtues. The problem with this ideology, is that it is not Christian at all. Moralistic Therapeutic Deism may have vestiges of Christianity as well as other traditions, but it is in actuality none of them. There is no strife or struggle, more importantly there is no perseverance. The primary danger of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, is that there is no Jesus Christ in the traditional salvific form. This alone is enough to warrant a solution and end to this false ideology.  

(For those of you who continued to read to this point, your reward is Nick Cage as a cat, you’ve earned it.)

Christianity without Jesus Christ is foolishness to the highest degree. Paul talks about this directly in 1 Corinthians 15:14 – 19 : “And if Christ has not been raised , then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.” (ESV) This is why Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is so detrimental to real Christianity, it waters down the gospel past the point where it is  salvific, that critical point clearly being Jesus dying on the cross.  At this point I want to reiterate my first statement. The Church may feel that atheism is it’s greatest threat, as they are diametrically opposed to any form of God. Friedrich  Nietzsche declared at the end of the 19th century that “God is dead and we have killed him” and yet over one hundred years later the church still exists and is still prominent within society. I believe that this is due to the faithfulness of believers even in the face of direct opposition, and also the modern theologians who are willing to think together with these men, and satisfactorily answer the difficult questions in a way that brings glory to God. Moralistic Therapeutic Deism renders Christianity into a club with a “man upstairs” who wants you to be happy, and this attitude is completely contrary to what actual Christianity is.

If you enjoyed this or learned something please share it on Facebook or twitter so that more people can read and enjoy.

The Armchair Theologian.

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[1] Christian Smith, Melinda Lundquist Denton, Soul searching: the religious and spiritual lives of American teenagers. (Oxford: Oxford University Press 2005), 163

[2] Mark Oestreicher, Youth ministry 3.0: a manifesto of where we’ve been, where we are and where we need to go. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008) 57

[3] Christian Smith, Melinda Lundquist Denton, Soul searching: the religious and spiritual lives of American teenagers. (Oxford: Oxford University Press 2005)163-164 “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is second, about providing therapeutic benefits to its adherence. This is not a religion of repentance from sin, of keeping the Sabbath, of living as a servant of a sovereign divine, of steadfastly saying one’s prayers, of faithfully observing high holy days, of building character through suffering, of basking in God’s love and grace, of spending oneself in gratitude and love for the cause of social justice, etcetera. Rather what appears to be the actual dominant religion among U.S teenagers is centrally about feeling good, happy, secure, at peace. It is about attaining subjective well being, being able to resolve problems, and getting along amiably other people.”

[4] Christian Smith, Melinda Lundquist Denton, Soul searching: the religious and spiritual lives of American teenagers. (Oxford: Oxford University Press 2005)164 “Finally, Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is about belief in a particular kind of God: one who exists, created the world, and defines our general moral order, but not one who is particularly personally involved in one’s affairs, especially affairs in which one would prefer not to have God involved. Most of the time, the God of this faith keeps a safe distance. He is often described by teens as “watching over everything from above” and “the creator of everything and… just up there now controlling everything”