Thanks Sonja!

I have completed my first year of seminary (PTLWT! [more on that later…]) and I guess I do have more time (briefly, because my 3 summer classes start Monday!) to think about movies.

Here are the rules of this fun Meme:

1. list your top ten favorite films (in no particular order).
2. give a hat tip (HT) to Dan
3. if you’re tagged, you’ve got to post and tag 3-5 other people.
4. give a tag back (some link love) to the one who tagged you in your post

So, without further ado, my Top 10 in no particular order:

• Braveheart
• The Count of Monte Cristo
• The Village
• Dumb and Dumber
• Lord of the Rings Trilogy
• ORIGINAL Star Wars Trilogy
• Little Miss Sunshine
• Jesus Camp
• V for Vendette
• Invisible Children

There. Now you can take this list and figure out all my neurosises! Anyone want to add to this?
I tag 3 J’s:
John Frye
Jake Bouma
Josh Brown

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Yesterday I was one of 12,000 people who packed into the Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, MI to hear Barak Obama speak. The energy peaked to a fevered pitch as people waited for him to speak at a state he had yet to rally. We were particularly stoked when he said he “brought a little something extra” to make up for failing to campaign as of yet in Michigan. Low and behold out steps John Edward for a long awaited endorsement (and a possible Democratic ticket?). Needless to say it was a pretty cool event to attend, even though my mind isn’t entirely made-up.

The speech was pretty typical. It focused on core, predictable Democratic party platform pieces, speckled with moving personal narratives to make his points. Like always (which is typical of most political speeches at this juncture) it was long on rhetoric and promises, but short on specifics. There were also a few eye-rolls, like when he talked about how the country needs to not move jobs over seas and concentrate on rebuilding the manufacturing sector (OK, so we erase NAFTA? How does the government create jobs exactly, even though it IS the countries largest employer…) and talked about funding universal healthcare (which I partly think is needed) and a $4000 education credit for college students (from where exactly is this money going to come?). Over all, though, it was a great, hope-filled speech that reminded me of JFK, Reagan, or Martin Luther King Jr.

Many have criticized him for being nothing more than a rhetorician, since he provides little details for his policies and proposed changes. While I can understand the concern, I’m certain once he and McCain start battling it out come this Fall (sorry, it’s over for Hillary!) those details will begin to emerge. But even then, is it really a bad thing that most of his speeches are more rhetorical and less wonky?

I think this country needs a brilliant visionary who can paint the picture of who we are and who we want to be. We’re teetering on the verge of a recession, people are loosing jobs and homes and pensions they were banking on for the rest of their lives, and the country is involved in a pseudo-war (terrorism), which the government takes as as license for some ‘interesting’ practices (water-boarding, wiretapping, etc…) and a real conflict (is Iraq really a war?) that WAS launched under false pretenses (I was literally in the Captiol Building in the Jan. 2003 SOTU when he broke out the ‘yellow-cake’ evidence and coned the country into believing Iraq posed an immanent threat!) and convenience (this was not about liberation but to show the other two members of the ‘Axis of Evil’ [N. Korea and Iran] the USA means business!)

I’d say we’re due for a little rhetoric and hopeful, dreamy ideals (or at least someone who can construct sentences well and speak coherently!).

And this is why, for right now, I’ve got Obama fever…

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This is my Confession on the Doctrine of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. I wrote it for my Systematic Theology 2 class, and thought I would share it here.

On The Son

Prolegomena
I believe God’s intention toward His good Creation is Rescue and Restoration, despite Human Rebellion; even when Humans were Rebels, God sent His Son Jesus Christ to die in order to rescue and restore. (Jn. 3:16; Rom. 5:8)

God and Redemption
I believe God enacted His Redemptive Plan by invading the world as a human, by becoming like us; the Father willingly gave His one and only unique Son Jesus Christ to live the sinless life we could not, pay the penalty for sin, and defeat Death. (Jn. 1:10-14; 3:16-21)

Person of Jesus
I believe Jesus is one Person with two full Natures; Jesus is a single Person who is fully Divine and fully Human. As a Divine Being, Jesus possess all the attributes of God; as a Human Being, Jesus possesses all the attributes of Humanity, including Body and Soul. (Jn. 1:1, 14)

I believe you cannot give a positive statement regarding Jesus’ one person and two natures without underemphasizing either His oneness or two natures. Therefore, it is best to say that Jesus’ two natures are without confusion, without change, without division, and without separation; the natures of Jesus cannot be confused or changed, neither can they be divided or separated. (Council of Chalcedon)

I believe Jesus could sin, but would not because He had a strong moral will. Jesus chose to consciously operate as a full Human, which allowed for the possibility of sin, without using His Deity to cheat. Therefore, since He was really a Human and resisted the temptation to Sin all the way to the end, He could trace the steps of Human Rebellion and set things to rights for Humans and the World. (Heb. 2:14-18)

I believe, in His humanity, Jesus was finite, but not fallen; while Jesus was physically susceptible to the things in a fallen world that could hurt any human (e.g. sickness and disease, bruising from a fall, mistakes from the learning process, and death), Jesus could not suffer internally from guilt, corruption, or sin, nor from confusion or mental illness. (Jn. 1:14; Heb. 2:14-18)

Work of Jesus
I believe Jesus is the Victorious Obedient Substitute, and His Redemptive Act rescues and restores Creation in this way: Through His Life, Jesus obeyed God perfectly after the First Adam did not, while demonstrating how we are to live as Humans; through His Death, Jesus paid the final penalty to God for Rebellion on behalf of all Humans through a final sacrifice, thus restoring Humans to relationship with God; through His Resurrection, Jesus defeated the Dark Powers to liberate all Humanity from Satan’s control and free us from the bondage of Evil and Sin. (Heb. 4:14-15; 10:1-18; Rom. 6)

I believe through Jesus’ Life: His baptism commissioned Him for ministry and empowered Him by the Holy Spirit to retrace Adam’s steps, defeat the Dark Powers, and restore the God-Man relationship through His sacrifice; He perfectly obeyed God’s moral law throughout His life, resisting the temptation to sin when Adam gave in and disobeyed God’s Way; and His words and deeds taught Humanity how to obey the will of God, while actually defeating Evil. (Rom. 5:12-21)

I believe through Jesus’ Death, He bore the punishment and guilt for all Human Rebellion, making peace between God and Humans and leading to the adoption of people by God the Father as Sons and Daughters. (Rom. 5:1-2; Gal. 4:4-8)

I believe through Jesus’ Resurrection, He triumphed over the Dark Powers, making a mockery of them, and revealed that the Father accepted His sacrifice on behalf of Humans. Furthermore, we are raised to New Life through His defeat of Death, and we are declared and made righteous before God. (Rom. 4:25; Col. 2:13-15; 1 Cor. 15)

I believe through Jesus’ Ascension, we have an enthroned Lord who is now ruling over the entire world and working on our behalf by empowering us to live the Way of God that Adam did not. (Heb. 2:1-18; 7:23-25)

I believe God intends to rescue and restore all of Humanity. Thus, in coming to Earth, Jesus intended to redeem all of Humanity through His Life, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension. His Redemptive Act is sufficient for all Humans and effective for everyone who will eventually embrace Jesus as Lord. (1 Tim. 2:4-6, 4:9-10)

On The Holy Spirit

Person of the Holy Spirit
I believe the Holy Spirit should be thought of as a personal entity, because he refers to himself in personal language (i.e. I and me). (Acts 13:2)

I believe the Holy Spirit is the third person of the Godhead, coequal with the Father and Son. (Matt. 28:19; 2 Cor. 13:14; 1 Cor. 12:4-6; 1 Pet. 1:2)

I believe the Holy Spirit possesses personal characteristics, such as intelligence, will and emotions. As an intelligent Being, He teaches humans all things; as a willful Being He gives gifts (spiritual and personal) as He wills; as an emotional Being, He can be grieved, lied to and blasphemed, and ministers to and convicts humans. (Jn. 14:26; 1 Cor. 12:11; Eph 4:30; Acts 5:3-4; Matt. 12:31; Mark 3:29; Rom. 8:26; Jn. 16:8)
I believe the Holy Spirit is identified as God, possesses the perfections of God, and does the works of God. The Holy Spirit is omniscient, omnipotent, and eternal. (1 Cor. 2:10-11; Jn. 16:13; Luke 1:35; Rom. 15:19; Heb. 9:14)

Work of the Holy Spirit
I believe the Holy Spirit’s role is as Agent; by the Holy Spirit, the Godhead accomplishes their works in cooperation with the Father and the Son (e.g. Salvation is from the Father, through the Son, and by the Holy Spirit).

I believe the Holy Spirit’s presence is found in the Old Testament through several movements: He acted with the Father and Son in the Creation Event; He has acted on behalf of God’s people through acts of divine care; He empowered Old Testament civil leaders (e.g. the Kings and Judges), directed craftsmanship (e.g. The building of the Tabernacle), and anointed prophets (e.g. Isaiah and Ezekiel); and He helped accomplish certain salvific events (such as The Exodus). (Gen. 1:2; Ps, 104:29-30; 1 Sam. 16:13; Ex. 31:3-5; Ez. 2:2, 8:3, 11:1, 24)

I believe the Holy Spirit participated in the Redemptive Event of Jesus Christ. By the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was conceived, empowered at baptism, directed into the wilderness to be tempted, taught, performed miracles, offered Himself as a sacrifice, and resurrected. (Lk. 2:52; Matt. 3:16; 4:1; Lk. 4:14, 18-21; Matt. 12:25-32; Heb. 9:14; 1 Pet. 3:18)

I believe at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit created a new people of God under a new covenant–specifically the Church–and imbues that community with new life, while commissioning them with a new mission. (1 Cor. 12:13; Rom. 8:1-4; Jn. 14:16-18, 26; Matt. 28:19-20)

I believe the Holy Spirit indwells individuals after salvation to bring spiritual rebirth, empower them to live the Church’s mission, illuminate the Holy Scriptures, intercede for them, sanctify their life, seal them in relationship with God, and impart particular spiritual and sign gifts.
(Titus 3:5; Eph. 5:18; 1 Cor. 6:12-20; 2:10-16; Eph. 6:18; Gal. 5:16-26; Eph. 1:13-14; Eph. 4:11, Rom. 12:6-8, 1 Pet. 4:11, 1 Cor. 12:4-11, 28)

I believe the Holy Spirit is working to bring ultimate, cosmic restoration to the entire world as an agent applying Jesus Christ’s work.

Doxology
Thanks be to God forever, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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What’s amazing about this passage is that Jesus absolutely links God-love with neighbor-love; it is impossible to love God without loving neighbor and He makes this clear by His response to the Lawyer. I then back tracked from Mark 12 to Luke 10 and then to Jonah to highlight the disastrous consequences of a lack of neighbor love.

Take a listen and let me know what you think

-jeremy

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This Friday series is based on a paper I wrote for my Systematic Theology 2 class. It was a reaction piece to the book The Good of Affluence , by John R. Schneider and represents my own personal wrestling with the contemporary expression of capitalism: consumer capitalism. Here is the final paper.

The Series
1. Introduction
2. Is Affluence The Point
3. Consumerism: The End Result of Sin Marked-Capitalism
4. Globalization and the Brown Man’s Burden
5. Globalization and Moral Proximity
6. Conclusion

CONCLUSION

As I said at the beginning, I affirm the basics of capitalism and believe it is the best economic model for providing an abundant life that mirrors God’s original abundant intentions for Creation. What many fail to consider, however, is that capitalism is marked by the affects of Rebellion, like all human systems. Considering that modern day capitalism is rooted in Enlightenment classical liberal ideology, an ideology that stresses the absolute freedom, rationality, and self-interest of the autonomous self, Christians should not be surprised consumerism and the pursuit of profuse abundance (affluence) is the logical extension of such an economic system. If consumerism, then, is the final manifestation of capitalism, to what economic system should Christians turn? While we should not necessarily embrace socialism or like forms, Christians need to be sober-minded about the realities and risks of capitalism. Furthermore, we need to be honest about how we contribute to and perpetuate the injustice and oppression of the global poor through our consumption. In the end, may Christians fight for abundant living for all on earth, regardless of national origin. May we Christians take more responsibility for the ways in which we partner with the sin of consumerism that affects the world. And may we be more concerned about the vision of restoration–spiritual, social, and economic–that arrives through the Kingdom of Heaven, a true vision of abundance and shalom capitalism cannot provide.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Barbario, Michael and Uchitelle, Louis. 2008. “Americans Cutback Sharply On Spending.” The
New York Times 14 January, C1.

D’Souza, Dinesh. The Virtue of Prosperity: Finding Values in an Age of Techno-Affluence. New
York: Free Press, 2000.

Fuentes, Federico. “Evo Morales Speaks.” Adbusters 75 (2008): 57-58.

Jhally, Sut. “The Dreamland of American Consumerism.” Adbusters 76 (2008): 23-24.

Mills, John Stuart, “On the Definition of Political Economy; and on the Method of Investigation
Proper to It,” London and Westminster Review, October 1836. Essays on Some Unsettled Questions of Political Economy, 2nd ed. London: Longmans, Green, Reader & Dyer, 1874, essay 5, paragraphs 38 and 48.

Poutain, Dick and Robins, David. “Cool: The Rise, Fall and Rebirth of An Attitude.” Adbusters 76 (2008): 1-14.

Schneider, John R. The Good of Affluence. Grand Rapids: Wm. B Eerdmans Publishing Co, 2002.

Timmons, Heather. 2007. “New York Manhole Covers, Forged Barefoot in India.” The New York Times 26 November, A1.

White, Micah, “Redemption.” Adbusters 76 (2008): 41-42.
WordNet 3.0, Princeton University 2006. http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/

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So about a month ago a high school senior whom I mentor at the church I’ve begun interning at wrote me an email. Here is a piece of it:

Oh! And I have a question for Jon, but I’ll run it by you quick too. I want to organize a dinner for our lunch ladies at school. Do you think it’d be possible to use the kitchen and tables at Fellowship? Cam and I have been chatting about it a little bit, and thought it was a good location, if it all worked out.

I positively melted!

Two graduating seniors from a local public high school wanted to love on the ladies who have served them for four years by providing a dinner at our church!

How
cool
is
that?!

So this last Thursday that desire came true…and it was such a great time! All 13 of the Grandville area lunch ladies came to our church to enjoy a 4 course meal cooked by some of the ladies of the church. Pastor John, Dan, Tim, and I dressed up in a white shirt, black pants, black bow-tie and black apron and served them their meals at decorated tables. We pulled out all the stops and had a great time serving a group of people who are generally one rung higher than the janitors on the high school social ladder!

I haven’t really blogged about the church I’ve begun serving in, but I am helping re-launch the church and since the beginning of the year we have been dreaming of ways to serve our community and share the love of Christ outside of our walls. What’s amazing is that the first sort of “project” we tackled came from two 17 and 18 year olds! Again, how cool is that?!

Needless to say the ladies were blown away by the thought and care the went into the night. One lady who has worked at the high school serving food for 30 years said she has never been appreciated like this for her work. In fact, each year the staff of the high school are honored with an all staff luncheon, all them except the lunch ladies! What’s more: these 13 women not only cook for the high school (about 1700 kids), but also for the elementary students as well (another 800). So each day these women cook for some 2500 kids, all without nary a word of appreciate from the kids nor the administration.

And here come two teens who are trying to follow Jesus better and show and share the love of Christ with those who are neither appreciated nor cared for. That’s just like Jesus himself, isn’t it? Jesus noticed those who were on the margins of society, went to those who were the least and flooded their lives with love, attention and care.

I learned an important lesson that evening: the Church does not have to put on a production and reach massive amounts of people to live out the way of Jesus. The Church need only love. That’s what Ben and Cameron taught me that night, and I’m a better soon-to-be-pastor for it.

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I’ve wanted to post on so many things the last several weeks, but have either become sidetracked by school projects, church responsibilities, or lost the energy to think/write. The should change next week when my last class/exam is finished May 7, and my first year of seminary is finished.

Hope you’ll come back next week where I promise you’ll find some new, juicy essays and thoughts

shlm,
-jeremy

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This Friday series is based on a paper I wrote for my Systematic Theology 2 class. It was a reaction piece to the book The Good of Affluence , by John R. Schneider and represents my own personal wrestling with the contemporary expression of capitalism: consumer capitalism.

The Series
1. Introduction
2. Is Affluence The Point
3. Consumerism: The End Result of Sin Marked-Capitalism
4. Globalization and the Brown Man’s Burden
5. Globalization and Moral Proximity
6. Conclusion

GLOBALIZATION AND MORAL PROXIMITY

In light of our global economic dependence and examples of American economic oppression, what is our responsibility to the global poor? Without risking abusing Jesus’ parable, the questions of “who is our neighbor?” becomes incredibly important. Schneider says that the principle of moral proximity should govern our understanding of Christian responsibility to the poor, an idea that mirrors the Roman Catholic Church’s teachings on subsidiarity, which says the social unit closest to a social problem is most responsible and best able to bring solvency. Moral proximity says that our moral focus should normally be on the problems and issues that are nearest, that we best know and care most about the local problems. According to Schneider, moral proximity has bearing on this discussion, because most ordinary Western Christians are so far removed from the actual oppression and injustice wrought upon the developing world to warrant any condemnation or divine judgement.

In light of the reality of our global economic system, I find it incredibly difficult to dismiss the Christian responsibility to the global poor. Because our economy is inextricably linked to other countries and the goods we consume are connected to developing countries, I find it troubling that people like Schneider can suggest are we not at least somewhat responsible to those whom our economies depend. There should be a more nuanced, exhaustive discussion of our redemptive responsibilities toward those whom we are economically linked. Redemptive conversations should include questions that challenge Christian abundance and affluence, including: Why do we Americans believe we have the right to two homes when others in Mexico stuff five families in a one room shack? Why do we Americans believe we have the right to a $120,000 Lexus when people in India earn less than $2.00 a week? Why do we Americans believe we have the right to 12 pairs of shoes when gypsies in Romania don’t have a source of water in their village?

In each of these countries, goods are produced that American Christians consume en masse: Mexico produces the Chrysler P.T. Cruiser, India produces GAP clothes, Romania gives us Puma shoes. In light of this interconnectedness, then, what responsibilities do we Christians have toward those who labor for our consumption? We are much more connected than Schneider cares to admit. Because I buy beans from Starbucks, Am I not morally connected to the farmer in Kenya who is paid barely $.40 a pound? Is that just compensation? Does that provide a decent wage and source of abundance for him and his family? If I buy clothes from GAP, am I not morally culpable for the ten year old who slaved 90 hours one week to piece together my new outfit? These are the questions Schnedier and others fail to address, questions that sit at the heart of a discussion on the theology of faith and capitalism.

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A few days ago, I became aware of the importance of Judgment, that YHWH will Judge us after death. Now, I know that legalism is something Jesus came to at least re-balance. But for some time now I’ve believed that Jesus came to eradicate legalism. So I guess my question is: To what extent did Jesus come to eradicate legalism? Does He want us to obey the Law merely because it is best and healthiest for us and our relationship with YHWH? That would be most consistent with the idea that Jesus came to eradicate legalism. Or does He want us to obey the Law simply because we should be obedient to YHWH? This doesn’t seem true to me. But could the truth lie in an integration between the two? A balance between obeying the Law because doing so is obedient to YHWH and good and healthy for us and our relationship with Him?

Alright here we go:

Remember that Torah (the jewish law) was given to the children of Israel AFTER they were already in relationship with God; God’s grace (unmerited favor) extended to this chosen people, they were blessed to be a blessing, they did nothing to earn this initial blessing/favor.

So then Torah was given to YHWH’s people after they were His people and functioned in 2 ways: These obligations were central and fundamental to Israel’s identity as God’s covenant people, so they were what it meant to LIVE as set-a-part people; and two, Torah helped Israel (and the world) know was right and wrong in relationship to God, it was the standard of right and wrong, the measure to righteousness and justice, and utterly defined right relations between God and His people and between His people and themselves (in short it helped them love God and love people).

Legalism is what the good law was transformed by certain leaders of Israel. The parable of the good samaritan is a good example of what those leaders did to Torah requirements of cleanliness, for example. Jesus’ constant run-ins with those leaders over His healings on the Sabbath represent another dimension of what Jewish leaders did to the good Torah: mainly stifling people and self-righteous exactness at the expense of loving their neighbor as themselves (you missed my sunday school talk on this, btw!)

But there is also this sense of progressive revelation throughout the Scriptures: Torah isnt God’s LAST word to his people, but is in a sense provisional, looking forward to a time of fulfillment through the Messiah. In Matt 11:13 while speaking of the pivotal moment of John the Baptist he said “all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.” So in speaking about the pivotal point of John, the Law is linked with the prophets as looking forward to a time of fulfillment, which has arrived in Jesus.

And Jesus himself said that he did not come to abolish Torah, but to fulfill it. This is one aspect of atonement that Scot McKnight holds, and I agree is a big part: the notion that Jesus perfectly performed the Law that Adam misperformed on our behalf. Its called recapitulation. Look at Matt 5:17-20. In essence Jesus says: Far from wanting to set aside the law and the prophets, it is my role to bring into being that to which they have pointed forward, to carry them into a new era of fulfillment.”

So Torah isnt abolished and remains the authoritative words of God. But their role is different now that to what they’ve always pointed has arrived (Jesus), and its up to us as Jesus’ followers to discern in the light of Jesus’ teachings and practices what is now the right way to apply those texts of the OT to the new situation which Jesus’ coming has created: the Kingdom of Heaven.

From now on it will be the authoritative teachings of Jesus which must govern the disciples understanding and practical application of the Law. Which is really what you see throughout Acts and the Letters of Paul (particularly Acts 10 and Galatians). No longer is it about the literal observance of the letter level, but rather the deeper level of God’s will underlying the Text, which is…ta-da: loving God and loving people. (which I’m preaching about on May11!)

And in the process of discernment we see that some practices are dropped and abolished, it isnt because they’ve lost their status as God’s words and authority, but because their role has changed in light of the era of fulfillment with Jesus’ in-breaking presence (who is the ultimate authority) and dawn of the Reign of God.

So then what are we to obey? And why?

We obey the whole of Scripture as fulfilled in Jesus’ teachings and worked out in the epistles. Which in short means we need to consider the whole of God’s Words and never raise Moses, Jesus, or Paul up as maestro…we need all of the Scriptures to inform how we are to love and relate to God and how we are to love and relate to others.

And in the same way Torah was given to God’s people AFTER they were His people, the teachings and practice of Jesus and their outworking as seen in the epistles and other NT books are given to us to “work out our salvation” post-committment to Jesus (repentance of sin and pisteuo [remember that greek word?!] of Jesus as Lord). God has chosen to provide restoration and forgiveness through His grace, it isn’t anything we earn (Ephesians 2:8-9), but we are called to deliberately set ourselves apart through following the teachings and Way of Jesus.

In the same way the Children of Israel showed they were “covenanting” with God by following Torah, we show we are following Jesus by living in His Way. That Way is loving God and Loving people.

So there you go…I hope this all made sense It was good for me to write because it helped me work through somethings myself regarding our responsibility to God.

I leave you with this, my friend, from 1 Peter 2:

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you have not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear friends, I urge you as aliens and strangers in this world, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong they might see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us…”

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This is my Confession on the Doctrine of Humanity and Sin. I wrote it for my Systematic Theology 2 class, and thought I would share it here.

Creation
I believe the Creation event was a purposeful act of God to bring into existence a Reality for His glory, reflection, and interaction, a Reality that was formed from nothing; the universe and all that exists therein was created on purpose with purpose by the Creator. This act of creation was a real time-space event that set the universe and all its processes in motion through the Will and Word of God. (Gen. 1 & 2; Col, 1:15-17)

Humanity

I believe Humans should be understood by the term Eikon, a Greek word that means “image bearer.” Man is the culmination of God’s purposeful act of creation and is crafted after the image of God. This “reflection of the Creator” was originally created to enjoy, worship, and love Him forever in an eternal relationship with Him defined by mutual love. As Eikons made in the image of God, we are set apart from the rest of Creation not simply because we have a soul, but rather because we are fashioned after God Himself. (Gen. 1:27, 2:7, 9:6; Ps. 139:13-16; Jm. 3:9-10)

I believe as Eikons, our reflection of God is understood through our capacities and relationships. As Image Bearers, we have been given higher capacities, like free will, intelligence, and emotion. Additionally, we reflect God through our relationships with Creation, Others, and God; as God is a relational Being who exists in a community of self-giving lovers, so also we are relational and properly express our human nature in community. (Gen. 1:27-28; Ps. 8:3-8)

I believe Humans truly are earthlings, meaning earth is our home: We were created from the earth and created to exist on earth, and our eventual eternal destination will be on a fully restored earth. (Gen. 1:27-30; Rev. 21:1-4)

I believe Humans have two parts, Body and Soul, that were meant to function as an integrated whole. While Death causes those two parts to become separated, we were never supposed to realize that we have a soul separate from our body. Only Sin has opened our eyes to the distinction between Body and Soul. (Gen 2:15-17; 3:7)

I believe, because we are physical beings, the hope of the Believer is the resurrection of the Body and reunification of Body and Soul into a whole, functional unit. (1 Cor. 15)

Rebellion
I believe Sin is human rebellion against God and His Way. This intentional, personal rebellion results in a vandalism of shalom and death for individual humans. (Ps. 14:2-3; Rm. 3:23)

I believe the First Humans, by rebelling against God and His Way, disrupted the shalom of Creation, plunging all of it into disruption. (Gen. 3)

Adam’s Rebellion
I believe through Adam’s initial rebellion, Humans are born polluted by sin, receiving a distorted nature, and continue to rebel against God and His Way, resulting in Death. That pollution influences the free choices of all humans to choose relationship with God and follow in His Way. We are guilty of sin after we choose to disobey God and vandalize shalom. (Rm. 5:12-14; 1 Cor. 15:21-22; 1 Jn. 1:8-10)

I believe Sin ultimately is autonomy; Humans want to be independent agents who are free from the constrains of an Other outside his/herself. This autonomy was expressed by Adam and Eve when they wanted to be like God, knowing both Good and Evil. To this day, Humans continue to sin out of a selfish, autonomous heart. (Gen. 3; Matt. 15:18-20)

The Consequences of Rebellion
I believe the consequences of Human Rebellion are exhaustive and holistic, infecting every crevice of Creation; Human Rebellion caused a rippled effect beyond humans to all of Creation, which groans for ultimate restoration under its weight. (Rm. 8:20-22)

I believe, while still fundamentally Eikons of God, Humans are thoroughly broken, rebellious, and shaped by Sin. Through Adam’s initial rebellion we continue to rebel against God and His Way. As cracked Eikons, we are desperate for holistic restoration, a restoration we are incapable of providing on our own. (Is. 53:6a; Rm. 1:18-32)

I believe Human Culture is fallen and polluted by Sin. While human society is capable of producing much good through common grace, such as art and science, it is still broken and incapable of restoring itself to the way God intended it to be.

I believe the earth itself and the animal kingdom are also affected by the pollution of Sin and Human rebellion. Through this pollution natural evils occur, like tsunamis and hurricanes, and animals are affected so that they eat each other, resulting in death that should not be. (Rm. 8:20-22)

Common Grace Despite Rebellion
I believe, despite a full-scale, worldwide brokenness, God blankets His Creation with common grace, which protects His valued Creation and preserves it for the sake of Redemption.

I believe the common grace which God gives Creation provides natural blessings (e.g. rain and sun), restrains Sin (e.g. enables people to do moral good), and contributes to civic good (e.g. environmental clean-up projects or volunteers feeding the homeless), and cultural good (e.g. education, art, and science). So even while all of Creation groans in its brokenness, goodness still exists and flows from the gracious hand of God through the Holy Spirit. (Gen. 20:6; 1 Sam. 25:26; Matt. 5:45; Rm. 13:1-5; Heb. 1:2-3)

I believe the existence of common grace reflects a God who did not abandon His Creation and whose posture toward it is love and restoration. It is out of His love for all of Creation that He continues to preserve it and desires to restore it entirely, a restoration that is rooted in and accomplished through Jesus Christ. (Rm. 5:6-8)

Doxology
Thanks be to God forever, in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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