A 4 week series based on a paper called “DIGGING UP THE PAST: KARL BARTH AS FOE TO THE EMERGING CHURCH ON THE DOCTRINE OF REVELATION.” Non-identified citations relate to Rollin’s It’s Really All About God CD equals Barth’s Church Dogmatics.
Series Posts
1—Introduction
2—“God Speaks”
3—“God’s Revelation is Jesus Christ”
3—Conclusion
CONCLUSION
Thanks to these emerging leaders, there is now growing confusion within the Church over both the extent to which we may know God and the manner in which He has revealed Himself. It is clear that Rollins understands God as hyper-transcendent and Wholly Other, believing He is far more hidden and concealed than Christianity acknowledges. For Rollins we can neither truly name God nor actually describe Him, because He is not really, genuinely revealed. Practically, this cashes out as what Rollins calls an “a/theistic Christianity.”
An a/theistic Christian can be said to operate with a discourse that makes claims about God while simultaneously acknowledging that these claims are provisional, uncertain, and insufficient; our questioning of God isn’t really questioning of God Himself but only a means of questioning our understanding of God. (98) By implication this would mean the revelation we have of God is not complete or real enough to understand, question, and know Him. This is why Rollins ultimately insists that speaking of God is really only speaking about our understanding of God, not God himself. (32)
Selmanovic, while acknowledging a real revelation of God that can be experienced by humans, believes that revelation is neither exclusively tied to Jesus Christ nor contained within Christianity. For Him, it’s really all about “God.” God is a vapid, generalized World-Spirit (This is the same language Fredrick Schleiermacher uses in his book, On Religion.) that is encased in all religions, rather than exclusively revealed through Jesus Christ, on the one hand, and the Church, on the other. He is unsatisfied with the assertion that Christianity testifies to God’s Story of Rescue and that rescue is exclusively found in Jesus Christ. In fact, the grace of God to which the Holy Scriptures and Church has testified to for generations isn’t even unique to the Christ Event or Christianity. Instead, it is independent from both and common in the world’s histories, stories, and religions. God is present everywhere and in every person and the Christian faith cannot insist on an exclusive revelation in Jesus Christ or the Church. In the end, it is the kingdom of God that reveals God to the world, a thing that is trans-religious and separate from even Jesus Christ Himself. It is a revelation in-and-of-itself which is the gospel, a thing uncontrolled by Christianity and Jesus.
Upon surveying the writings of both Rollins and Selmanovic, one wonders why they are self-described Christians and committed to Christianity at all. If God doesn’t really speak, why posture one’s self as a listener? If God is not wholly and exclusively revealed in Jesus Christ, why commit one’s self to Him and His Story? In response to both religious thinkers, Barth asserts God does speak and He is revealed in Jesus Christ. For Barth, there is real, genuine knowledge of God because God has chosen to reveal Himself to humanity. This divine self-disclosure is in such away that humans can really, genuinely know Him. Barth declares that there is a readiness of God to be known, a knowledge that is “clear and certain.” While the knowledge that humans have is not through their own ingenuity and gumption, but through grace, God is so made up that He can be known by us.
Though apprehending revelation does not happen through our own power and command, it does happen and has happened. Barth makes clear that ultimately Jesus Christ is the point at which the world truly knows God. While others may suggest God is best defined by Jesus Christ, Barth insists He is only defined by Jesus. God is utterly and wholly revealed in Jesus Christ; to know Jesus is to know God. In fact, the only way to know God in intimate relationship is through the grace found in and through Jesus Christ. Barth maintains that God’s grace is only and intimately connected to Christ, rather than other sources and other religious faiths. Finally, Barth warns of the danger of selecting competing centers of revelation apart from Jesus Christ, like the kingdom of God.
In His Church Dogmatics volume on The Doctrine of God, Barth makes clear, “Theology guides the language of the Church, so far as it concretely reminds her that in all circumstances it is fallible human work, which in the matter of relevance or irrelevance lies in the balance, and must obedience to grace, if it is to be well done.” (CD I,1:2) Here Barth acknowledges the difficult task of “theologizing,” of speaking of God and His acts. While that speech is fallible and vacillates between relevance or irrelevance, requiring a healthy dose of grace along the way, it needs to happen nonetheless. Every generation needs to cherish, protect, and contend for the Rule of Faith given by our Lord once to the Church. If not, there is a real danger of precipitating into darkness and confusion. It is clear from the writings of these two theologians and thinkers that a shift is occurring within the Church regarding an important piece of that Rule, revelation.
Though historic Christian orthodoxy has consistently held to the real, genuine knowability of God and that knowledge being fully and exclusively revealed (outside of creation) in Jesus Christ, there are some who insist otherwise. There is a growing number who shove God so far into the clouds that nothing can be concretely said of Him. Others still, and perhaps more dangerously so, find God outside Jesus Christ, insisting God is in every person, every community, every religion. God and His grace is no longer exclusively revealed in Jesus Christ, but possessed by other faiths, too. It is worth ending with Barth’s warning as a reminder for these and other theologians: “Any deviation, any attempt to evade Jesus Christ in favour of another supposed revelation of God, or any denial of the fulness of God’s presence in Him, will precipitate us into darkness and confusion.” (CD II,1:319) May this not be the end of these or others who claim Jesus Christ as Lord.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Barth, Karl. Church Dogmatics, vol I, 1: The Doctrine of the Word of God. Translated by G.T. Thomson. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1955.
________. Church Dogmatics, vol II, 1: The Doctrine of God. Edited by G.W. Bromiley and T.F. Torrance. Translated by T.H.L Parker, W.B. Johnson, Harold Knight, and J.L.M. Haire. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1957.
Erdman, Chris. “Digging Up the Past: Karl Barth (the Reformed Giant) as Friend to the Emerging Church,” Pages 236-243 in An Emergent Manifesto of Hope. Edited by Doug Pagitt and Tony Jones. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2007.
Jones, Tony. “Introduction: Friendship, Faith, and Going Somewhere Together.” Pages 11-15 in An Emergent Manifesto of Hope. Edited by Doug Pagitt and Tony Jones. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2007.
Rollins, Pete. How (Not) To Speak of God. Brewster, MA: Paraclete Press, 2006.
Selmanovic, Samir. “The Sweet Problem of Inclusivism.” Pages 11-15 in An Emergent Manifesto of Hope. Edited by Doug Pagitt and Tony Jones. Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2007.
________. It’s Really All About God: Reflections of a Muslim Atheist Jewish Christian. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2009.
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This Friday series is based on a paper I wrote for my Systematic Theology 2 class earlier in the year. 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. In light of the current economic crises and meltdown, I thought I would post this each Friday for the next 6 weeks. Enjoy the repost and I hope it helps challenge you in your thoughts and conclusions on 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
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 my Systematic Theology professor, Dr. Mike Wittmer, started a blog a few weeks ago. He finally took the plunge after some of us had been pestering him about it for a year. He is generally fair-minded and has a new book coming out next month with as equally fair of a look at the emerging church. Check both out!
Last week he wrote an interesting post that I thought I would post here for discussion. I responded twice, and those responses are below. Any thoughts?
My traditional, conservative church rightly warns against the rising tide of liberalism in evangelical churches and reminds us that we must believe something to be saved. Across town, there is a left-leaning church (determined by the fact that “Yes, We Can” bumper stickers outnumber the Christian fish symbol on cars in the parking lot) that rightly speaks about the dangers of legalism, hypocrisy, and the need for Christians to put their beliefs into practice with acts of sacrificial love. Both churches are preaching to the choir.
Recently it occurred to me that churches are like political parties in that each has a distinct base. There is a certain type of person with a distinctive set of beliefs that attends each church. Even its visitors tend to look the same. And if I was a pastor, I think it would be part of my job to regularly offend this person.
C.S. Lewis reportedly said “remember the resistant material” (I heard this from Os Guinness, and though I haven’t found where Lewis said it, the statement is so good that I’m going to assume he did). Lewis’ point was that there is some aspect of the gospel that will offend every person and culture. Our job as ministers of the Word is to determine what part of the gospel offends our culture and then preach that part. If we proclaim only the part of the gospel that our culture already agrees with, then we are being redundant, merely cultural Christians who are not yet proclaiming a transcendent Word from God.
So here are two questions which each pastor and teacher should regularly ask themselves:
1. When was the last time I was offended by the Word of God? How long has it been since I heard a Word from the Lord which convicted me that I was a sinner and needed to change? If it’s been awhile, we may be trying to control the voice of God, only seeing in Scripture what we already believe.
2. Think of the person in your congregation who represents your base. How long has it been since you delivered a Word from God that challenged this person? Has he heard anything in the last month that would make him uncomfortable? If not, then despite your orthodox theology, you may be a cultural Christian, saying only what your base wants to hear rather than what they need—a transcendent Word from the living God.
Anyone can talk about the sins of the other side, but to target yourself and your base, that requires courage and faithfulness. God didn’t call us to preach the Word in general, but to preach the Word to this particular person in this particular congregation. Let them hear it.
Here were my responses:
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…and a friend of mine said I should start blogging again.
Now that a HUGE writing project has been completed and printed, I think it’s time again to start pecking out some “new understandings,” a “fresh clearness” (the rough meaning of novus•lumen) on a range of things within Christian Spirituality.
Here is what I’d like to blog about:
Trinitarian/Christian/Evangelical Universalism
Pelagianism/Semi-Pelagianism/Augustinianism
Predestination
The profession of the pastorate
The Christian sub-culture, especially as it relates to books and publishing
Politics and the Kingdom of God
Is that enough weighty stuff for ya? It is for me! Most of it revolves around my semester as a graduate student studying theology and studying to “be a pastor.” I think these should set this blog sailin again.
Any one interested in goin sailin?
-jeremy
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INTRODUCTION
“The global image of the US has significantly deteriorated over the past 12 months, as the chaos in Iraq has deepened. And in 18 of the countries that were involved in previous polls, the slide in America’s standing has steepened.” This was the verdict of a BBC article reporting on a BBC World Service Poll which found widespread discontent among most of the world population toward the United States of America. While the US government may think it is offering the world Pax Americana through particular foreign policy efforts, those policies are viewed with contempt by the rest of the world and have resulted in a crisis of confidence in the American government, diluting its ongoing ability to influence the world. Already its mass exportation of American culture has pricked the ire of many Arab nations, resulting in such events as the USS Cole Bombing, 9/11, and the Iraq insurgency. With so much discontent with America in general, it is no wonder that the American Church’s influence is also waning, especially when it comes to missions. Rightly or wrongly, Christianity is linked with the West and specifically the United States of America. And as America continues its pseudo-colonialist endeavors in the interest of ‘national security’, the American Church’s influence will continue to dwindle unless it embraces a post-colonial posture toward the emerging South and East. As the Western Church grapples with Her role in global missions, She must be post-colonial in theology and missions if She is to make a continued difference in the world for Jesus Christ.
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