Spiritual/Political/Philosophical Blog on the Nature of Truth and Falsehood and Heaven
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| Sunny Days in Heaven Spiritual/Political/Philosophical Blog on the Nature of Truth and Falsehood and Heaven |
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Saturday, May 18, 2002 Part Two - Essentials Louder Fenn mentions: "And since we can't conduct any experiments on the Trinity we can only understand it through our reason. In our heads, as it were; but because our reason is imperfect we cannot rely on it in isolation." We can conduct experiments on God. We call them thought experiments, though, and they involve reason. Our reason is not always imperfect, but often misinformed. Deduction, for example, must be perfect or else it's meaningless. Induction, though, often leaves us with a lot of fuzzy logic. For example, Fenn calls Jesus the second person of the trinity. This is impossible. Why? Given our premises about God in Three, any scheme of ranking is absurd. It simply can't apply to God. Same thing with the appellation - Son. The word is meaningless in this context. Same with Messiah or Lord. We use these human terms but they have no absolute or ultimate meaning. Also, Jesus relied on his reason in isolation. He didn't depend on his religion or synagogue to get his mind right on things. He depended entirely on prayer. Jesus wasn't given a better mind, soul, or heart than most other people. He had to figure it all out himself, just as we have to (or can). It didn't come easy, either. The Prodigal Son and Good Samaritan parables (among others) illustrate his own searching, agonies, and discoveries. Jesus didn't learn what he knew of humanity by simply observing, but also by experiencing; feeling things himself, and thinking them through in humble prayer. More than anywhere, God lives in prayer. That's the interface. Sometimes theology can help us understand what we have experienced in prayer, but I think it's probably more a distraction than a great help. Why? Because most theology is not about God so much as it's about the church and what the church believes. It attempts to justify the power, domination, and authority of priests and a lot of pious analogies, assertions, and practices. Theology will not humilate a person, nor hold up a mirror to his sins and sinfulness. It neither shames nor exalts - it pretty much leaves the person as he is, although it can certainly puff someone up. It's usually more a mental game with a vested (and emotional) interest at stake, than a prelude to grace. More often than not, it's a substitute for serious thinking about the Self, others, and the Real as we do or don't experience him. We want the All - not words about All. We want Everything of Truth. Not books, churches, or catechisms about Him. The way of it is through suffering and prayer. posted by Mark Butterworth | 4:06 AM | |
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