Category: Theology: Thinking Deeply About God and His Relation to the World

Who is God? What is He like? What has He done?

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Enjoying a Relationship with God Forever – A Summary of the Christian Faith

What is Christianity all about? Why are people so interested in it? Why do people give their lives for it? Why do more than a billion people follow it? Here is my brief summary of the main points of the Christian faith and its significance.

God
When we talk about the Christian faith, we begin and end with God Himself. Most people of the world believe there is a God, and that is the standpoint from which we begin.

When we think about God, we know that He is far greater than us. He made the earth and the heavens in all their splendor and variety. He made the complexity of our cells and the vast expanse of the universe. He’s far greater than we could imagine.

He is also good. We see this in the beauty of the universe, in the amazing provision this world offers us, and the way we can enjoy so many good things in this world. God has made this world so we can know Him and experience good things.

God is also holy. This means that He is pure in every way. He wants us to be pure. We all have a sense of right and wrong that we did not invent and that we cannot just dismiss. This is our conscience. We all have a sense that right and wrong is not just a preference or something convenient for us. Instead, it comes from our Creator, requires us to do right, and points us to the holiness of God.

Humans
When we think about humans, one thing we know about them is that they are created for God and to connect with God. They can know who God is. Within us all is a sense that we can pray. We also have a sense of God’s commands and that we are to live before Him. We are created to connect with God. Continue reading “Enjoying a Relationship with God Forever – A Summary of the Christian Faith”

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7 Quotes that Invite You to Read Josef Pieper

Josef Pieper (1904–1997) was a Roman Catholic theologian and philosopher from Elte, Westphalia, Germany. He imbibed the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas but thought deeply about the rest of the Western tradition, ancient and modern (read a little more about him here). I have found his work a particularly helpful guide to thinking deeply and clearly about what it means to live rightly as a human being. His most famous work is Leisure: the Basis of Culture. If you want to get a sense of the breadth of his work, An Anthology, which he compiled at the end of his life, is a great place to start.

If you want to think about how to live well as a Christian in this time, Pieper’s works are full of wisdom. Pieper’s works are also concise. All of them are short volumes. The chapters are also short. You can usually read a chapter in one short sitting. They stir the heart and the mind and challenge us to be what God has called us to be. Here are 7 quotes that invite you to read Josef Pieper.

1. The key question of our time that our prosperity should make us ask: What is life for? “After we have accomplished, with an admirable amount of intelligence and hard work, all that is necessary, after we have provided for the basic needs of life, produced the essential foodstuff, protected the realm of life itself—after all this, what is the meaning of the life itself that we have made possible? How do we define a truly human life?” (Anthology, 111).

2. Prudence or wisdom is the pre-eminent virtue: “The pre-eminence of prudence means that realization of the good presupposes knowledge of reality. He alone can do good who knows what things are like and what their situation is. . . . Realization of the good presupposes that our actions are appropriate to the real situation, that is to the concrete realities which form the ‘environment’ of a concrete human action; and that we therefore take this concrete reality seriously, with clear-eyed objectivity” (The Four Cardinal Virtues, 10). Continue reading “7 Quotes that Invite You to Read Josef Pieper”

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How Would Adam & Abraham Commune with God?

How would Adam and Abraham commune with God? There is a difference between the two in that Adam began as a creature unfallen into sin and Abraham was a sinful man. There is a similarity, however, in that both of them had limited amounts of special revelation. In other words, they didn’t have a large book (the Bible) to serve as the basis of communion with God. So, how did they commune with God?

For the evangelical Christian, communion with God is primarily through Bible reading. I regard this as a good thing, but I wonder if we miss something. If Adam and Abraham could have communion with God without reading through a large book, then this probably tells us that communion with God is at the least not completely identifiable with reading the Bible (though it may be part of it).

In addition, Bible reading is at best one relatively small part of our day (even if we read a lot of it!). How do we live the rest of our day in communion with God? Can we live life in such a way that we are continually communing with God? Continue reading “How Would Adam & Abraham Commune with God?”

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A Theological Framework for Processing Racism

[Note: see my article discussing these ideas at much greater length here]

To talk about race in America is a difficult thing, but it needs to be done. I’ve given a lot of thought to the matter, but I’m by no means an expert. There’s no doubt that some will find this post lacking in a number of ways, but we’ve got to have the conversation.

Let me say right up front that the first thing I want to do in this conversation is listen. I want to hear what others have to say on this matter. I recognize that others may not share my perspective. My goal is to be swift to hear, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. I welcome your feedback and thoughts on these matters.

When most people hear the word “racism,” they hear racial resentment, animosity, or hatred. The problem is that we can have prejudice and injustice toward other people without a feeling of conscience hatred. This can occur when we do not positively value others, listen to them, and connect with them.

There’s nothing wrong with loving those closest to us or those who are a part of our own groups. This rooted in the God-given connection to our family. We should take special care of those closest to us. As the Apostle Paul said, “Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Tim. 5:8).

The trouble is that this allegiance exceeds its bounds. Our groups get an allegiance that they don’t deserve, and other groups receive a contempt that they do not deserve. This tendency is captured well by Jesus who said, “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?” (Matthew 5:46–47). Continue reading “A Theological Framework for Processing Racism”

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Wisdom from Niebuhr: A Theology of Social Action (Long Version)

Introduction

Why should anyone care about Reinhold Niebuhr (1892–1971, not to be confused with his brother, H. Richard)? For any Christian who desires to be involved in social problems, Reinhold Niebuhr provides a unique perspective that challenges our complacency and provides great wisdom on how and how not to engage in society. Niebuhr explains Christian theology in a way that challenges everyone to seek after greater justice and love. At the same time, his teaching encourages great humility in our endeavors because of the universal taint of every endeavor with our own sinfulness and pride.

Reinhold Niebuhr was certainly a theologian, but he was a theologian who was always interested in social problems. He wanted to apply his theology to the world for his own political activity and the instruction of others. In that way, his theology is unique because it is so oriented toward social problems without being triumphalistic or partisan. On the other side, his analysis of social problems is unique because of his theological perspective.

[Note: Read a shorter version of this article here]

Niebuhr’s Thesis: Man’s Nature Limits Society’s Possibilities
Niebuhr’s basic idea is deceptively simple: human beings are what they are. For Niebuhr, this means that human beings are free and creative but also beset by anxiety over their limitations and tempted to an egotism or pride that claims status and prerogatives far above what is their due. Of course, human beings often do not claim to do this. They deny it, even to themselves. So, there is always a measure of self-deception in their actions. Niebuhr explains that in spite of the new situations of the modern era, the self has not fundamentally changed. He says: Continue reading “Wisdom from Niebuhr: A Theology of Social Action (Long Version)”

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