The Distinctiveness of Christianity

World as Gift

David Bentley Hart explains why God's transcendence over the creation and His immanence within it makes all the difference in the world.  This is one reason why the Christian religion is not one religion amongst a smorgasbord of  faiths, but the One True Faith before which all other religions are idolatrous perversions of the truth.

Christian thought taught that the world was entirely God's creature, called from nothingness, not out of any need on his part, but by grace; and that the God who is Trinity required nothing to add to his fellowship, bounty, or joy, but created out of love alone.

In a sense, God and world were both set free: God was now understood as fully transcendent of--and therefore immanent within--the created order, and the world was now understood entirely as gift.

The Greatest Wonder of the Creation

Alexander Tsiaras: Conception to birth -- visualized

This from The Blaze:

Alexander Tsiaras, an image-maker and the author of the book “From Conception to Birth: A Life Unfolds,” gave a recently-published TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) talk, during which he unveiled a spectacular video about fetal development.

Alexander Tsiaras's book, "From Conception to Birth: A Life Unfolds"

The video, which graphically shows the process of human progression, begins by showing an egg being fertilized and ends by illustrating a baby’s actual birth. Throughout the clip, viewers see the full fetal development, with explanations about what, exactly, is happening at each phase. But the imagery is spellbinding.

Earthy Religion

The Human Body Reflects God's Image

The Scriptures declare in Genesis that man is made in the image of God. This is the definitive biblical distinction between man and all other creatures.  No other creature is so denoted by God.

There has been a good deal of reflection on what, in turn, being in God's image denotes precisely.  A common view is that man alone of all creatures has a soul, a personal identity or subsistence which enables him to commune and fellowship with God--whether in the body or out of the body.  This is something which dogs, for instance, do not have--although metaphorically the poets in the Psalms speak of animals crying out to God for their food.   Others have zeroed in on man's rational faculty: the fact that man can reason is why he is said to be in God's image.  Others still have pointed to language and the ability to communicate.  

The idea underlying all these possibilities is that man can lay aside his physical body at will, and retain his identity as being in God's image.  A second implication is that man is not unique in bearing the image of God--for all of these characteristics are shared with angels--who, along with man--commune with God, reason, think, argue, debate, and communicate.

This view of the "image of God", however, is a view which traditional and classical Jewish exposition has rejected.

Meditation on the Text of the Week

Unquenchable Hope

Truly, truly I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father.
John 14:12

Unbelievers often have a deep optimism and positive outlook for the future. Sometimes this manifests itself in quixotic ways. William Faulkner believed human beings to be wretched and evil. He wrote constantly of human depravity and the darkness of the soul. His portrayals of “white trash” in Yoknapatawpha County are depressing—although doubtless realistic and accurate. One of the aspects of his fictional world that is most compelling is how evil and degeneracy continues successively down through generations. Part of the power of his writing is the tracing of intergenerational evil.

Once when Faulkner was enduring one of his hated, fiscally enforced sojourns in Hollywood as a screenwriter he was present at an informal social group discussing his writing. One of his companions said, “Bill I get the impression [from your novels] that you don't much like Jews.” Faulkner looked at him with is famous piercing eyes, and growled, “I don't. I don't like Gentiles, neither.”

Yet, at the same time, inexplicably, Faulkner believed that eventually man would triumph and would overcome—in a moral and ethical sense.
He would rise to nobility. He was not a Christian believer—in fact, although steeped in Christian symbolism and its conceptual frame, he was a materialist, believing that nothing survived the grave. Yet, towards the latter part of his life he gave speech after speech seeking to encourage his auditors of the eventual triumph of humanity in man.

Men cannot continue in life in despair. Unbelief has to manufacture a positive future in order for the human heart to abide in life. Evolutionists are a classic example of the “genre” as it were. Confronted with real “in-your-face” depravity on every side, they continue to insist that mankind is evolving upwards—ever upwards. Like Faulkner, they cling to the vanity that although evil undoubtedly exists everywhere, in the end . . . .

One of the most hellish aspects of Hell will surely be the expiration of all false hopes and the reality of an eternity of never-ending despair. Having spurned God, sinful unredeemed humanity will face the bitter truth about man and his overlord, the Devil. With every last vestige of God's restraining grace removed, an eternity of unremitting total depravity is all that remains. Escape through suicide is not an option.

The Son of Man alone brings hope. He alone not only gives the prospect of hope, but has established the certain ground upon which hope can flame up and never die. The apostles were to live through one of the greatest conflagrations ever seen in human history, focused and limited to the crucible of Judea. In their lifetimes most would witness, if not live through, the awful extirpation of Israel under the Romans. Yet they were to remain filled with unquenchable hope that looked to the future with hope and joy.

The fundamental reason lies in our text. In the presence of our Lord on earth, their eyes had been opened to see unbelievable works of power, grace, mercy and redemption. As Jesus commanded or stretched forth His hand, they saw the curse of sin lifting as the blind saw, the lame walked, the demon-possessed were liberated, and unbelievers were converted. But this were just signs, just foretastes of what was to come.

Those who believed would do even greater works. How? Because Jesus was departing and going to the Father. From the right hand of God, He would pour forth the Spirit of God—the Helper—upon the Church, upon the people of the New Covenant. The work of the Spirit is to recreate into the fabric of the human soul, body, life, community, culture and creation itself the image of the Christ. This incarnated image of the heavenly and exalted Son of Man is to be extended over all the nations of the earth. This is the essence of the “greater works” that yet will be done by His followers. These things will undoubtedly and assuredly occur. Why? Because our Lord has ascended to the Father, and the Spirit of God Himself has been poured out as our Helper. None can stay His hand.

Faulkner represents a sad and tragic caricature of true hope. We, like Faulkner, do not obscure nor romanticize human depravity and sinfulness. But unlike him, we do not yaw back and forth between despair and irrational hope. We know that once, long ago, the dead really were raised. The lame really did stand up and begin to leap about. We know that at Jesus' hand, the blind really did see. Because of these things, and because our Lord has gone to the Father, because the Spirit has fallen like rain from heaven redeemed, regenerated mankind will overcome and triumph in the earth. We know that our works of faith, our service, our labours in the Lord are all working to transform our fallen world, removing its curse. It is all part of the greater works that are now being done on every continent, in every nation. None of it is in vain (I Corinthians 15:57,58).

And all those who have gone before in faith, in Christ will eventually return, and enter into the coruscating joy of the world renewed by our Saviour.

As We Think, So We Become

In Government We Trust

One of the strongest evidences of a consistent, constant and common human nature is science and fantasy fiction. Science fiction authors and writers of fantasy have the luxury of creating imaginary worlds, parallel universes, and realms where natural laws do not necessarily apply. Yet these works of fiction inescapably revolve around the fundamental themes of human existence and human nature.

The same themes dominate in these literary genres as in all other literature, philosophy, religions and history. The authors, even in creating these fantastical worlds where “normal” existence is suspended, cannot escape the impress of their own human nature on their work. They speak of the struggle of good against evil; the influence of pride, anger, envy, love, and fidelity; the meaning and significance of life; the reality of time and space, and so forth.

Human nature also impresses itself upon and into history in a way that is remorseless and inescapable. We cannot create histories or societies other than what we are. In the end, truth will out. For long periods of time, however, we can have a good go at it. When a culture or civilisation adopts an inaccurate or distorted view of man and human nature, society itself—its laws, government, institutions, and culture become likewise distorted and perverted. As Emil Brunner put it:

History shows us to how great an extent man's understanding of himself—even when conscious and explicit—actually influences and shapes society. Thus, the Stoic view of man influenced Roman law, and through that whole development of law in Europe, right down to Rousseau's Contract Social and the ideas of the French Revolution,and beyond that to modern Socialism and Communism.

Thus, too, the civilisation of China is—or was—dominated by the classic ideals of filial piety and fraternal subordination created by the great teachers of antiquity . . . . What a rigid form has been stamped upon Indian society, and indeed upon the life of India as a whole, by the religious doctrine of man standardized in the Code of Manu! Finally, how firmly the Christian view of man, in spite of all the forces ranged against it both inside and outside the Church, has been imprinted upon the peoples of Europe.

These are only a few examples which show how a definite view of human existence—whether it be empirical or ideal—is able to determine historical reality for thousands of years and indeed has actually done so.
Emil Brunner, Man in Revolt (London: Lutterworth Press, 1939), pp. 32,33.

The prevailing view of human nature at any one time dominates and shapes culture and society. As we think ourselves to be, so we become.

Athens is no exception. The world of Unbelief is identified by a common—universally held—view of man. For the past three hundred years it has shaped Western civilisation. How long it will continue, only the Lord knows. This view of man is everywhere present; it has insinuated itself into every fabric, every thread, every warp and woof of Western society. It has comprehensively shaped human discourse, enterprise, and effort. It holds sway in the Academy. It pervades the halls of justice. It shapes every legislative programme.

Everyone in Athens universally believes that man is fundamentally righteous. Now, clearly Athens believes in the existence of evil; it hastens to interdict crime, violence, and rapine; it is aware of immoral human acts of envy, greed, dishonesty and so forth. But Athens universally believes that all these evil thoughts, words, and deeds are extrinsic to human nature itself; they are caused by forces and influences which come from outside man and seduce him to the Dark Side. Therefore, the fundamental duty of an enlightened society is to remove and obliterate those extrinsic forces which lead men to act contrary to their true natures and move them to evil. As these influences are removed, intrinsic human righteousness will burst forth and greater progress will be made, greater perfection achieved.

The universal mantra of Athens is that if you engineer the right environment and circumstances, men will do the right thing. Thus, to remove crime we need to wage war on poverty. Remove poverty and crime will stop. To prevent hatred and social discord we need to put children into the right educational environment. Educate them properly and peace and harmony will break out. When people commit crimes they need to be put into an environment and under appropriate influences that will ensure their rehabilitation. To progress society, to build it, to enhance it, and to perfect it the Athenian believes that someone, or something must create the right environment and then the innate goodness of all men will shine forth.

The only institution big enough and powerful enough to mould comprehensively our environment is the State. So, it turns out that the Athenian doctrine of man leads inexorably to an ever expanding government. If man is intrinsically good, governments must also be intrinsically good. Governments can therefore be trusted with power. “In Government We Trust” is the universally held dogma of Athens. If society is to progress, Government must create the right environment. Every perceived problem in Athens leads to more and more government. Political parties can only get elected if they promise more of the same.

Within Athens, because of this ubiquitous view of human goodness, all values and ethics get filtered and re-interpreted so as to conform accordingly. Thus freedom once meant protecting people from arbitrary and tyrannical powers of government. Now it means being forced to live in an environment without negative influences or conditioning. Justice once meant getting one's deserts, whether good or bad. Now it means a right to live in a community where all deleterious influences are removed. All of these re-interpretations are a direct consequence of believing that human beings are intrinsically good. All of these re-interpretations call forth Leviathan—a rapidly growing and expanding slithering, reptilian government, a Hydra of a thousand heads, each biting and gorging.

Contrast the Athenian view with that of the Founding Fathers of the United States—who, in establishing that country, were far more influenced by Christian truths about man. The pervasive view of human nature at that time was that man was intrinsically evil and could not be trusted to do the right thing. The Founding Fathers knew themselves and therefore did not trust themselves to govern. Nor did they trust anyone else. Therefore, governments in particular were inherently dangerous. All government must be controlled, limited, checked and balanced. All government must be subject to a higher law. Government must be subject to God, and evil human nature must be prevented from corrupting it.

But today Athens marches to the beat of a very different drummer. Because all men are intrinsically good, government can be trusted. Extending the powers of government is both natural and right. “In Government We Trust” is part of the Athenian confession of faith. Someone will object that governments in Athens are controlled and checked by the people. Governments are limited by the vote. But this is farcical. Because all Athenians believe in the intrinsic goodness of men and therefore of their governments, the only influence the people have upon government power is to demand still more. "What do you want from us?" say our modern Pilates. "More" the crowd shouts back. "More what?" ask our politicians. "More government" bellow back the people. Behind all this lies the deepest religious dogma of all—the intrinsic goodness of men.

This dogma, more than any other, has shaped the modern world. It will continue to do so until the Spirit of God falls once again upon our pagan lands.