A Rose By Any Other Name

I keep hearing that marriage is under attack; you know who the culprits are.

But I just can’t get too excited about it. I don’t believe it’s so. The revolution is over; society is just institutionalizing the new reality. It seems to me that traditional marriage was usurped decades ago with the abandonment of the following three realities:

1-The institution of marriage is society’s means of protecting its continued existence through the bearing and rearing of children*; this institutional end is likely different from the many individual motivations for entering into the institution of marriage.

2-There is only one type of sexuality, and that is a broken one; odd sexual desire does not disqualify for marriage, nor render a marriage a sham.

3-Marriage is fundamentally covenantal, not erotic; it is not for the expression of sexuality, but requires its restraint; Eros can be a wonderful part of a marriage, but is not justification for entering into a marriage, nor for renouncing an existing marriage.

In place of the inherited three points, Liberals and Conservatives, Evangelicals and Atheists affirm by their lives, aspirations and choices that…

1- The institution of Marriage is for the purpose of individual happiness, growth and the expression of sexuality with another human being; children are tangential to the institution of marriage, and best when chosen

2-Individual identity is innately tied to whether one is sexually attracted to the opposite sex, the same sex or both sexes.

3- The relationships that spring from Romantic love are the most valuable, precious, powerful and self-justifying of any of life’s ends.

The last two innovations depend on the first. The key is our attitude towards children. The current marriage controversy is only one consequence of that change in attitude.

—————–

* ‘The form of the institution of marriage protects the unity of biological (genetic and gestational), social, and legal parenthood. It protects the interests of both men and women in the raising of the next generation. It protects the norm and ideal of children being raised by their biological mother and father. It protects the norm and ideal of children only having two parents, and not additional step-parents, surrogate or egg donor mothers, and sperm donor fathers, for instance. It protects the norm and ideal of a unifying and loving bond between a child’s progenitors, a bond within which they have a secure foundation for their identity. It protects children from having a divided patrimony. It protects bonds of blood that connect siblings to their progenitors, siblings, and extended families, giving them identity and kinship.’

From Alastair’s helpful post: The Institution of Marriage, Same-Sex Unions, and Procreation

 

Marriage and People- Not What They Used To Be

I’ve often thought that ‘marriage’ as traditionally understood is a lost cause- not because it is likely to be extended to same sex couples, but rather because everyone (Christians included) seems to agree about the validity of the concept of sexual identity (whether hetero, homo, or otherwise) and the idea that marriage is most fundamentally about sexual expression with the ‘one true love’ of the West’s Romantic Myth.

That battle was lost decades ago, but few seem to know it. Most are arguing over orifices, not marriage.

This is clear from the current confusion regarding the central place of procreation within the institution of marriage. Without denying that there might be a ‘thoughtful embrace,’ I think this is a result of our thoughtless embrace of certain technologies. Our capabilities have hidden the most fundamental of realities from us, and we are vulnerable and foolish for it.

Wendell Berry has written about the connection between our attitudes about our bodies and the land. Like the food we buy off the shelves of the local supermarket, we’ve forgotten where the next generation really comes from, and the need to protect it.

JohnH has a helpful post on Marriage and Procreation.

Alastair has a typically uber-helpful discussion on marriage as an institution.

 

Blessed Ascension Day!

God’s intent was to perfectly rule heaven and earth through the men and women that he created in his image. This is the nature of his kingdom, and that is our vocational end as human beings; and despite our individual and corporate rebellion, failure, cowardice and selfishness; despite our captivity to death, in Mary’s son, he finally accomplished that purpose.

Today a man sits on the throne of the universe- our brother.

Blessed Ascension Day to each of you!

 

Holy Saturday, Hellboy and the Damning of Death- a Repost

It’s early. Everyone else (with the exception of Sandi, of course) is still asleep. It’s that odd day sandwiched between the cross of Good Friday and the empty tomb of Easter morning. Holy Saturday has arrived. And this year, it’s come with a hard freeze.

It seems appropriate, somehow. The bed feels so warm. It’s hard to get up; ought to just snuggle back in and…sleep… for a little while… longer. It’s as if our Lord has reached down through the weather and added his own personal ornament to this tree of celebration we call Holy Saturday. Our lord is dead- sleeping in a bed of stone. It’s the Sabbath, the day of rest, the last day of the week- the last day of existence for the old cursed creation. In the morning death will die, but she doesn’t know it yet. Already, the righteous poison is working its way through her system, but she is unaware.

There’s a scene at the end of the movie HellBoy, which reminds me of what our God was up to on these three precious days over two thousand years ago. Hellboy is facing Behemoth, a huge demonic being. To look at them, the battle is hopeless. Behemoth is huge, and mean and powerful. Hellboy is all of these things, but not when scaled against his opponent. When they battle, our hero appears small and weak. Finally, the inevitable happens. Behemoth swallows the small opponent- not even needing to chew. That was yesterday- Good Friday. Death devoured our Savior and champion.

The beast belches in satisfaction- sitting back on its wormlike haunches, but for those who have ears to hear a high pitched whine can be heard. Hellboy has activated the grenades he strapped to his body before purposefully provoking the beast. For those who understand, things have just taken a drastic turn. That’s today- Holy Saturday. Death has taken He-who-has-life-within-Himself…He who is life itself, into its belly.

With sudden realization, a troubled expression passes for the shortest of moments across the “face” of the behemoth before the demon explodes from the very heart of its own belly. That will be tomorrow- Easter morning. Death’s carcass will lie gaping and defeated for all creation to see.

The icon of the resurrection makes all of this perfectly clear. Christ is standing on the burst gates of death and hell- helping those who have been held in its grasp to their feet. He has descended into hell. He died as fully as any man or woman has ever died. His solidarity with us is complete. This, the incarnation made possible. God cannot die, but creatures can. Those who receive life as a gift can be forced to give it up. And so death made claim on this man- just as he does on every man and woman that Christ came to save. But this particular morsel was indivisibly and inseparably united to Life itself. Death had taken its own destruction into its own heart. Death was destroyed by death. That is the message of Holy Saturday. Our sorrow is not replaced. Our sorrow is transformed.

I need to get up and moving. Last night’s Good Friday Service is still heavy on my heart. We left him in the tomb. We left the darkened sanctuary sorrowful and silent.

It is what it is: Our Savior is among the dead.

But sometime, later in the morning my heart will begin to sing. An epiphany will begin to work its solace through my consciousness. Death has swallowed unending and unconquerable life. Damned death is surely damned.

It is what it is: Our savior is among the dead. Hallelujah!

Now, we just have to wait for the bang….

 

The Bees Are Back

The Roman church has returned the bees to their rightful place. Easter is Coming!

This is the night of which it is written:
The night shall be as bright as day, dazzling is the night for me,
and full of gladness.
The sanctifying power of this night dispels all wickedness,
washes faults away, restores innocence to the fallen, and joy to mourners,
drives out hatred, fosters concord, and brings down the mighty.
On this, your night of grace, O holy Father,
accept this candle, a solemn offering,
the work of bees and of your servants’ hands,
an evening sacrifice of praise, this gift from your most holy Church.But now we know the praises of this pillar,
which glowing fire ignites for God’s honour,
a fire into many flames divided,
yet never dimmed by sharing of its light,
for it is fed by melting wax,
drawn out by mother bees to build a torch so precious.

 

Market Economies vs Market Societies

…some of the good things in life are degraded if turned into commodities. So to decide where the market belongs, and where it should be kept at a distance, we have to decide how to value the goods in question—health, education, family life, nature, art, civic duties, and so on. These are moral and political questions, not merely economic ones. To resolve them, we have to debate, case by case, the moral meaning of these goods, and the proper way of valuing them.

This is a debate we didn’t have during the era of market triumphalism. As a result, without quite realizing it—without ever deciding to do so—we drifted from having a market economy to being a market society.

The difference is this: A market economy is a tool—a valuable and effective tool—for organizing productive activity. A market society is a way of life in which market values seep into every aspect of human endeavor. It’s a place where social relations are made over in the image of the market

Michael J Sandel- What Isn’t for Sale?

 

Faithfulness Beyond Instruction

More good stuff from Dr. Kirk on the need for a converted imagination: Faithfulness Beyond Instruction

 

You Must Be Born Again- A Rethinking

I’ve been thinking about John 3 over the last couple of days. I don’t think Jesus was talking about what Protestants have come to call the ‘regeneration’ of an individual.

He was speaking to a ruler and teacher of Israel about Israel, and he chastised Nicodemus for not knowing what he was talking about, but-

There is nothing like the reformed conception of regeneration by the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. In fact, the work of the Spirit is limited to only some of God’s people, and-

The only place where water and Spirit are mentioned together in the Old Testament is in regards to Israel’s prophesied restoration in Is. 44:1-4 and Ezek. 36:22-27, Ezek. 36:3-35; Ezek. 37:1-14

Nicodemus ought to have been aware of this major theme- probably the theme in the mind of Jews at the time.

Jesus wasn’t speaking about a timeless (and hitherto unknown) Order of Salvation, but of a specific historical event in the life of Israel.

If you’re interested, more here: The Eschatology of Being Born Again

It also seems to me that the flow of the conversation is discounted. Nicodemus speaks of Christ who then answers with a discussion of the Ordo Salutis. That seems a bit odd. It seems more likely to me that Joel Garver had it right when he wrote:

‘Jesus’ speech to Nicodemus points first to his own person as the one preeminently born from above, descending from heaven as the Father’s Son, born of water and Spirit in John’s baptism, receiving the Spirit without measure in that baptism, and who, born of the Spirit, comes mysteriously as the wind. Jesus, after all, speaks only of what he himself knows and has seen (Jn 3:11) and, as Jesus goes on to say, all who desire eternal life—the life of those born from above—must look to the Son of God in faith, thereby finding in him the power to become sons of God (Jn 3:11-21; 1:12-13)’

So Nicodemus is speaking of Christ; Christ continues that conversation about himself, and extends it to Nicodemus (a ruler of Israel) and then the people over whom he rules (plural ‘you’), and then amazingly to the whole world.

Let me try an extended paraphrase. This is how I understand the passage… at the moment, anyway:

***

Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews.  This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from above, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”

‘You’re right’, Jesus said. ‘I come from God; for no one can see that God is now making the world right unless he is born from above.’

‘This world made right?…how can these things really be undone…. How can a person start over when he is old. Can history be undone?  Can the clock be wound back? Can he crawl back into his mother and be born a second time?’ the Pharisee asked.

‘Yes, that’s exactly what is happening through me. The clock is being reset- not though a denial of history and history’s dead end, but by the Spirit-of-the-Age-to-Come’s invasion into history. You saw God’s affirmation in my baptism, when I was anointed with Spirit and Water. The New Age is at hand- just as God promised through his prophets. Israel’s dead bones are being brought to life by the Spirit of God. God will sprinkle clean water upon his ancient people, and wash away there iniquity. The exile is over, Nick:

“Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. … Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them…. The hand of the LORD came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

So I answered, “O Lord GOD, You know.”

Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath [or “spirit” throughout this passage] to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the LORD….

… Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it,” says the LORD.’” (Ezek. 36:22-27, 33-35; 37:1-14)

‘Look around. Can this really happen?’ Nicodemus asked.

‘You’re right; things are bad indeed when a teacher of Israel doesn’t believe in the power of God’s spirit’

‘But,’ Jesus continued, ‘you’ve come to me acknowledging that I am born from above. I’m telling you that God is bringing all of this to pass, and yet though you (by your own admission) have seen it, you don’t believe it. If I tell you things which you ought to already know, and have seen with your own eyes and you don’t believe, then how will you believe what I know, but which hasn’t yet been revealed? The Messiah- the one who will bring all of this to pass- has come from heaven indeed- you have no idea, Nick, and just as Moses lifted up the serpent for the salvation of his people, so will his law lift me up, and anyone who believes that I am the Messiah, will participate in the New Creation of the Age to Come.

It’s true, Nick. The time is here. God isn’t moving to condemn the world. He is making a new beginning for everyone. He is making all things new- not only for you and Israel, but all people- the entire cosmos will be born again by looking to me- the one born from above. Choose Nick, do you love light or darkness; your choice is you’re verdict. Do you believe in me- in what God is doing through me?’

 

Christologies High and Low

Recently found this helpful post from Dr. Kirk in which he explains that an assumed High Christological reading often devolves into a Gnostic Christological reading.

Read it here: Christologies High and Low

 

Narrative Theology Distinguished From Biblical Theology

Dr. Kirk discusses the difference between Biblical Theology and Narrative Theology in this post:

Narrative Theology also stands over against the notion of biblical theology enshrined in Gabler‘s famous “On the Correct Distinction Between Dogmatic and Biblical Theology and the Right Definition of Their Goals.”

Gabler suggested that the job of biblical studies was to distill the truths from the Bible, to be handed over to the systematicians for proper and logical ordering. Such a vision holds onto what Narrative Theology will always deem a mistake: thinking that “systematic theology” is the real thing, whereas biblical theology is a road on the way to theology’s completion.