credo ut intelligam – “I believe in order to understand” – St. Augustine
The purpose of this site has changed from its initial intent. It is now a place for writing, which may or may not have to do with my religious perspective. All the former purposes are still in effect, but no longer are they limiting factors. Hmm, Christ, a limiting factor . . . perhaps we’ll have to explore that one in the future. Point: life is full of meaning, but sometimes that meaning is hidden, obscure, mysterious, or not that interesting. So I will write, and you can read and write back, and maybe the world will be a better place. Or not.
*The initial purpose*
This site is dedicated to understanding the world in which we live through belief in Jesus Christ. Rather than trying to find confidence in beliefs by collecting as much data as possible to warrant such beliefs (an impossible task), we start with a foundation, that being Christ, the Word made flesh. This is a first and tentative attempt at explaining these beliefs which (hopefully) lead to understanding.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The process by which this occurred will be left out at present, for it seems irrelevant to the task at hand. Suffice it to say, God created human beings especially, in his own image, thus seemingly intending an intimate relationship between himself and humans.
However, something went wrong. Humans chose to break this relationship between themselves and God and consequently the world was corrupted. Even for those who don’t buy the God-created-the-world thing, it is fairly easy to see that the world is in some way “not as it should be”, being overrun with violence, disease and death. Or, if any kind of purpose or intent for the world is too difficult to stomach, something about the way the world currently is sucks, and could be better.
It seems that humans are incapable of completely righting this wrong, fixing what has been broken, making things better to an acceptable degree. God has stepped in to solve this problem, becoming himself human as Jesus Christ, bridging this divide between humans and God, between this broken world and the world as it should be. In effect, the Creator has returned to re-create that which has been corrupted. Yet he doesn’t scrap what’s left over; rather he works with what he has, transforming it into what it should be. This is demonstrated in his life, particularly in his healing of those with physical ailments, turning the diseased and disfigured into the healthy and whole.
However, Jesus fixes something deeper, more fundamental to humanity’s plight – sin. Sin is that which separates us from God. If God is good, or even if he is merely the one who created things with an intent of how they should operate together, separation from him is not good. Humans seem incapable of solving the problem, so God steps in to help. But it seems this condition of sin is a thoroughly systemic problem. The result of sin is death. This makes sense in the context of God as creator, as the source of life, of being itself, so that separation from God is equivalent to absence of life.
Yet the form of God’s help is unexpected. Rather than descending from heaven, vanquishing the enemy in a sudden, powerful, violent battle, God became a vulnerable infant, identifying with his creation. Throughout his life he demonstrates how to live in this world: living in humble and sacrificial servitude to God and to humanity. And then he does something perhaps even more unthinkable than becoming human: he allows himself to be killed, brutally executed by those he came to save. In this incredible moment he bore the sins of the world, all the things that separate humans from God, and took them to the grave. This act makes possible our reconciliation with God.
The story is not yet over. God could not be held by death. He rose from the dead, being the first of many to be resurrected. Those who follow him, who live by his example, strive to fulfill his teaching, and trust in him to carry them through will also be among the resurrected. The resurrection is the climax of re-creation. But re-created life begins now in following Christ. It is a long process, not an instantaneous transformation.
To summarize:
1. God created the world
2. Something went wrong
3. God becomes human to save the world and demonstrates how to live
4. God dies with humanity’s sins, erasing humanity’s separation from God
5. God rises from the dead, revealing the new life to be had in him
6. We follow Christ as one body to be re-created, to be reconciled to God, and to carry this reconciliation to the whole world
This is lens through which I believe I see the world, or am coming to see the world. It is more and more becoming my foundation for understanding everything else in this world. This is not to say that this story itself is not to be critically examined; rather, it is something to stand on, a place to begin. I cannot claim to see perfectly through this lens. However, I strive to see in this manner more every day.
Your comments and criticism are more than welcome. We cannot accomplish or understand anything without diverse perspectives. *
Wow. That was heavy. Maybe because I’m no longer a dues-paying student I’ve realized that thinking in such ways is not always best.
