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Open Theism Discussion Board > Public Forums > Tearing down walls > (No Subject)
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markporter
Fire over Oxford
Date Joined Oct 2003
Total Posts : 263
| Posted 3/11/2007 1:43 PM (GMT -6) |   | I've been trying to think this one through, and I keep stumbling. I'm not sure even where to begin framing the question. The logic of the cross, in a way, makes sense - God was giving to us something we desparately needed, in the hour of our deepest need, and I'm used to that - it makes sense to give to other people when they need it, to even things up, to put things right. Theologians tend to go beyond this, though, the cross was about more than putting something wrong right, it was about the nature of Love. Love, they say, is about self-giving to the other. What does this mean? And how does it tie in with the idea of private property? Is the only real ultimate goal some kind of communism, in which everything we have has been shared and given, out of love, to and for everyone else? Or are there other ways it might work? Other people, perhaps, being drawn up within our own existence and sharing in the lives we live and the things we own, though still very much as ours first and foremost? But then...what about gifts and presents, they don't seem to quite fit into either category....What about God's gift to us of existence - this is an interesting one, in that the Bible seems to maintain that we are still his in some sense because he made us - our ownership is one which is subsumed under his (I'm still trying to think how this one works out with the parents thing...).
There, a splurge of thoughts to explore, does anyone have anything to say?
[edit]
One other thing to add might be whether this has some relation to the idea of a 'group' and 'group identity'Post Edited (markporter) : 3/11/2007 2:01:19 PM (GMT-5) | | Back to Top | | |
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Sahid
Megistered Rember
Date Joined Jun 2004
Total Posts : 2013
| Posted 3/14/2007 1:46 PM (GMT -6) | | The two cents of a Christian 'anarchist':
"The earth is the LORD's, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it." To begin with, all creation is the Lord's. Lucky for us, he has created us in his image and treated us with righteousness and compassion. Therefore, he puts his creation under our care. Although sermons on stewardship are usually some of the more boring and unimaginative ones, I have a lot of respect for the metaphor. Godly people should respect the private property rights of others; it's just that God is the only one with any such rights.
Up to this point nothing I've said is specifically Christian.
Jesus' life, death, resurrection, and appearances demonstrate for those who have eyes to see that which has been often overlooked in God from the beginning: God's love is sacrificial. For a long time and even for many people today there has been the idea that unworthy humans must make sacrifice to God (or have God make sacrifice for them) in order for it to be uninsulting enough for God to condescend to our level and offer help, grace, salvation, or what have you. This viewpoint is entirely backwards. God patiently bore with such attempts at religion and even worked powerfully within this perverse system. The relationship between God and man and the role of sacrifice within that relationship is described correctly above. What is backwards are the characters. It is not we who sacrifice to appease God. It is God who sacrifices to appease us. We are the angry "deity" to whom a despised God must offer his firstfruits in order to have reconciliation. Check the story of the fall. Look at Israel in the wilderness. Read the prophets, especially Jeremiah and Hosea. Who is sacrificing to whom? Who is seeking the love of whom? The owner of the vineyard sends messenger after messenger and finally sends his own son.
How does this play out in the ethics of the believing Church? First of all we see ourselves as stewards of much and owners of nothing. When others claim ownership, we condescendingly and humbly submit to their demands and even give them more than they ask like Jesus taught us to do. But priority is given to the truth which we confess: that Jesus is Lord. When they demand that we renounce this claim or act in a way that amounts to the same, then we politely refuse. We are the body of Christ. We are in Christ. His work is ours. We offer our help and our love to a rebellious world. And if they demand that we offer them expiation which they do not deserve, we freely give it.
Now that we are one with the Son as he is one with the Father, now that we are the body of Christ, now that we are the ones choosen to bless the nations, we live as followers of Jesus. We follow him. We sacrifice to those who have made themselves false gods in the hope that the Spirit will speak though our actions.
Sorry for the melodrama. I was due for one like that.
Watch me fly. Freedom like wings and I will use them. Freedom like wings and I will spread them wide. - Stavesacre | | Back to Top | | |
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