Glocal Christianity

Dead Babies Everywhere

Neoconservative family values?

"Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother and child." - George W Bush

Do they? My son is this age. I wouldn't wish this on any parent. Has the crucifixion of Jesus taught us nothing?

This is what CNN never shows you

Photo sourced via John Trott

YHWH as god of earth and sea

One criticism that has been leveled against Christianity fairly consistently by the earth religions is that YHWH is a sky god who distances himself from the earth.

It’s one of the glaring unpaid bills of the church that few Christians even try responding to this. Many from NeoCalvinist and Dispensationalist traditions would probably even agree with the charge! However, even when we have responded, emphasizing the immanence of God in nature, generally our responses have been highly theological – drawing on a few verses from Genesis and/or Psalms we’ve weaved dense intellectual arguments for YHWH as immanent creator of all creation. Rarely, however, have we interacted with this mythologically. I’ve been guilty of this myself.

Teaching my son, though, has reinforced for me the importance and power of narrative. At 3 years old he’s hardly going to remember a theological expose. If it’s going to be digestible, it’s got to be in story form. Yet, is it so much different for most adults – particularly those inclined towards retro-romanticism?

Normally we’re used to thinking about the biblical narratives as focused on the covenant, not creation; on humanity, not the ecosystem; and on a God of the clouds, not an earthy deity. It would seem we have little to draw on. No stories of nature cycles. No stories of YHWH as earth god or sea god which could balance out the popular image of him as sky god.

Or is there?

Looking at the narratives afresh, it is becoming more and more apparent to me that YHWH is constantly interacting with the gods of earth and sea as well as the sky, right throughout the Old and New Testament narratives.

Historians have previously noted that the plagues of Exodus could be read as a power encounter with the Egyptian gods (See here and here for variant synopses), that on a mythological level they can be read as a series of interactions with Hapi, Heqt, Geb, Khepfi, Apis, Thoth (Imhotep), Nut, Anubis, Ra and Osirus. What I am wondering about more and more though is why bracket that sort of realization to one book of the Bible? The Greeks and Romans were just as pagan as the Egyptians. How might the gentiles of the first century, Christian and non-Christian, have originally interpreted Jesus’ calming of the lake, of the shaking of the earth at his death, of his cursing of the fig tree? Could they not conceivably be viewed as power encounters with Poseidon and Zeus, Gaia and other fertility gods and goddesses? Is it so inconceivable ancient pagans may have seen it that way?

And what about the rising of Jesus from his earthen tomb? Revelations explicitly talks of resurrection as a power encounter with Hades, the Greek god of the underworld and brother of Zeus, that Jesus undermines the sovereignty of Hades in his own domain. Is it conceivable that we have de-paganized these narratives too readily, and that in this post-Christendom age we need to deconstruct our readings of these texts, allowing for the excluded middle zone of gods and goddesses?

When we come to the gods and goddesses appropriated by popular culture, such as Nike, the goddess of victory, and Morpheus, the god of dreams, consider how this might relate to the resurrection stories, of the counter cultural vindication of Jesus over and against pagan authorities, and with the exile stories, with Daniel’s mastery over dreams in his encounters with the Babylonian magi.

What we see in these narratives is YHWHs mastery of the energies of earth, sky and sea, a mastery of far greater scope and depth than that of Zeus, Posidon and Hades. In understanding the relationship between YHWH and the earth, I wonder whether we focused too myopically on YHWH as ‘Creator’ and the earth as ‘creation’? Should eco-theology be so narrowly conceived of as to label it ‘creation theology’? Shouldn’t we go well beyond the Genesis narrative for our eco-stories?

What begins to emerge for me is a new, more holistic cosmology. Instead of a two (or three) tiered medieval cosmology of unearthly God in conflict with an earthy Satan, what emerges is a God of earth, sky and sea through whom the entire cosmos will be renewed (new heaven, new earth) and before whom the lesser gods and goddesses, angels and demons, are relatively powerless. But what sort of power are we actually talking about? The paradoxical weakness of Jesus nailed to the cross! The power that dethrones the gods, goddesses and governors is found in the complete vulnerability of a Galilean peasant. There is a psychic and political potentiality in Jesus/God that transcends all archetypal energies in our psyches and social forces in the world around us. In the narratives of scripture we can see shadows of Gaia and Kronos bowing down to Jesus.

 

1200-year-old prayer book discovered in bog

This one should interest the celtophiles.

"An ancient prayer book found in an Irish bog is being hailed as one of Ireland's most significant archeological discoveries.

The National Museum of Ireland said fragments of what appeared to be an ancient Psalter or Book of Psalms, written about AD800, were uncovered by a bulldozer in a bog in the south Midlands.

"In discovery terms, this Irish equivalent to the Dead Sea Scrolls is being hailed by the museum's experts as the greatest find ever from a European bog," the museum said in a statement."

For more read here.

Golden Izmel Award

I might add that I shall be accepting further nominations for the Golden Izmel Award from the general public

Nominees will be rated according to belligerence, factual inaccuracy, cultural insensitivity, missiological/theological ignorance, demonic paranoia, visual offensiveness/poor graphic design, comment censorship, reliance on secondary sources and general offensiveness

Categories being considered are:

• Best dummy spit on an individual
• Best dummy spit on a Christian movement or tradition
• Best dummy spit on a non-Christian movement or tradition
• Best dummy spit on a practice
• Best dummy spit on an event
• Best retraction / foot-in-mouth incident

Southern Cross Magazine (the media arm of Sydney Anglicanism) is already being considered for (1) their article on the demonic nature of candle use and (2) their exposure on media watch over the naked surf ministry incident. The website www.yourgoingtohell.com is being considered as an all time favourite.

I am sure you can all think of others.

Days of the Dead

Well it seems my mate John Morehead has been coping flack for speaking at the Cornerstone Festival. Now a confirmed heretic. Woohoo.

Actually, it seems Slice of Laodicea have declared all the participants heretics and worked themelves into a quite a lather in the process. Yes, the Days of the Dead theme of Imaginarium sounds a bit out there, but what people need to examine more closely is the whys and the wherefores before jumping to conclusions. Unfortunately premature excitation seems to be a hallmark of Laodicea and symbolic illiteracy follows close behind. What I really find gob-smaking from an Aussie point of view is the tactics used by 'covert missionaries' who thought wrapping toilet paper round the tent was a cute form of apologetics. How juvinile.

Anyway, in honour of Slice of Laodicea's efforts Ive decided to nominate them for the Golden Izmel Award for blogs promoting gentile circumcision. I apologise to my non-Christian readers for the obscure in-house nature of this award, but it basically relates to a controversy in the early church over the wee matter of cultural imperialism, a matter which resulted in Paul (in frustration) telling some conservatives to slice their nasty bits off altogether and let gentile Christians be gentiles.

The izmel is the traditional Jewish implement for ritual circumcision so I think it's only apt that latter day cultural circumcisers be nominated it.

Readers may also be interested in a related thread on Tall Skinny Kiwi

Reading and Reflecting

I got my copy of Nevill Drury's "The History of Magic in the Modern Age" from Amazon the other day. Add that to Joseph Campbell's "Transformations of Myth Through Time" which I picked up at Megalong Books the other week and you can see I'm busy reading up on transformational stories and rituals in post-modern culture. More on that later.

God in the Noise

Slowly but surely I am starting to see God in the noise.

As a contemplative sort of guy I prefer to approach God in silence, in meditative solitude. I love the transfiguration story where the disciples of Jesus see his glory on a wild mountaintop. In my more wildly romantic moments I identify with the desert fathers and celtic monks and Christian sanyasins of the Indian missions. I love to chill in my places of solitude and listen for God's subtle voice.

But as a parent of a three year old and a one year old, with a busy career, that's sometimes a bit of a luxury. So, I've also been working on hearing God in the noise, in intertwining of  our life stories with the stories of the ancients, in seeing the image of God written in the faces of screaming babies and demanding stressed company workers.

Today it was my son, Daniel's, third birthday. Lot's of little ones running around everywhere. Noise, crys and smiles. And now, as the house has resumed some semblance of calm (yes, you guessed it, I'm the only one still awake) I thought I'd jot down a few stray thoughts.

Sometimes God is most clearly seen in the small things. In a few words, in a smile, in some simple actions. Today it was in four words, "I love you Daddy". Words to live for. In seeing how I am teaching my son to love, I am seeing glimpses of how God, my dad, is teaching me the same thing. I doesn't happen in a day. It happens over a long time, it happens in process.

Life has been hard lately, but it's also been joyous. I have been re-examining my heart, the callouses it has developed over time and letting God massage them away. Sometimes the process is ...well, let's just say it's difficult. But I can see the benefits, I can see the why. I find that at times I have been hiding, hiding from all sorts of pains and dissappointments, but that this hiding has had its own costs. Love requires vulnerability, love requires acceptance of risk and of pain. This is what God was at such pains to teach ancient Israel in our sacred stories. You can only teach love by being vulnerable yourself. God went to great lengths to show us that.

But in seeing my son grow into a lovely and loving young boy I think I get a sence of how God must feel when he touches us, when our hardened hearts melt towards him. A glimpse maybe. But one that I'll hold on to. Sometimes the noise of kids breaking the decebel meter can distract us from God, sometimes that's just where God is to be found.

The Amusement Index

I needed a good belly laugh and it seems Apologetics Index has come up with the goods.

This afternoon I was directed to an article by David Kowalski entitled "Appropriate Response to the Emerging Church Movement"  and the bemused remarks of Brother Maynard.  I wont try and top his response but I will add an additional point of bemusement over this comment:

"Some emergents distinguish between “the emergent church” and “the emerging church.” This seems to be an unnecessarily fine distinction that confuses those studying the movement from the outside. D. A. Carson uses “emergent” and “emerging” as synonyms, and it seems wise to follow his lead."

LOL. This is akin to saying the finer points of distinction between Paganism and Wicca are completely irrelevant and that it doesn’t matter what adherents say themselves, that counter-cultists should have veto over the language. So now we know - Emergent is whatever Carson says it is. Ooops Carson sounds post-modern!

Ahh, it is good to know that we're cutting edge heretics. Wouldn't want to be pedestrian ones would we now!

50 Most Influential Blogs

According to preliminary research by Bryian Murley, I am one of the 50 most influential emerging church bloggers.

Now I know my technorati rankings have been going up in recent months but this still comes as a surprise. I mean, I didn’t even think I was using technorati all that effectively, I don’t even tag the majority of my posts! I’ll be interested to see how the research pans out and what other surprise entries Bryan comes up with.

Celebrity Spirituality

The celebrity Kabbalah craze just keeps hitting them headlines. Here's some of the latest news and goss.

We've all heard that Deborra-Lee Furness is back in Australia with hubby Wolverine ... ahem, sorry ... Hugh Jackman for movie launches and whatnot. Well it seems while away she's developed an interest in Kabbalah amongst other things.

"She doesn't wear a red string bracelet on her wrist, but Deborra-Lee Furness has admitted exploring the teachings of Kaballah, the religion spruiked by celebrities such as Madonna.

Furness, who has happily settled back into Sydney life with hubby Hugh Jackman, has revealed her time living in the US prompted a curiosity about Kabbalah and Scientology.

Just when we thought Furness and Jackman were down-to-earth Aussies like the rest of us!

"I am interested in Buddhism, I will look at Kabbalah. I will look at Scientology. I am a curious woman and I am not going to just say, I don't believe in that," said Furness, during a candid interview with AAP reporter Jonathon Moran.

"So when I was in New York I had some girlfriends that were involved [in Kabbalah] and I read about it and it has a lot of good stuff to say. But I am not in a cult."

While Furness never became a fully fledged convert, she has regularly attended Kabbalah sessions."

For the original article see here.

But then I come across this. It seems there are rumours that kabbalah's most famous follower, Madonna is finding it's time for another image shift.

The pop world's most unusual partnership may be over. Madonna and Kabbalah, the once obscure sect she championed - and upon which she has lavished millions of dollars - appear to be on the verge of separation. Close friends say the singer has talked of loosening her red Kabbalah wristband and is wearying of the mystical Jewish belief system. She has decided to give it up, they say, having tired of the financial burden and the effect her strong beliefs have had on her relationship with husband Guy Ritchie.

Madonna is also said to be concerned that following Kabbalah separates her children from more conventional customs such as Christmas, which they do not currently celebrate.

Now a couple of questions arise for me at this point, not in terms of Madonna's practice but in terms of our own, that is, other Emerging Church bloggers. What are the unpaid bills of the church here? How can we interact more effectively and sensitively with devotes of kabbalah, qabala, etc, that we come across in our journey? What is good new for them? Are we coming across them in our journey or are they another post-modern demographic who are slipping under the radar of the church? And for those of us who are contemplatives, how can our practice be better informed by both the insights and problematic aspects of kabbalah so that is more robustly contextual?