Opus 2011-112, New Terms: Spirituality

Here is another word that is not really new but has a definition which is being changed.  The word “spirituality” is showing up frequently.  When I was growing up, to talk about someone’s spirituality would be to talk about how much they were in contact with Jesus.  They lived as if they were in contact with the Holy Spirit and were examples of righteousness.  Not so much any more.  The word has been coopted by the New Age religions and the Emergent Church. 

Spirituality today means being in contact with your inner person, your spiritual side.  It has nothing to do with an objective reality centered in God.  It is all about how you feel about being above the rat race.  It may involve some contact with spirits in seances or occult practices but that is just another example of how empowered you are.

Another term I am seeing related to this is “Spiritual Formation”.  Again, this could be interpreted to mean that you are growing in grace and wisdom under the direction of the Holy Spirit.  It could be a wonderful concept.  My fear is that it is a matter of setting aside the Bible and studying gurus from the past and other religions. 

We need to be careful when we see terms that sound good but can be used to deceive.  Discernment is called for.  Knowing the word is a necessity.  Don’t be seduced into paths that God has clearly marked as evil just because someone who seems really nice says it is the way to go.  Always use the Bible as your standard whether you are reading Wesley, Calvin, Augustine, Lucado, Bell, McClaren, Dawkins or Marx.  They have opinions.  It has truth.

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Opus 2011-111, Koran Klarifications: Gnostic Influences

Mohammed was illiterate.  That is a simple statement of fact.  This comes from Surah 7, verse 158, “...Therefore believe on God, and his Apostle-the unlettered Prophet-who believeth in God and his word. And follow him that ye may be guided aright.”

This was not uncommon in those days but keep in mind that he could not read things for himself, he could only repeat what he heard.  As a Christian, it seems that much of what he knew about the Bible he heard from local heretical sects.  Here we see the influence of the Gospel of Thomas.

“and he shall be an apostle to the children of Israel. "Now have I come," he will say, "to you with a sign from your Lord: Out of clay will I make for you, as it were, the figure of a bird: and I will breathe into it, and it shall become, by God's leave, a bird.20 And I will heal the blind, and the leper; and by God's leave will I quicken the dead; and I will tell you what ye eat, and what ye store up in your houses! Truly in this will be a sign for you, if ye are believers.”  Surah 3, “The Family of Imrhan,” verse 49

To an orthodox Christian, turning clay into birds is not in the spirit of the Bible.  In the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas Jesus turned some children into birds.  You can see the connection.  Most of his knowledge of the Christian Bible came from heretics.

There were also early heresies that denied the physical death of Jesus on the Cross.  We see that in this passage.

“And for their saying, ‘Verily we have slain the Messiah, Jesus the son of Mary, an Apostle of God.’ Yet they slew him not, and they crucified him not, but they had only his likeness.  And they who differed about him were in doubt concerning him: No sure knowledge had they about him, but followed only an opinion, and they did not really slay him, but God took him up to Himself. And God is Mighty, Wise!”  Surah 4, “Women,”  verse 157

Notice that is was His “likeness” that was crucified.

Of course heresy is in the eyes of the beholder.  If you are a Muslim and believe that Gabriel actually dictated this to Mohammed, that is not a problem.  It would just make the Gnostics right and orthodox Christians wrong.  I guess if you are a Muslim you figure the Christians are wrong anyway.

Keep in mind that Mohammed is having his visions around the year 610.  By this time the Christian church had worked through the debates on Gnosticism and rejected its positions.  In a sense the Muslim rejection of “Christianity” was consistent with Christianity’s rejection of these false teachings.  I guess that gives us something in common.

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Opus 2011-110, Heaven Is Outside the Box

How glorious will heaven be.  First, for those of you who are technical theologians, I understand that the word “heaven” is misused.  We will be resurrected in glorified bodies on a New Earth and walk the streets of a New Jerusalem.  We will not spend eternity floating around on clouds, playing harps and flapping our wings.  That picture is from cartoons not from the Bible.

But putting that aside, what will it be like.  I hate to cop out on you but it will be beyond our comprehension.  Start by thinking about the things we take for granted that the Roman Emperors would have sold a kingdom for.  Think about...toilet paper.  This is a modern invention.  Think of extensions of that:  Klennex, Handi-wipes, paper towels, feminine hygiene, the list goes on.  What about the simple zipper?  Think of the I-pod, let alone the computer.  This would all be magic to them and they are just extensions of human creativity. 

Most of us will never come up with anything like these.  Most of us will never have a really creative thought, if we are honest.  Or if we do we won’t remember what it was the next day.  Hold that thought.  Now, how do you expect to comprehend an experience that lasts for eternity and never gets boring, that gives access to the feet of Jesus and is constantly renewed by the glory of an infinitely creative God?

We don’t even have words to substitute for “glorious” when we try to describe heaven.  Get over it.  Some things you have to experience to experience.  Does that make sense?  In a sense, neither will heaven.  Someone once commented that if there is no sex in heaven, he didn’t want to go.  That is like a child saying that if the restaurant didn’t have Chicken McNuggets he didn’t want to go. 

I hope you join me.  It will be quite a ride.

homo unius libri

Opus 2011-109, Koran Klarifications: God Hates Sinners

What is God’s attitude toward those who are not believers?  In Christian thinking we have statements like John 3:16,

(John 3:16 KJV)  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Although God hates sin it is clear that He loves even those who reject Him.

The Koran has a different approach.  First a general statement. 

“Whoso is an enemy to God or his angels, or to Gabriel, or to Michael, shall have God as his enemy: for verily God is an enemy to the Infidels.”  Sura 2, “The Cow,” verse 98

At other places it gets even stronger.

“Let him who thinketh that God will not help His Apostle in this world and in the next, stretch a cord aloft as if to destroy himself; then let him cut it, and see whether his devices can bring that4 to nought at which he was angry!”  Surah 22, “The Pilgrimage,” verse 15

Notice that this is instructions for non-believers to kill themselves.  If you are a Christian, that means you.

All Koran quotes are from the translation by Rev. J.M. Rodwell, M.A. provided by the Gutenberg Project.

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Opus 2011-108, Headlines: Benefits for Public Employees

I have been reading a lot of hostility to public sector unions lately.  Since I am a teacher in a public school I am covered by that very broad brush.  One of the points of hostility is the health benefits we receive.  Health benefits are more than insurance.  In addition I get 10 paid sick leave days a year.  I can use up to seven of those for “personal necessity leave” (PNL).  I also get up to five days for jury service and three to five days of bereavement leave depending on where the funeral is held.  I have often taken these blessings for granted.

I began to get congested a couple of days ago and since it is hard to teach when you can’t talk without coughing or breathe without blowing your nose, I decided to take a few days off to recover.  When I was younger I would have just toughed it out.  As I age I don’t have the energy to do that, so I use my sick leave.  Sitting home drinking lemon laced tea I received a call from the secretary at our dentists office, telling my wife she could come earlier if she wanted.  She heard what I sounded like and we exchanged horror stories about what is going around.  I asked her if she had paid sick leave and she said, “No.”  I commiserated with her and commented on how much easier it was to take a day off when I still got paid.

That got me to thinking about all the people I have regular contact with who may have health insurance but still don’t have paid sick days.  This starts with anyone who runs there own business.  My dad was self employed.  If he did not work he made no money.  I can’t remember him ever staying home sick.  I think of our auto mechanic, our gardener, people of do work on our house and at the upper levels our doctors.  When work is not performed, profit is not generated.  Only large businesses and government can afford to pay people for not producing.  Having this benefit is truly a blessing.

This is often abused.  People call in sick when they want to go shopping or play golf.  I know some people who never accrue a day of sick leave.  When they can take a day, they suddenly develop an illness.  Others never take a day.  I began to ask myself if I would have taken the day off if I did not get paid.  Probably not.  I would not have done as well dealing with the students as if I were healthy.  I would have healed more slowly and possibly died sooner.  I would have spread more disease among the children.  I would have worked because I could not afford to stay home.

I would urge believers to remember the 10th Commandment.

(Exodus 20:17 KJV)  Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

Maybe Moses should have included things like health benefits and pensions.  Be careful of envy and covetousness.  Don’t let the elites who are trying to generate these feelings between people be successful.  There is another verse that speaks to me on this topic.  It is from the Love Chapter:

(1 Corinthians 13:6 KJV)  Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;

What this says to me is that we need to be careful about being happy when someone else gets the punishment they deserve.  On this topic it would say that we cannot fall for the salesmen of class envy and divisiveness by wanted to pull down those who have more than we have.  We should instead be seeking ways to care for those in need.  Taking away one man’s health insurance does not get another into a doctor’s office.  Much more productive would be getting rid of all the red tape, paper work and lawyer fees that drive the costs up and make doctors less willing to risk.

If you have coverage, consider yourself blessed.  If you don’t, seek a solution that does more than destroy.

homo unius libri

Opus 2011-107, Koran Klarifications: Dietary Laws of Islam

You may have heard about the way the Muslim inmates of Guantanamo are eating.  They have meals specially prepared for them that reflect the dietary laws of Islam.  You may be aware of the well known restrictions:  No alcohol and no pork.  You may be aware of other religions that have dietary laws.  Jews are not to eat pork.  Mormons avoid coffee.  Some Seventh Day Adventists are vegetarians. 

What you may not be aware of is that the dietary needs of Muslims are totally flexible.  There is not real need to make sure that Muslim captives are fed according to the Koran.  Let me quote the book itself:

“But that which dieth of itself, and blood, and swine's flesh, and that over which any other name than that of God hath been invoked, is forbidden you. But he who shall partake of them by constraint, without lust or wilfulness, no sin shall be upon him. Verily God is Indulgent, Merciful.”  Sura 2, “The Cow”, verse 173

So you can see that a Muslim is under no compulsion to eat a certain way if circumstances make it impossible.  Any noise made over this issue is just an attempt to manipulate people.  As with so much that you hear about Islam, it is not true.  Ignore it.  Save your sympathy for someone that needs and deserves it.

As in any quoting of the Koran, I would encourage you to get a copy and read it yourself.  Read the entire book.  Read everything in context.  If you are a Christian, that is the way you should read your Bible.  Be cautious about proof texting by anyone.  At times it is necessary, but only as a way of giving you a chance to check it out for yourself. 

Truth will out.

All Koran quotes are from the translation by Rev. J.M. Rodwell, M.A. provided by the Gutenberg Project.

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Opus 2011-106, Christian Luck, an Oxymoron

For a long time I have been trying to avoid the use of the word "luck" in relation to my life.  Luck has the idea of chance and randomness that I don’t think is applicable in the life of a Christian.  I came across this statement by John Wesley in his Journals, dated July 6, 1781:

“So far as fortune or chance governs the world, God has no place in it.”

We should talk about being blessed, not lucky.  God is sovereign.

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