Theolatte
Nothing goes better with a steaming latte than an engaging discussion about theology and philosophy. Sit down with your favorite caffeinated beverage and peruse the thoughts of a pseudo-intellectual.
Archive for the ‘Theology, Worldviews & Philosophy’ Category
Nietzsche, Eugenics and the Imago Dei
March 5th, 2010
My title sounds like the punch line to a bad joke.
Trust me, this is no joking matter.
I first want to state that Nietzsche was right.
If God is dead as Nietzsche suggested, or if metaphysics is dead as Heidegger suggested, then we have no basis for an understanding of human significance, morality or purpose.
The Purpose Driven Atheist: What Rick Warren & Richard Dawkins Have In Common
March 3rd, 2010
Rick Warren and Richard Dawkins make for strange bedfellows.
I’m not sure if they’ve ever met, but I have a difficult time imagining the two of them hitting it off. I can’t see Rev. Warren in his short sleeve, button-up Hawaiian top palling around with the well-groomed, British scholar Richard Dawkins.
As such, I was surprised to read both of their names in the same chapter of Greg Epstein’s recent book Good Without God. Epstein reprimands one and recommends another. Can you guess which one received the glowing endorsement?
The Devil in Disguise (Part 2)
February 24th, 2010
Your kindergarten teacher was wrong. Dead wrong.
Everyone cannot be right. Some questions really are dumb. Many answers are even worse.
In an earlier post, I spoke of the Devil in disguise. I referred to pseudo preachers who are sometimes known for filling convention centers with eager audiences attune to spiritually shallow pep talks. Whether they are known for writing a new kind of book or telling you how to have the best kind of life, it seems that agreeing with Jesus is something they are reluctant to do.
Jesus said he was the only way to the Father.
Quit apologizing for Jesus.
Quit masking his claim with your need for acceptance, affirmation and applause.
He said he was the only way to the Father.
Quit censoring him. He was either right or wrong.
He wasn’t neutral.
Quit placing him in a middle category.
Religious relativism was thought to be the cure to rid the world of religious fanatics. It has really turned out to be a curse. It has innoculated western minds to truth and has infected them with indifference.
We must fight our intrinsic instincts to accommodate the culture and dilute the claims of Christ.
Don’t do it.
Don’t dilute the Gospel.
One popular preacher when asked on Larry King if followers of other religions would go to Heaven responded with the wimpy words “I can’t be their judge.”
He’s right. He’s not their judge.
But he is called to be a witness.
You too will feel the pull to concede the truth.
Don’t do it.
Don’t concede.
Speak the truth in love.
Political correctness and religious relativism are not a cure.
They are a curse.
They are the Devil in disguise.
“All religions are not the same. All religions do not point to God. All religions do not say that all religions are the same. At the heart of every religion is an uncompromising commitment to a particular way of defining who God is or is not and accordingly, of defining life’s purpose. Anyone who claims that all religions are the same betrays not only an ignorance of all religions but also a caricatured view of even the best-known ones. Every religion at its core is exclusive.”
-Ravi Zacharius
The Unchained Melody
February 14th, 2010
In 1955 two musicians were commissioned to compose a theme song for a prison movie by the title of Unchained. Throughout the years countless remakes of the song have emerged, perhaps the most popular recorded in 1965 by the Righteous Brothers. The song is a lament of a man separated from the love of his life. The message is simple: while the criminal is chained, his melody is not.
In many ways humanity sings a sort of universal melody of longing for love and unconditional acceptance. However, the lyrics appear to be filled with more pain than fulfillment. Mick Jagger sang, “I can’t get no satisfaction.” Jon Bon Jovi declared, “You give love a bad name.” And because of you, Kelly Clarkson will never stray too far from the sidewalk. It seems as if human love cannot completely accomplish our profound need for belonging.
While Tom Cruise has popularized the line “You complete me,” in real life he has experienced multiple divorces. We understand heartbreak as much, if not more, than our deep desire for love. Some respond by living only for themeselves only to find that self-love can be empty as well. Where can we turn?
Seventeenth-century French scientist and philosopher Blaise Pascal believed that this unquenchable yearning should point us to God:
“What else does this craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and unchangeable object; in other words by God himself.”
While thousands have sung along to the tune “Unchained Melody” throughout the years, this lament for love seems to be chained indeed. It appears to be unreachable. Like the prisoner separated from his heart’s desire, we too are estranged from the one we were created for. However, in the midst of this disappointing human experience, if we listen closely, we will hear the eternal and unchained melody of the Creator God who has provided a way for the only relationship that can satisfy our soul’s desire. He alone can complete us.
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins…. We love, because He first loved us. (1 John 4:10, 19)
Welcome to Whoville: the church and college students
February 10th, 2010
Little Cindy Lou Who didn’t seem to mind that the Grinch stole her Christmas tree.
Neither did the other Whos in Whoville. In fact, they gathered in Town Square to sing their traditional holiday melody beneath the bewilderment of the green cat-like figure perched on the precipice of Mount Crumpit.
We can read the story with confidence because we know how it ends. We know the Grinch’s heart grows three times its original size that day and he returns everything he has stolen. He even joins the party by cutting the roast beast at the banquet table.
Perhaps the church has read this story too many times. We look around our congregations and notice that something is missing, namely our college students. Like the Whos, we continue our singing as if nothing were wrong. In our story, however, the Grinch isn’t going to bring anything back. If we want them back we are going to have to fight for them.
Interestingly, many have sought to find religious themes in the writings of Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss). As a son of Christian parents he certainly would have been exposed to the gospel. As a student at Dartmouth College and then Oxford University he would have attended mandatory chapel services. However, the lack of an explicit Christian testimony seems to illustrate our modern day dilemma: students often silence their faith when they enter the university.
We are in big trouble if we respond in the same way as the Whos in How the Grinch Stole Christmas. We had better recognize Who is missing and we better care and respond in love.
Perhaps we should consider another famous Dr. Seuss story: Horton Hears a Who. Like Horton, the philanthropic elephant, we should seek to understand what these students are experiencing. We should listen to their stories. We should notice. We should care. We should act.
Let the adventures begin.