Heres my Abilene Reporter-News column for the week: DO WE FOLLOW GOD NO MATTER WHAT? I’m asking, not answering: By which of the two philosophies below do you think men and women of faith are meant to live? Philosophy 1. We can know beyond a doubt that a certain behavior is “good” because God has commanded it, and that is the very definition of what’s good – even if it doesn’t seem so to us. Philosophy 2. We can know beyond a doubt that God wants us follow our instinct for “good” – even if it doesn’t match what we’ve been told is God’s command in a certain situation. That first choice scares some people because it assumes that God has weighed in with exact instructions for every situation, or at least with enough principles from which any generation can extrapolate what the exact instructions should be. That second choice scares some people because it presumes to make man a higher authority than God about good, even if men of different generations differ on what exactly is “good.” That first choice is more likely to assume a sort of timeless transparency of Holy Scripture – that it can be followed by any person of faith. That second choice is more likely to assume a sort of built-in radar operated by the Holy Spirit. – that he can be followed by any person of faith. I could envision that first choice leading me to say at some point, “Mine not to reason why, mine but to do or die!” I could envision that second choice leading me to say at some point, “If that’s the kind of God he is, then I don’t want to be his follower!” That first choice leads to fundamentalism, to a simplified list of absolute rules issued in the name of God. That second choice leads to postmodernism, to a softening of all absolute rules in favor of subjective, shifting truth. Friction between these two philosophies of faith is already producing plenty of heat, and I expect more flames in the coming years as we sort the two in our private, public and political lives. In my own case, I promise that I do want to follow the path of God. I accept that I’m fallible and need his commands. However, I don’t want my path to be laid out by other fallible humans who interpret God’s commands using spotty, out-of-date understanding of Scripture. If you’ve staked your life on No. 1, but tell me that my only hope is to follow your understanding of the King James Version of the Bible, don’t be surprised if I see No. 2 as a more honest option. It’s not that I want to be in charge, or that I want to create my own God or my own spoiled-brat religion. But if something seems obviously to be ungood, I don’t want to follow God into it, you know? I don’t want to use my limited understanding of him as the excuse for betraying whatever sense it is that the species gained when Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This conundrum endures whether you think that was a real tree or a metaphorical one.
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 13:11:14 +0000
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