Karl Barth:
"...the humanity of Jesus is the nature of God Himself. Being together and powerfully for each other are first and originally in Him. The triune God Himself. God not only loves but is Love. And as eternal love He Himself is active in the world and proclaims Himself in the humanity of Jesus."
"Therefore, God is for us human beings, because God Himself is for us, in that the human being Jesus is for us."
"They are affirmed, they no longer have any other way of living than by this yes, as surely as God has said this yes and as surely as God is God. All that is left for them is calmly to live the life that has been thus defined. They are left only with the wonder, the reverent astonishment, in the face of the fact of the mystery that they may live this affirmed life."
"When we look to him, to Jesus Christ, then we experience a transformation beside which the greatest revolution is a small affair."
Sunday, August 31, 2014
More On "The Lamb Slain"
I'm revisiting this image again. I made a shirt out of it. Many people find it disturbing and frightening. To that I say, 'good'. It ought to be. God is beyond our ability to image. You cannot reduce God to some human picture. But this is as close as it gets. It has beauty and a seraphic kind of effect to it. But it also has much about it that should bother any person. If you approach God and you are in no way disturbed, then you are not really approaching God at all, but an idol. I find this image to capture the essence of what Jesus Christ was all about. Jesus was not powerless. Quite the opposite. Yet his power, his divinity is found IN his suffering, and in his sacrifice. That sacrifice was truly disturbing. Nothing could be more terrible than the cross, nor the truth that behind that cross was the sin of every sinner, and the suffering of every victim of sin. How does one experience the full range of this? John seems to have experienced it in the various beatific and terrible visions in The Book of Revelation. The summation of which are in the terrible and wonderful vision of a Lamb 'looking as if it had been slain' with seven eyes and horns, opening the scrolls that unleash the terrible wrath of God upon the Earth.
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Book Suggestions
It is tough for me to give book suggestions concerning Christianity or even religion in general. That is because, to be honest, I have yet to find a simple book that I think easily bottom lines Christianity. The books that are written to appeal to a wide audience, like MERE CHRISTIANITY or SIMPLY CHRISTIAN are just not that good. At all. They don't impress me.
But the books I think capture Christianity the best are often too heady for most people. So it's a problem. But here are some books I think are just excellent, and most are quite readable:
These are books about apologetics and religion in general.
MYSTERY WITHOUT MAGIC by Russell Pregeant is simply one of the best books on religion, and on rational belief in God, ever written. It is not the easiest read, but it is accessible to anyone with a high school education. It is simply amazing, it will change your life. This book should be read by every human being, ever.
A RUMOR OF ANGELS by Peter Berger is the same way. It just lays bear what it is like to BE religious and how that kind of attitude affects how and why one believes what one believes. There is no greater foundation for religious belief I've ever read. This is real apologetics. This is what it is all about.
MAN'S SEARCH FOR MEANING by Viktor Frankl is not primarily about religion, but about the meaning of life. It is mostly the story of Frankl's time in a concentration camp and his highly insightful psychological and existential reflections upon that time. Again, every human being should read this book.
ON CHRISTIANITY
The best and simplest books I know on Christianity are not non-fiction, exactly, but deeply philosophical reflections upon Chrisitianity using fictional characters and worlds:
LAMB by Christopher Moore. This book is irreverent, funny, and can be a little raunchy in parts. But at the heart of it is a reflection upon the person of Jesus. Part of it is deeply historically accurate, and parts take extreme flights of fancy. Only about 25% of the book is based on the Gospels per se. In the end, though, the book is the best reflection I've read about what it is like to actually BE Christian. For at the center of the story is Jesus' childhood friend Biff. He is an awful, sinful, gross man, whose only saving grace is he loves and believes in Jesus. That love redeems his life and opens him up to a fantastic adventure.
THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV by Fyodor Dostoevsky. BROS K includes the best arguments for both atheism and theism you're like to come across. Father Zossima's exposition on the nature of Christ and Christian Life are fantastic, and amount to better theology than 99% of what you're likely to find at your average book store.
IF YOU'RE REALLY BRAVE...
Check out Reinhold Niebuhr's BEYOND TRAGEDY. To me that book is definitive. It is why I am a Christian, and it shapes my view of humanity, history, and God. This book can change everything for you. But it is a hard, hard read.
Miguel De Unamuno's TRAGIC SENSE OF LIFE. This is the best work of existential Christianity ever. The case it makes for Christianity is fantastic.
Arthur Zajonc's CATCHING THE LIGHT. This is not the work of a Christian, but it is the closest anyone has ever come to explaining consciousness and giving grounds for belief in a human soul. This book shows why religion as a whole matters. It is another text that can literally change everything for you. But that gift comes at the cost of a lot of work.
But the books I think capture Christianity the best are often too heady for most people. So it's a problem. But here are some books I think are just excellent, and most are quite readable:
These are books about apologetics and religion in general.
MYSTERY WITHOUT MAGIC by Russell Pregeant is simply one of the best books on religion, and on rational belief in God, ever written. It is not the easiest read, but it is accessible to anyone with a high school education. It is simply amazing, it will change your life. This book should be read by every human being, ever.
A RUMOR OF ANGELS by Peter Berger is the same way. It just lays bear what it is like to BE religious and how that kind of attitude affects how and why one believes what one believes. There is no greater foundation for religious belief I've ever read. This is real apologetics. This is what it is all about.
MAN'S SEARCH FOR MEANING by Viktor Frankl is not primarily about religion, but about the meaning of life. It is mostly the story of Frankl's time in a concentration camp and his highly insightful psychological and existential reflections upon that time. Again, every human being should read this book.
ON CHRISTIANITY
The best and simplest books I know on Christianity are not non-fiction, exactly, but deeply philosophical reflections upon Chrisitianity using fictional characters and worlds:
LAMB by Christopher Moore. This book is irreverent, funny, and can be a little raunchy in parts. But at the heart of it is a reflection upon the person of Jesus. Part of it is deeply historically accurate, and parts take extreme flights of fancy. Only about 25% of the book is based on the Gospels per se. In the end, though, the book is the best reflection I've read about what it is like to actually BE Christian. For at the center of the story is Jesus' childhood friend Biff. He is an awful, sinful, gross man, whose only saving grace is he loves and believes in Jesus. That love redeems his life and opens him up to a fantastic adventure.
THE BROTHERS KARAMAZOV by Fyodor Dostoevsky. BROS K includes the best arguments for both atheism and theism you're like to come across. Father Zossima's exposition on the nature of Christ and Christian Life are fantastic, and amount to better theology than 99% of what you're likely to find at your average book store.
IF YOU'RE REALLY BRAVE...
Check out Reinhold Niebuhr's BEYOND TRAGEDY. To me that book is definitive. It is why I am a Christian, and it shapes my view of humanity, history, and God. This book can change everything for you. But it is a hard, hard read.
Miguel De Unamuno's TRAGIC SENSE OF LIFE. This is the best work of existential Christianity ever. The case it makes for Christianity is fantastic.
Arthur Zajonc's CATCHING THE LIGHT. This is not the work of a Christian, but it is the closest anyone has ever come to explaining consciousness and giving grounds for belief in a human soul. This book shows why religion as a whole matters. It is another text that can literally change everything for you. But that gift comes at the cost of a lot of work.
Friday, August 29, 2014
Not Really Off-Topic: Extended Review of JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #34
DC's Justice League Dark began as one of the best comics on the mainstream market. The storytelling had consistency, the pacing was good, the art was out of sight and it dealt with themes that were deep and had some meaning to them. I loved it. But then came THE TRINITY WAR and FOREVER EVIL, and the book was taken off-course. Now, we are starting to get back to tighter story telling and more important character development.
*Spoiler Alert*
Up to this point, the only developed characters had really been Zatanna and Constantine. Now we are starting to get some real character development in my favorite member of the team, Deadman. While this issue wasn't perfect, I really liked the way this character's past history was explored and the way in which a new layer of mystery surrounding him was added.
But what earned this book a place on my extended review list was the commentary on the Cthulu Mythos. The book borrowed imagery and ideas that came from the Lovecraftian genre. The fact that the main character, Pantheon, is a Cthulu-like incarnation of a group of polytheistic gods that once ruled Nanda Parbat was very interesting indeed.
It is hard to deny a maltheistic tone to the ancient polytheistic religions. The gods of old did not exactly love humanity. Nor were they completely disinterested, either. Many were selfish and cruel. They were certainly not good, or not purely good. The idea that the spirit of those kinds of god could incarnate as a purely evil deity is not something that is beyond the pale, to me. It reminds me of Rene Girard's contention that all the violence-dependent gods of old are really incarnations of the mimetic contagion he calls satan.
But this evil, the Cthulu-like being Pantheon, is taken down by the simple goodness of Deadman and his mentor. Pantheon seems nearly unstoppable at the beginning, akin to the unstoppable nature of Lovecraft's "old gods". The thing that Lovecraft was able to capture with his writings, the idea that he explored, which made him the true master of horror, was the idea of evil being more powerful than good, of evil being supreme over good.
The beginning of this issue captured that spirit, but in the end it turned its on its head. This massive evil, this horrible monster, this dark 'elder god' was revealed to be nothing compared to the One True Creator God, and ultimately was defeated by the simple decency of a good heart. That Deadman was the source of that heart made me very glad indeed. I'd like to see the character do some more of the old "Quantum Lead"-style stories he used to do. But this was still a good issue.
Storyline: 4 Stars
Dialogue: 4 Stars
Pacing: 3.5 Stars
Art: 4.5 Stars
Overall: 4 Stars
Thursday, August 28, 2014
Religion & Evidence
I saw this meme recently that made this claim about religion being closed off from evidence, or denying evidence to preserve the belief. There is, to me, a simple counter-argument to this assertion: The Book of Job.
The Book of Job is proof that religious people are not necessarily unable to change their beliefs in the face of evidence. Many are so closed off. But not all are. The Book of Job represents a religious writer who jettisons a long-standing and deeply held religious belief because of evidence to the contrary. Certainly, and the Book of Job comments on this, one of the most deeply held religious beliefs among ancient Jews was that God is just. But Job, because of the presence of great innocent suffering in the world, rejects the idea that God is just. Ergo, religious beliefs can be reviewed in the face of evidence and some people do just that.
Of course the Book of Job is not alone in this. The truth is that within the scriptural record there is a great amount of evolution. People are over time changing their positions on important matters, and sometimes people have great disagreements over those matters. What do skeptics think caused these disagreements. I supposed they believe they are purely ideological or political, but when you read the text what they actually look like is empirical disagreements. "Does God only love the Jews, or does He deal with all people equally?" This is a long-standing debate, and those who won out won out BECAUSE of the evidence of the way the world around them works. The Problem of Evil debate worked the same way.
Heck, the entire Book of Ecclesiastes is about a man who argues against the proposition that life is meaningful, a central tenet of any religion. And all of his arguments use sensory experience as their foundation. He uses the way the world works as his argument against the proposition that life has any meaning at all.
Of course, sensory experiences are not the only experiences people have and much of the debate takes place at the level of religious experience. People in scripture are arguing over what their religious experiences mean. And what is true for the religious community that wrote the Bible, is true for most individuals as well. People's religious beliefs are in flux. And that flux is the result of people reasoning about their experiences, both sensory and religious.
The very fact that religious experience changes a person's conception of God is problematic for the skeptical view put forth by many skeptically minded people that religious belief is purely ideological, or simple wish fulfillment. Even if the skeptic doubts the validity of the experiences the religious individual has (which he is perfectly within his epistemic rights to do, by the way), what cannot be denied is that a person who has such experiences may have rational foundations for them to believe in God. No one can stand outside an experience and evaluate how that experience should affect the way someone else reasons or thinks about the world. You can have stronger or weaker reasons for rejecting the outputs of said experiences for yourself, but you can't impose those on the other person.
But the upshot is that even though most religious people like to treat theology as something like philosophy, and the direct discovery of some kind of first principles from which all other knowledge flows, any in-depth study of any religion shows that religion is actually more like science than religion. Until certain forces of institutionalization start to freeze (or rather retard) doctrinal evolution, the process of revelation is a lot more like the process of gaining knowledge about the physical world. People have experiences and reflect upon them. Then others criticize and add their own personal experience. Others then respond in kind. This data is fit into the totality of one's worldview, and attempts are made to reconcile it with the outputs of other modes of experience. Sensory data weighs heavily on the process, but so does the religious and affective experiences that began the quest.
To this day I believe that no greater evaluation of the nature of religion exists than Alfred N Whitehead's RELIGION IN THE MAKING, and I think the overall view of what religion is, laid down there, is more or less correct. It is one of those little-study works of genius that deserves more attention than it receives.
The Book of Job is proof that religious people are not necessarily unable to change their beliefs in the face of evidence. Many are so closed off. But not all are. The Book of Job represents a religious writer who jettisons a long-standing and deeply held religious belief because of evidence to the contrary. Certainly, and the Book of Job comments on this, one of the most deeply held religious beliefs among ancient Jews was that God is just. But Job, because of the presence of great innocent suffering in the world, rejects the idea that God is just. Ergo, religious beliefs can be reviewed in the face of evidence and some people do just that.
Of course the Book of Job is not alone in this. The truth is that within the scriptural record there is a great amount of evolution. People are over time changing their positions on important matters, and sometimes people have great disagreements over those matters. What do skeptics think caused these disagreements. I supposed they believe they are purely ideological or political, but when you read the text what they actually look like is empirical disagreements. "Does God only love the Jews, or does He deal with all people equally?" This is a long-standing debate, and those who won out won out BECAUSE of the evidence of the way the world around them works. The Problem of Evil debate worked the same way.
Heck, the entire Book of Ecclesiastes is about a man who argues against the proposition that life is meaningful, a central tenet of any religion. And all of his arguments use sensory experience as their foundation. He uses the way the world works as his argument against the proposition that life has any meaning at all.
Of course, sensory experiences are not the only experiences people have and much of the debate takes place at the level of religious experience. People in scripture are arguing over what their religious experiences mean. And what is true for the religious community that wrote the Bible, is true for most individuals as well. People's religious beliefs are in flux. And that flux is the result of people reasoning about their experiences, both sensory and religious.
The very fact that religious experience changes a person's conception of God is problematic for the skeptical view put forth by many skeptically minded people that religious belief is purely ideological, or simple wish fulfillment. Even if the skeptic doubts the validity of the experiences the religious individual has (which he is perfectly within his epistemic rights to do, by the way), what cannot be denied is that a person who has such experiences may have rational foundations for them to believe in God. No one can stand outside an experience and evaluate how that experience should affect the way someone else reasons or thinks about the world. You can have stronger or weaker reasons for rejecting the outputs of said experiences for yourself, but you can't impose those on the other person.
But the upshot is that even though most religious people like to treat theology as something like philosophy, and the direct discovery of some kind of first principles from which all other knowledge flows, any in-depth study of any religion shows that religion is actually more like science than religion. Until certain forces of institutionalization start to freeze (or rather retard) doctrinal evolution, the process of revelation is a lot more like the process of gaining knowledge about the physical world. People have experiences and reflect upon them. Then others criticize and add their own personal experience. Others then respond in kind. This data is fit into the totality of one's worldview, and attempts are made to reconcile it with the outputs of other modes of experience. Sensory data weighs heavily on the process, but so does the religious and affective experiences that began the quest.
To this day I believe that no greater evaluation of the nature of religion exists than Alfred N Whitehead's RELIGION IN THE MAKING, and I think the overall view of what religion is, laid down there, is more or less correct. It is one of those little-study works of genius that deserves more attention than it receives.
My DONOTLINK Stalker
There is one person who consistently visits my site by using the DONOTLIINK website. This is a way to read sources you disagree with without driving up their position on Google. It is usually used by skeptics so they can criticize websites without promoting them. It is for websites you consider bad content. I wonder who this person is? Is it one of my atheistic or skeptically minded brothers or sisters who thinks me a fool? Or is it perhaps a more orthodox Christian brother or sister who thinks me a heretic. I have no idea. I don't get much feedback here on the blog, though one can of course post criticisms. I'm happy to have a friendly dialogue and debate about the subjects I post, though I do have rules, and if you break those rules I'll delete your comments. Anyways, whoever you are, you're welcome to respond to whatever it is I say on my site that you think is such garbage.
Going International
It appears I have a pretty significant number of Turkish readers, too. In fact, yesterday was the first time I ever had a higher international readership than American. Most of those were Turkish. I wonder if these are some of my old friends from the Sufi Mosque in downtown Houston? Either way, my message to you is:
teşekkür ederim
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
Well This Is Going Well...
My traffic is up recently, and all from legitimate sources (no bots, no spam websites, but all from regular people using search engines, Facebook, and familiar sites). I love doing this, and I am so thankful for the support.
Off-Topic: Comic Book Reviews For 8-27-2014
Marvel's SILVER SURFER #5
This book is interesting, but to be honest there are so many comic books that I am collecting that are better that I'm thinking of ending my subscription to it. There just isn't enough going on to really hold my interest. This issue pitted the Surfer againt Doctor Strange's longtime enemy Nightmare. I like the idea of the Surfer having a human sidekick, but that is not enough to make me want to continue reading. It might be the art too. The art in this book just comes off as substandard for me.
Storyline: 3.5 Stars
Dialogue: 3 Stars
Pacing: 3 Stars
Art: 2.5 Stars
Overall: 3 Stars
Marvel's GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #18
This book, as an ORIGINAL SIN crossover, tells a story that took place in the past, but it also reveals the answer to a long-standing question for the Guardians...namely, how Peter Quill, Nova, and Drax The Destroyer survived their battle with Thanos in the Cancerverse. Wow, this book is freaking awesome. The action is good, the dialogue is solid, everything here works. And the art is excellent. On every level, I loved it. I can't wait to see the last half of the storyline in issue 19.
Storyline: 4 Stars
Dialogue: 4.5 Stars
Pacing: 4 Stars
Art: 4 Stars
Overall: 4 Stars
Marvel's THUNDERBOLTS #30
This book is pulled off-course by the bad pacing. The art isn't my favorite either, though it is not horrible. Without deadpool the dialogue isn't as good as it normally is. The only thing that saved it was the back story with Punisher and Elektra, which was interesting. Still, if this book doesn't change course back to where it was when I first started reading it, I'm dropping it.
Storyline: 3.5 Stars
Dialogue: 3 Stars
Pacing: 3 Stars
Art: 3 Stars
Overall: 3 Stars
DC's BATMAN '66 #14
This book needs funny dialogue to work. The dialogue in this issue was not as funny as it should've been, though it did have some good stuff here and there. I liked the exploration of the Batrobot and the discussion of the way technology can rob us of something vital if it removes our need to be self-reliant. The art is excellent as always. Overall, this book still worked, though not as well as past issues, because the dialogue was not funny enough.
Storyline: 3.5 Stars
Dialogue: 3.5 Stars
Pacing: 3 Stars
Art: 4 Stars
Overall: 3.5 Stars
DC's BATMAN BEYOND UNIVERSE #13
The Phantasm is back and her quest for vengeance pulls in Terry, as she goes after someone who is very important to him. This leads to Terry looking more into Bruce's past, particular his relationship with Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon. And wow, what a back story it. I just love this comic book, on every level except the art. Really, it isn't great.
Storyline: 4.5 Stars
Dialogue: 4 Stars
Pacing: 4 Stars
Art: 3 Stars
Overall: 4 Stars
This book is interesting, but to be honest there are so many comic books that I am collecting that are better that I'm thinking of ending my subscription to it. There just isn't enough going on to really hold my interest. This issue pitted the Surfer againt Doctor Strange's longtime enemy Nightmare. I like the idea of the Surfer having a human sidekick, but that is not enough to make me want to continue reading. It might be the art too. The art in this book just comes off as substandard for me.
Storyline: 3.5 Stars
Dialogue: 3 Stars
Pacing: 3 Stars
Art: 2.5 Stars
Overall: 3 Stars
Marvel's GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #18
This book, as an ORIGINAL SIN crossover, tells a story that took place in the past, but it also reveals the answer to a long-standing question for the Guardians...namely, how Peter Quill, Nova, and Drax The Destroyer survived their battle with Thanos in the Cancerverse. Wow, this book is freaking awesome. The action is good, the dialogue is solid, everything here works. And the art is excellent. On every level, I loved it. I can't wait to see the last half of the storyline in issue 19.
Storyline: 4 Stars
Dialogue: 4.5 Stars
Pacing: 4 Stars
Art: 4 Stars
Overall: 4 Stars
Marvel's THUNDERBOLTS #30
This book is pulled off-course by the bad pacing. The art isn't my favorite either, though it is not horrible. Without deadpool the dialogue isn't as good as it normally is. The only thing that saved it was the back story with Punisher and Elektra, which was interesting. Still, if this book doesn't change course back to where it was when I first started reading it, I'm dropping it.
Storyline: 3.5 Stars
Dialogue: 3 Stars
Pacing: 3 Stars
Art: 3 Stars
Overall: 3 Stars
DC's BATMAN '66 #14
This book needs funny dialogue to work. The dialogue in this issue was not as funny as it should've been, though it did have some good stuff here and there. I liked the exploration of the Batrobot and the discussion of the way technology can rob us of something vital if it removes our need to be self-reliant. The art is excellent as always. Overall, this book still worked, though not as well as past issues, because the dialogue was not funny enough.
Storyline: 3.5 Stars
Dialogue: 3.5 Stars
Pacing: 3 Stars
Art: 4 Stars
Overall: 3.5 Stars
DC's BATMAN BEYOND UNIVERSE #13
The Phantasm is back and her quest for vengeance pulls in Terry, as she goes after someone who is very important to him. This leads to Terry looking more into Bruce's past, particular his relationship with Dick Grayson and Barbara Gordon. And wow, what a back story it. I just love this comic book, on every level except the art. Really, it isn't great.
Storyline: 4.5 Stars
Dialogue: 4 Stars
Pacing: 4 Stars
Art: 3 Stars
Overall: 4 Stars
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Reflections On Passing Scenes
God I love this episode. I especially recommend the end. Data is no doubt one of the most profound characters in television history. It is one sign of the general blindness of the academy that Brent Spiner never got an Emmy for his work on this show. In this episode, the full depth of that character is on display. All the questions that come along with a human-like android: "what is a soul?", "what makes us human", etc, are here. There is this powerful moment at the end where Lall thanks him for her life. It always brings me to tears. Isn't that really what we all want? To see the face of the ground of being and simply say 'thank you'? When she professes her love and he says "I wish I could feel it with you." There is something profound here too. When people are grieving, when they suffer, this is what I think sometimes. I wish I could feel it with you. We can always know for sure that we are
never alone in any feeling, any experience, though. For God does feel it with us.
These two must be watched together, for the first clarifies the second. 1500 miles of shit and coming out clean the other time...indeed, the Shawshank Redemption is aptly named. Isn't this life? Isn't this life with Christ? Isn't this the miracle. Additionally, Andy's ability to give hope to others makes him something of a Christ figure. Come to think about it, I could add him to my list of pop culture Christ figures. This is what God did for us. He crawled through the filth so we don't have to. He made a way there was no way. He took the unclean and made us clean.
Re-Write On THE LAMB VS THE DRAGON
I am doing a major re-write on my book on The Book of Revelation. The truth is I never should've self-published it before. I needed work. But I was tired of waiting to release something and so I released it. The truth is the first 1/3rd of the book needed a lot of work but the last 2/3 did need much work at all. I am going to send it to a friend to get an edit and some advice for a second re-write. Plus I'm adding 7 illustrations and new cover art, provided by Cait Zellers. I'm really excited about that part. I truly believe that when it is completely done, the 2nd version of THE LAMB VS THE DRAGON will be the best book I've ever written, bar none.
A Bit Of Theological Invalidity
Something I discovered last night:
Phillip K Dick wrote about Alfred North Whitehead in THE TRANSMIGRATION OF TIMOTHY ARCHER...you're argument is invalid.
Phillip K Dick wrote about Alfred North Whitehead in THE TRANSMIGRATION OF TIMOTHY ARCHER...you're argument is invalid.
Monday, August 25, 2014
Reflections On Passing Scenes *Spoiler Alert*
God I love this scene. There is something so powerful about it. There is this powerful, religious undertone, but hidden under a secular veneer. It is among the most powerful scenes of any film I've ever seen ever. Think about these words "I wasn't really born again until I met you...I was nothing." Redemption through love. Yet the past cannot be so easily washed away. This is something I was talking about this with my good friend Rhonda Foale the other day. There is this terrible tension, this mystery that yields to no clear end in this world. I am not the man I was 15 years ago (God, has it been that long?). Yet I cannot so easily just disavow everything that person did. And truly Jesus Christ was not fully present in my life until I met my wife. I never knew Him before I met her the way I have gotten to know Him since. Yea, this scene...this one's me.
The final battle from one of the greatest television shows of all time, a show that (not surprisingly) never made it past 2 seasons. This is the final battle between good and evil, a battle that began with us not knowing which was which. Ben Hawking began as this completely lost child possessed of incredible power. By the end he was driven, passionate, and in control. That last moment where he remembers the prophecy and 'plunges it deep', will stick with me forever. The last few episodes were particularly good. Good embraces the ordinary, even the broken. Perhaps what is most telling about the avatars of light and dark in this show is that darkness chose a man who seemed very in control, very sure of himself, and ultimately also assured of his own goodness. Good chose a man who was doubtful of his virtue, and who understood himself not at all. This scene, inclusive as it is of the crucifixion imagery, is a perfect expression of what the whole show was about.
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Quotables
From the second book of the Valis Trilogy, DIVINE INVASION:
"The world evolves even as it falls more and more. There are two distinct movements: the falling, and then, at the same time, the upward-rising work of repair. Antithetical movements, in the form of a dialectic of all creation and the powers contending behind it."
Compare this to A N Whitehead in RELIGION IN THE MAKING:
"The passage of time is the journey of the world towards the gathering of new ideas into actual fact. This adventure is upwards and downwards. Whatever ceases to ascend, fails to preserve itself and enters upon its inevitable path of decay. IT decays by transmitting its nature to slighter occasions of actuality, by reason of the failure of the new forms to fertilise the perceptive achievements which constitute its past history. The universe shows us two aspects: on one side it is physically wasting, on the other side it is spiritually ascending."
Also from DIVINE INVASION:
"God takes no delight in nonexistence. Do you know what God is...? God is He Who causes to be. Put another way, if you seek the basis of being that underlies everything you will surely find God. You can work back to God from the phenomenal universe, or you can move from the Creator to the phenomenal universe. Each implies the other. The Creator would not be the Creator if there were no universe, and the universe would cease to be if the Creator did not sustain it. The Creator does not exist prior to the universe in time; he does not exist in time at all. God creates the universe constant He is with it not above for behind it."
Compare to RELIGION IN THE MAKING again:
"God is that function in the world by reason of which our purposes are direct to ends which in our own consciousness are impartial as to our own interests. he is that element in life in virtue of which judgement stretches beyond facts of existence to values of existence. He is that element in virtue of which our purposes extend beyond values for ourselves to values for others. He is that element in virtue of which the attainment of such a value for others transforms itself into value for ourselves.
He is the binding element in the world. The consciousness which is individual in us, is universal in him: the love which is partial in us is all-embracing in him. Apart from him there could be no world, because there could be no adjustment of individuality. His purpose is always embodied in the particular ideals relevant to the actual state of the world. Thus all attainment is immortal in that it fashions the actual ideals which are God in the world as it is now. Every act leaves the world with a deeper or a fainter impress of God. He then passes into his next relation to the world with enlarged, or diminished, presentation of ideal values.
He is not the world, but the valuation of the world. In abstraction from the course of events, this valuation is a necessary metaphysical function. Apart from it, there could be no definite determination of limitation required for attainment. But in the actual world, He confronts what is actual in it with what is possible for it. Thus He solves all determinations."
"The world evolves even as it falls more and more. There are two distinct movements: the falling, and then, at the same time, the upward-rising work of repair. Antithetical movements, in the form of a dialectic of all creation and the powers contending behind it."
Compare this to A N Whitehead in RELIGION IN THE MAKING:
"The passage of time is the journey of the world towards the gathering of new ideas into actual fact. This adventure is upwards and downwards. Whatever ceases to ascend, fails to preserve itself and enters upon its inevitable path of decay. IT decays by transmitting its nature to slighter occasions of actuality, by reason of the failure of the new forms to fertilise the perceptive achievements which constitute its past history. The universe shows us two aspects: on one side it is physically wasting, on the other side it is spiritually ascending."
Also from DIVINE INVASION:
"God takes no delight in nonexistence. Do you know what God is...? God is He Who causes to be. Put another way, if you seek the basis of being that underlies everything you will surely find God. You can work back to God from the phenomenal universe, or you can move from the Creator to the phenomenal universe. Each implies the other. The Creator would not be the Creator if there were no universe, and the universe would cease to be if the Creator did not sustain it. The Creator does not exist prior to the universe in time; he does not exist in time at all. God creates the universe constant He is with it not above for behind it."
Compare to RELIGION IN THE MAKING again:
"God is that function in the world by reason of which our purposes are direct to ends which in our own consciousness are impartial as to our own interests. he is that element in life in virtue of which judgement stretches beyond facts of existence to values of existence. He is that element in virtue of which our purposes extend beyond values for ourselves to values for others. He is that element in virtue of which the attainment of such a value for others transforms itself into value for ourselves.
He is the binding element in the world. The consciousness which is individual in us, is universal in him: the love which is partial in us is all-embracing in him. Apart from him there could be no world, because there could be no adjustment of individuality. His purpose is always embodied in the particular ideals relevant to the actual state of the world. Thus all attainment is immortal in that it fashions the actual ideals which are God in the world as it is now. Every act leaves the world with a deeper or a fainter impress of God. He then passes into his next relation to the world with enlarged, or diminished, presentation of ideal values.
He is not the world, but the valuation of the world. In abstraction from the course of events, this valuation is a necessary metaphysical function. Apart from it, there could be no definite determination of limitation required for attainment. But in the actual world, He confronts what is actual in it with what is possible for it. Thus He solves all determinations."
Everything Is Illuminated Bible Study "laskavo prosymo"..."you're welcome"
I'm on a Ukrainian kick. It seems that one of the reasons I'm read in the Ukraine is my posts on the film EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED. So, I'm releasing here for free the Bible study I wrote on that film. I hope you enjoy it.
The Gospel In Film:
Everything Is Illuminated
Overview
EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED is an
independent film based on a book of the same name starring Elijah Wood. It is a
simple story with a strange cast of characters, but underlying the absurdity is
a deep message of meaning and interconnectedness that can serve as a powerful
foundation for a good Christian discussion.
The film follows one Jonathon
Safron Foer on his quest to learn about his pre-holocaust ancestors in the
Ukraine. He is searching for an elusive town called Trachinbrod and enlists the
help of some colorful Ukrainians to help him. Foer is an obsessive-compulsive,
insular young man who collects various and sundry items from just about every
event in his life, and writes down those events in detail in a journa. His
guides are Alex Perchov and his grandfather. The Perchov family is strange and dysfunctional,
earning extra money by helping wealthy Jewish men like Alex search out their
heritage, while harboring vaguely anti-Semitic sentiments.
The search for Trachinbrod ends up
being rather difficult, as the town no longer exists. As the men search from
tiny village to tiny village, looking for any scrap of information they may
find, they come into conflict with one another, Grandpa in particular quite
disturbed by the journey. Foer himself is made uncomfortable by the places they
are forced to stay, and the subtle anti-Semitism that he detects in their
conversation. Eventually, they make their way to a small house where a woman
who knew Jonathon’s grandfather lived, the woman suffers from a collection
compulsion much like Jonathon does, and tells him the story of the Trachinbrod.
Apparently, the town was razed by the Nazis, and its inhabitants were tortured
and killed. It turns out that Alex’s grandfather was present at the massacre,
and survived by hiding under dead bodies. He survived by hiding his Judaism and
taking on the persona of an anti-Semite. Through Foer’s quest for
self-discovery, he has one of his own. In the end, though, he takes his own
life in response to being confronted by his past. His son, sensing some higher
purpose behind it all, writes it all down in a journal much like Jonathon’s.
The film’s central question is
about the meaning of life. Jonathon is questioned early on about why he
collects things and why he writes down his experiences. His response is to ask
‘why does anyone do anything’, suggesting that an act is just an act, with no
real purpose behind it needed.
The strange coincidence of Jonathon
choosing to be led by a family that was, in the end, connected to him is an
attempt to present an alternative view, which develops throughout the film. It
is the view that life is ultimately meaningful. That Jonathon collects things
not for ‘no reason at all’ but because he senses a deeper value in each moment,
and wants to hold on to it. He is told by one woman that the objects do not
exist ‘because of him’ but that he exists ‘for the objects’, that is, so the
truly important moments in life are held on to. Alex tells Jonathon that they
are forever connected because they have found something to live for. Jonathon no longer has to do things
‘just to do them’ but because there is some meaning and value in life. For
Christians learning to delve deep into matters of meaning and purpose, there be
no better jumping off point.
Instructions
This film is to be watched in two parts only, unlike most of
the other films in the collection. Ideally, the whole film will be watched
within one class, with the break in the middle to finish half of the book. This
movie should be used with adult groups only.
Section 1:
00:00:01-00:51:53
Section 2:
00:51:53-END
Everything Is Illuminated Study
Section 1
Bible Passage:
Hebrews 11:8-10
Ecclesiastes
3:9-15
Discussion Questions:
Why does Jonathon
collect stuff?
(Note: It’s a form of obsessive compulsive disorder. He is
afraid of forgetting the important moments of his life so he keeps things to
make sure he doesn’t forget.)
What kind of people is
the family that is helping him on his quest?
(Note: Weird, very weird. They are not the kind of people
you want leading you on an important adventure in a strange land. They are
simple people, but want to pretend to be urbane.)
Why do you think the
idea that the Ukraine
was anti-Semitic bother Peter?
(Note: He has pride in his Ukrainian heritage and doesn’t
like the idea that the Ukrainians aren’t basically ‘good’. Peter thinks in very
basic terms, ‘good and bad’ ‘cool or uncool’, ‘likes me or doesn’t’, there’s
not much of a sense of gradations of gray, just black or white.)
What is the irony
here?
(Note: Both Peter III and his grandfather Peter use
anti-Semitic and subtly racist terms and exhibit prejudiced attitudes. Jonathon
is highly offended by their use of the term ‘Yid’ which is usually a derogatory
term for eastern European Jews.)
Why is it important
for Jonathon that Sammy Davis Jr. was a Jew but Michael Jackson was ‘definitely
not a Jew’?
(Note: Sammy Davis Jr. is someone he can be proud of being
associated with and he can be proud chose Judaism but he certainly does NOT
care to be associated with Michael Jackson.)
Why do we care who is
associated with our religion, why do we try to ‘claim’ certain individuals?
(Note: We take the character of those associated with a
given religion as ‘proof’ of its validity, morally speaking. The better people
we have in our group the more we can make claims of the goodness of group
itself. This reasoning is a bit off, but not completely.)
Jonathon asks why
anyone does anything, and suggests his writing about his family’s past is ‘just
something he does’. Ecclesiastes seems to point to a kind of emptiness to
action as well. What do you think of this view?
(Note: It seems to me that both Jonathon and Ecclesiastes
are taking great pains to avoid looking at the real reasons for their actions:
they find meaning in it. They may not know WHY its meaningful, and Ecclesiastes
is trying to argue that talk of objective purpose in human endeavors is
nonsense, but they’re actions betray their beliefs. They do see value and
meaning in what should objectively be empty gestures. The idea that seemingly
empty gestures can hold the key to the meaning of life is quite interesting.)
Both Jonathon’s quest
and his vegetarianism exemplify how much a stranger he is in the land. The
Hebrews passage speaks to this. What does it really mean to be a ‘stranger’?
How should we respond to strange behaviors and beliefs?
(Note: Your ways will always seem strange in other cultural
contexts. We should remember that, and from it draw the conclusion that we
shouldn’t judge other people’s customs too quickly. Images of Abraham, and even
Jesus, are religious visions of the stranger. How we treat these people in some
ways determines how we are treating God, the strangest ‘person’ of them all. )
Section 2
Bible Passage:
Sirach 5:1-10
Discussion Questions:
Why is the beauty and
fertility of the land so important and why does grandpa mention it?
(Note: Like the younger Peter, ‘grandpa’ is trying to show
Jonathon the goodness of his ancestral home, and at the same time is reaching
out to Jonathon to try to find his own peace.)
What does the trip
become for grandpa?
(Note: A way to deal with his own guilt from his involvement
in the persecution of the Jews.)
Why does Peter want
Jonathon to believe his grandfather is good? Why do we need to convince others
of the goodness of the objects of our own love?
(Note: You are who you love, in a sense. If we love people
who are bad, we fear this means we are bad. This is only a half-truth, however.
Besides we have a hard time seeing anyone in their full complexity, we tend to
try to categorize people neatly as ‘good’ and ‘bad. Peter’s tendency to do this
anyways means it is more pronounced in him.)
Bible Passage
1 Kings 19:9-10
2 Maccabees
6:1-11
Discussion Questions:
What did the woman
mean when she said “I am Trachinbrod”?
(Note: She meant that she is the last survivor of the village,
and that she also is the keeper of their memory. The town lives on in her.)
Can you imagine what
it would be like to be the last of your kind?
(Note: It may be hard to imagine, but Elijah at least had
some sense of what this woman is going through, and the Bible tries to convey
the utter devastation the Jews experienced through him. Part of what the Bible
gives us is a window into real suffering.)
Was it right to resist
spitting on the Torah if it meant someone else died?
(Note: This is hard to say. We have conflicting intuitions.
God may have wanted him to spit, if it meant the life of his daughter. But we
can do nothing but marvel at his strength, his sacrifice, and his spirit. To
resist temptation to do what you think is right is always admirable and always
a glimpse into the kingdom
of God. Whether it’s
ultimately the right decision is a matter for another context.)
Why have people
tortured the Jews to get them to deny their religion?
(Note: This would break their spirit and destroy them as a
people. To separate them from God would also to be separate them from
themselves, and finally destroy what has made them a surviving people. It is a
horrible example of man’s inhumanity to man.)
Why does Jonathon say
the ring was buried?
(Note: Because Augustine didn’t want it forgotten, she
wanted some proof she existed to survive.)
Why does Augustine’s
sister say it was buried?
(Note: To call Jonathon back to this place, to lead Jonathon
on his destiny.)
She says: “the ring
doesn’t exist because of us, we exist because of the ring”? What is the
importance of this distinction?
(Note: It is the difference between whether life is
meaningful or whether we just make life meaningful. Is it only us who decides
our destiny, or is destiny something ‘real’. The woman is insisting it is, that
there is meaning in life and in a sense a God in the universe.)
Bible Passage:
Matthew 27:3-10
Sirach 6:5-17
Discussion Questions
Why do you think
Grandpa killed himself?
Why do you think Judas
killed himself?
Do you think its right
for Peter to suppose Grandpa’s suicide gave him peace?
Why or why not?
Why does Peter write
the book, write what Jonathon does?
(Note: Peter writes because he and Jonathon have ‘discovered
something to life for’. It is a record of his discovery of the meaning of life.
Now both men have a REASON to write.)
What is illumination,
do you think?