Friday, May 18, 2012
Dogma
Mt friend John Mark Reynolds said:
...We too often forget that no matter where we go, we are in God's bosom, He is just that big. Our fear is a lack of faith. Do bad things happen? Of course, but when they happen, they happen within God's bosom, and difficult as they are, they are part of God's plan. Christ's death, the ugliest point in history, was part of God's plan. Christ feared in Gethsemane but in the end....
We can do no less.
I also argue that Evangelicals are open to changing “dogma,” but not if the arguments heard are just a repeat of old failed arguments. The mind of the Church has been persuaded of certain things, such as two natures of Christ, but who would not wish to hear a new metaphor or new approach?I'll never forget the time I was teaching an adult Sunday School class and someone very much my senior stood up and said "God said so, I believe it, and that's that." He had no wish to explore, intellectually or otherwise. Now that is hiding in the fort of dogma! He, and so many like him, are afraid. They see a world that is not good and they want to hide in God's bosom. Admirable, but...
The main benefit of dogmas, the laws revealed or discovered about the supernatural world, is that it allows us to discover new truths. We do not repeat discussions over and over, but can move forward to see deeper depths in the unlimited nature of God. High fantasy eventually fails us in the wonder of His Being, but each generation can stretch forward a bit more.
Augustine to Dante marked improvements in our vision! Of course, we must digest what Dante said and nobody agrees with all of it.
Dogma is not mostly a fort to hide inside, but a home base for intellectual adventure. Perhaps, we are not always good at demonstrating the liberating nature of dogma.
...We too often forget that no matter where we go, we are in God's bosom, He is just that big. Our fear is a lack of faith. Do bad things happen? Of course, but when they happen, they happen within God's bosom, and difficult as they are, they are part of God's plan. Christ's death, the ugliest point in history, was part of God's plan. Christ feared in Gethsemane but in the end....
We can do no less.
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