Today, I’m going to take a break from my usual topics and comment on some of my other readings.
1. I read a few good chapters last night in theologian Miroslav Volf’s Against the Tide. In “Way of Life”, Volf talks about pastors who learned about the Bible and theology at school, only to conclude that their education was useless when it came to the needs of their congregants. As a result, they fall back on fundamentalism or pop psychology in their sermons.
I myself struggle to apply my academic learning to the realm of real life. There have been times when it’s not been overly difficult. But there are also a lot of times when it’s hard. Some may say that it’s hard for me because I’m not a conservative Christian and thus don’t have the Holy Spirit guiding me as I read Scripture. But I had difficulty with the “application” part of Bible study even when I was a conservative Christian. For me, there was only so much I could draw from the Bible’s continual message of “God is going to punish you if you don’t repent.” That brings to mind another chapter in Volf’s book, in which he talks about an old man who never had a television, but instead read the Bible. I’d consider that torture! I enjoy studying the Bible, but I’d need to balance the dark revelations of Scripture with the levity of television!
There are many Christians who can apply the Bible, though. Perhaps I should consult their resources more than I do.
In “Teachers, Crusts, and Toppings”, Volf talks about his attempts to reach out to different students in his classes: the students with a heart for God but little theological knowledge, the students who are too conservative and use the Bible to promote sexism, and the students who are pluralistic and view Christianity as one voice among many, with its strengths and weaknesses.
I thought he wouldn’t discuss the type of student that I am—and then he mentioned that third category! His strategy for dealing with people like me is to show that Christianity does not always accord with my stereotypes of it, nor can it be domesticated.
I don’t mind that. But when people assert that Christianity is “radical” and that Jesus wants me to “leave all”, I wish they’d clarify what that means for me at a practical level. Otherwise, their statements are meaningless to me.
2. Lately, I’ve been reading a chapter of Harold Kushner’s Who Needs God? each night before going to sleep. It’s a very thoughtful book. I like what he says about how ritual creates community in tough times, how religion enables us to view life in a positive sense, and how we are each inadequate in terms of our own resources, and so we need God.
But I’m unsatisfied because I’m not entirely clear what Kushner believes God can do for us. As far as I can tell, from this book and also When Bad Things Happen to Good People, Kushner does not believe that God grants our wishes. In the latter book, he basically said that God is unable to do so. So what can God do? Can God do anything to affect the course of human events?
Part of me is attracted to Kushner’s proposal because of the existence of evil and the times that God does not appear to answer our prayers in a way that’s beneficial for us. But I still wonder what I’m left with, if Kushner is right.