Ideology vs Theology

Marvin’s email mentioned Alistair McGrath, which made me visit my bookshelf. I picked up McGrath’s A Passion for Truth: The Intellectual Coherence of Evangelicalism, and found between its pages an old photo of me with a birthday cake. 29-6-93. Those were the days at Bob Kappa - when I had a lot more hair. My eyes run across the page bookmarked in history and underlined was McGrath making a point about German Christians during the Second World War, and ‘non-biblical controlling influence’ upon modern day Christianity:

"We criticize German liberal theologians for supporting the imperial war policy in 1914, while turning a blind eye to the fact that they were simply endorsing a general cultural trend. We criticize the German Christians for obeying Hitler in the 1930s, conveniently choosing to overlook that they were simply submitting themselves to the prevailing cultural norms. We are doing the same today, by allowing ourselves and our churches to follow societal norms and values, irrespective of their origins and goals. To allow our ideas and values to become controlled by anything or anyone other than the self-revelation of God in Scripture is to adopt an ideology, rather than a theology; it is to become controlled by ideas and values whose origins lie outside the Christian tradition - and potentially to become enslaved to them."

(Italics mine, for emphasis)

In God's Hands

Last Sunday, as I placed my hand on Dad’s back I could trace his shoulder blade against his skin. He had lost so much weight, the ridges of his spine were barely concealed beneath the thin white singlet he had on. He had difficulty eating and his coughs made things worse. Mom pointed at his stockinged feet and said they were swollen. Just over a month and a half after he was diagnosed with cancer in the liver, and two weeks after his angiogram and embolism, he was clearly wasting away. We prayed to the Lord of Lords, the Creator of Heaven and Earth, that my Dad would know his life was secure in God’s loving hands.

Today Albert said Dad would have to be admitted. His feet, all puffy and more swollen than they were on Sunday. Side effects of chemotherapy. Also he had not been eating and sleeping. Dad would probably be put on a protein drip or something. My Dad. He who never had any major ailment all through his 79 years. Until now, Mom had said.

The problem with people

"When you work with people, there’s problems," Theresa said.

"When you work alone, there’s problems too," I said.

We’re driving back from a meeting with a client, and talking about how difficult it was getting temperamental people to finish their work on time. There’s too much work; there’s too much stress. How much can a person take anyway, before the facade of civility undergoes a Hulkian transformation?

The problem is not work, I think. We are the problem.

We have a problem with people because we have problems with ourselves. If I’m not comfortable in my own skin, it’s going to be tough living and working with others. Okay, maybe work - stressful work - triggers an extreme reaction, and snap! Anyone would lose it. Break down. Blow up. Wouldn’t you?

See, it’s no one’s fault.

Reading & Reasoning

"Christianity depends on reading.
Therefore, Christians have to read."
Gene Edward Veith

Someone actually suggested that our own children read because they got their parents' genes. Well, genes have no more to do with reading habits than being born of Christian parents makes anyone a Christian. But I have to admit that the environment plays an influential role.

In our home, reading takes the place of TV (ours broke down 4 years ago and we have not replaced it). Yes, there's the occasional dvd movie (our TV receives video signals from the player only), but as adults who are already avid readers, we tend to read 2 or 3 books at any one time. Understandably, libraries, bookstores, second-hand bookshops, and book sales, become popular haunts. It's not hard to imagine therefore why our kids got bitten by the book bug. Friends who visit are surprised at the library that's the Tan Residence. "Have you read all these books?" they ask for the 1000th time. My guess is they know the answer (no, I have NOT read all the books on our shelves) but as conversation starters go, it beats being asked if our children have a problem socialising!

More than just books is the attitude we share for life-long learning. Whether we read for instruction or for leisure, we tell our children not to be afraid of questions and ideas, because they're essential to learning. I realise of course that it's not the number of books you read but how well you read that matters. Reading well is reading critically - which is what good readers do. Reasoning is the corollary of reading. It's the ability to separate fact from fiction, what's true from what's real, and finally, the profound from the trivial. With practice, the mind is sharpened and our esteem for truth deepened, wherever it's found - because all truth is ultimately God's truth.

The great protestant reformer John Calvin has this to say:

"The human mind is fallen as it is, and corrupted from its integrity, is yet invested and adorned by God with excellent talents. If we believe that the Spirit of God is the only fountain of truth, we should neither reject nor despise the truth, wherever it shall appear unless we wish to insult the Spirit of God."

If we want to develop our critical faculties, reading ranks high on the to-do list. This is followed closely by reflection and discourse. These last 2 disciplines are hard to exercise these days, because both require time - preferably lots of it. You need space to think through what you're reading; you need time for meaningful exchanges, to talk things out, someone to bounce ideas off. Sadly, our activity-mad culture has already encroached into our churches and homes, robbing us the quiet necessary for reflection, meditation, talking, and listening.

In an age where truth has taken a back seat, it does not require a genius to figure out how this dismal state of affairs came about. It makes me wonder if we will be able to emulate Paul's courageous defense before Festus in Acts 26:25 where he declared:

"What I am saying is true and reasonable."

Making an argument for faith on the basis of truth and reason starts with reading well. I sure hope our children will be able to take a stand like Paul and echo these same words with equal passion and confidence.