Questioning Classic Christianity #2

If you followed my first post on Questioning Classic Christianity, what follows is my friend's response to that email and my response to his email.

On Apr 29, 2009, at 11:15 PM, Friend wrote:

Pastor Scott,

I'll just play my cards right off. Frankly, I have no problem with COL tapping into other religious traditions and being universalistic. I have found too much wisdom in some of these traditions and encountered too much love in people of other faiths to write them off as fruitless searches and seekers.

I have an incredible respect and love for Christianity and believe it is special amongst the world's faiths. That said, I can't affirm that Jesus Christ is the only way to God, though he may serve as a bridge that makes the path easier.

I understand that you place great emphasis upon the authority of scripture. I believe that many of the scriptures are inspired, but that some of them have also been corroded with time. Power corrupts, and sadly, I believe political authorities have all too often co-opted holy scriptures to serve their purposes and keep people from becoming truly free (this is an equally opportunity corruption, it seems that in time all religious traditions fall prey).

That's why I have been so enlivened by the mystical path. It exists as the spirit-filled core of spirituality which inspires scripture and from which religious life emanates. Scripture has a place in guiding spiritual practice, but to the mystic, direct experience of God trumps any written text or historical tradition. God lives in each moment equally and so we do not have to look back necessarily to ancient times for inspiration. Revelation is perpetual and immanent.

This hasn't just been what I've read and learned from hanging with mystical communities this past year, it's been what I've encountered these last years as I continue to be drawn into this story. Though I don't dismiss the authenticity of my religious upbringing, these past months I've encountered a power and love far greater than anything I've experienced while a member of orthodox Christianity. I can't deny this experience and so I continue to walk this path.

It's interesting that so many Christian mystics come to a point where their experience of God places them at odds with their orthodox convictions. I'm thinking of Meister Eckhart's famous, "I pray to God to rid me of God."

The mystical movement as I understand it is one towards an increasing sense of freedom and openness as prior boxes for God are bust open into greater and more wonderful realizations of the divine.

I will let you know that I'm in the process of moving on from the COL largely for the reasons I touched on above concerning power and authority. It appears that Father Peter Bowes is interested in manipulating mystical teachings in order to primarily draw his students towards himself. A true teacher points seekers back to the power and authority that resides within themselves.

I'll conclude with a poem by the sufi mystic, Hafiz, who I find a hell of a lot more poignant than my own feeble thoughts.

I HAVE LEARNED SO MUCH

I have learned so much from God
that I can no longer call myself

A Christian, a Hindu, a Muslim,
a Buddhist, a Jew

The truth has shared so much of Itself
with me

that I can no longer call myself
A man, a woman, an angel,
or even pure Soul.

Love has
befriended Hafiz so completely
it has turned to ash
and freed me

Of every concept and image
My mind has ever known


Look forward to continuing our conversation, and will pray that your ministry continues to bless Hope in Christ.

Friend

Here is my response:

May 13, 2009

Friend -

I have been reflecting on your letter for almost 2 weeks now and praying for wisdom as to how to respond. You state that you have "found too much wisdom...and encountered too much love in people of other faiths to write them off as fruitless searches and seekers." I believe this is the basic core which needs to be dealt with. No one is asking you to "write off" individual people; there is no doubt that humans are capable of great acts of compassion and justice simply because they are human. We are all created in the image of God as Gen. 1:27 tells us "God created humanity is his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them." Simply by being in God's image we are are loving and compassionate, capable of welcoming others and being welcomed, we are even capable of developing wonderful thoughts about the world and its workings and how to best live in it, "wisdom" as you call it.

That said, all our wisdom falls short and plays down the fundamental problems of humanity. We are sinners, the story of Adam and Eve bear witness to it along with countless other stories: Cain-Abel, Moses, Abraham the liar and one who can't trust God so he places his wife in danger not once but at least twice. In fact the entire Scripture records how the wisdom of men, continually corrupts true worship and trust in God and God alone. At some points it is money which is worshipped, at others it is national security, at times sexuality and countless other 'gods' and 'wisdom' are appealed to while the LORD is denied and refused. The LORD is placed on equal footing at times as in the case of the Samaritans, or the Israelites and Judahites and every time God chastises them and tells them he is a jealous God who refuses to share his name and his glory with any other would be gods. Isa 43:13 is one of many scriptures which state this, but it will suffice to quote only one or two "I am God, and also henceforth I am He; there is no one who can deliver from my hand; I work and who can reverse it." "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth" (Isaiah 45:22).

This is foundational to the Christian faith. A failure to recognize sin as it is and to admit that we are all sinners prone to seeking other gods and calling out to these gods and assuming they can save us is the human problem. To state that Christianity is special, but to deny Jesus Christ as the only way to God, as God incarnate, is to deny this fundamental, foundational truth and assume that you can be saved by turning to something other than God alone for your salvation. But again God is clear in Acts 4:12 "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven, given to men by which we must be saved." Again, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved" (Acts 16:31). Or Jesus' own words, "I am the way, and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me." These words are not politically correct nor are they very palatable according to Pacific Northwest minds, but they are the truth, otherwise the entire Scripture must be thrown out for if they are not true in regard to their faith content, then they are lies and unfit for anything.

You mention the Bible as being inspired but corrupted. I would love to hear more of your thoughts on this and will not remark until I understand your concerns.

As I conclude, my thoughts continue to be drawn to your pursuit of experience in one place versus another. I would urge you not to set up experience as the standard by which you judge truth. It is enitrely possible for one to have a great experience and take in falsehood and false teaching - the Afrikaans and the Apartheid state had a "great experience" in their minds but were entirely deluded in their theology for example. Similarly it is possible to have a horrible experience but to know that what is said is true - the mother who must admit that her husband has sexually abused their children, for instance. But it is also possible to have a great experience and also be grounded in great truth - this I believe is what happens when one takes seriously the words of God in the Bible and also places them into practice. I may be wrong, but I believe what you are truly looking for is the experience of Christian discipleship to Jesus, not what you have seen or experienced in the past as "christianity" but what God truly desires for all who follow him.

Seek God but seek him on the firm foundation of His Word and his Son. I am praying for God to strengthen your faith in his Son and to draw you close through the Holy Scriptures.

Grace and Peace ...Read more