Hump Day History: St. Augustine’s City of God

I think actually finishing The City of God will be one of my greatest reading accomplishments. It’s long and, to be honest, not always riveting. I’m no literary critic and, since so many have found it so valuable for so long, I assume the problem’s with me, not the good saint’s work. Despite plodding through this book with one ‘book’ per week (his books are 40-60 pages each), there are some fantastic nuggets that are worthy of thought, or are at the very least, inspiring.

I’ve been tagging pages of note throughout the book. We’ll hit one of those each week, but there’s going to be a little bit of context needed for each one. So, instead of starting at the beginning (probably more like the middle since I was lost for the first half of the volume), I’m going to start where I’m reading (book XX of XXII – that’s 20 of 22 for you Arabic numeral-types). We’ll go back and hit the other stuff, but the context will be more fresh for me if we start where I am. And, honestly, that saves me some work. I’m all about that.

Again, I’m an Augustine novice so if you actually know something about him, your input is coveted.

Today I’m reading in Book 20, which is dealing with God’s judgment and this quote, regarding Satan’s 1000 year binding before his final loosening and defeat (see Rev. 20, I believe). For those wondering why God would bind Satan and then loose him for one last brouhaha, here’s what St. Augustine says,

“…if he were never loosed, his malicious power would be less patent, and less proof would be given of the steadfast fortitude of the holy city: it would, in short, be less manifest what good use the Almighty makes of his great evil. For the Almighty does not absolutely seclude the saints from his temptation, but shelters only their inner man, where faith resides, that by outward temptation they may grow in grace. And He binds him that he may not, in the free and eager exercise of his malice, hinder or destroy the faith fo those countless weak persons, already believing or yet to believe, from whom the Church must be increased and completed; and he will in the end loose him, that the city of God may see how mighty an adversary it has conquered, to the great glory of its Redeemer, Helper, Deliverer” (pp. 722-723).

Theodicy (answering the problem of evil) is one of the profound challenges of theism and this isn’t intended to be a full explanation by Augustine, but it does seem to be one angle on the issue. Great heroes need great villains. By releasing Satan, God’s greatness is highlighted. This leads to other problems, I suppose (like why create Satan if he’s going to fall, etc…), but in a theo-centric theology (it’s funny that there’d be any other kind) the highlighting of God’s goodness and greatness is a good reason for Satan to be bound, unleashed, and finally abolished from the earth.

Sin

This is a great, and incredibly challenging, sermon from Mark Driscoll at Mars Hill in Seattle. Turn it on when you get an hour free – or go to iTunes and put it on your iPod, or something. Enjoy, or at least let God work on your heart with this one…

http://www.marshillchurch.org/sermonseries/doctrine/week_05.aspx

The Battle at Kruger

I'm teaching on 1 Peter 5.1-14. Watch this and then read 1 Peter 5.8.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjibWWTevdA&feature=related

A great picture of why we need each other.

Silence, Part 3: Suffering with us in Silence

The book ends with a great exchange between a priest who apostasized and Christ as the priest prays in his heart and mind.

Priest: “Lord, I resented your silence.”
Lord: “I was not silent. I suffered beside you.”

That’s powerful. When we feel like God has abandoned us, He is there suffering with us, walking through our pain with us.

In the book it goes on, as I read it, to excuse the apostasy from Jesus’ perspective, as if he would encourage it to relieve our anguish. While the author may be expressing Jesus’ abundant grace, it sits uncomfortably with me. He’s with us, but He wants us to honor Him. I realize this is coming from a guy sitting comfortably in a coffee shop, much like the priests in Portugal couldn’t imagine their fellow priest forsaking the faith.

I haven’t faced much suffering so my critique may ring hollow. Even so, I hope I follow in the footsteps of Paul who praises God amid his suffering in books like Philippians. I'm sure that's easier said than done.

Remember. He’s with you. He’s suffering beside you.

Silence, Part 2: Grounds for Apostasy?

Almost a month ago I finished the book Silence by Shusako Endo (I’ll keep the link on the margin for another week or so). Here’s the link to the first post (http://whirledviews.blogspot.com/2007/12/silence.html). It was a fascinating and powerful book about the challenges of Catholicism taking root in Japan. The title comes from the bewilderment of where God is in suffering – why is He silent? I’ll get to that one on the next post. But for now I want to touch on the persecution.

Persecution helped strengthen the church in Japan until a priest recanted his faith. In fact, the priests at home couldn’t believe that he had recanted and the story is about the sending of a pair of priests to investigate to see if Priest A had, in fact, given up the faith. It turns out, after some searching, Priest A had forsaken the faith. What made him give it up, apostasize?

The persecutors tortured the people while the priest had to listen. The priest goes so far as to say that because Jesus loves these people He would do the merciful thing and Himself recant to spare them suffering. The right thing to do is to turn your back on God so people won’t suffer.

That sounds so compassionate, so loving. But is it true? Certainly it would end their temporal suffering and any guilt you might have for their suffering. But it seems to fall into the trap of many contemporary movies. I think of Bruce Almighty and Bedazzled where redemption comes from altruism, from loving someone else more than yourself. It gets you out of your deal with the devil or is the real lesson God would have us learn. But is it? Don’t get me wrong; it is vitally important. I believe such humility and love for others is essential fruit of the gospel. But it isn’t the main goal.

There’s an unsettling verse in John that I preached on a while back and that I reviewed when dealing with humanity and sin in my ordination paper. “He” is the Holy Spirit that Jesus is promising to send to the disciples.

And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me – John 16.8-9

I like to think of sin as bad things – and it is – but there’s more. It is missing the mark. It is missing who God has called us to be. Namely, a follower of Jesus. We honor Him and believe in Him first and foremost. As much as we might want to please people and ease their suffering, it cannot come at the expense of honoring Jesus the King.

This leads to the question, “Why is God silent in our suffering?” I’ll give the Silence answer to that one next, which may not answer the whole issue, but it is still powerful.

Ordination #2, Art. 5d: The Solution to Sin

Because of the profound effects of sin, we are spiritually dead toward God and unable to pull ourselves from this sin-ravaged condition. It is impossible for us to please God while we are in our “flesh” (Rom. 8.8; Jn. 15.5). Good works may be done (parents give good gifts to children), but they are not meritorious to restoring our relationship with God (Isa. 64.6). Only through regeneration by the Holy Spirit can salvation and spiritual life be obtained (Eph. 2.1-5).

Ordination #2, Art. 5c: The Effects of Sin

Because of sin man is lost. Sin is universally extensive (all people sin), but it is also deeply intensive, happening at a deeper level than actions. It is an act of the entire person, total depravity. This doesn’t mean that man is as bad as he could be, or that he does every wicked thing possible, but that every part of one’s person is tainted by sin. The body is damaged by sin (Rom. 6.12); it is an issue of the heart (Jer. 17.9; Mt. 15.18-19); the mind and reason are part of the problem (Gen. 6.5; Prov. 15.26; 2 Cor. 3.14-15); emotions are corrupted (Rom. 1.26-27; Gal. 5.24); and, finally, the will is corrupted as we are slaves to sin (Rom. 6.17; 2 Tim. 2.25-26).


The effects of sin are devastating. Man’s relationship with God suffers just as it did with the first couple (Gen. 3.9-19). We are now objects of His wrath (Ex. 32.10-11; Rom. 1.18). We are objectively guilty of rejecting God’s design for us as His stewards (Gen. 1.28) by being unfaithful stewards (Gen. 3), ungrateful (Rom. 1.21), and lawbreakers (Rom. 1-2). Our lostness includes death – physical (Heb. 9.27; Rom. 5.12), spiritual – alienation from God (Gen. 3; Rom. 6.23), and eternal for those whose names are not found in the Book of Life (Rev. 20.13-14). The individual also suffers within themselves due to sin by increasingly becoming slaves to sin (Rom. 6.17), failure to take responsibility for one’s own sin (Gen. 3.12-13), self-deception (Jer. 17.9), and a hardening of conscience (1 Tim. 4.2). Sin also harms interpersonal relationships (James 4.1-2) and a lack of servanthood and humility that Jesus and Paul must instruct against (Mk. 10.45; Phil. 2.3-5). There is also a sense in which creation bears the weight of man’s sinful choices (Gen. 3; Rom. 8.18-25).

Ordination #2, Art. 5b: Human Sin

Sin can be described in a variety of ways, but the common theme is falling short of God’s standard (Rom. 6.23). Sin is universal, both inherited through Adam (Rom. 5.12) and committed by each person, individually (Ps. 14.1, 3; Eph. 2.3; 1 Jn. 1.8-10). Because of man’s corrupted nature, we each have “flesh” that leads us toward sin and away from doing God’s will (Rom. 7.18; Gal. 5.16-24). While the devil may tempt, much of our sin problem arises from corrupt desires within us (James 1.14-15). Some desires are God-given and good, but we have a way of taking legitimate needs (enjoying things – Creation; obtaining things – stewardship; do things/achieve) and twisting them into “the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 Jn. 2.16).

Jesus also said “the world” hated Him and would hate us (Jn. 7.7). The world is a kind of impersonal spiritual force, or system, that is set against God (Jn. 14.17) and believers are to be set against it (James 4.4) by being salt and light within it (Mt. 5.16).

Ordination #2, Art. 5a: Creation in God’s Image and the Fall

Ringing in the New Year with a little sin talk. Don’t worry. Keep reading (if you have a strong interest in theology). I’m on Article 5 for my ordination work. Man’s creation and fall into sin and its effects. Enjoy. I guess. Any feedback, requests for clarification, or outright correction is appreciated. My final paper will be much shorter, but I prefer to make it long and cut it down rather than beef it up later. I'm rambling now.

Unlike any other being, man was created “very good” (Gen. 1.31) in the image of God (Gen. 1.26-27). Created in God’s image, humankind fell into sin (Gen. 3.1-19), but the image is only effaced, not destroyed as evidenced by the fact that as murder is still a grievous offense due to the victim’s creation in God’s image (Gen. 9.6) and it is why we are to avoid cursing our fellow man (James 3.9) – both unacceptable because man is created in God’s image/likeness. The image is increasingly recovered through the process of sanctification (Col. 3.10; 2 Cor. 3.18) and will ultimately be restored upon Christ’s return (Rom. 8.29; 1 Jn. 3.2).

Silence.

I had hoped to get my year-end review of my favorite books done, but I’m currently on vacation and have started a powerful novel, Silence, by Shusaku Endo. I remember a guy recommending it in a missions class I took in seminary – that was at least seven years ago. I didn’t know what it was about, but it is definitely not an abstract book of mission theory.

Rather, it is a novel about persecution in Japan in the late 16th, early 17th century. The persecution has been intense and two Catholic priests (thus far in the novel) go to see what is happening. They live in fear while they witness the bravery of peasants in squalid conditions – to the point of martyrdom. But there is a character who is a blatant coward; he has repeatedly denied the faith.

What haunts the priest is the bewilderment, amid this suffering, that God is silent. He is silent while these poor, faithful Japanese Christians are persecuted. It unsettles. Arguments can be helpful, but as they ring hollow when someone is in the midst of suffering, waiting to hear from God. And hearing silence.

I hope there’s some good resolution. Either way, this is a gripping book thus far.

God isn't detached from our pain

This isn't so much an argument on why evil exists as the fact that God is not a detached deity unacquainted with grief. Rather, He is intimately aware of it and experiences it. I hate it when people ignorant of basic Christianity speak like they know what they're talking about so I'll try not to do the same to them, but I think there are some faiths (Christian Science and some eastern religions) that say pain is an illusion, something that only affects the ignorant or unfaithful (I'm open to correction here, but I think I've read that from some). That's not what happens in Jesus. Whether we have a great answer for the problem of evil or not, we see that Jesus was willing to suffer at the hands of evil men to spare us the consequences of our own sin and evil. God doesn't ignore it and tell us to whistle in the dark. He recognizes it is real and He runs into the middle of it in Jesus to identify with us as one who suffers evil (even though He is innocent) and conquers it. I don't know about you, but I think it is powerful to know that, in those times where answers don't really matter anyway, in the midst of suffering, Jesus is right there alongside us, feeling our pain, grieving alongside us. Not as a distant, untouchable God, but as one who has suffered and walks with us in our grief.

“Why does God make deformed babies and pain in the world?”

One of the college students I’m privileged to serve with was asked this question by one of her roommates and she solicited my input. This is the big one and I don’t think there are any answers that are 100% satisfactory or it would cease being “the big one” in terms of tough questions. I know a couple of guys who are brighter than I am read this blog on occasion so I’m soliciting their input as I lay out my first email to this student. This was after giving it a day’s thought, but without studying so please correct me as you see fit … or expand it. A couple more installments are to come. But here’s email #1.

Sin. Not the sin of deformed babies, or even regions where tragedy hits. But when Adam & Eve sinned (Gen. 3), Creation felt it, too. The ground wouldn't produce the way it was supposed to and Adam was going to have to work hard for food. We know that because of Adam (Rom. 5) we have our issues with sin, but Paul, when talking about the struggle with the Christian life and sin, indicates that Creation is under the weight of sin - "subjected to frustration" and will itself be "liberated from its bondage ... into glorious freedom" (Rom. 8.18-22 or so). Things aren't the way they're supposed to be ... with us as individuals, and with the created world because of our breaking covenant with God through Adam.

This doesn't answer the individual issues, but it explains why things are generally a mess. People are fallen and make sinful choices - that's the easy evil (bad people do bad things). But creation isn't as it should be, either. Not much later in Romans 8.28) it tells how God can use anything for our good if we love Him, which can give meaning to individual suffering for believers. John 9 is a good example of this, but there's something to be said for those who suffer for Christ and yet honor Him, even if they're not healed.

That’s a pretty quick drive by. Did I handle it appropriately? Please advise.