Theology, Pt. Two

Franz Kafka wrote that “we ought to read only the kind of books that wound and stab us. If the book we are reading doesn’t wake us up with a blow on the head, what are we reading it for? ... We need the books that affect us like a disaster, that grieve us deeply, like the death of someone we loved more than ourselves, like being banished into forests far from everyone, like a suicide. A book must be the axe for the frozen sea inside us” (1) – and I would say some similar things about theology.

Theology should shatter the pretensions, defenses, false securities, and hollow lies inside us, and so prepare us to read the Bible rightly. Theology should be related to the Bible not as a simplification or a systematization of it, but as a preparation for it, which says the shocking things that the Bible says, and says them in ways which we cannot easily escape; and which explicitly contradicts that which the Bible does not say, but which we deludedly attribute to it.

Theology should be essentially destructive, not constructive. “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2).

The task of theology is to clear space for, and call attention to, the pure word of God – it is never to replace this word. Theology does not essentially explain or summarize the Bible – that is, theology does not do these things in any conclusive sense. Rather, theology challenges you with the assertion that the Bible says a certain thing – and you must then go to the Bible itself and look. Even when we hear the purest truth from theology, we must trace it back to the scriptures so that we can hear the very same truth authoritatively. We must ultimately hear it not as something with which we happen to agree, or something in which we can find no flaws; we must hear that truth as the word of God, and as something which we do not sit in judgment over, but which sits in judgment over us.

Furthermore, theology’s primary task when interpreting the Bible is not to explain things which are difficult to understand, and which we’ve been laboring to comprehend, being frustrated only by the obscurity and opacity of the Bible. No, theology’s interpretive task is to confront us with things which are difficult to do – and which we therefore desperately run from, by every conscious and subconscious means, no matter how they glare at us from the scriptures.

Finally, even apologetics can bring us nothing new. Apologetics does not discover undeniable proofs, and so provide something indispensible which God’s revelation had been lacking. Apologetics does not come to the Christian’s rescue with better arguments than the Bible was able to muster, however hard its Author tried. No, apologetics can only tear down faulty assumptions and arguments against Christianity, and so carry us back to the place of uncertainty where Christ calls out, “blessed is he who does not take offense at Me” (3).

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1) I’ve never read any Kafka, but I’d like to. Thinking about this quote of his which I’d encountered, and about my experience with reading The Cost of Discipleship, got me going on this post.
2) 2 Corinthians 10:5
3) Matthew 11:3-6, and what this guy said about it

Carrots

When dumpster diving, or cleaning out your fridge, don’t be deterred by carrots that look rotten – the damage is probably only skin deep. Some of the carrots on the left in the picture below looked worse than the ones on the right do. They all felt nice and firm, though, so I started off by just cutting off the brown sections. But I soon realized that the brown was only on the surface, and came off with just one swipe of the potato peeler, and the carrot right underneath it was perfectly good!

What’s more, I pulled these carrots out of a dumpster two weeks ago, and they don’t seem to have deteriorated at all in my fridge since then. Carrots, cauliflower, and onions are proving to keep fresh for a long time after dumpster diving.

The Sky Is Falling

I thought that “Broken Lungs” was a very political song for Thrice, but “The Sky Is Falling” goes even further. It challenges American jingoism, and sings out that “the sky is falling, and no one will care as long as it lands overseas.” For we Americans and those oversees are “just miles apart, but worlds away.”

And yet, this song avoids the self-righteousness that our protests so easily become. For the lyricist Dustin Kensrue places himself squarely among the frightened and angry – but he does not want these feelings to push him toward hatred or violence. “I want to be strong enough to not let my fear decide my fate,” “I want to be strong enough to not let my terror turn to hate.” He writes so personally and openly as to sing of his daughter: “My little girl is just a baby! And I'm scared that she won't make her teens, but my fear just fuels the hate machine.” As with “Broken Lungs,” these lyrics protest in a way that is thoroughly Christian, by protesting what is wrong, but also immediately looking for what is wrong in oneself.

It's coming down, it's coming down, it's coming down!
These clouds could never hope to save us
From such a juggernaut of weight
We all dance a jingo cabaret
It's coming down, it's coming down!
There are shadows forming on the pavement
We face a watershed of hate
we're just miles apart but worlds away

The sky is falling and no one
Will lift their eyes to see
The sky is falling and no one
Will care as long as it lands overseas

It's coming down, it's coming down, it's coming down!
This roof could never hope to save me
And my family from sudden death
If we could leave we would have left
It's coming down, it's coming down!
My little girl is just a baby
And I'm scared that she won't make her teens
But my fear just fuels the hate machine

The sky is falling and no one
Will lift their eyes to see
The sky is falling and no one
Will care as long as it lands overseas

I want to be strong enough
To not let my fear decide my fate
Surrounded by jingoists
I don't want any part of this
I want to be strong enough
To not let my terror turn to hate
Surrounded by jingoists
I don't want any part of this

Christian Vegetarianism

Some people argue that the Bible mandates, or at least strongly recommends, vegetarianism – but this is not true.

But let’s move past vegetarianism in principle, and consider specific conditions in which people eat – namely the conditions in which we Americans eat. There are huge issues regarding conditions on factory farms, use of land and energy, environmental degradation, and global poverty.

The most common response I hear from non-vegetarians at this point is that they like the taste of meat. Is this honestly the big rebuttal? For if so, then Christianity does strongly recommend vegetarianism to us. For while Christianity does not command vegetarianism itself, it does command self-control. And this means that reason and conscience take clear precedence over the palate, and a rebuttal about liking the taste of something means almost nothing compared to the other issues involved.