Stephen W. Hiemstra's Blog, page 90

Diminishing Image and Icon

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

We care about the divine image because the wider your image of God, the wider your image of humanity and more careful you will honor God’s name and image. Our identity and self-worth both draw from this well. A good job in a prosperous company brings wealth and security; any job in a failing company brings poverty and anxiety about the future. Our status in life is derivative of the God that we worship.

The creation account focuses on the person of God and the divine image reflected in humanity. In the Garden of Eden, the personhood of God is immediate and real; the relationship between God and humanity is personal and concrete; Adam and Eve are sinless and their lives are potentially eternal. This all changes after Satan questions God’s integrity, and Adam and Eve doubt God and sin. From this point, the Bible generally proscribes anything that diminishes either the divine image or the icon of that image. 

The image of God can be diminished in the eyes of believers either by altering the image itself or confusing the image with something else. The primary thing that diminishes the icon of God’s image is sin.

Altering the Image

Assuming Christians are correct in worshipping a triune God, offering believers only one person in the trinity diminishes the image of God presented to prospective believers. In animistic religions, God the Father and Christ the Son do not appear, but spirits abound. The Holy Spirit is normally not present in these religions, but demon spirits are not only worshipped, they are invited into one’s life (Ritchie 2000, 97). In Islam, Allah is transcendent and roughly parallel to God the Father in Christianity, but Jesus is considered a prophet, not divine, and the Holy Spirit is absent.

Another way that the image of God can be diminished is by misunderstanding key divine attributes. When people want to believe that all religions are basically preaching the same ethical principles, they will often argue that there are multiple paths up the mountain to god, an idea attributed to a Hindu sect called Jainism. 

For the Christian, this statement is misleading because there are no paths up the mountain to God. Because God created the heavens and the earth (Gen 1:1), he stands outside of time and space, which makes it impossible for us to climb up the mountain to God( Gen 11). God must come to us, which Christians believe he did in Jesus Christ.

Diminishing the image of God is not necessarily a sin, but it poses a partial revelation of God true nature. As Christians, we believe that the Bible provides a sufficient revelation to assure salvation. On the Day of Pentecost, the Apostle Peter advised: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38) Because none of us have received a complete revelation, this advice comes as Good News.

Confusing the Image

Confusing the image of God (or the image’s icon) poses the problem of idolatry, where something other than God is worshipped. 

As argued earlier, the problem of idolatry for most people arises in placing something other than God as the number one priority in your life, which violates the first commandment. Watered-down faith diverts your attention from the image of God and allows other priorities to dominate your time, energy, and money (Giglio 2003). The classic faith game—god of the gaps—is to turn to God only when all else fails—your own strength, your bank account and health plan, your friends, and family. 

When we deliberately worship something other than God, we violate the second commandment. Pride worships self. When we slander God’s name as Freud and Marx do, saying that worshipping God is a delusion or a consequence of drug abuse, we violate the third commandment. When we refuse to rest with God we violate the fourth commandment. In each case, the attack is directly on the person of God.

Because our status in life is derivative of the God that we worship, cultural Christianity precludes the life guidance that may have aided the people around us and prevented many griefs.

Diminishing the Icon

Because God is sinless, sin diminishes the icon of the image of God. The affront of sin on God most directly affects God’s image when our personhood or the personhood of our neighbor is diminished. The majority of commandments focus on attacks on the icon of God’s image: Refusing to honor parents, murder, adultery, theft, bearing false witness, and coveting a neighbor’s things (Exod 20:3-17).

Viewing the fall from grace through the eyes of attacks on God’s image and the icon of that image widens the scope of problems posed by sin and evil. The commandments help make sin and evil more concrete, but the principles posed are far reaching and keep evolving with devious minds and blackened hearts. You know that sin is particularly evil when the mere mention of such sin is toxic and burns the lips of those describing it.

References

Giglio, Louis. 2003. The Air I Breathe. Colorado Springs: Multnomah Publishers.

Richie, Mark Andrew. 2000. Spirit of the Rainforest: A Yanomanö Shaman’s Story. Chicago: Island Lake Press.

Diminishing Image and Icon
Also see:
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com



Newsletter at: https://bit.ly/Seize_2022, Signup
 

 

The post Diminishing Image and Icon appeared first on T2Pneuma.net.

Longfield: Presbyterians and Culture, Part 2

Bradley J. Longfield.  2013.  Presbyterians and American Culture: A History.  Louisville:  Westminster John Knox Press. (Go to part 1)

Review by Stephen W. Hiemstra

Having grown up during the period 1950s-1970s when the influence of the church in society was at a recent high point and watching a lifelong decline in that influence, Longfield’s observations about the church before the Civil War appear remarkable. Longfield (71) writes:

“The combined budgets of the voluntary associations in the early nineteenth century rivaled the federal government’s expenditures  on internal improvements over the same years. This was an age, Nathan Hatch has claimed, when people expected almost everything from religion (and churches) and almost nothing from politics (and the state).”

Many of these voluntary societies were in the northern church which perhaps anticipated changes brought about later by the Civil War.

The Slavery Question

Many of the arguments within the Presbyterian church in the nineteenth century were over slavery. The North and South differed in the 1820s in the rate of urbanization and growth of foreign immigrants (97). Because northern slave-holding was largely a thing of the past, the abolition movement grew in northern churches where slavery was not an economic issue as in the South.  Southern efforts to reform slavery (100-102) from within were eclipsed when the North abolished Southern slavery following the Civil War. While many people will laugh off these reform efforts, owning one’s issues is an important Christian distinctive.  In fact, economic historians with no pony in this race have long questioned whether the conflict between North and South over slavery was even necessary because of changes already underway in the cotton industry where most slaves were employed [1].

How did success in abolishing slavery affect the Presbyterian attitude about political action?  Two effects on Presbyterians may have had lasting influence:

Political success in abolishing slavery bolstered the idea that political reform is more important within the church than personal transformation through faith.Placing the focus on reforming other people’s social problems (north reforming south) took pressure off reforming their own social problems (north reforming north) [2].

This preference for political change rather than personal transformation within the church, taken to its logical conclusion, may explain why Presbyterians (unlike members of other reformed denominations, such as the Reformed Church in America) identify more with polity (governance of the church by elders) and less with confessional faith in the 20th century [3].

Fundamentals of the Faith

An important step in the direction of “policy ascendance” (202) was taken already in 1925 when a special commission of the General Assembly declared the 5 fundamentals of the faith nonbinding (158).  The 5 fundamentals adopted in 1910 were:

The inerrancy of scripture;The virgin birth of Jesus;The doctrine of substitutionary atonement (Christ died for our sins);The bodily resurrection of Christ; andThe miracle-working power of Christ (142).

During the period from 1910 until 1925 candidates for ministry were require to adhere to these 5 fundamentals as an  ordination requirement.  The “Auburn Affirmation”, also drafted in 1925, questioned each of these fundamentals saying that they were not the only “theories” consistent with scripture and confessions (153).  The scopes trial in July 1925 turned polite disagreement into public ridicule (156).  From that point forward, pastors need not affirm the Apostle’s Creed in order to be ordained.  Adhering to the 5 fundamentals today marks one as a “fundamentalist” which has in recent years become a pejorative term.

Assessment

In Presbyterians and American Culture Longfield openly discusses many issues that remain provocative even today.  Longfield’s contribution consists of offering fair and open conversation about the history of the church and how we arrived where we are.  This makes next steps easier.

Footnotes

[1] Economic pressure was already on the cotton industry to mechanize production which happened not very many years later.  Philips reports, for example, a table showing the price of field hands rising rapidly and the price of cotton falling in the ante-bellum period.  Ulrich B. Phillips.  1972. “The Economic Cost of Slaveholding in the Cotton Belt”  page 227-239 of Gerald D. Nash [Editor] Issues in American Economic History. Lexington, MA:  D.C. Heath and Company.  The negative consequences of the war included unprecedented casualties, the acceleration of development of weapons of mass destruction, centralization of power in Washington, regional hegemony of the North over the South, and economic concentration in monopolizing firms.  These consequences shaped many of the problems that followed in the Twentieth Century.

 Economists often comment that the American abolition movement, which unlike that in Great Britain did not compensate slaveholders or provide former slaves with transition assistance, actually led to many of the social problems that were experienced after the Civil War.  Among those problems were discrimination, poverty, and a century of southern economic depression relative to other regions.

[3] The Reformed Church in America has used essentially the same polity documents over the past 100 years while the PCUSA amends their polity statement (the Book of Order) all the time.

Longfield: Presbyterians and Culture, Part 2Also see:Longfield Chronicles the Fundamentalist/Liberal Divide in the PCUSA, Part 1 Books, Films, and MinistryOther ways to engage online:Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.netPublisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com Newsletter at: https://bit.ly/Seize_2022, Signup

 

The post Longfield: Presbyterians and Culture, Part 2 appeared first on T2Pneuma.net.

Personhood: Monday Monologues (podcast), April 4, 2022

 By Stephen W. Hiemstra

This morning I will share a prayer and reflect on Image and Personhood. After listening, please click here to take a brief listener survey (10 questions).

To listen, click on this link.

Hear the words; Walk the steps; Experience the joy!

Personhood: Monday Monologues (podcast), April 4, 2022
Also see:



Monday Monologue On March 26, 2018 



Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net,
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com.





Newsletter at: https://bit.ly/Seize_2022, Signup

The post Personhood: Monday Monologues (podcast), April 4, 2022 appeared first on T2Pneuma.net.

Psalm Prayer

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

Father God,

Your name rings majestic in the earth and your glory shines above the heavens, for children sing your name and your foes cower in the shadows, silent for fear of your judgment (Psalm 8:1-2).

Have mercy on me Lord in keeping with your covenantal love. Cover my transgressions; purge my iniquity; and wash away my sin. For I know my sin and the evil that I have done burns in my heart (Psalm 51:1-3).

Yet, I will sing to the Lord along with the whole earth and serve him gladly, for he created us and feeds us daily. His goodness is for all to see and his love extends from generation to generation (Psalm 100).

In the power of your Holy Spirit, draw me to yourself, cleanse my reluctant heart, teach me your justice, and restore the joy of life in your presence that I might serve as your example to those around me (Psalm 51:10-13).

In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

Psalm Prayer
Also see:
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com



Newsletter at: https://bit.ly/Seize_2022, Signup

 

The post Psalm Prayer appeared first on T2Pneuma.net.

Tennent Elevates Christian Anthropology

Timothy C. Tennent. 2020. For the Body: Recovering a Theology of Gender, Sexuality, and the Human Body. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Review by Stephen W. Hiemstra

Hiemstra’s law states that in the final stages of any research project a book will turn up that you wish you had read before starting out. As I began editing a first draft of my current project, which focuses on the meaning of being created in God’ s image, Timothy Tennent’s book, For the Body, appears to satisfy the requirements of Hiemstra’s law

Introduction

In his introduction, Tennent writes:

“In this book, I will demonstrate how a positive vision of the body that arises out of Scripture and the consensus of Christian teaching gives us a positive theological vision and, hopefully, a way forward for addressing the whole range of issues the church is facing today.” (xxii)

A theological understanding of the human body clearly places Tennent’s text in the field of Christian anthropology. In tying his theological interpretation to concrete steps in church teaching and lay guidance, his text must also be classified as a work in dogmatics, a field too often neglected. As such, Tennent is offering a thoughtful response to Jack Rogers’ treatise: Jesus, The Bible, and Homosexuality, which paved the way for ordination of homosexuals and gay marriage in the Presbyterian Church (USA) roughly a decade ago.

A key insight in Tennent’s work is to recognize that gender dysphoria constitutes a new form of gnosticism, because of the implicit separation of mind and body (16). Gnostics teach that spirit is good and the body is evil, which leads to a focus on spiritual matters to the neglect of physical things. Traditional Christian teaching integrates mind and body, which makes the body a key component of our identity and, having been created by God, inherently good. Christ’s bodily resurrection is an example of mind-body integration in Christian teaching.

 Background and Organization

Timothy C. Tennent (1959 -) is currently president of Asbury Theological Seminary (Memphis, TN), which is associated with the Wesleyan tradition. He earned his B.A. from Oral Roberts University, an M.Div. from Gordon Conwell (1984), a Th.M. from Princeton Theological Seminary (1991), and a Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh. He is the author of numerous books, including Christianity at Religious Roundtable, which I read in seminary.

Tennent writes in twelve chapters, divided into three parts:

Part 1: Our Bodies are Talking to Us

The Created Body

Creation is Good!Even our Bodies Point to Jesus

  The Related Body

The Mystery of Marriage and the ChurchThe Family as a Reflection of the TrinityThe Beauty of Singleness and Friendship

  The Sacramental Body

Our Bodies are Sacraments for the WorldThis is My Body Given for You…Today

Part 2: Our Culture is Talking to Us: The Objectified Body

Bodies on Billboards and ScreensSurveying the Landscape of Sexual Brokenness

Part 3: A Way Forward: The Discipled Body

Bruised and Blessed by the GospelDiscipling a New GenerationGuidance for Christian Leaders (ix-x)

These chapters are preceded by a foreword and preface, and followed by conclusions, acknowledgments, bibliography, and notes.

Toward a Theology of the Body

Tennent seeks a “deeper positive Christian vision of the body” (xx) that he articulates in seven building blocks:

God is good.God created and fashioned our material bodies in the image of God and they are icons.Christian marriage between a man and a woman is an icon pointing to the greater mystery of Christ and his Church.God’s design in creating us male and female, along with the reproducibility that is made possible through marriage, reflects the Trinity.Celibacy, and the ‘single focused life,’ point to the inbreaking of the future new creation.The physical body is a beacon or sign to the world of God’s presence and redemptive purposes in the world.The daily tasks and duties of life serve as sacramental markers of God’s presence embodied in the whole of life (177).

Tennent sees church teaching needing to include five elements:

God as Creator and the Goodness of Physical Creation.Image Bearers as Male and Female in the World.Marriage, Family, and the ‘Single Focused’ Life.Means of Grace.The Church as the People of God (183-190).

He sees the church as not currently teaching the fundaments of faith particularly to believers, neglecting the historical emphasis on discipling where seekers were given three years of training prior to baptism (178). In my own thinking, I have often quietly observed that the church has a credibility problem in “getting all theological” about sexuality issues while more generally neglecting and belittling theology in favor of stressing the importance of feelings.

The Malaise of Immanence

The materialism of our society has left Christians with a lost sense of transcendence (6). If the physical world is all that there is, then much of Christian teaching appears irrelevant because by definition God cannot exist and the church cannot claim moral authority. All discussion of morality devolves into an argument over preferences: You have yours; I have mine. The common expression is: Difference strokes for different folks.

Reclaiming a sense of transcendence is a key problem facing the church. If it cannot deal with this issue, then everything else falls apart. As the Apostle Paul noted: “If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.” (1 Cor 15:14 ESV) The church’s focus on feelings is a byproduct of this lost transcendence as people begin to look for zing when what is needed is a sense of power and majesty.

Assessment

Timothy C. Tennent’s For the Body: Recovering a Theology of Gender, Sexuality, and the Human Body brings irenic and fearless clarity to the difficult topic of gender dysphoria. Tennent’s framework for discussing and teaching Christian anthropology should be interesting pastors, seminary students, and anyone curious to understand and deal with the church’s current malaise.

References

Rogers, Jack. 2009. Jesus, The Bible, and Homosexuality: Explode the Myths, Heal the Church.  Louisville:  Westminster John Knox Press.

Tennent, Timothy c. 2002.  Christianity at Religious Roundtable. Grand Rapids: Baker Books.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy....

Tennent Elevates Christian AnthropologyAlso see:Books, Films, and MinistryOther ways to engage online:Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.netPublisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com Newsletter: https://bit.ly/Christ_2021

 

The post Tennent Elevates Christian Anthropology appeared first on T2Pneuma.net.

Image and Personhood

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

Athanasius argues that the purpose for why God created us in his image was so that we might recognize him (Athanasius 1944, 26). He further argues that “No inconsistency between creation and salvation for the One Father has employed the same Agent for both works.” (Athanasius 1944, 13) Christ’s participation in creation makes the point that salvation in Christ is a re-creation event. Christ, like God the Father and the Holy Spirit, is an eternal person.

Personhood implies that part of the extension of God’s image in the law includes natural law. While one might deny that God gave us the Mosaic covenant, the physical laws of the universe cannot be dismissed as merely a devious set of stories passed on by our ancestors. The physicality of being created male and female in the image of God has special significance.

The Image

The creation account hints at this significance:

Then God said, let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth. (Gen 1:26-28)

Although God created animals prior to Adam and Eve and they were also commanded to “be fruitful and multiply” (Gen 1:22), the animals could not reflect God’s ethical image and God did not give them dominion.

God also intended us also to share in his eternal nature, something that sin eclipsed. Because of sin, we only share in God’s eternal nature jointly with our spouses and only if we adhere to the creation mandate to be fruitful and multiple. By ourselves, we suffer the penalty of sin, melt away and die. Only in family life do we participate in God’s eternal nature.

The Christian Family

One of the defining characteristics of the Christian faith is honoring each individual, regardless of age, as being created in the image of God. The Apostle Paul’s writing is particularly clear on this point. He writes: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Gal 3:28) No ethic group is better than any other; no economic class is better than any other; and no gender is better than any other. Paul goes on to extend his concept to the family:

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother (this is the first commandment with a promise), that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. (Eph 6:1-4)

Because we are all created in the image of God, no age group is better than any other. Neither a newborn, nor a senior standing at the gates of heaven is better than one another. Christians are to value life stages equally by honoring each stage, and not clinging to any particular stage as if it were intrinsically preferred.

An echo of the creation mandate can be found in the Christmas story where the love and care given by Joseph and Mary in the birth narratives of Jesus in Matthew 1 and Luke 2 offers a significant theological point. Jesus had dirty diapers like the rest of us and he later suffered a painful, dishonorable death on a cross. The author of Hebrews writes: 

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Heb 4:15-16)

In other words, when we face Christ on the Day of Judgment, we will face a judge that understands our weaknesses and sin because he lived among us. If God is merely high and mighty (that is, transcendent) individual, then this experience would be absent. Who has not benefited from parental love or faced a challenging family situation? If Christ has benefitted from family life, then that should be an example to the rest of us.

Footnotes in Creation

Guidance on relational issues in the creation accounts in Genesis is laconic. The marital relationship between Adam and Eve is highlighted and given divine approval. Other details are relegated to later discussion. The authorship is attributed to Moses, an Egyptian prince skilled in subtle, diplomatic communication.

Here Adam is often described as a regent of creation who has been given dominion over animals in the Garden of Eden. A cultural assumption in the ancient near east would have extended Adam’s dominion not only over the animals, but over a haram as well. Kings David and Solomon both had multiple wives, who did not share dominion in their husband’s dominion equally. If God meant husbands to have dominion over their wives, this would have been an easy place to say so. Instead, Adam and Eve are pictured as co-regents of creation.

Other relationships are not specifically addressed in the creation account, but the creation mandate silently precludes them. They are not part of the image of God and simply melt away, not participating in God’s eternal nature. Later stipulations in Leviticus describe alternative relationships as sin, but the harsher penalty is the melting away, not the shaming. God’s blessings and curses are hard coded in natural law.

References

Athanasius of Alexandria. 1944. On the Incarnation (Orig pub 319 AD). Translated by Sister Penelope Lawson. England.

Image and Personhood
Also see:
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com



Newsletter at: https://bit.ly/Seize_2022, Signup
 

 

The post Image and Personhood appeared first on T2Pneuma.net.

Longfield: Presbyterians and Culture, Part 1

Bradley J. Longfield.  2013.  Presbyterians and American Culture: A History.  Louisville:  Westminster John Knox Press. (Go to part 2)

Review by Stephen W. Hiemstra

My first history class in college did not start out well.  Not only did my bright, young professor from Yale not like my papers. He also threatened to fail me if I signed up for the next class in the sequence. My constant questions in class clearly annoyed him. But I took his threat as a challenge and basically sat on his desk until he explained to me why my papers were not up to snuff, so to speak. The problem? I viewed history as chronology (A happened, then B happened, then C happened…) while he saw historical observations providing support for hypothesis testing (A and B happened causing C).  We employed different historical methods in our thinking .

Introduction

In his book, Presbyterians and American Culture, Bradley Longfield surveys the history of churches in America from the early 1700s through the present decade.  By Presbyterians, Longfield means the denominations that today make up the Presbyterian Church (USA).  By culture, Longfield follows Clifford Geertz seeing culture as “an historically transmitted patterning of meaning embodied in symbols” including “values, attitudes, perspectives, beliefs, and ideas”. This survey is motivated by a perceived identity crisis among Presbyterians brought about at least in part by how they have attempted to influence culture (xi-xiii).

Who is Bradley Longfield?

Longfield is dean and a professor of church history at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary (PCUSA) in Dubuque, Iowa.  He writes in 7 chapters preceded by an introduction and followed by an Epilogue.  The 7 chapters (vii) are:

Growing Together, Falling Apart: The Birth of American Presbyterianism (1-24);New Church, New Nation (25-52);A Christian America: Awakenings and Reform (53-90);Divided Church, Divided Nation (91-116);Crusading American, Crusading Church (117-148);War at Home, War Abroad (149-174); and Contested Boundaries: The Disestablishment of American Presbyterianism (175-200).

The appendix includes a helpful chart showing the relationships and dates of many Presbyterian denominations. Included is the most recent one—the Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians (ECO)—which was organized in 2012.  There is also a subject matter index.

Method

One challenge with surveys arises in drawing inferences about general trends and causality. Are the observations presented symptomatic of the times or simply the things that are most easily described?  This question cannot be easily answered, but it points to the usefulness of the survey method. It also identifies interesting hypotheses worthy of further inquiry.

Confessional Hypothesis

One such hypothesis concerns the role of confessions in the Presbyterian response to culture. For example, throughout most of the period covered by this study the Westminster Confession united Presbyterians in the Americas.  It was written in 1640—just before period studied (3), was adopted early on as the primarily confessional document among Presbyterians (15), was the focus of proposed revisions (126), and remains in the Book of Confessions still in use today. Yet, the attitude about the confession changed dramatically in the 20th century. Serving first as a bulwark against liberalism in the early part of the century (142) and later serving merely as another confessional document, one of many, by the 1970s (196).  Freed of its confessional moorings by the end of the century, the current Presbyterian identity crisis might easily be explained as a consequence of “confessional wanderlust”.

Native American Outreach

Longfield’s survey technique clearly goes beyond describing events easily documented.  Of special interest are several sections that he devotes to Presbyterian outreach efforts in the eighteenth and nineteenth century to native Americans.  David Brainard’s evangelism to the Crossweeksung Indians in New Jersey in 1746 focused on instruction in the Westminister Shorter Catechism, preaching, and children’s education (29).  Presbyterian efforts to evangelize the Cherokee Indians included unsuccessful efforts to encourage their leaders to pass laws restricting polygamy, abortion, and divorce. They also encouraged Sabbath observance and patrilineal inheritance (82).   Later in 1831 missionaries in Georgia suffered arrest. The mood of the nation during the Jackson presidency was to relocate the Cherokees to western lands, not to convert and educate them (85).

Assessment

Longfield’s Presbyterians and American Culture is useful for seminary students and pastors curious about historical controversies of the Presbyterian Church (USA).  In part 2 of this review (on Wednesday March 11), I will look in more depth at a couple of these controversies.

 Once I understood my error, my next paper proved more acceptable and I ended up with an A in his class.

Longfield: Presbyterians and Culture, Part 1Also see:Longfield Chronicles the Fundamentalist/Liberal Divide in the PCUSA, Part 1 Books, Films, and MinistryOther ways to engage online:Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.netPublisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com Newsletter at: https://bit.ly/Seize_2022, Signup

The post Longfield: Presbyterians and Culture, Part 1 appeared first on T2Pneuma.net.

Works: Monday Monologues (podcast), March 28, 2022

 By Stephen W. Hiemstra

This morning I will share a prayer and reflect on Faith and Works. After listening, please click here to take a brief listener survey (10 questions).

To listen, click on this link.

Hear the words; Walk the steps; Experience the joy!

Works: Monday Monologues (podcast), March 28, 2022
Also see:



Monday Monologue On March 26, 2018 



Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net,
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com.





Newsletter at: https://bit.ly/Seize_2022, Signup

The post Works: Monday Monologues (podcast), March 28, 2022 appeared first on T2Pneuma.net.

Good Works Prayer

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

Compassionate and loving Father,

All praise and honor, power and glory are yours, Spirit of Truth and Justice in a fallen world. We look on your works and can only respond with songs of praise and model our efforts after yours.

We confess that this fallen world is the product of our unsavory desires, pride,  injustice, and willful departure from your example in Jesus Christ. Forgive our sin, transgressions, and iniquity. Give us hearts that will to do better.

Thank you for the gift of the scriptures, the example of Christ’s life, and good intentions of those that went before us. Help us to remember and learn from the lessons of past mistakes that we might not repeat them.

In the power of your Holy Spirit, grant us the strength to follow your example, the grace to offer those we meet, and the peace that passes all understanding. May no one suffer needlessly on our watch. In Jesus’ precious name, Amen.

Good Works Prayer
Also see:
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com



Newsletter at: https://bit.ly/Seize_2022, Signup

 

The post Good Works Prayer appeared first on T2Pneuma.net.

Faith and Works

For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point 

has become accountable for all of it. (Jas 2:10)

By Stephen W. Hiemstra

If knowing the moral thing to do is insufficient motivation for actually doing it, then what happens when the next step is taken and one focuses on doing good works. Do good works credential one’s faith, making it plain for all to see? What does the Bible say about judging actions? What about law?

Good Works as Credential

Interpreting good works as pointing to faith in a loving God poses a statistical problem: correlation does not establish causality. There are potentially an infinite number of theories to explain actions that we observe. 

The dilemma here is why statisticians adopt a rather oblique phrase in their studies. Observations do not prove a given hypothesis, they only fail to reject one. Actions may speak louder than words, but they do not specify what words they speaker louder than. This principle from statistics leaves theologians knotted up for words in discussing the relationship between works and faith, as observed in the second chapter of James.

Politicians understand this problem, which is why they employ talented publicists to spin their accomplishments and defend their policy stances. It is often fun to watch these publicists at work because their art arises in  administering lipstick to pigs. In this vein, Christians cannot assume that their good works will point to God in a cynical world seeking ulterior motives, not godly ones.

Biblical Warrant Insufficient

The biblical warrant for assuming that good works point to God is provided by the Apostle Peter: “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.” (1 Pet 2:12) Here Peter is not talking about interpreting actions, but rather about public perceptions of actions.

The Apostle James digs deeper into the relationship between faith and works, but finishes his argument with a recognition that good works serve merely as an indicator of faith. He writes: “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” (Jas 2:26) Jesus also speaks to this issue with a partial indicator in the case of false prophets: “You will recognize them by their fruits.” (Matt 7:20) Bad fruit cannot originate from a good prophet, but he does not inferences about what good fruit indicates. 

The only way to interpret actions is to examine the condition of the heart, something normally left to God on judgment day.

Good Works and Law

In our materialistic society, the church in the United States was sharply divided between those that focused on developing and sharing their faith (Evangelicals) and those that focused on charity, acts of mercy, and political expressions of their faith (Progressives). While this dichotomy still exists, this dichotomy has declined in recent years with the demise of Christendom and as Christians of all stripes have learned in practice that the two cannot be separated. As the social pressure to attend church has subsided, those that have remained have been more open to the Holy Spirit’s work in their lives, both individually and corporately, aiding a productive learning process.

What remains in the public domain is a tradition of legislating morality in the absence of a strong Christian influence. The separation of church and state has broken down with state influence winning hands down, if one defines the state to include large corporations, public schools, and media organizations. In this political environment, public debate is unfocused and subject to manipulation through the sparking of sham debates.

Unfocused Public Debate

One unfocused debate concerns the high cost of medical care in the United States relative to most other countries. Case and Deaton (2020, 194), economists emeritus of Princeton University, write:

“In 2017, the Swiss lived 5.1 years longer than Americans but spent 30 percent less per person; other countries achieve a similar length of life for still fewer health dollars. Expenditures on healthcare in 2017 was 17.9 percent of GDP [gross domestic product] in the United States; the next highest in the world was Switzerland at 12.3 percent.”

The focus on healthcare costs is a non-starter in the U.S. Congress because the healthcare industry employs the largest number of lobbyists of any group (Case and Deaton 2020, 21). The decline in the standard of living for most Americans over the past thirty years underscores the disfunctionality of this unfocused political debate. Paying too much for healthcare diverts resources away from education and productive investments elsewhere contributing to the decline in average living standards.

Sham Public Debates

An important role for leadership is to concentrate corporate energy on accomplishing constructive goals and to minimize community raging about divisive issues. Good leadership focuses on constructive goals while bad leadership emphasizes divisive issues.

The rapid growth in multinational corporations since the Second World War has narrowed the leverage that public debate can have on real economic issues, as powerful private interests have pursued their own interests with less and less public input and have manipulated the public debate that is allowed to take place. Daily news accounts channel reported events to reflect strict narratives and limit the time devoted to discussing other topics. Given this paradigm, one after another government agencies regulating commerce fail in their basic missions as they face strong private opposition, crimped budgets, and little or no air time in corporate media. Planes crashing, food poisonings, housing crises, and massive numbers of preventable drug overdoses are examples of failed public regulation in recent years.

A sham debate occurs when the bandwidth for debate is diverted away from pressing concerns. It may also have the hallmark of a divide and conquer strategy being employed by public leaders or focus on polarities rather than solvable problems. A polarity is an issue, like equity or rights, that cannot be solved, but only managed. The hallmark of a sham debate often is that it stirs up a lot of emotion while facing little opposition.

Examples of sham debates are not hard to find. In the current corona virus pandemic, what consumes a large portion of the public debate? Is it how much to spend on pandemic relief or abatement? No. The public debate focuses on the rights of individuals to refuse a vaccine or to wear a mask. This debate has spread worldwide, but the epicenter of this debate is here in the United States where Americans obsess about their rights and some public leaders have scratched that itch for political gain. Bad leadership in this respect has cost countless lives as the unvaccinated and unmasked make up the majority of deaths in this pandemic in 2022. 

Faith and Works

The examples of unfocused public debate and unnecessary deaths during the greatest public health crisis in a century make the point that one cannot assume that individuals and corporate entities can be assumed to operate in a moral fashion independent of a shared faith component. Good works do not credential faith in a loving God, but are the fruit of that faith. The two cannot and should not be separated either individually or corporately.

References

Case, Anne and Angus Deaton. 2020. Deaths of Despair and the Future of Capitalism. Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Faith and Works
Also see:
The Who Question
Preface to a Life in Tension
Other ways to engage online:



Author site: http://www.StephenWHiemstra.net
Publisher site: http://www.T2Pneuma.com



Newsletter at: https://bit.ly/Seize_2022, Signup

 

 

 

The post Faith and Works appeared first on T2Pneuma.net.