Wednesday, November 5, 2014

"Simianity............................."

This entire book written by the English Anglican Professor of Divinity has been an examination of man’s attempt to define God rather than the other way around. Indeed, I have found it much as a discussion entertained at the moment concerning the claim of “inerrancy” that some would apply to the Bible. As one fellow put it: “If you give a compass to a chimpanzee, what do you have? A chimpanzee with a compass, nothing more!” I agree; and yet, if one throws the Book away, where does that leave us in terms of connecting with the Creator through Christ? My faith is fed through the Scripture and confirmed via the Holy Ghost, error due to my faulty reasoning sorted out in my stumble down the path. Likewise, when the philosopher omits Jesus from his mental pursuit to put deity in a box, we are once again left with a monkey trying to explain more than it can comprehend. It was interesting, therefore, to read Kierkegaard’s renunciation of belief based upon “the amount of evidence collected” that the Almighty has answered our prayers, seeing petition as “an objective uncertainty held fast in an appropriation process of the most passionate inwardness”. It seemed to me at first that the Danish theologian held insight to what some call “contemplation”, or what we, within Pentecost refer to as being “baptized in the Holy Ghost”. A further digestion of his words, however, suggests he might have just preferred “logical thinking” over a “belly connection”; and I am left to marvel how quickly the early Church eliminated the very crux of what came to it by way of Calvary and the Resurrection, Christ “in” me! When that piece of the puzzle is discarded, all we have left is religion, humanity with its own reasoning trying to convince the world of its need to adopt their perspective, an organ grinder wherein the ape turns the crank while his music attempts to draw an audience…..

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