For the New Testament writers the idea of a God 'up there' created no embarrassment - because it had not yet become a difficulty.
Whatever we may accept with the top of our minds, most of us still retain deep down the mental image of 'an old man in the sky.'
In place of a God who is literally or physically 'up there' we have accepted, as part of our mental furniture, a God who is spiritually or metaphysically 'out there.' But the idea of a God spiritually or metaphysically 'out there' dies very much harder. Indeed, most people would be seriously disturbed by the thought that it should need to die at all. For it is their God, and they have nothing to put in its place. For it is the God of our own upbringing and conversation, the God of our fathers and of our religion, who is under attack. Every one of us lives with some mental picture of a God 'out there', a God who 'exists' above and beyond the world he made, a God 'to' whom we pray and to whom we 'go' when we die.
But the signs are there that we are reaching the point at which the whole conception of a God 'out there', which has served us so well since the collapse of the three-decker universe, is itself becoming more of a hindrance than a help. The supercession of the old scheme is a gradual one. After it had been discredited scientifically, it continued to serve theologically as an acceptable frame of reference.
To the ordinary way of thinking, to believe in God means to be convinced of the existence of such a supreme and separate Being. 'Theists' are those who believe that such a Being exists, 'atheists' those who deny that he does.
Tillich says, God, is not a projection 'out there', an Other beyond the skies, of whose existence we have to convince ourselves, but the Ground of our very being.
Bonhoeffer's answer was to say that God is deliberately calling us in the twentieth century to a form of Christianity that does not depend on the premise of religion (ie. the idea that deep down every man feels the need for God in some form), just as St Paul was calling men in the first century to a form of Christianity that did not depend on the premise of circumcision.
Bultmann makes the case that in order to express the 'trans-historical' character of the historical event of Jesus of Nazareth, the New Testament writers used "mythological" language of pre-existence, incarnation, ascent and descent, miraculous intervention, cosmic catastrophe, and so on, which according to Bultmann, make sense only on a now completely antiquated worldview. Thus, modern man, instead of stumbling on the real rock of offence (the scandal of the cross) is put off by the very things which should be translating that historical occurrence into an act of God for him, but which in fact merely make it incredible.
I am only too conscious of the forces of inertia within myself. It is for me a reluctant revolution, whose full extent I have hardly begun to comprehend. Robinson
In explaining his faith journey and how he got to this spot, Robinson talks as such:
The only way I can put it is to say that over the years a number of things have unaccountably 'rung a bell'; various uncoordinated aspects of one's reading and experience have come to 'add up'. Not only that, but there are certain things about the faith that have not 'rung a bell', certain areas of traditional Christian expression - devotional and practical - which have evidently meant a great deal to most people but which have simply left one cold.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Honest to God
We are being called, over the years ahead, to far more than a restating of traditional orthodoxy in modern terms. A much more radical recasting is demanded, in the process of which the most fundamental categories of our theology - of God, of the supernatural, and of religion itself - must go into the melting.
There is a growing gulf between the traditional orthodox supernaturalism in which our Faith has been framed and the categories which the secular world finds meaningful today.
There is a very big leeway to make up, because there's been so much suppression of real, deep thought and intellectual alertness and integrity in the Church.
There is a growing gulf between the traditional orthodox supernaturalism in which our Faith has been framed and the categories which the secular world finds meaningful today.
There is a very big leeway to make up, because there's been so much suppression of real, deep thought and intellectual alertness and integrity in the Church.
Moving On
Moving on from Tillich to Robinson's "Honest to God".
When I first read this book many years ago it had little impact on me. I re-read it again recently, and it struck a chord.
It is funny how you read something at some point in your life and it has one effect, and you read the same thing at another point in your life and it has an altogether different effect.
I felt the same way about Tillich's "Shaking the Foundations". It had little impact on me when I first read it, but it had a large impact on me when I read it again recently. Similarly, but inversely, when I read Tillich's "The Courage to Be" originally, it had a large impact on me. But when I re-read it again recently, it came across as garbled rubbish.
Go figure.
When I first read this book many years ago it had little impact on me. I re-read it again recently, and it struck a chord.
It is funny how you read something at some point in your life and it has one effect, and you read the same thing at another point in your life and it has an altogether different effect.
I felt the same way about Tillich's "Shaking the Foundations". It had little impact on me when I first read it, but it had a large impact on me when I read it again recently. Similarly, but inversely, when I read Tillich's "The Courage to Be" originally, it had a large impact on me. But when I re-read it again recently, it came across as garbled rubbish.
Go figure.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
More Fragments
"Remember not the former things, neither consider the things of old," says the prophet. The new must break the power of the old, not only in reality, but also in our memory; and one is not possible without the other. We cannot be born anew if the power of the old is not broken within us; and it is not broken so long as it puts the burden of guilt upon us. Therefore, religion, prophetic and apostolic, pronounces above all, forgiveness. Forgiveness means that the old is thrown into the past because the new has come.
Nothing is more surprising than the rise of the new within ourselves. We do not foresee or observe its growth. The new is being born in us, just when we least believe in it. It appears in remote corners of our souls which we have neglected for a long time.
The new which we sought and longed for comes to us in the moment in which we lose hope of ever finding it. That is the first thing we must say about the new: it appears when and where it chooses. We cannot force it, and we cannot calculate it.
"Behold, I am doing a new thing." "I" points to the source of the really new, to that which is always old and always new, the Eternal. The really new is that which has in itself eternal power and eternal light.
New things arise in every moment, at every place. Nothing is today as it was yesterday. But this kind of new is old almost as soon as it appears. It falls under the judgment of the Preacher: "There is no new thing under the sun." Yet sometimes a new thing appears which does not age so easily, which makes life possible again, in both our personal and our historical existence, a saving new, which has the power to appear when we least expect it, and which has the power to throw into the past what is old and burdened with curse and guilt. Its saving power is the power of the Eternal within it.
Nothing is more surprising than the rise of the new within ourselves. We do not foresee or observe its growth. The new is being born in us, just when we least believe in it. It appears in remote corners of our souls which we have neglected for a long time.
The new which we sought and longed for comes to us in the moment in which we lose hope of ever finding it. That is the first thing we must say about the new: it appears when and where it chooses. We cannot force it, and we cannot calculate it.
"Behold, I am doing a new thing." "I" points to the source of the really new, to that which is always old and always new, the Eternal. The really new is that which has in itself eternal power and eternal light.
New things arise in every moment, at every place. Nothing is today as it was yesterday. But this kind of new is old almost as soon as it appears. It falls under the judgment of the Preacher: "There is no new thing under the sun." Yet sometimes a new thing appears which does not age so easily, which makes life possible again, in both our personal and our historical existence, a saving new, which has the power to appear when we least expect it, and which has the power to throw into the past what is old and burdened with curse and guilt. Its saving power is the power of the Eternal within it.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Behold, I Am Doing a New Thing
Old refers to that which passes away and shall not be remembered any more - the destiny of everything created.
At the beginning of our period (the Enlightenment) we decided for freedom. It was a right decision; it created something new and great in history. But in that decision we excluded the security, social and spiritual, without which man cannot live and grow. And now, in the old age of our period, the quest to sacrifice freedom for security splits every nation and the whole world with really demonic power (ie. Hitler and WWII).
We have decided for means to control nature and society (ie. science). We have created them, and we have brought about something new and great in the history of all mankind. But have excluded ends. We have never been ready to answer the question, "For what?" And now, when we approach old age, the means claim to be the ends; our tools have become our masters, and the most powerful of them have become a threat to our very existence (nuclear weapons).
We have decided for reason against outgrown traditions and honored superstitions. That was a great and courageous decision, and it gave a new dignity to man. But we have, in that decision, excluded the soul, the ground and power of life. We have cut off our mind from our soul; we have suppressed and mistreated the soul within us, in other men, and in nature. And now, when we are old, the forces of the soul break destructively into our minds, driving us to mental disease and insanity, and effecting the disintegration of the souls of uncounted millions.
From the very beginning of our period we have decided for the nation, as the expression of our special way of life and of our unique contribution to history. The decision was great and creative, and for centuries it was effective. But in that decision we excluded mankind and all symbols expressing the unity of all men. Now, in the old age of our period, the most powerful nations themselves claim to represent mankind, and try to impose their ways of life upon all men, producing, therefore, wars of destruction, which will perhaps unite all mankind in the peace of the grave.
Our period has decided for a secular world. That was a great and much needed decision. It threw a church from her throne, a church which had become a power of suppression and superstition. It gave consecration and holiness to our daily life and work. Yet it excluded those deep things for which religion stands: the feeling for the inexhaustible mystery of life, the grip of an ultimate meaning of existence, and the invincible power of an unconditional devotion. These things cannot be excluded. Now, in the old age of our secular world, we have seen the most horrible manifestation of these demonic images; e have looked more deeply into the mystery of evil than most generations before us; we have seen the unconditional devotion of millions to a satanic image; we feel our period's sickness unto death.
Paul Tillich, The Shaking of the Foundations, "Behold, I Am Doing a New Thing" (1949)
At the beginning of our period (the Enlightenment) we decided for freedom. It was a right decision; it created something new and great in history. But in that decision we excluded the security, social and spiritual, without which man cannot live and grow. And now, in the old age of our period, the quest to sacrifice freedom for security splits every nation and the whole world with really demonic power (ie. Hitler and WWII).
We have decided for means to control nature and society (ie. science). We have created them, and we have brought about something new and great in the history of all mankind. But have excluded ends. We have never been ready to answer the question, "For what?" And now, when we approach old age, the means claim to be the ends; our tools have become our masters, and the most powerful of them have become a threat to our very existence (nuclear weapons).
We have decided for reason against outgrown traditions and honored superstitions. That was a great and courageous decision, and it gave a new dignity to man. But we have, in that decision, excluded the soul, the ground and power of life. We have cut off our mind from our soul; we have suppressed and mistreated the soul within us, in other men, and in nature. And now, when we are old, the forces of the soul break destructively into our minds, driving us to mental disease and insanity, and effecting the disintegration of the souls of uncounted millions.
From the very beginning of our period we have decided for the nation, as the expression of our special way of life and of our unique contribution to history. The decision was great and creative, and for centuries it was effective. But in that decision we excluded mankind and all symbols expressing the unity of all men. Now, in the old age of our period, the most powerful nations themselves claim to represent mankind, and try to impose their ways of life upon all men, producing, therefore, wars of destruction, which will perhaps unite all mankind in the peace of the grave.
Our period has decided for a secular world. That was a great and much needed decision. It threw a church from her throne, a church which had become a power of suppression and superstition. It gave consecration and holiness to our daily life and work. Yet it excluded those deep things for which religion stands: the feeling for the inexhaustible mystery of life, the grip of an ultimate meaning of existence, and the invincible power of an unconditional devotion. These things cannot be excluded. Now, in the old age of our secular world, we have seen the most horrible manifestation of these demonic images; e have looked more deeply into the mystery of evil than most generations before us; we have seen the unconditional devotion of millions to a satanic image; we feel our period's sickness unto death.
Paul Tillich, The Shaking of the Foundations, "Behold, I Am Doing a New Thing" (1949)
Sunday, February 10, 2013
There Is No Single Best Solution, But...
There is no single best investment strategy, approach, philosophy, solution. There is no unified theory of investment management.
For long term investing, there are however a few simple things you can do to increase the chance of positive outcomes.
Get on the right side of secular trends, ie. exposure to growth, increasing productivity, rising earnings/free cash flows. One important factor is the valuation level you enter at. Secondary factors are short-medium term momentum and longer term mean reversion facilitations.
Have a underlying philosophy that takes out some of the more common errors or mistakes, ie. thinking you can consistently time the market, choose the best manager, or make the right stock picks. Passive, low cost, equal weighted exposure to global growth factors.
Have the humility to realize that you don't know it all and that you won't always get it right, therefore have a disciplined downside risk management framework that either includes strict stop loss limits and/or non-correlated asymmetric downside protection.
For long term investing, there are however a few simple things you can do to increase the chance of positive outcomes.
Get on the right side of secular trends, ie. exposure to growth, increasing productivity, rising earnings/free cash flows. One important factor is the valuation level you enter at. Secondary factors are short-medium term momentum and longer term mean reversion facilitations.
Have a underlying philosophy that takes out some of the more common errors or mistakes, ie. thinking you can consistently time the market, choose the best manager, or make the right stock picks. Passive, low cost, equal weighted exposure to global growth factors.
Have the humility to realize that you don't know it all and that you won't always get it right, therefore have a disciplined downside risk management framework that either includes strict stop loss limits and/or non-correlated asymmetric downside protection.
Finite and Infinite - The Limits of Reason
No argument of reason can give certainty. The finite cannot argue for the infinite; it cannot reach God and it can never reach its own eternity.
The Shaking of the Foundations, "The Witness of the Spirit to the Spirit" Paul Tillich
The Shaking of the Foundations, "The Witness of the Spirit to the Spirit" Paul Tillich
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
A Theologian
The foundation of our theological existence is that the Divine Spirit keeps us in its power, and makes it impossible for us ever to escape the theological question, the question of our ultimate concern, the question of God. We consider a theologian as a believer in spite of his doubt and despair, and as a member of the Church, in whose power all theological work is done, in spite of his lack of certainty.
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Fragments - Shadowlands - Looking Through A Glass Darkly
"Love never faileth; but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known."
I Corinthians 13:8-12
The fragmentary things shall vanish away; the complete things shall abide. The former are temporal, the latter are eternal. Even all the spiritual goods will disappear with all the material and intellectual goods. They are all fragmentary, temporal, transitory. Love alone does not disappear; it endures forever. For God himself is love.
Paul singles out knowledge, and points to the difference between our fragmentary, indirect, and darkened knowledge, and the full, direct, and total knowledge to come. He speaks of something which, besides love, is perfect and eternal - namely, the seeing of the truth, face to face; the knowledge is as full as Gods knowledge of us.
Knowledge is like the perception of things in a mirror, that it therefore concerns enigmas and riddles. This is only another way of expressing the fragmentary character of knowledge. For fragments out of the context of the whole are only riddles to us. We may surmise the nature of the whole; we may approach the whole indirectly; but we do not see the whole itself; we do not grasp it directly face to face. A little light and much darkness; a few fragments and never the whole; many problems and never a solution; only reflections in the mirror of our souls, without the source of truth itself: that is the situation of our knowledge.
The misery of man lies in the fragmentary character of his life and knowledge; the greatness of man lies in his ability to know that his being is fragmentary and enigmatic. For man is able to be puzzled and to ask, to go beyond the fragments, seeking the perfect. Yet, in being able to do so, he feels at the same time the tragedy implicit in his being, the tragedy of the riddle and the fragment.
We dwell with the fragments. We realize that the fragments will always remain fragments, even if one attempts to organize them. The unity which they belong lies beyond them; it is grasped through hope, but not face to face.
I Corinthians 13:8-12
The fragmentary things shall vanish away; the complete things shall abide. The former are temporal, the latter are eternal. Even all the spiritual goods will disappear with all the material and intellectual goods. They are all fragmentary, temporal, transitory. Love alone does not disappear; it endures forever. For God himself is love.
Paul singles out knowledge, and points to the difference between our fragmentary, indirect, and darkened knowledge, and the full, direct, and total knowledge to come. He speaks of something which, besides love, is perfect and eternal - namely, the seeing of the truth, face to face; the knowledge is as full as Gods knowledge of us.
Knowledge is like the perception of things in a mirror, that it therefore concerns enigmas and riddles. This is only another way of expressing the fragmentary character of knowledge. For fragments out of the context of the whole are only riddles to us. We may surmise the nature of the whole; we may approach the whole indirectly; but we do not see the whole itself; we do not grasp it directly face to face. A little light and much darkness; a few fragments and never the whole; many problems and never a solution; only reflections in the mirror of our souls, without the source of truth itself: that is the situation of our knowledge.
The misery of man lies in the fragmentary character of his life and knowledge; the greatness of man lies in his ability to know that his being is fragmentary and enigmatic. For man is able to be puzzled and to ask, to go beyond the fragments, seeking the perfect. Yet, in being able to do so, he feels at the same time the tragedy implicit in his being, the tragedy of the riddle and the fragment.
We dwell with the fragments. We realize that the fragments will always remain fragments, even if one attempts to organize them. The unity which they belong lies beyond them; it is grasped through hope, but not face to face.
Friday, February 1, 2013
The Meaning of Providence
"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Romans 8:38-39
What is Providence?
It is certainly not a vague promise that, with the help of God, everything will come to a good end; there are many things that come to a bad end. And it is not the maintenance of hope in every situation; there are situations in which there can be no hope. Nor is it the anticipation of a period of history, in which divine Providence will be proved by human happiness and goodness; there is no generation in which divine Providence will be less paradoxical than it is in ours. But the content of the faith in Providence is this: when death rains from heaven as it does now (just post-WW II), when hunger and persecution drive millions from place to place as they do now, and when prisons and slums all over the world distort the humanity of the bodies and souls of men as they do now - we can boast in that time, and just in that time, that even all of this cannot separate us from the love of God. In this sense, and in this sense alone, all things work together for the good, for the ultimate good, the eternal love, and the Kingdom of God. Faith in divine Providence is the faith that nothing can prevent us from fulfilling the ultimate meaning of our existence. Providence does not mean a divine planning by which everything is predetermined, as in an efficient machine. Rather, Providence means that there is a creative and saving possibility implied in every situation, which cannot be destroyed by any event.
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword...? In all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us..." This is the faith in Providence, and this alone.
Romans 8:38-39
What is Providence?
It is certainly not a vague promise that, with the help of God, everything will come to a good end; there are many things that come to a bad end. And it is not the maintenance of hope in every situation; there are situations in which there can be no hope. Nor is it the anticipation of a period of history, in which divine Providence will be proved by human happiness and goodness; there is no generation in which divine Providence will be less paradoxical than it is in ours. But the content of the faith in Providence is this: when death rains from heaven as it does now (just post-WW II), when hunger and persecution drive millions from place to place as they do now, and when prisons and slums all over the world distort the humanity of the bodies and souls of men as they do now - we can boast in that time, and just in that time, that even all of this cannot separate us from the love of God. In this sense, and in this sense alone, all things work together for the good, for the ultimate good, the eternal love, and the Kingdom of God. Faith in divine Providence is the faith that nothing can prevent us from fulfilling the ultimate meaning of our existence. Providence does not mean a divine planning by which everything is predetermined, as in an efficient machine. Rather, Providence means that there is a creative and saving possibility implied in every situation, which cannot be destroyed by any event.
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or anguish, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword...? In all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us..." This is the faith in Providence, and this alone.
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