From: John Burgeson (burgythree@hotmail.com)
Date: Thu Feb 20 2003 - 17:16:28 EST
Terry wrote a pretty good response on the revelation question. I have a few
comments:
"TheJudeo-Christian message is primarily about what Jesus did in history to
accomplish our salvation--it's not primarily about some subjective religious
experience or knowledge."
Actually, it is about both, I'd argue. Both our rational nature, what we
know from the scriptures and our intuitive nature, our own experiences of
God. William of Occham opened the door to this meaning 800 or so years ago
-- the "marriage of mind and heart" was the focus of church scholars all
through the late middle ages. Meister Eckhart (1260-1327) argued the one
must move beyond sensory knowledge, that a person's union with God was
"beyond rationality," and not achieved through human effort but by the grace
of God. Experiences, he asserted, would differ from person to person, and
would transcend human knowledge.
"The Jesus told me (apart from the Word) piety of much of modern
evangelicalism is equally suspect. That which unites traditional Roman
Catholic theology/piety, Pentecostal and charismatic theology, and many
non-Christian religions is religious experience. The emphasis on the
objective, historical facts of the doing and dying and rising again of Jesus
Christ distinguishes Biblical Christianity from all these things."
I agree with Terry on this, as long as it is not taken to say that the
mystic is unimportant. And I think we have some denominations (I will not
specify) who have done this as well. There is a balance necessary, and this
balance may not be the same for all people.
"I do want to remind us again of the purposes of this group. As a group
we're not interested in general issues of theology (such as this one), or
general issues in politics or social concerns, but the intersection of
Christian faith (as outlined in the ASA statement of faith) and scientific
concerns."
I will argue in return that this subject is necessarily at the very
forefront of this intersection. Ockam may not have recognized this, but by
Pascal's time, he certainly did. The Enlightenment, and logical positivism,
created a substantial unbalance, of course, and we are just now (the past
20-30 years) becoming to correct this. In my judgement, having joined the
ASA 30+ years ago, we spend (as a group) little time on this issue and far
too much time (and space and ink and paper) on rehashing secondary
considerations, like the reconciling of early Genesis with scientific
observations.
Burgy
www.burgy.50megs.com
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