Andrew Harbick

start a post-modern theology discussion group (read all 10 entries…)
Postmodern theology in pop-culture 4 years ago

I was watching West Wing last night, and I did a double take (literally… thanks TiVo) at this exchange between Toby and a Republican senator that just popped in for this episode.


Wilkenson: “Do you believe the Bible to be literally true?”
Toby: “Yes sir, but I don’t think either of us is smart enough to understand it.”

In my limited reading, this is probably the most concise rendering of what a postmodern theologian (at least Christian) looks like. I did a double take because I fully expected Toby to say something like “are you kidding me? that’s just a bunch of stories that we tell children to make them behave?” or something else to the effect of “that’s superstitition” or something otherwise derogatory that would emphasize how Christianity isn’t reasonable.

Christianity often times isn’t reasonable, but then again would you imagine any infinite, omnipotent, omniscient Being to seem reasonable to us; finite, powerless, and not all that brilliant? But why should it be dismissed because of that? Donald Miller in “Blue Like Jazz” has a great thought about this:

(talking about a friend that has just told him that she CAN’T believe in God because she feels Christianity is “stupid”)

I had no explanation for Laura. I don’t think there is an explanation. My belief in Jesus did not seem rational or scientific and yet there was nothing I could do to separate myself from this belief. I think Laura was looking for something rational, because she believed that all things that were true were rational. But that isn’t the case. Love, for example, is a true emotion, but it is not rational. What I mean is, people actually feel it. I have been in love, plenty of people have been in love, yet love cannot be proved scientifically. Neither can beauty. Light cannot be proved scientifically, and yet we all believe in light and by light see all things. There are plenty of things that are true that don’t make any sense. I think one of the problems Laura was having was that she wanted God to make sense. He doesn’t. He will make no more sense to me than I will to an ant.

Increasingly, I feel like the popular rhetoric about religion is shifting away from proof to experience. We don’t have to feel the burden of proving that God exists, but rather is He beautiful and does following Him make your life more joyful/hopeful?

Jan 06, 2005, 06:30AM PST | 1 cheer


Comments:

Daniel Spils

Rational vs. Irrational or Faith vs. Institution

I agree that the modern condition has us pitting rational experience against the “irrational” nature of religion (which I don’t necessarily think is always the case). But more often than not folks that I hang with are so offended by the the Institution of any church that they can’t even begin talking rationally about faith.

That tends to be where most conversations break down—how can you have a rational conversation about faith when people can’t get past the Institution? A bit of a rant on my part … but something I regularly run into.

Jan 15, 2005, 07:03PM PST | Thread | Respond to this 1 cheer

Andrew Harbick

So true...

Sadly that’s very true. In many ways “Christians have messed up Christianity” You’re right so I should just leave it at that….

Except I can’t help myself ;) In some ways offense at the institution as a reason to reject faith becomes a rational response. “You’re a Christian? Why? The church is so messed up? There’s no reason to be a Christian.” No one ever says “your family is so messed up, there’s no reason to be their son.” The church becomes an excuse.

Too often I’m disgusted by the church even my own, but that doesn’t lead me to reject my faith, and it doesn’t lead me to leave the church either. The church plays a huge role in Christian theology. St Cyprian of Carthage wrote “You cannot have God as your Father if you do not have the Church as your Mother” So somehow I have to find my place in the family even if it’s dysfunctional (and why shouldn’t I expect that… it’s a human institution though divinely inspired) and work to bring about good in that institution and in my life.

Jan 16, 2005, 12:03PM PST | Thread | Respond to this 1 cheer

Daniel Spils

Humility

I agree with the thrust of your argument here—how could any human institution be anything but human (be it Church or State or other)? I had this conversation last week where a mutual friend was attacking me for being a “cultural Catholic”. Without all the details, this person kept asserting that I’m a hypocrite for supporting (by inaction) the war in Iraq. The argument: you believe in the 10 commandments, you allow a war to go on that results in killing, you’re a hypocrite, all religion is meaningless.

That makes for a nice 30 second soundbite, but totally evades the complexity of the human condition in my opinion. People are complicated. They f*ck up … repeatedly. People make up the State and they make up the Church. Both institution have guiding principles that we constantly stretch and violate, but repeatedly come back to for calibration and guidance. Fire gives us light. But you can’t blame the fire if you burn yourself by sticking your hand in the flame. It’s just fire and it’ll continues to give light if you respect it’s nature.

Jun 09, 2005, 12:13AM PDT | Respond to this 1 cheer


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