Life can be like trying to grab hold of vapour

Do you sometimes feel that finding meaning or purpose or happiness or change in your life is elusive? Is it like trying to grasp vapour or smoke?

Do you sometimes feel your efforts for a better life are futile?

You invest time, energy, and money in something such as a hobby, a job, a relationship, a church, an education, a political campaign, or a new place to live.  Sometimes it goes up in smoke. Even if it goes well, it doesn’t deliver what you hoped. This can lead to despair, depression, or cynicism.

Well, it is okay to feel this because there is a book in the Bible that addresses such experiences and feelings. 

It is the book of Ecclesiastes and for the next few months we will be looking at the book in detail, both in the sermons at church and in our community groups.

An old post discusses how Ecclesiastes resonates with how the distinguished theoretical physicist, Steven Weinberg, felt about science, in spite of its grand achievements.

Here is Eugene Peterson's helpful introduction to Ecclesiastes found in The Message.

"Unlike the animals, who seem quite content to simply be themselves, we humans are always looking for ways to be more than or other than what we find ourselves to be. We explore the countryside for excitement, search our souls for meaning, shop the world for pleasure. We try this. Then we try that. The usual fields of endeavor are money, sex, power, adventure, and knowledge.

Everything we try is so promising at first! But nothing ever seems to amount to very much. We intensify our efforts—but the harder we work at it, the less we get out of it. Some people give up early and settle for a humdrum life. Others never seem to learn, and so they flail away through a lifetime, becoming less and less human by the year, until by the time they die there is hardly enough humanity left to compose a corpse.

Ecclesiastes is a famous—maybe the world’s most famous—witness to this experience of futility. The acerbic wit catches our attention. The stark honesty compels notice. And people do notice—oh, how they notice! Nonreligious and religious alike notice. Unbelievers and believers notice. More than a few of them are surprised to find this kind of thing in the Bible.

But it is most emphatically and necessarily in the Bible in order to call a halt to our various and futile attempts to make something of our lives, so that we can give our full attention to God—who God is and what he does to make something of us. Ecclesiastes actually doesn’t say that much about God; the author leaves that to the other sixty-five books of the Bible. His task is to expose our total incapacity to find the meaning and completion of our lives on our own.

It is our propensity to go off on our own, trying to be human by our own devices and desires, that makes Ecclesiastes necessary reading. Ecclesiastes sweeps our souls clean of all “lifestyle” spiritualities so that we can be ready for God’s visitation revealed in Jesus Christ. Ecclesiastes is a John-the-Baptist kind of book. It functions not as a meal but as a bath. It is not nourishment; it is cleansing. It is repentance. It is purging. We read Ecclesiastes to get scrubbed clean from illusion and sentiment, from ideas that are idolatrous and feelings that cloy. It is an exposé and rejection of every arrogant and ignorant expectation that we can live our lives by ourselves on our own terms.

Ecclesiastes challenges the naive optimism that sets a goal that appeals to us and then goes after it with gusto, expecting the result to be a good life. The author’s cool skepticism, a refreshing negation to the lush and seductive suggestions swirling around us, promising everything but delivering nothing, clears the air. And once the air is cleared, we are ready for reality—for God."

As always, The Bible Project video is a short and helpful overview.

The character and disposition of an evangelical theologian

Reading my previous post about Evangelical Theology: An Introduction by Karl Barth may leave the impression that Barth mostly discusses academic theology as an academic discipline in which the theologian strives for objectivity and distances themselves from the object of study. However, the emphasis and perspective of the book is quite different. Much of the book is about the personal character and disposition that an evangelical theologian must have. Theology is personal and practical. It is subjective in that the object of study [the triune God that was revealed in history and recorded in Scripture] places the theologian in "crisis". The theologian is judged, critiqued, and loved by the living Word.

The Table of Contents illustrates how much of the book is about the life of an evangelical theologian.

• Commentary
• I. The Place of Theology
  • The Word
  • The Witnesses
  • The Community
  • The Spirit
• II. Theological Existence
  • Wonder
  • Concern
  • Commitment
  • Faith
• III. The Threat to Theology
  • Solitude
  • Doubt
  • Temptation
  • Hope
• IV. Theological Work
• Prayer
• Study
• Service
• Love

The importance of humility recurs throughout the book. An evangelical theologian must be humble. They cannot operate with presuppositions, dismiss tradition, and or place themself above historical witnesses to God's self-revelation.

"The position of theology,... , can in no wise be exalted above that of the biblical witnesses. The post-Biblical theologian may, no doubt, possess a better astronomy, geography, zoology, psychology, physiology, and so on than these biblical witnesses possessed; but as for the Word of God, he is not justified in comporting himself in relationship to those witnesses as though he knew more about the Word than they. 

 

He is neither a president of a seminary, nor the Chairman of the Board of some Christian Institute of Advanced Theological Studies, who might claim some authority over the prophets and apostles. He cannot grant or refuse them a hearing as though they were colleagues on the faculty. Still less is he a high-school teacher authorized to look over their shoulder benevolently or crossly, to correct their notebooks, or to give them good, average, or bad marks. 

 

Even the smallest, strangest, simplest, or obscurest among the biblical witnesses has an incomparable advantage over even the most pious, scholarly, and sagacious latter-day theologian." (page 31)

Evangelical theology is critical in the sense of being self-critical. All ideas are provisional approximations to the truth and must continually be critiqued and open to revision or discarding. This critical element is quite distinct from the "criticisms" that were fashionable in Barth's time such as historical criticism, source criticism, redaction criticism,... They were methods that tended to become presuppositions and placed the theologian above the text.

Humility for an evangelical theological means that their theology is all about God, not themself or their theology (system, method, content). The last chapter of the book, entitled "Love", contrasts agape love to eros love.

Love as Eros, is, in general terms, the primordially powerful desire, urge, impulse, and endeavor by which a created being seeks his own self-assertion, satisfaction, realization, and fulfillment in his relation to something else. He strives to draw near to this other person or thing, to win it for himself, to take it to himself, and to make it his own as clearly and definitively as possible. And in a special sense, love, as scientific Eros, is the same desire in its intellectual form.

.....Scientific, theological Eros has perpetually oscillated concerning the object which it should present to man for the sake of his self-assertion and self-fulfillment. That is to say, theological Eros can be directed either predominantly (and perhaps even exclusively) toward God or predominantly (and, once again, perhaps even exclusively) toward man. (page 197-8)

 

A narcissist cannot be an evangelical theologian.

The book challenges readers to reflect on their character and disposition if they aspire to be an evangelical theologian. At the beginning of the book, Barth discusses how everyone is a theologian, regardless of whether they identify themselves as such. 

The main weakness of the book is that it does not engage in a concrete and substantive way with the life or teachings of Jesus, such as his parables and the Sermon on the Mount. Perhaps this is because Barth was embedded in the Reformed theological tradition. The book would have a sharper edge if it engaged with Anabaptist tradition. On the other hand, the book provides a wonderful framework, motivation, and invitation to dive into a fresh reading of the Gospels and let the living Word speak to the reader/theologian through the Power of the Holy Spirit.

Karl Barth's evangelical theology

Almost a quarter of a century ago, I first encountered and engaged with the theology of Karl Barth. It blew my mind and invigorated my spirit. Perhaps there were two main reasons why Barth resonated so well with me.

First, Barth seemed to have a deep respect for and appreciation of the Bible (and secondarily the historical Christian faith), without degenerating into a faith or perspective that was uncritical, naive, tribal, or simplistic.

Second, there seemed to be parallels with my scientific/academic mindset. Barth created for me an avenue to constructively engage my mind in my Christian life like what I enjoyed so much in my scientific life.

This month at the theology reading group, we are discussing Evangelical Theology: An Introduction. The book is based on lectures that Barth gave in Chicago and Princeton in 1962, during the only visit that he ever made to the USA. You can even listen to a live recording here.

The book is a wonderful entry point to Barth's rich and complex theology.  One measure of the influence of the book on me is that 18 previous posts on this blog consider quotations from the book. There 128 posts that are tagged Barth, more than just a handful of other topics (e.g., books, justice, history, politics,...)!

What does Barth mean by evangelical theology?

Theology is a "science" [wissenschaft = an academic discipline of study] in the following sense.

Theology is one among those human undertakings traditionally described as "sciences." Not only the natural sciences are "sciences." Humanistic sciences also seek to apprehend a specific object and its environment in the manner directed by the phenomenon itself; they seek to understand it on its own terms and to speak of it along with all the implications of its existence. The word "theology" seems to signify a special science, a very special science, whose task is to apprehend, understand, and speak of "God."  (page 3)

The object to study is the triune self-revealing God. In other words, Barth's perspective is that ontology determines epistemology. The method we use to find the truth about an object (epistemology) is determined by the nature of that object (ontology).

The qualifying attribute "evangelical" recalls both the New Testament and at the same time the Reformation of the sixteenth century. Therefore, it may be taken as a dual affirmation: the theology to be considered here is the one which, nourished by the hidden sources of the documents of Israel's history, first achieved unambiguous expression in the writings of the New Testament evangelists, apostles, and prophets; it is also, moreover, the theology newly discovered and accepted by the Reformation of the sixteenth century. 

The expression "evangelical," however, cannot and should not be intended and understood in a confessional, that is, in a denominational and exclusive, sense. This is forbidden first of all by the elementary fact that "evangelical" refers primarily and decisively to the Bible, which is in some way respected by all confessions. Not all so-called "Protestant" theology is evangelical theology; moreover, there is also evangelical theology in the Roman Catholic and Eastern orthodox worlds, as well as in the many later variations, including deteriorations, of the Reformation departure. What the word "evangelical" will objectively designate is that theology which treats of the God of the Gospel. "Evangelical" signifies the "catholic," ecumenical (not to say "conciliar") continuity and unity of this theology. " (page 5).

Evangelical theology is modest, happy, free, and critical.

Photo is of my son reading the book back in 2017.

In passing, I mention a paper that I wrote with Ben Myers is Dialectical Critical Realism in Science and Theology: Quantum Physics and Karl Barth.

With ambivalence and confusion, I should mention that my original Barth enthusiasm is tempered by more recent revelations about his inappropriate relationship with his assistant, Charlotte von Kirschenbaum. This raises thorny questions about how to separate the evaluation of a person's written work from their life. Is such a separation possible, appropriate, or essential?

My church is all about me!

In the past decade, a disturbing list of church leaders has disgraced themselves. Reading about Mark Driscoll, Jonathan Fletcher, Mike Pilavachi, and Steve Timmis, there are common themes in these tragic stories. 

Each individual was a gifted public speaker with a charismatic personality. They were "successful" in the ABCs of church growth (Attendance, Buildings, and Cash). Their initial success began when they were relatively young. Their church/organisation expanded rapidly and they hired a large staff team. Due to their "success" in "ministry" they received global recognition. Institutional structures were created or manipulated so there was limited real accountability.

We now know, that in private the individual was arrogant, condescending, manipulative, and involved in bullying and abuse (verbal, emotional, sexual, spiritual, or financial). This occurred over many years, sometimes decades, despite concerns raised with the individual and those they were nominally accountable to. Within the organisation, there was a culture of enabling or cover-ups. This was rationalised out of fear of the individual or fear of endangering the "success" of the "ministry". People who formally raised concerns within the organisation were fired, expelled, or ostracised. The problem was only finally addressed, and the leader was removed when secular media reported the scandal or there was a threat of lawsuits.

A common theme in these stories may also be that these fallen "leaders" suffer from narcissistic personality disorder and/or that the churches they led suffered from collective narcissism. This is a complex issue and is addressed in the book that we are discussing in the theology reading group this month.

Narcissism Comes to Church: Healing Your Community from Emotional and Spiritual Abuse by Chuck DeGroat

A helpful short review of the book is in the journal Themelios. 

DeGroat is a seminary professor and therapist who has worked for decades with church planting organisations in evaluating candidates. Many anecdotes in the book illustrate his experience trying to clean up trails of destruction left behind by narcissistic leaders. 

The most disturbing thing about the book is captured in the following quotations.

 "[A] 2008 study showed a NPD prevalence of 7.7 percent in men and 4.8 percent in women.... instances of narcissism among pastors are much more common... The rates are even higher among church planters." (pages 7,19) 

“I saw that narcissistic traits were often presented as strengths. Narcissism can be interpreted as confidence, strong leadership, clear vision, a thick skin.” (page 19)

“Their persona may even be interpreted as spiritual giftedness, a personality well-suited to plant an effective church or lead a large ministry or church.”

“grandiosity, entitlement, and absence of empathy characteristic of narcissistic personality disorder was translated into the profile of a good leader.”

DeGroat puts the problems in a broader cultural context, including citing The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations (1979) by Nicholas Lasch.

DeGroat conjectures that  "missional fervour and rise in church planting we’ve witnessed since the 1980s can be correlated with the growing prevalence of narcissism."

Too often the church conforms to the culture it swims in, rather than being counter-cultural, just like Jesus.

Reading about and/or experiencing the vagaries of narcissistic leaders, it is easy to be incensed, indignant, and self-righteous. How could they be such a hypocrite? How could this happen? How could their organisation allow it? Why do so many people flock to churches led by such people?

DeGroat is helpful and challenging because he argues that the problem is not just narcissistic individuals, but organisations that exhibit collective narcissism. Tragically, history shows removing the leader usually does not simply mean that the problems go away.

"Churches are particularly susceptible to ... "collective narcissism" in which the charismatic leader/follower relationship is understood as a given. ... The leader uses polarizing rhetoric that identifies an outside enemy, bringing together leader and followers on a grandiose mission...

“the system often compares itself to others and finds others wanting. The narcissistic system may feature the compelling personality or style of its leader, the strategic nature of its location or mission, the orthodoxy of its doctrine, the authenticity of its worship, the beauty of its liturgy, the integrity of its activism. Those within the system are led to believe that the church down the block isn’t as blessed, special, or faithful.”

pages 23-24

Chapter 6, Understanding narcissistic systems gives a more detailed discussion.

"Perhaps this is about us, an invitation to wake up to the many ways in which certainty trumps curiosity, uniformity trumps unity, hubris trumps humility, control trumps connection, loyalty trumps love."

(page 116)

DeGroat cautions about that labels such as "narcissist" should not be thrown around. Only a professional can make a diagnosis of NPD. Furthermore, 

‘when we diagnose, we are describing a pattern … never a person. All people are unique. Labels, however well intended, cannot do justice to human complexity.’ 

A person is not their diagnosis. Compassion is needed. Narcissists are deeply wounded individuals who live in a deep sense of fear and inadequacy. Compassion includes removing them from leadership positions so they do not hurt others and so they can have the opportunity to face their woundedness and seek healing. DeGroat is not optimistic about this happening but gives a few examples to provide tempered and realistic hope.

I found the book helpful in understanding things I have observed and experiences that I have had over the years. It helped me make sense of patterns I have seen such as entitlement, a sense of superiority, condescension, playing the victim when criticised, making generic vague apologies, hidden addictions and rage, lack of empathy, having an explanation for everything,...

Never tell a narcissist that you think they are a narcissist. If they really are you may be left thinking you are crazy. They will gaslight you. (I actually did not know what gaslighting was until just a few years ago).

“Moreover, when the narcissistic leader is under attack, his response is defensiveness and a victim complex.” (page 22)

“Entitled pastors snap when pricked, however. Even the smallest pinprick of challenge or concern from another leads to defensiveness and self-protective strategies.”

“While anxious churches driven by narcissistic pastors may grow numerically, healthy churches flourish. Do not mistake numerical growth for flourishing.”

“sad abandonment of the humble way of Jesus shows up today in pastors of large and small churches,”

The subtitle of the book is "Healing your Community from emotional and spiritual abuse", but this is only addressed directly in chapter 8, and much of that is anecdotes. That chapter has a subsection, "Healing ourselves" that is only two pages. Nevertheless there is some helpful advice and exhortation.

"Healing requires radical honesty and the courage to follow through on the wilderness path. Perhaps the two most important components of healing trauma are awareness and intentionality... Memories may be repressed, bodily sensations ignored, and feelings and needs disregarded...

"Every healing journey is unique. There is no clear roadmap... We long to control and strategies a journey that can only unfold in its own time." (pages 141-2)

."..you must be relentlessly committed to doing your own inner work, both to protect yourself and others from harm and to engage from a place of centred compassion rather than reactive rage."  (page 163)

The book is not pleasant to read. But, it is a book that needed to be written and needs to be read and taken heed of.

The church is not about me. It is not about my tribe. It is not about the leader. It is about Jesus, the model of a humble servant leader. 

 

In Praise of Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea is a beautiful and fascinating country. It has incredible biological, cultural, and linguistic diversity.

The island of New Guinea has more than 18,000 described plant species, an estimated 150,000 insect species, 740 species of birds, 276 species of mammals, 641 species of amphibians and reptiles, 600 species of coral and 3,000 species of reef fish. PNG is a magnet for research biologists. A glimpse of this beautiful diversity is captured in the book, New Guinea: Nature and Culture of Earth's Grandest Island by Bruce M. Beehler and Tim Laman.

I love this video about the mating ritual of one of the iconic birds of paradise.

New Guinea has around 840 living languages, making it the most linguistically diverse country in the world. This is more than ten per cent of the world's living languages. 

Papua New Guinea (PNG, the political entity that covers the eastern half of the island) and Australia have a long and intertwined history. Australia inherited it as a colony from Britain and ruled it until 1975 when it gained independence.

Port Moresby, the capital, is only a three-hour flight from Brisbane, where I live. But, it is a different world.

I have visited PNG five times to visit my son, who works there. Next month I will be there for his wedding! 

Recent experiences and reading have increased my appreciation of PNG and of the challenges that it faces. Unfortunately, there is a lot of negative media coverage in Australia. Most focuses on problems such as crime, tribal violence, corruption, and political instability. These are real problems but should be put in the context of positive achievements, the role of outside actors, and history.

Only one hundred years ago, most people in PNG lived in villages and had not even encountered white people, let alone have any awareness of Western culture, democracy, or economies. Since becoming independent of colonial rule, PNG has maintained a parliamentary democracy, free elections, a free and independent press, an independent judiciary, and the army has not interfered in politics. PNG has not suffered from a civil war, a military coup, or political repression. This is incredibly impressive, considering how after the end of Western colonial rule, so few countries in the world have avoided such failures.

Australian actors have played a significant role in some of the challenges that PNG faces. For example, the Australian branch of the bank UBS, charged the PNG government hundreds of millions of dollars to arrange a loan for a dubious investment that led to the PNG government losing hundreds of millions of dollars.

The closest thing to a civil war has been the conflict on Bougainville Island, which seeks to become independent of PNG, something the national government is not keen to allow. Unfortunately, Australian actors helped create this problem, as it all began with the establishment of the hugePanguna mineby the Australian company Conzinc Rio Tinto . The conflict ultimately led to the Sandline affair, where the PNG tried to hire mercenaries to "resolve" the conflict.

Like many Majority World countries, PNG is plagued by corruption. This occurs at multiple scales from the small to the large. An example of the small is a government bureaucrat taking a small bribe to speed up the processing of some paperwork. An example of the large is a politician diverting millions of dollars from a government bank account into their own personal bank account in Switzerland or Panama.

Large scale corruption would not be possible without Western enablers. On Britain, The Economist, stated, based on the book Butler to the World: How Britain Became the Servant of Tycoons, Tax Dodgers, Kleptocrats and Criminals.

"No other country offers a comparable array of enablers; from banks and lawyers to public-relations firms and other “reputation managers”."

The rapid change of PNG is beautifully captured in the autobiography of Albert Kiki Maori, Ten Thousand Years in a Lifetime. It also describes how he experienced discrimination and racism by Australians, but was empowered to have a political vision for independence from his brief time studying in Fiji.

The Embarrassed Colonialist (2016) is a helpful and short book by Sean Dorney It does not gloss over PNG's problems but emphasises how there is much to celebrate and nationals should be proud of what they have achieved since independence. 

A helpful discussion of Australia's fraught relationships with its Pacific neighbours is discussed in a podcast by Gordon Peake, Statecraftiness. 

Lectures on Science and Christianity: Part 4

Part 4: Apologetics, mission, and the social sciences

1. Overview

2. Emergence and reductionism

3. Human sciences

4. Mental health

5. South Asian contexts 

6. Conclusion

The beauty and paradoxes of the power of God

How powerful is God? What is the nature of God's power? How is the power of God similar and different to the power of humans?

This month in the theology reading group we are discussing The Power of God and the gods of Power by Daniel L. Migliore. A helpful summary of the book is here.

The book is marked by clarity, insight, and humility. Migliore engages with the Bible and theologians (mostly Protestant) from various eras and perspectives. It is distinctly Trinitarian, is wary of abstractions, and teases out practical implications to churches and individuals. 

Here are a few of the things that stood out to me.

Human agency reflects that everyone, regardless of their situation, has some power and this is an important part of their humanity. It is diminished when we are now allowed to express it, feel we can't or don't. (pages 2-7).

God's power is radically different from the human will to power, e.g., to dominate others. God reveals his strength (power) "most awesomely in the humility of a servant Lord." (p. 15).

As for any concept, it is important to consider what images and metaphors we associate with it.

The Greek gods were each associated with an irresistible power: sex, wine, war, and destruction, ... They promote the myth that we are helpless while in the grip of their power. This myth undermines our agency and the associated human dignity. (cf. 1 Cor. 10:13). (p. 9) 

In American culture, the images of power include sheer almightiness (God is like Superman), captive power (God is a divine butler at our beck and call), and ineptness or indifference. (p. 20)

If we misconceive divine power we will misconceive and misuse human power. (p. 32)

The activity of the Trinity defines who God is and the nature of the power that God exercises: creative, suffering, and transformative love. (p. 57)

Scholastic theology has a fraught legacy as its metaphysical approach to understanding God is relatively independence from the Biblical witness. It framed God's power in abstract terms and as absolute (omnipotent), immutable, and impassible. (pp. 62-65).

There is an interesting transition in the history of Christian art, where before Constantine Jesus was portrayed as a shepherd and later as a king. (p. 67)

In considering what role power should play in the church there has been and continues to be a false dichotomy. The first choice is accepting the reality of power in any human institution, exercising it strongly, sometimes to the point of accepting abuses of power as just and unfortunate reality. The second choice is to eschew any sorts of structures that will involve members exercising power over others. These two choices were embodied in the Reformed and Anabaptist traditions, respectively.

The power of the triune God is seen in actions as Creator, Redeemer, and Transformer.

The life of the church is to be a living witness to the nature of the power of God. This is reflected in participants are not passive observers, servant leadership, and not being self-focussed. The church should not to be coercive, including in evangelism. (p.68)

Unfortunately, widespread reports over the past decade of abuse: sexual, spiritual, and financial, reflect how much the church has failed. This is relevant to the book we will discuss next month, When Narcissism Comes to Church.

On theodicy, "suffering is the greatest mystery of human life." (p. 83)

"God freely suffers for the salvation of others - that is the deepest message of Scripture regarding human suffering." (p. 85).

 "Suffering is not primarily a theoretical problem but an agonising reality of life." (p. 87).

"Homogeneity in the Christian community is therefore a contradiction of the gospel of God's omnipotent love, which frees us to accept as brothers and sisters those considered strangers and enemies. A community that calls itself Christian and is complacent about its economic, racial, and cultural insularity is a community without the power of the Spirit..

Some church leaders advocate an outreach program for congregations that would focus on people most similar to their present members. But evangelism that deliberately aims at homogeneity for the sake of church growth is a display of spiritual weakness rather than real spiritual strength. ... (p. 106)"

The final chapter considers the practical implications of the Christian theology of the power of God for the dialogue between Christians and Muslims. This is one of the most helpful and constructive discussions I have encountered about the ground and nature of such dialogue. Mutual respect means acknowledging both common ground and real differences. Both Muslims and Christians affirm the unity of God and are against idolatry and immorality. Their central difference concerns fundamentally different perspectives on the power of God. Christians affirm the "weakness" of God profoundly manifest in both the incarnation and the crucifixion of Jesus.