Stoicism applied to Christianity

A blogger friend, and philosophy professor, Becky Vartabedian shared a most interesting article on Stoicism working well in the military in times of war, but not working well for many when they get back home. Worth a read, and especially on this Memorial Day here in the United States, when we (including myself, as a Christian pacifist) honor those who serve in the military, and remember the fallen.

This led me to think about and wonder how much Stoicism has impacted the American psyche and to what extent that might be helpful, as well as to what extent it is not. Just finished N.T. Wright’s latest book, a great read on virtue, and in it he shows what he considers to be an overlap between the New Testament vision and Aristotle on virtue, as well as how the New Testament ends up turning the Aristotelian vision on its head and inside out.

Wright points to Philippians 4:8 in which Paul tells us that whatever is good, true, lovely, excellent, praiseworthy- we’re to think on such things. That seems to open the door for an understanding of common grace so that we can find good everywhere within the thoughts and workings of humanity. There is an aspect of Stoicism which is one of self-control and discipline, to push out what is not helpful for the situation or task at hand, and to apply what is helpful for it. In war time as the article points out, that can be necessary for the survival of combatants who can’t immediately grieve over the loss of a buddy, but must fight on, as well as in other aspects of war.

While Stoicism sees something of the divine at work in all humans, (but in a different way than how Christianity would parse that), Stoicism seems to work from an individualistic perspective, in step with the Aristotelian vision, and well suited to the American myth of rugged individualism. There are times when we in Jesus need to act ruthlessly against whatever it might be which would either hinder or sidetrack us from the will of God in Jesus. But this is at heart a relational matter between ourselves and God. And more often than we imagine, we need the help of others in Jesus, for discerning counsel and prayer. As human persons we’re meant to live in relationship first to God and also to others. The psalms are an important model of how this is applied. And the entire Bible, with an emphasis for us today on the New Testament, but not leaving the Old Testament behind (without the OT, we can’t properly understand the NT).

In my own experience I find that I am sometimes hit hard by what would knock me off course (and too often has) from the way in Jesus. I find that, even though difficult, I must with resolve take a stand against the troubling thought. It is a thought based on a reality which more or less reflects what could happen but more times than not, won’t.

For us in Jesus we do so because of faith in God and in God’s promises to us in Jesus. God is our Father and promises to be with us through whatever we face. So the difference is radical in that relationship is at the heart of how we work through such issues. And it involves a stand on the truth God has revealed to us in Scripture and in Jesus. We often know much more in our heads than we act on in our lives. We must learn to act on the truth revealed in Jesus found in Scripture, regardless, and learn to major on that. While remembering that our lives are to be lived in relationship to God and to others in this world, in the love of God found in Jesus.

Scot McKnight on the love of the Trinity

At the center of the Jesus Creed is the Shema, and at the center of the Shema is the God of love, and at the center of the God of love is the word “one”- and that word “one” is a dance. Let me explain briefly. When Jesus said in John’s tenth chapter that he and the Father were “one,” every Jew who heard him thought of the Shema: “Here, O Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one.” Now Jesus was claiming that he and the Father were one. So somehow there were “two in one,” and, as the church gradually began to comprehend, there were actually “three in one.” The Jesus Creed derives from this “three-in-oneness of God.”

How are the three “one”? Here are Jesus’ own words: “the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” The oneness of the Father and the Son is the oneness of mutual indwelling of one another. Now, if we add to the Father and the Son the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, we arrive at something distinct to our Christian faith: the Father and the Son and the Spirit are one because they indwell one another. They interpenetrate one another so deeply that they are one. This “oneness” is often called by theologians the “dance of the Trinity.” God is almost, to quote C.S. Lewis, “if you think me not irreverent, a kind of dance.” God is, to change the image only slightly, the dance of rope in the Celtic knot.

The same theologians often call this oneness of God the perichoresis, a Greek word referring to mutual indwelling. To say the three are one is to say the one God is a community of mutually indwelling persons where each person delightfully dances with the other in endless holy love. This perichoretic dance is the love of the persons of the Trinity for each other- the Father for the Son and the Spirit, and the Son for the Father and the Spirit, and the Spirit for the Father and the Son. Theologians and philosophers remind us that this perichoretic love is the origin, the tone, and the standard for all the love in the universe. There is no other love than God’s love.

The mutual love of the Father, Son, and Spirit forms the pattern for the Jesus Creed. The Jesus Creed summons each of us to dance the dance of the Trinity.

Scot McKnight in 40 Days Living the Jesus Creed, 25-27.

prayer for Trinity Sunday

Almighty and everlasting God, you have given to us your servants grace, by the confession of a true faith, to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity, and in the power of your divine Majesty to worship the Unity: Keep us steadfast in this faith and worship, and bring us at last to see you in your one and eternal glory, O Father; who with the Son and the Holy Spirit live and reign, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Book of Common Prayer

deciphering God’s voice

What voices are we hearing to direct our thoughts and our lives? I’m not asking what moves us. We’re essentially moved by whatever we desire. And for us in Jesus desires are changed, and need to become more and more in keeping with God’s desires, his good will for us in Christ. But I’m now thinking of the many voices we hear and make decisions by.

The “many voices” can be boiled down to perhaps three: the voice of God, the voice of humans, and the voice of Satan. Of course much could be said about each of these voices. God’s voice comes in a number of ways, and usually comes through reading God’s word, through a human, or in a gentle whisper or sense of God’s will. Human voices begin with our own, sometimes echoing voices we heard in our childhood. And across a vast spectrum, amplified today by our access to the world via the Internet. And finally the voice of Satan. Often behind human voices, could be even our own. Comes across as right, and even as an angel of light.

So how can we know which is which? We need discernment. And while that’s a gift from God, it’s a gift we must not only receive, but develop as part of how we listen and hear the many voices that are always speaking.

Satan’s voice seems right, and even good. But the fruit is not either good nor right. We end up left hanging, as if caught in a web. We are paralyzed and can do nothing of the will of God in Jesus. We end up in despair and lost.

Human voices are often persuasive. And actually there is much that is good and right that we can learn from them. This reflects Paul’s words in Philippians 4:8. He didn’t cap the culture of his day. There could be good from that as well. Common grace means that there is much good we can learn from others. And with God’s help even from those who may be in opposition to and denial of God himself.

And at last we have God’s voice. Persistent yet not clamoring for our attention. The still small voice, or gentle whisper, as Elijah experienced it. Yet God is speaking and actually in many ways. But in our sin we fail all too often to either listen or hear. The fruit of God’s voice as we respond to it in faith is uplifting. In the midst of a broken and contrite spirit, grieving deeply over our sin and this heavy on us, we have a sense of God’s goodness on us. We are uplifted. And indeed eager to know more of God, and be led more in his will.

So we need discernment. Being in the word, in the fellowship of the community of God’s people in Jesus, practicing disciplines and seeing life in terms of story. Those from what I remember from N.T. Wright’s newest book, key in helping us get along in God’s will for us in the mission of God in Jesus for the world.

finding God and his strength

Over and over again in the Psalms we find the psalmist feeling threatened, or at a loss, groping their way through darkness when nothing seems well and God seems absent. We read of Paul being tormented with no less than a messenger of Satan. Yet this “thorn in the flesh” seemed to have come somehow from the hand of God to keep Paul humble and dependent on God. In Paul’s case it was due to the surpassing great revelation which God had entrusted to him. While we haven’t experienced what Paul did, we still know by faith and have tasted of the goodness of the Lord to the extent that we might become proud, thinking we’re a cut above others.

I am used to living in perpetual weakness. That doesn’t mean I feel weak all the time. How can one feel weak when they have the sense of God’s presence and his peace? And along with that at times seem to be strengthened by his Spirit?And yet much of my life is lived in conscious weakness. I’m not really thinking of some besetting sin, at least not in my mind. Rather I’m thinking of something more akin to living in a desert, or in darkness. Feeling pain over troubles in this life. Tiring of certain things, yet becoming more and more acclimated to living in such a world.

But in the midst of this, I trust and sometimes consciously am finding God and his strength. A key way for me and for everyone is to remain in God’s word. To be in it regularly and not to be deterred in the least in spite of seeming to experience nothing. If nothing else the words themselves can have some kind of effect on us. We trust in Jesus that effect is from God himself. And that in the process we are indeed meeting with, and opening ourselves up to hear and be changed by God.

There are those times when we especially need to meet with God, to be encouraged by him. Sometimes needed encouragement comes through others. And God gives it to us to in turn be an encouragement to them. We all are in perpetual need.

when all seems threatened

In reading the Psalms (and now hearing them) I am struck by just how often the psalmists feel threatened and actually are threatened in one way or another. Often it is over enemies who are pursuing their life. Sometimes it is over the results of their sin, and at least one time includes sickness.

The answer for the psalmist always ends up in God, and in God’s great strength and protection. God is the psalmist’s strength, fortress and rock. The psalmist takes refuge in God and finds safety. And God is a very present help for his people when they are in trouble.

There are times in my life when I feel threatened for this reason or that. During such times I’ve learned to lie low, that is say little to others (except my wife, so she can pray), get more into God’s word and prayer. I find such times helpful for learning more of “the Jesus way” in my life. Of course during such times we sense our dependence on God all the more. So that the trial roots us deeper in God and our faith is stronger afterwards.

This is for all of God’s people, not just for ourselves. And it is ultimately for the world that Christ came to save. So we need to learn to think in terms of being in this life together with others. So that when they have cancer, or are in trouble because of lacking finances, or whatever may be the case, we identify with them, and along with others in Jesus, are present for them. This is inherent within “the Lord’s prayer.” And it should be represented by how we live, and worked out as much as possible through the fellowship of our church. And it most certainly should include those who as yet do not know the Lord. So that at least we pray for all who are suffering or facing hard times.

As we do certain things by which we are seeking to entrust ourselves to God, God will help us and make himself known to us. That is inevitable, if we hold on to our faith by reading God’s word, and looking to him in prayers. Then no matter, what we can end up rest assured that God is present and for us in and through Jesus. As we seek him, and seek to follow as his sheep on the right paths for his name’s sake.

not being ready

I may have used too many “I’s” yesterday on my post, my wife agreeing with me there, even though she liked the post (as seen by her comment). But today I go on since I’m simply speaking from my own experience, and trying to think in terms of God’s revealed will about that.

Not being ready to do whatever needs to be done is a mark of my personality, or who I am. That doesn’t mean I don’t do it. For years I’ve done all kinds of things when needed. And I’ve found time and time again that the Lord is present to give strength and wisdom. The needed help.

On the one hand we should diligently be preparing ourselves for whatever life may bring our way. That involves reading Scripture and praying and continuing in regular fellowship with God’s people. We need to be working hard at not being conformed to this world, but being transformed by the renewing of our minds. So that over time along with others in Jesus, we are changing to be not the same person we were five years ago, or will be five years from now.

On the other hand we also need to be willing to live in as stark naked dependence on God as Jesus did. Day after day. Knowing that an interactive relationship with God and with God’s people in Jesus is a part of God’s ongoing will for us. Being dependent on the Spirit to move us as needed, on God to give us the grace needed in every circumstance of life.

This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t prepare well. And how this works out for you as to the details will be different than how it works out for me. Different people with different sets of circumstances.

Not being ready means I am wanting (or should be wanting) to be ever present to the Ever Present One. That proceeds from the conviction that life doesn’t come with packages we need for whatever occasion so that we can take that package and get the job done. No. Only in utter dependence on God. That is where we find God, and help from God in all our need.

chanting the Psalms (well, not quite)

Although I can be a talker I can also be rather silent. And hopefully for the most part somewhere in between. Part of my time in reading Scripture is going through the Psalms. I’ve been spending more time in the Psalms lately, and though the meditation was rich I wasn’t making much headway through them.

Enter the decision to plod through them basically verse through verse, not rushing, but making myself move through them. In Hebrew poetry often two lines go together, so when the case I would be sure to read that. I was telling a friend that I’ve been told I would make a good monk. I can go hours if need be not saying a word, and since I like to sing, I think chanting the Psalms would sit well with me. But reading them slowly but surely is the next best thing.

I began yesterday with a heart numb over a number of things. I couldn’t get out of that, but I’ve found when I am rather chaotic inside, or in this case numb, I resort all the more to Scripture. And sure enough in time I began to come out of my darkness. It is hard to put a finger on this happening, nor can one copy it for later use. Instead we need to be committed to the regular reading and meditation of Scripture.

Of course in all Scripture reading we are dependent on the Spirit of God to help us. As we read over a passage, it or a certain part of it comes alive to us. We somehow resonate with what is written, in our spirits. And it is so important to keep plodding along even if both we and Scripture seem as dead as a door nail. I believe the Spirit can be working most powerfully during such dry times, as we continue on in faith in spite of ourselves and our dullness.

Learning to chant the Psalms could be a powerful way of going over them. Some orders do this daily, as I recall. And many do it in Latin. All well and good if they know Latin and the meaning, which they likely do. But I want to do so in my heart language, and by and large most everyone will benefit the most by doing so.

God’s word is given to us as a gift through Christ. We need to discipline ourselves to be in that word regularly every day. Lectio Divina is one way of doing so not far removed from how I do it, yet different. One asks the Spirit to reveal God’s message for them, then goes over a passage repeatedly, looking for something that stands out to them. When one does this, of course they should still concentrate on reading in context.

In fact that is part of why I decided that I needed to move my reading along. While I do go through the Bible continually by listening to it being read, I still need to go through it page by page myself. And in that, while it is good at times to simply savor a line or two, we need to keep moving along, because there is so much in Scripture that we need. We need it all, in each part and the whole.

So instead of letting our deadness render us listless, we need to expose ourselves to God’s light given to us in his word. And this needs to become a habit through good times and bad. Through times of darkness and times of light. That we remain in God’s word. And maybe even learn to sing it. As we continue to read on.

anxiety as a symptom

In our Spiritual Formation time yesterday at our church, I had occasion to ask Byard Bennett just how anxiety is related to “the seven deadly sins.” He said that anxiety is symptomatic of a number of the sins. These sins, just as the virtues tend to feed off each other. In the case of anxiety it is part of the downward spiral which comes from a number of them, such as pride, vain glory, acedia, and surely all of them. And that anxiety is a response to one’s set view of life, or acceptance of a lie, being undermined. The idol proving to be empty. Of course Byard said much more than this.

Entering into the conversation was the importance of our minds being renewed. And of taking every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ. And of course the necessity of working out our difficulties not on our own, but with help from others. In other words learning to depend on God and on each other as members of Christ’s Body.

On the one hand we need to promptly obey Scripture. Such as in the many times we’re told to not be afraid, but to trust in God. Or not to be anxious. Or to forgive, etc. On the other hand, we need to work on the change that comes so that we are becoming different people. People who are characterized by a different mindset, a different spirit. So that when the hard times come, we are moved less and less by them.

I have tended to see anxiety as simply an aspect of unbelief. That it is symptomatic of that is certain, but that it can come from a host of others sins, really of any sin is something to consider. And be awake to, so that when anxiety occurs I can seek through the Spirit to trace it back to its source.

Of course God is working to make us to become more and more like his Son. That is a tall order. But it includes a commitment to walk the path he walked, and to learn to regard our lives as completely his. There is so much more to all of this, and thankfully we can trust God to help and give us what we need each step of the way.

Scot McKnight on the place of Pentecost in God’s saving work in Jesus

The story the early Christians told is that Jesus lived, Jesus died, Jesus was raised, and Jesus was exalted into the heavens, from which place he sent the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and Pentecost are integrally related. Together they accomplish forgiveness, new creation, and empowerment.

Scot McKnight, A Community Called Atonement, 73