Part 2 of addressing David's seeming consternation with the Incarnation as not adequately wrapped up in scripture (but really more like an interlude)

Well, after reading David’s exchange with Dan at Dan’s site, this may be ultimately unhelpful to David’s consternation with scripture passages that present Jesus as Godlike but then elsewhere Human. But we press on.

David and Dan are having a good old fashioned protestant dialogue about reading scripture and with what kinds of hermeneutics to read scripture: “Jesus’ goodness”, “common sense notions of love and goodness”, etc., with an effort to be historically aware. They may not – and almost all if not all of your will not – think of these notions as a hermeneutics. But they are. They are apriori preferences on how to interpret scripture in order to make sense of its vast span and mysterious depths. A kind of inherited seat-of-your-pants is the state of things in American agrarian protestantism, and has been since the Puritans broke up into 2, then 3, then 7, then 12, then 50 factions, each split requiring a move westward.

The general blindness of protestantism, though, has been induced by a stubborn refusal to admit the evidence of all this splintering: the scriptures do not give us practical explanations or practical material on… the Incarnation; Salvation; the Holy Spirit; the body of Christ; the eucharist; orders of ministry, etc. So, while protestants like to be practical (even to the point of a dominance of being transactional) and disdain the value of effort to attain an intellectual AND practical explanation of these things, even so and just so they are left without direction on understanding by faith and for the sake of faith regarding, among other things, the Incarnation; Salvation; the Holy Spirit; the body of Christ; the eucharist; orders of ministry, etc. Thus there are 300+ protestant denominations in the US alone. C’est la vie. Seems to be the attitude.

None of these things are fully explained in the New Testament. All of these things were sought to be grasped in the life of the Church AFTER the apostolic era. In the first five centuries after the Apostles themselves, we begin to see a great deal of effort by the church to work out understanding of its faith, first by fashioning ritual for the group's participation in the eucharist; then baptism; and on it goes. Fashioning ritual to best experience the presence of Christ, the work of the Holy Spirit, the love and saving graces of God.

In the lectionary recently, the longest conversation in the NT took place between Jesus and the disgraced Samaritan woman at the well. At the end of which Jesus says that the time is coming and, in fact, is upon them when the faithful would worship God in spirit and in truth. 

Theology is the church’s exertion of our minds (that part that is most like God and most in God’s image) to express the inexpressible in the most truthful way. And whether Dan or David know this, when we read the New Testament, we are reading writers who are trying to do the same thing. Paul uses stoic philosophy to craft his Christocentric message of ethics for the early church. Heraclitus’ Logos philosophy gives John his language for the revelation of the Incarnation. 

What does Paul say about love and spiritual gifts? 

“Pursue love and strive for the spiritual gifts, and especially that you may prophesy… those who prophesy speak to other people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation…. Now I would like all of you to speak in tongues but even more to prophesy. One who prophesies is greater than one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be built up… if I come to you speaking in tongues, how will I benefit you unless I speak to you in some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or teaching? 

Therefore, one who speaks in a tongue should pray for the power to interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays but my mind is unproductive.  What should I do then? I will pray with the spirit, but I will pray with the mind also; I will sing praise with the spirit, but I will sing praise with the mind also.

BROTHERS AND SISTERS, DO NOT BE CHILDREN IN YOUR THINKING; RATHER, BE INFANTS IN EVIL, BUT IN THINKING BE ADULTS."

So, pursuing love means, for Paul, chiefly teaching. It is not enough to care for each other. Apparently. 

We must also learn what is the reason for our hope. First, because our spiritual life will wither if we cannot find words for our experience of the ineffable presence and work of God. Second, because we are not loving our brothers and sisters if we find them a bed but do not join with them in lifting our minds. Third, because faith seeks understanding in order to face, confront, and transform the violence and trauma of sin.

In whom is our faith? One who is God and us. If he is not fully God, then he has no ultimate ability to redeem us. If he is not fully a human being, then he has not ultimate ability to represent us. To save us. 

That seems pretty important.  

How can we love if we cannot hope to be saved? How can we be saved unless our nature is transformed from death to glory in heaven? Who has the power to change us AND the nature to represent us?

Last section on the Incarnation comes later this week.