1.04.2014

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I don't think you're going to like this.  I could be wrong.  But I'm pretty sure some of the thoughts that have been rolling around my head lately are going to rub some people the wrong way.  Sorry.

First item:  America is the inheritor of a rich set of values, beliefs and thought structures affectionately known as the Western Tradition.  It essentially began with the Greeks, right?  Our scientific method of understanding flowed from the intellectual rigor of the Greek philosophers like Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras, all those guys.  And our system of government, with it's chief value of representing the people through a democratic process, owes its origins to the ancient Greek and Roman empires as well.
Here's the rub- Paul said in I Corinthians that the gospel is foolishness to Greeks.  In other words, the intellectual tradition of the Greeks, which has matured and progressed to its current state in our modern times, is categorically opposed to the 'logic' of God as expressed in His story of salvation.

Second item:  About this intellectual tradition.  We've gotten so good at it.  The amount of stuff we've been able to discover;  the technological breakthroughs we've had; the libraries we have filled with the amount of information we have learned.  And we've unleashed this power on our understanding of God as well.  Countless tomes have been written arguing for the correct interpretation of scripture, what we should do and should not do, what the right way to worship is, what the right political party is and what are the correct votes we should cast for particular measures.  It amazes me.
But here's the rub, part 2- What was the tree in the Garden that Adam and Eve shouldn't have eaten from, the one that caused the Fall?  Wasn't it the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil?  So all the activity we spend on observing, discussing, arguing, data processing, conclusion drawing about what is right and wrong turns out to be the VERY activity that caused the Fall, that essentially was the Fall itself.

So essentially, the entire culture that I have been raised in, that we all have been raised in, is one that continually seeks right and wrong- which is essentially the Fall- using the intellectual apparatus of a culture that is antithetical to God's salvation story.

Is it just me or is this cause for concern?



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