Magic is not faith...

Hmm. Apparently I can keep quiet for a while. Well, here's a new post to break the silence. It's a bit of speculation I've been randomly considering recently. I am calling it: "Why magic is a poor analogy for faith".

I almost hate to write this because it's going to sound like I'm ragging on two people I greatly admire: G.K. Chesterton and C.S. Lewis. Let me say right now that I think both Christianity and humanity in general have been made richer by the lives of both of these fine writers, dreamers, and thinkers. I know that my faith has been challenged and encouraged deeply by them. Having said that, I think both authors are also responsible for a troubling tendency. Both have contributed to a commonly held religious analogy, namely, that of the Christian faith with a certain kind of 'magic'. This is, in my view, detrimental to faith, regardless of how articulate and poetic the analogy may be.

Don't misunderstand: this isn't a rant against the evil of 'magic' as a portal through which naive Christians may fall prey to the dark forces manipulating occult practices. That is not my target here. What I am concerned with is the false picture of God the 'analogy of magic' presents to us. Quite simply, to analogize God using the term magic gives the impression that God, or a relationship with God, is something like a cause and effect relationship. After all, magic is, in its most essential form, the attempt to cause an effect through some sort of spell, incantation, charm, etc. Magic involves starting with a goal and then attempting to bring about that goal.

But this is not the way our relationship with God works, at least not according to the tenets of the Christian faith. First, unlike magic, which seeks results, faith is the 'evidence of things unseen.' In other words, faith is not the attempt to prove God to ourselves, or to others, by way of some 'magical' proof that leaves people awestruck. Believe me, that would be nice. I struggle with faith most often when I don't see results. But unfortunately, God isn't primarily concerned with my desire for results.

People may be awestruck by God, but it won't be due to anything we have done to 'conjure up' God's awesomeness. It will be because God has decided to reveal Godself. There is no formula to faith. We cannot expect that if we say the right words, or have the right concoction of worship, prayer, piety, and/or good deeds, that God will feel obligated to respond according to our expectations.

But, what about prayer? Isn't prayer the attempt to change things, using the power of God? Isn't that sort of like magic? If this is what prayer actually is, then yes. But such a view reveals a quite limited, and ultimately pagan, rather than Christian, view of prayer. Prayer for the Christian is never about trying to 'get something' from God. Yes, we do pray for our needs, and offer petitions, but these are always supposed to be from within a context that begins by acknowledging God's absolute transcendence and holiness. This means that our expectations must be checked at the door, because faith is never about us, but always about God.

Part of the problem, I think, stems from the confusion, found in both Chesterton and Lewis, between the fantastic and the magical. The fantastic, I suggest, draws from myths and stories of other worlds interacting with our world, of elves and fairies and talking animals and wardrobes that open to these other worlds. But notice that even in Lewis' most well-known tale, magic is primarily the tool of the white witch. Aslan never really does any magic, per se. Instead, his presence serves to undo the effects of magic. Of course, Aslan does speak of the 'older magic', and this is part of the confusion.

Now, admittedly, there are passages in the Bible that seem to indicate otherwise. We have verses that for all intents and purposes tell us that if we do X, then God will do Y. But I would submit that a deeper reading of Scripture that takes into account context and layers of meaning will encourage us not to view the Bible in such a formulaic light. Of course, there is much more that could be said here. But I think I will stop for now, and see if anyone else wants to add more by way of comments.

Good night! (Or day, wherever you may be)

2011 is here!

Well, it's another new year, and I pray that God's grace will guide us all as we move ahead! The holidays here in the UK have been quiet, but productive, and I am thankful that all the snow in Oxford is finally melting. I have posted some pics on Facebook, in case any of you want to check those out. Let's see... not much else to say right at this second. But, I'm sure I'll have more to say soon... you know I can't keep quiet for long. ;-)

G.

This holiday season...

I am not going to be able to go home for Christmas; flights are just too expensive. I suppose if I had bought a ticket a few months back it would have been cheaper, but, that didn't happen. Oh well. Anyway, that means I need love from all of you this Christmas! :-D Just a note to say hello or whatever, so that I don't feel quite so alone.

At least I'll be able to have Christmas dinner with some friends from the NOOC (the place where I'm staying). And, I will have plenty of time to read, and focus on my research, which - to be honest - I need to do more of! Speaking of research, here's a little glimpse into what I'm thinking about these days:

I am considering how the concepts of sin and grace are articulated in Bonhoeffer and Kierkegaard. This involves an expansion of the concepts, beyond the definitions implicit in the minds of many Christians, and a re-capturing of the traditional picture of both sin and grace as 'states', that is, categories of being rather than specific actions (though the latter is certainly not excluded).

A quote from Bonhoeffer's Discipleship adds, I think, a particularly poignant dimension to this conceptualization:

"'Sin Boldly'--that could be for Luther only the very last bit of pastoral advice, of consolation for those who along the path of discipleship have come to know that they cannot become sin-free, who out of fear despair of God's grace. For them, 'sin boldly' is not something like a fundamental affirmation of their disobedient lives. Rather, it is the gospel of God's grace, in the presence of which we are sinners always and at every place... to whom could such a thing be said ['sin boldly'] except to those who from their hearts daily reject sin... and who are still unconsoled about their daily unfaithfulness and sin?"

This passage, I suggest, may contain a profound truth: there may come a time when we have to acknowledge the desire of some to follow Christ who nevertheless have despaired of God's grace. In that situation, what is more important--that we make sure they have eliminated their sin, or work to relieve their despair, even if their sin remains? God's grace is surely needed at that point more than ever. This is a vital question for Christian ethics.

The Christmas season is upon us...

Well, it's December! We just had our first snow here in Oxford this week, and - for those who care about this sort of thing - I've decided that it's a bit colder here than in Seattle, and that it's a bit cloudier and drizzlier in Seattle. But, overall, the weather is fairly similar.

The term is over already (they are only 8 weeks long!) but that really doesn't affect me at all, since a PhD is pretty much an all-the-time sort of thing that you don't get a break from unless you want to. It's really hard to believe I've only been here two months - it feels like it's been a lot longer! But, when I think about how little I've done so far, that's when I remember that it's only been two months. :-)

Overall, I'm really liking Oxford and I'm slowly getting more involved in my academic community, as well as trying to make friends in general. There are several Americans living at the North Oxford Overseas Centre, where I'm staying. So, that's been nice. But, it's equally nice to have the opportunity to meet people from all over the world and talk about their cultures and what they are doing here in Oxford.

I won't be able to go home for the holidays (I'm poor! :-P), but there will be several people around the N.O.O.C., so I'm sure we'll find things to do. They have a Christmas dinner there as well. I have a TON of reading and writing to do, but I am going to try and get out for a couple days and see some sights, etc.

Keep praying for wisdom, financially and academically. I'm wanting to make sure I really am following the right path. But, I am starting to get over my initial fear of 'not being smart enough for Oxford'! :-)

Ok, I guess that's it for now... may each of you have a blessed Advent season.

G.

(And, happy birthday to my late sister, Julianne, who I suppose may be celebrating with angels today.)

A quick thank you!

I just want to say 'thanks' to the anonymous kind soul(s) who sent me a support check. It is greatly appreciated! If you're reading, thank you!

Geoff

rough week...

Well, it's beginning to really get cold, gray, and rainy here in Oxford, so I guess it's the perfect time for me to catch a bad cold. Ugh. I've been knocked down since about Tuesday, and I'm just getting a bit better... prayers appreciated. :-)

Of course, I am thankful that I don't have anything that I have to get done right away, but it has certainly slowed down my reading output -- that is what really matters right now, I'm discovering. I just have to read and read and make notes on what I'm discovering, so that I can go to my supervisor next term with a rough outline of my research, including a table of contents and a sample essay. That isn't too difficult a task, but right now it feels daunting. I guess once I'm back to 100% I'll feel differently.

Other than that, things in Oxford are fine. Just a lot of sitting, reading, and thinking about theological connections. And trying to look for all sorts of hidden funding sources. Hope you are all doing well, and an early Happy Thanksgiving to you!

Geoff

Now available on Scribd...

...that would be me. :-)

In case you don't know, Scribd is a self-publishing website where you can view/read uploaded articles, proposals, essays, stories, or just random junk from people all over the world. Lots of business people apparently use it, and some authors as well.

I finally decided to do more than just anonymously sign up, and posted a couple essays on my Scribd page. Maybe I'll upload some more stuff in the future. In the meantime, if you're interested in reading a couple things I've written, check out my page: http://www.scribd.com/gdargan. Thanks.

Hope you are all well,

Geoff