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restlesspirit 65F
424 posts
8/30/2013 3:23 am
Shocking How Far away from the faith some are


This was posted in a blog on another secular site I frequent.. interested read..

The Roots of Rapturous Nihilism

From an article by Bryan Berghoef

Many of these well-meaning Christians are trying to follow Jesus. That is where life has its meaning for them (here’s where we agree!). And they would look at others, non-believers for instance, as nihilists. Nihilism, at least of the existential sort, is the idea that life is without objective meaning. There is no outside, definitive, transcendent reality (to which we have access anyway), which we can point to or build a system of meaning upon. Nihilism causes one to create one’s own system of meaning or purpose. So for these enraptured believers, people who don’t believe in God, particularly in their version of God, are simply nihilists with no meaning or purpose in life, and hence not a source of good for the world.

Hold on for a second…

Couldn’t we turn it around and see those who posit no future for this world as the true nihilists?

Couldn’t you say that those who are unwilling to face the problems we face on this planet represent a sort of Christian nihilism?

Couldn’t you say that those who are unwilling to imagine a future in which the human species, regardless of belief systems, will have to learn how to live with each other – that this is a dangerous nihilism which passes itself off as true belief.

As Mark C. Taylor puts it in his book, After God: “The very counterculture charged with leading society down the slippery slope of relativism and nihilism is actually a spiritual or even religious phenomenon, [while] the moral zealots who attack relativism in the name of absolutism are actually nihilists who reject the present world for the sake of a future kingdom they believe is coming.”

It seems to me that a full, existential, meaningful Christian faith is one that embraces the incarnational aspect of Christianity. That God, in taking on flesh, renews his commitment to the creation, rather than acts as an agent to destroy it. Instead of an apocalyptic eschatology, which sees the world as about to end at any moment, perhaps it is time for an embrace of a more realized eschatology. An eschatology that seeks not the end of the world but its rebirth, as instituted by Jesus and continued by his disciples, a historical (rather than transhistorical) phenomenon. Those holding this view generally dismiss “end times” theories, believing them to be irrelevant. They hold that what Jesus said and did, and told his disciples to do likewise, is still how we are to engage the world today. That seems to make sense to me. Eschatology, you could argue, should be about being engaged in the process of becoming, rather than waiting for external and unknown forces to bring about destruction.

Biblical scholar John Dominic Crossan has put forth a notion of what he calls ‘sapiential eschatology’ to refer to a similar concept: “Apocalyptic eschatology is world-negation stressing imminent divine intervention: we wait for God to act; sapiential eschatology is world-negation emphasizing immediate divine imitation: God waits for us to act.”

Those who are ready to kiss this world goodbye, in my view, are the true nihilists who are abdicating their responsibility as stewards of the creation, as agents of the kingdom. They have buried their talents and are in danger of being the ones who will ask, “When did we see you tired, or hungry, or naked, or thirsty?” I’m pretty sure Jesus told us we’d find him by looking around, not by looking up.

Ironically, it seems that Jesus followers who are ready to take responsibility for their own role in the kingdom would find more in common with the atheists, agnostics and humanists who say, “Hey, this world is all we have, let’s make it work.”

May we be those who, regardless of our faith differences, seek to heal and redeem the world rather than participate in its demise.

The whole hope of our faith is the return of Jesus to end all this mess and recreate a new planet... to say that the goal is for everyone to get along denies sin and denies the faith. I do agree that some Christians are so heavenly minded they are no earthy good. but to not hope for the end of satans domination over this planet is to me to deny the very essense of our faith.

Comments?

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Sojourner06 60M
1768 posts
11/26/2013 12:25 pm

Hi Restless

- In fact I agree a lot in the writings of the author. Not all of it, but the most. I've met too many Christians just sitting and - not trying to change this world.

- Maybe it's only a problem in my part of the world??

I'm not to care of when the rapture is to come - only if my caring concerns if others I meet will be raptured or not.

We do as Christians spend a lot of time being not OF this world - so much time that we forget we are IN this world.
To me we seems scared of becoming OF this world - and forget to participate so we show others the face of a Christian.

We are His representatives here on earth, and to many people their only chance to see a living Christianity WITHOUT religiosity.

- The only chance to get a glimpse of Jesus.

They KNOW we tell Drinking; Theft; Intercourse outside of Marriage; Smoking; Cheating; not Keeping the Sabbath Holy; and-so-on is SIN.
But when have we been taking the time to sit down relaxed and just listened to them? Being there? Taking care of them? Told them our testimony in right time and not forcing it down their throat?

I am not saying any of you reading this is doing anything wrong in this matter.

I am just asking US to be what Jesus told us to be: TRUE WITNESSES.

Blessings




Mogens

I Can Explain It To You, But I Can’t Understand It For You

Good News For Christian Man ABP

"REVELATION"


Sojourner06 60M
1768 posts
12/7/2013 5:48 pm

Restlesspirit

I like the way you express yourself.

A spade is a spade.

Nothing hidden.

Nothing to be read between the lines.

THAT is very easy to understand.

Blessings


Mogens

I Can Explain It To You, But I Can’t Understand It For You

Good News For Christian Man ABP

"REVELATION"