Augustine said that "A person who is a good and true Christian should realize that truth belongs to his Lord, wherever it is found, gathering and acknowledging it even in pagan literature." Walking this morning/afternoon, I had the joy of seeing nature coming back to life, and I thought of the story of Persephone. The truth in the story is stunningly profound for a pagan culture without any knowledge of Christ and only a very limited knowledge of Israel and their God. The myth's truth is triune (obviously; isn't everything Christian triune?): the redemption of mankind, the life of Christ, and the individual struggle of each Christian with sin. We'll look at these in reverse order.
To start, a brief overview of the myth: Persephone is the daughter of Demeter, the goddess of the harvest and vitality. One day, as she's wandering the earth, Hades (god of the underworld) catches sight of her and falls madly in love with her. So he does what every man who's in love with a woman does (not), he kidnaps her and takes her to the underworld. In the underworld, Persephone is married to Hades and unwisely eats the fruit there, thereby preventing her from ever leaving her new home. Demeter, having had her joy taken from her, allows every living plant on earth to die. When everybody starts to starve Zeus decides that this cannot happen and demands that Demeter bring the plants back to life. Demeter refuses to do so until her daughter is returned to her. So Zeus sends Hermes to Hades and tells him to fix it. Hades, Hermes, and Demeter finally work out a deal: Persephone will spend six months in the underworld, and the other six months will be spent with her mother who, while her daughter remains on earth, will graciously provide life (and thus food for humanity). These six months are spring and summer, and the other six are fall and winter.
Now, how does this apply to Christianity and the Christian faith? Let's take a look. Firstly, it is the story of each individual man and his sin. We are in a perpetual cycle: we began in communion with God, yet sin snatches us and tears us away, and now we are married to sin and death. It will (and does) kill us. Yet God redeems us, bringing us back to him and returning his life to us! But we, like unfaithful Israel, constantly return to our sin, never managing to escape it. Just as Persephone is perpetually returned to her mother, however, we, the prodigal sons, are also returned to our Heavenly Father and life is granted again.
Secondly, in the life of Christ. As part of the trinity, Christ lives in perfect community with the Father and the Spirit. Our sin forces him to go below (first to earth, and ultimately to hell) just as Persephone did, and he is killed. Death overtakes him for a moment. But he does not remain there, he lives, and ascends, and serves the role of High Priest, essentially causing God to grant life to humanity! Reunited with his Son, life happens again. In the same way, Persephone's reunion with her mother causes her joy enough to provide life to the world for six months.
Finally, in the story of redemption as a whole. Again, man begins his life in perfect communion with God, but is torn away from his grace by sin, and the world falls (ha!) into the darkness and death that is winter. But in the depths of humanity's spiritual winter, Christ comes. This is the beauty of celebrating Christmas on December twenty-fifth (even though it isn't the actual date of Christ's birth): in the darkness of sin, and in the darkest hour of winter, Christ comes to redeem a fallen mankind. And in the spring, Christ is crucified and resurrected! Life comes to mankind, just as it comes to the world in the spring. Persephone serves as a Christ-figure in this tale, suffering death in the underworld before returning, bearing with her life for the world.
So I think Augustine might be right (might be). Even in the pagan myth of Persephone, the glory of God shines: inescapable, unavoidable, and absolute. And spring is freaking awesome.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Revelation and (Perhaps) Peace
As a few of you know, I've had some pretty rough theological problems over the past six or seven months, and while I'm not sure that this entirely addresses my problems, I think these thoughts have at least thrust me back into the process of sanctification, and have granted me a modicum of satisfaction in the answer.
To quickly cover my problem, it is very simple: why does what we do matter? If my theology is correct (that of Calvin, Edwards, Piper, etc.)(and I believe it to be correct based on Scripture), then I have little to no will. Yet I can sin and be punished for this sin. But why would I try not to sin? What is the point behind my efforts? I cannot do good without the strength of God, and my sin is always a perfect part of God's plan, meaning I'm screwed, right? So why try?
Reading this morning, I came across Revelation 19:8 - "the fine linen [of the bride of Christ] is the righteous deeds of the saints." But I thought that my righteousness was Christ's? Right? I mean, Romans 3:11 - "No one is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God." This is true, but I think that this must be pre-justification, because Paul goes on to say in Romans 8 that we are "predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son," and again in chapter 12, that we should "be transformed by the renewal of [our] mind." This suggests that as we are sanctified, it is a process of becoming more and more Christ-like, which is true.
Now I do weird theological things: beyond merely becoming more like Christ, we are becoming more Christ. We are becoming God. "Uh-oh," you say, "Chris Greene just became a heretic. We can't be God, Chris, please don't go there . . . " Ah! but I have proof! Please open your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 5 verses 31 and 32: "'Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church." So, according to Paul and his divine revelation, Christ and the church will become one flesh. I see this process as a lessening of each individual to the point of nonexistence as God grows and becomes more and more to the point of being the only life left in us. When we are fully sanctified, we will be God. We will think his thoughts as he thinks them, act his actions as he wills them, and truly "live and move and have our being" in him. It is not that Chris Greene is a God, but that Chris Greene no longer exists, and God is all that's left. The ultimate selflessness comes from God's full and final conquering of self. Of course, our participation in God is limited, we do not become part of the trinity, nor may we participate in God's divinity. But we are still one flesh with Christ. I think this is why the mystery is "profound" (even to Paul, who's an absolute beast). We cannot understand how we become one flesh with God, yet do not fully participate in his essence, but it remains paradoxically true. Of course, Genesis 1: 27 ("So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.") has to fit into this as well. The image of God must be more than merely a reflection or representation (which is one possible definition of the word), and rather the form of God within us. When God breathed his life into mankind, it was truly his breath that grants life. We are not merely some reflection of God, but rather "a thing or person in which some quality is vividly exhibited, so as to make it or the person a natural representative of the quality; a type, typical example, [or] embodiment."
Ultimately, this is why our actions here on earth matter; this is why we should pursue good: our good actions are God's. I once stated that when we appear before the throne of judgement that we would not hear our own actions presented before the court, but rather Christ's. This is wrong. We will hear Christ's good works listed as ours, but we shall also hear our own good works (the works of God in us) presented in our favor. Our sins will not be mentioned, but our good deeds will be. And they are our good works. They belong to the part of us that is God.
So life does matter, and we do have a purpose. To glorify the part of ourselves that is God through the good actions of that same part. As God, the will of God is our best interest. What is best for God is best for us, and the process of sanctification is merely the process of replacing self with God.
To quickly cover my problem, it is very simple: why does what we do matter? If my theology is correct (that of Calvin, Edwards, Piper, etc.)(and I believe it to be correct based on Scripture), then I have little to no will. Yet I can sin and be punished for this sin. But why would I try not to sin? What is the point behind my efforts? I cannot do good without the strength of God, and my sin is always a perfect part of God's plan, meaning I'm screwed, right? So why try?
Reading this morning, I came across Revelation 19:8 - "the fine linen [of the bride of Christ] is the righteous deeds of the saints." But I thought that my righteousness was Christ's? Right? I mean, Romans 3:11 - "No one is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God." This is true, but I think that this must be pre-justification, because Paul goes on to say in Romans 8 that we are "predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son," and again in chapter 12, that we should "be transformed by the renewal of [our] mind." This suggests that as we are sanctified, it is a process of becoming more and more Christ-like, which is true.
Now I do weird theological things: beyond merely becoming more like Christ, we are becoming more Christ. We are becoming God. "Uh-oh," you say, "Chris Greene just became a heretic. We can't be God, Chris, please don't go there . . . " Ah! but I have proof! Please open your Bibles to Ephesians chapter 5 verses 31 and 32: "'Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.' This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church." So, according to Paul and his divine revelation, Christ and the church will become one flesh. I see this process as a lessening of each individual to the point of nonexistence as God grows and becomes more and more to the point of being the only life left in us. When we are fully sanctified, we will be God. We will think his thoughts as he thinks them, act his actions as he wills them, and truly "live and move and have our being" in him. It is not that Chris Greene is a God, but that Chris Greene no longer exists, and God is all that's left. The ultimate selflessness comes from God's full and final conquering of self. Of course, our participation in God is limited, we do not become part of the trinity, nor may we participate in God's divinity. But we are still one flesh with Christ. I think this is why the mystery is "profound" (even to Paul, who's an absolute beast). We cannot understand how we become one flesh with God, yet do not fully participate in his essence, but it remains paradoxically true. Of course, Genesis 1: 27 ("So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.") has to fit into this as well. The image of God must be more than merely a reflection or representation (which is one possible definition of the word), and rather the form of God within us. When God breathed his life into mankind, it was truly his breath that grants life. We are not merely some reflection of God, but rather "a thing or person in which some quality is vividly exhibited, so as to make it or the person a natural representative of the quality; a type, typical example, [or] embodiment."
Ultimately, this is why our actions here on earth matter; this is why we should pursue good: our good actions are God's. I once stated that when we appear before the throne of judgement that we would not hear our own actions presented before the court, but rather Christ's. This is wrong. We will hear Christ's good works listed as ours, but we shall also hear our own good works (the works of God in us) presented in our favor. Our sins will not be mentioned, but our good deeds will be. And they are our good works. They belong to the part of us that is God.
So life does matter, and we do have a purpose. To glorify the part of ourselves that is God through the good actions of that same part. As God, the will of God is our best interest. What is best for God is best for us, and the process of sanctification is merely the process of replacing self with God.
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