Synopsis
James Wilhoit presents a systematic model for spiritual formation in the church today. He describes spiritual formation as having “an emphasis on prevention and equipping.”(16) His definition establishes the framework for what spiritual formation should look like in the church:
1. intentional
2. communal
3. requires our engagement
4. accomplished by the Holy Spirit
5. for the glory of God and the service of others
6. its means and end is the imitation of Christ (23)
The foundation for all of this is a proper understanding of the role of the Gospel. Often times the church has treated the Gospel simply as a tool for salvation, after which one personally pursues holiness.(26) However, a proper understanding of spiritual formation maintains the centrality of the Gospel all the way until death.(27)
Wilhoit’s model for spiritual formation in the church consists of receiving, remembering, responding, and relating.(50) Receiving focuses on the reality of brokenness in all of our lives creating openness for the work of the Holy Spirit. Remembering focuses on what God has done and is doing, seeking more and more of His grace in our lives. Responding focuses on taking the grace we are receiving and pouring it into people around us in love and service. Relating focuses on our need for relationships to sustain and enrich our spiritual formation.
Personal Reflection
A foundational concept that really took shape for me in the reading of Wilhoit’s book was in respect to the view of sin. I have had a tendency to look at my sins instead of my inherent brokenness. I have learned that when we focus on individual sins we limit the transformative impact of God’s grace. This is not to say that we should not battle against individual sins, but we must seek healing for the sickness of sin instead of the symptoms of our sins.(58-61)
Feeding off of this understanding of sin is the understanding of increased need for grace, properly depicted in Figure 11.(109) This shows why the Gospel is for so much more than simply the initial step of salvation. I have always struggled with fleshing out the role of the Gospel beyond salvation, so Wilhoit’s treatment of this topic was of great value to me. Dallas Willard sums up this concept by saying:
To “grow in grace” means to utilize more and more grace to live by, until everything we do is assisted by grace. Then, whatever we do in word or deed will all be done in the name of the Lord Jesus. The greatest saints are not those who need less grace, but those who consume the most grace, who indeed are most in need of grace – those who are saturated by grace in every dimension of their being. Grace to them is like breath.(107-108)
Ministry Application
The concepts that Wilhoit discusses lead to several very important applications regarding ministry in the local church. Perhaps the most important point is creating an environment that fosters a reality of our brokenness, as discussed by Wilhoit regarding receiving. I believe it is crucial that our community have an authentic teaching and understanding of our sinful nature, thereby establishing our utter dependence on the grace of God and a sincere love for the Gospel. It is this dependence on grace that will fuel the process of spiritual formation and allow the Holy Spirit to work real spiritual transformation. I also believe that this sincere love of the Gospel will in turn fuel true evangelism, as I believe our lack of excitement regarding the Gospel has been the result of a lack of understanding in its continuing role in our lives. This means stepping beyond the “intellectual assent” that Bill Hull spoke of in “Choose the Life” to a vital and living understanding of God’s grace that we find in the Gospel message.
I also found Wilhoit’s writing on his fourth pillar of spiritual formation, relating, to have important applications for the American church today. These applications are both for within the church as well as reaching outside the church. As Wilhoit states, “other people are one of the most important sources of God’s grace in our lives.”(177) God created us as intensely relational beings, and we are called to impart God’s grace into the lives of those around us through real relationships. It is by healthy and intentional relationships within the church that we find a crucial support structure for spiritual formation. However, we must recognize the importance of pursuing relationships out of which we find the support we need, and not the other way around. As Wilhoit says, “we generally find healing and support in community when that is not our primary aim.”(184) It naturally follows that through genuine relationships of love and service to those outside of the church that we can best convey God’s grace to others, seeking to share the Gospel message.
Ultimately our goal for spiritual formation in the church is summed up well as Dallas Willard states it:
This process of “conformation to Christ,” as we might more appropriately call it, is constantly supported by grace and otherwise would be impossible. But it is not therefore passive. Grace is opposed to earning, not to effort. In fact, nothing inspires and enhances effort like the experience of grace. Yet it is today necessary to assert boldly and often that becoming Christlike never occurs without intense and well- informed action on our part. This in turn cannot be reliably sustained outside of a like-minded fellowship. Our churches will be centers of spiritual formation only as they understand Christlikeness and communicate it to individuals, through teaching and example, in a convincing and supportive fashion.(205)
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Review of The American Church In Crisis by David Olson
Synopsis
The contributions found in this book for the purpose of growing disciples intentionally fit into two main categories. First is the warning to the church – that if we are not intentional about discipleship then the American church will, as discussed in chapter 7, continue declining on its way to extinction. “Two factors will determine the future of the American church species. The first is the health and growth of its established churches…the second is the fertility rate of the American church…”(128) We also find that there are environmental changes that the church needs to recognize and address. These key transitions consist of a Christian world becoming a post-Christian world, a modern world becoming postmodern, and a monoethnic world becoming multiethnic.(162)
The second category consists of the actions the American church needs to take in order to become healthy and thrive again. A model is presented for a healthy growing church consisting of leadership supported by the pillars of spirituality (commitment to discipleship), chemistry (positive community), and strategy (a fruitful process that lines up with God-directed goals).(136) We also need to recover an authentic Gospel message, which should in turn redefine our mission.(chapters 13&14)
Personal Reflection
While the fact that the American church is declining was certainly not news to me, it was very informative to flesh out the reasons why. The concept of transitioning from a Christian to a post-Christian world was particularly helpful for me. We now live in a nation where much of the general population has no concept of the Bible or who Jesus is, and even many of the Christians have very limited knowledge of God. However, I believe we have in fact “overevangelized too lightly”(137, Dr. Perkins), and therefore a much more thorough model of spiritual formation is needed regardless of whether the world is post-Christian or Christian. I have seen this myself, and addressing this issue is a large part of why I feel I am being called into ministry.
The other contribution I found most relevant pertained to re-establishing a complete and authentic understanding of the Gospel message. Too often, as I myself have, we settle for just a portion of the Gospel, limiting its power to transform our lives as we focus simply on its promise of eternal life. I see such limited personal transformation as the reason for churches having limited impact in the communities they minister to. Intentional discipleship should apply a complete and authentic Gospel message for the transformation of lives pursuing Christ-likeness, in turn transforming the lives of people around them as this discipleship process reproduces. On a larger scale, as entire churches grow in spiritual formation, they in turn reproduce through church planting and discipling these new churches.
Ministry Application
The applications to ministry in the local church are many. First, we must recognize which century we are living in. The three transitions I mentioned above have “altered the relationship between American culture and the church, forever changing how the two will relate to each other.”(162) We must recognize that this post-Christian world does not know who Jesus is, and therefore alter our approach to more of a missional mindset. We must understand that postmodernism means that people are skeptical of certainty and truth and authority, and that in this new world people are looking for authentic community. A postmodern world is filled with people who are spiritually curious, and although this does not mean they are curious about Christianity, this is a great opportunity if we recognize it and engage these people accordingly. An increasingly multiethnic world means that we must grasp God’s love for all people, and that we have to free the Gospel message from our cultural identification.
I think most important is a re-establishing of a complete and authentic Gospel message and mission. We find this in the message and mission of Jesus. The message of the Gospel can be summarized in this way:
• Forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God.
• Victory over Satan and deliverance from bondage.
• Changing hearts of stone to hearts of flesh.
• God loves all people.
• An invitation to become the new people of God.
A resulting message and mission of the church that is true to an authentic Gospel message would consist of these five points:
• Evangelism
• Ministry
• Spiritual Formation
• Love
• True Community (205)
I believe the results of this are lives that are transformed to live as Christ has called us to, and a church that is salt and light to a lost world.
All of this, in a practical sense, is evidenced by and found in an intentional process of discipleship. Biblical discipleship reproduces, and the result is a healthy and growing church. As Olson discussed, most churches reach an attendance plateau and then decline with age, and I believe this happens due to a lack of intentional discipleship within those churches, at least on a church-wide basis. If discipleship is happening within a church then I think the natural result is a church that reproduces and disciples other new churches as well.
The contributions found in this book for the purpose of growing disciples intentionally fit into two main categories. First is the warning to the church – that if we are not intentional about discipleship then the American church will, as discussed in chapter 7, continue declining on its way to extinction. “Two factors will determine the future of the American church species. The first is the health and growth of its established churches…the second is the fertility rate of the American church…”(128) We also find that there are environmental changes that the church needs to recognize and address. These key transitions consist of a Christian world becoming a post-Christian world, a modern world becoming postmodern, and a monoethnic world becoming multiethnic.(162)
The second category consists of the actions the American church needs to take in order to become healthy and thrive again. A model is presented for a healthy growing church consisting of leadership supported by the pillars of spirituality (commitment to discipleship), chemistry (positive community), and strategy (a fruitful process that lines up with God-directed goals).(136) We also need to recover an authentic Gospel message, which should in turn redefine our mission.(chapters 13&14)
Personal Reflection
While the fact that the American church is declining was certainly not news to me, it was very informative to flesh out the reasons why. The concept of transitioning from a Christian to a post-Christian world was particularly helpful for me. We now live in a nation where much of the general population has no concept of the Bible or who Jesus is, and even many of the Christians have very limited knowledge of God. However, I believe we have in fact “overevangelized too lightly”(137, Dr. Perkins), and therefore a much more thorough model of spiritual formation is needed regardless of whether the world is post-Christian or Christian. I have seen this myself, and addressing this issue is a large part of why I feel I am being called into ministry.
The other contribution I found most relevant pertained to re-establishing a complete and authentic understanding of the Gospel message. Too often, as I myself have, we settle for just a portion of the Gospel, limiting its power to transform our lives as we focus simply on its promise of eternal life. I see such limited personal transformation as the reason for churches having limited impact in the communities they minister to. Intentional discipleship should apply a complete and authentic Gospel message for the transformation of lives pursuing Christ-likeness, in turn transforming the lives of people around them as this discipleship process reproduces. On a larger scale, as entire churches grow in spiritual formation, they in turn reproduce through church planting and discipling these new churches.
Ministry Application
The applications to ministry in the local church are many. First, we must recognize which century we are living in. The three transitions I mentioned above have “altered the relationship between American culture and the church, forever changing how the two will relate to each other.”(162) We must recognize that this post-Christian world does not know who Jesus is, and therefore alter our approach to more of a missional mindset. We must understand that postmodernism means that people are skeptical of certainty and truth and authority, and that in this new world people are looking for authentic community. A postmodern world is filled with people who are spiritually curious, and although this does not mean they are curious about Christianity, this is a great opportunity if we recognize it and engage these people accordingly. An increasingly multiethnic world means that we must grasp God’s love for all people, and that we have to free the Gospel message from our cultural identification.
I think most important is a re-establishing of a complete and authentic Gospel message and mission. We find this in the message and mission of Jesus. The message of the Gospel can be summarized in this way:
• Forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God.
• Victory over Satan and deliverance from bondage.
• Changing hearts of stone to hearts of flesh.
• God loves all people.
• An invitation to become the new people of God.
A resulting message and mission of the church that is true to an authentic Gospel message would consist of these five points:
• Evangelism
• Ministry
• Spiritual Formation
• Love
• True Community (205)
I believe the results of this are lives that are transformed to live as Christ has called us to, and a church that is salt and light to a lost world.
All of this, in a practical sense, is evidenced by and found in an intentional process of discipleship. Biblical discipleship reproduces, and the result is a healthy and growing church. As Olson discussed, most churches reach an attendance plateau and then decline with age, and I believe this happens due to a lack of intentional discipleship within those churches, at least on a church-wide basis. If discipleship is happening within a church then I think the natural result is a church that reproduces and disciples other new churches as well.
Review of Choose The Life by Bill Hull
Synopsis
I felt this book fleshed out the solution to the problem presented in The American Church In Crisis – that we have over-evangelized too lightly. Or, as Hull says, “the trouble with our evangelism is that we have made it so easy to enter the Christian life that we miss the repentance, commitment, and regeneration that provide the power to live the Christian life.” (24) The result of this are Christians “who accepted Christ based on a faith that is little more than intellectual assent.” (24)
The solution, then, is an accurate communication of the Gospel message that results in an acceptance of Jesus as both Savior and Lord. This means not merely agreeing with this message, as nearly all who would call themselves Christians would, but surrendering one’s life to this message. Or, put another way, growing in obedience to Jesus as Lord. Hull presents a model of discipleship to foster such growth. He says, “the solution is discipleship, which can be summarized as believing what Jesus believed, living the way Jesus lived, loving the way Jesus loved, ministering the way Jesus ministered, and leading the way he led.” (18) Hull would argue that this can only be done in a community of believers, and that this spiritual transformation is made possible by practicing the spiritual disciplines.
Personal Reflection
While I did not connect with everything that Hull said, what he shared in this book has been of great help to me as my model of discipleship continues to evolve and grow. I, too, have been troubled and frustrated by what I have seen and experienced with discipleship that did not seem to result in any measure of spiritual transformation. His description of intellectual assent without obedience was a huge “ah ha!” moment for me. I have grown up with the emphasis always being placed on making sure we are believing the right things while almost conceding that spiritual formation, beyond the extent of what results from believing the right things, is not going to happen in this life.
One of the biggest contributions of this book for me was fleshing out the confusion concerning faith by works versus obedience to Jesus. Having a proper understanding of this not only removed perhaps the tallest hurdle for my own spiritual transformation, but I think also aids in properly teaching this in a community setting. I believe that a commitment to practicing the spiritual disciplines will aid in emptying me of the things of this world so that I can be filled by the Spirit, and therefore will enable a model of discipleship for me that reproduces and changes lives.
Ministry Application
I believe that Hull has a crucial message for the church today in the point that he makes about following Christ. Following Christ needs to be more than just changing how we think, but also changing how we live our lives. We need to clearly communicate that the Gospel means surrendering to Jesus as Lord, that we are called to be obedient to Him. Anything less means “we keep spreading a weakened, nonreproductive gospel.” (30)
Hull suggests that many times we have set the bar too low, that we do not call the church to the full surrender that God calls us to. I do believe that the church will reawaken to an authentic Gospel message – that pursuing Christ-likeness through obedience to Jesus together will result in new energy and life in the church. We have to stop settling for less, and we have to stop selling our congregations short.
The relationships and environments of grace that Hull speaks of in chapter 7 are crucial if we are to establish a model of discipleship that changes lives and restores the health of the church. We have to be able to trust each other and be real with each other, and agree with Hull that this is best fostered in the accountability found in authentic discipleship. This lays the foundation for the spiritual transformation that the spiritual disciplines help facilitate. And here too I believe we need to be purposeful in how we disciple – I agree with Hull that practicing the spiritual disciplines needs the encouragement and accountability that a community provides.
The key revelation for me has been that discipleship that does not change lives is not going to reproduce. If our model of discipleship does not result in spiritual transformation, then there is not going to be anything to cause us to go out and disciple others. If it hasn’t done anything for us, then what do we have to share with others? The solution is not to abandon the intellectual aspect of discipleship, but that we must add to this model that is already in place. We need to focus on what Jesus taught, and focus on what obedience to His teaching looks like in our lives. And then beyond that, we need to encourage each other to walk in this obedience, and to hold one another to these higher standers that Jesus has called us to. We need to teach that on our own we have no hope in this, but by emptying ourselves of the things of this world and being filled by the Spirit we can become more like Christ day by day. We also need to teach that we have great tools available to us in the spiritual disciplines that can aid us in this pursuit. Then we will see authentic Christians excited about what God is doing in their lives, sharing this Gospel message with those they come in contact with, and taking on disciples of their own.
I felt this book fleshed out the solution to the problem presented in The American Church In Crisis – that we have over-evangelized too lightly. Or, as Hull says, “the trouble with our evangelism is that we have made it so easy to enter the Christian life that we miss the repentance, commitment, and regeneration that provide the power to live the Christian life.” (24) The result of this are Christians “who accepted Christ based on a faith that is little more than intellectual assent.” (24)
The solution, then, is an accurate communication of the Gospel message that results in an acceptance of Jesus as both Savior and Lord. This means not merely agreeing with this message, as nearly all who would call themselves Christians would, but surrendering one’s life to this message. Or, put another way, growing in obedience to Jesus as Lord. Hull presents a model of discipleship to foster such growth. He says, “the solution is discipleship, which can be summarized as believing what Jesus believed, living the way Jesus lived, loving the way Jesus loved, ministering the way Jesus ministered, and leading the way he led.” (18) Hull would argue that this can only be done in a community of believers, and that this spiritual transformation is made possible by practicing the spiritual disciplines.
Personal Reflection
While I did not connect with everything that Hull said, what he shared in this book has been of great help to me as my model of discipleship continues to evolve and grow. I, too, have been troubled and frustrated by what I have seen and experienced with discipleship that did not seem to result in any measure of spiritual transformation. His description of intellectual assent without obedience was a huge “ah ha!” moment for me. I have grown up with the emphasis always being placed on making sure we are believing the right things while almost conceding that spiritual formation, beyond the extent of what results from believing the right things, is not going to happen in this life.
One of the biggest contributions of this book for me was fleshing out the confusion concerning faith by works versus obedience to Jesus. Having a proper understanding of this not only removed perhaps the tallest hurdle for my own spiritual transformation, but I think also aids in properly teaching this in a community setting. I believe that a commitment to practicing the spiritual disciplines will aid in emptying me of the things of this world so that I can be filled by the Spirit, and therefore will enable a model of discipleship for me that reproduces and changes lives.
Ministry Application
I believe that Hull has a crucial message for the church today in the point that he makes about following Christ. Following Christ needs to be more than just changing how we think, but also changing how we live our lives. We need to clearly communicate that the Gospel means surrendering to Jesus as Lord, that we are called to be obedient to Him. Anything less means “we keep spreading a weakened, nonreproductive gospel.” (30)
Hull suggests that many times we have set the bar too low, that we do not call the church to the full surrender that God calls us to. I do believe that the church will reawaken to an authentic Gospel message – that pursuing Christ-likeness through obedience to Jesus together will result in new energy and life in the church. We have to stop settling for less, and we have to stop selling our congregations short.
The relationships and environments of grace that Hull speaks of in chapter 7 are crucial if we are to establish a model of discipleship that changes lives and restores the health of the church. We have to be able to trust each other and be real with each other, and agree with Hull that this is best fostered in the accountability found in authentic discipleship. This lays the foundation for the spiritual transformation that the spiritual disciplines help facilitate. And here too I believe we need to be purposeful in how we disciple – I agree with Hull that practicing the spiritual disciplines needs the encouragement and accountability that a community provides.
The key revelation for me has been that discipleship that does not change lives is not going to reproduce. If our model of discipleship does not result in spiritual transformation, then there is not going to be anything to cause us to go out and disciple others. If it hasn’t done anything for us, then what do we have to share with others? The solution is not to abandon the intellectual aspect of discipleship, but that we must add to this model that is already in place. We need to focus on what Jesus taught, and focus on what obedience to His teaching looks like in our lives. And then beyond that, we need to encourage each other to walk in this obedience, and to hold one another to these higher standers that Jesus has called us to. We need to teach that on our own we have no hope in this, but by emptying ourselves of the things of this world and being filled by the Spirit we can become more like Christ day by day. We also need to teach that we have great tools available to us in the spiritual disciplines that can aid us in this pursuit. Then we will see authentic Christians excited about what God is doing in their lives, sharing this Gospel message with those they come in contact with, and taking on disciples of their own.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Moral Dilemmas - A Biblical Analysis
Is there such a thing as a moral dilemma? Before exploring the answer to this question, the definition of a moral dilemma should be clarified. Our definition will be within a Christian context, which I would argue is the only context where moral absolutes are definable.(1) To go a step further, the entire analysis of moral dilemmas that will follow will be within the Biblical context that there are moral absolutes, and that they are knowable to us. “A moral dilemma is a situation in which there appears to be, or is, a conflict between two or more moral absolutes/norms that allow no exceptions.”(2) In other words, a moral dilemma is a situation in which all of the choices available to us involve breaking one of God’s commands (sinning). The three basic positions on moral dilemmas are ideal absolutism, graded absolutism (also called hierarchicalism), and non-conflicting absolutism.
Ideal Absolutism
Ideal absolutism states that absolute norms do not conflict in a world without sin, but in our broken world with sin they actually do. Resulting from this are situations where we are left choosing between different sins, with our duty being to choose the lesser of two evils. There are several clear problems with this, but three in particular stand out. Paul gives us these words:
“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”(3)
Paul is clearly telling us that God will always provide us with a way of escaping the sin that temptation is luring us to.
The book of Hebrews, speaking of Jesus, shows us the second main problem regarding ideal absolutism:
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”(4)
Clearly we see here that the Bible tells us that Jesus faced every temptation that we might face. This means that Jesus would have had to have faced a situation where he had no choice but to sin – but this verse also states clearly that Jesus was without sin.
The third main problem with the claim of ideal absolutism, that God’s commands can contradict each other in a fallen world, is that God’s commands were given after the fall had already occurred. It would be inconsistent with God’s character for him to give commands that he expects us to obey and yet could possibly contradict each other, thereby making it impossible to be obedient.
Graded Absolutism
Graded absolutism makes the claim that absolute moral norms do conflict, and that it is the greater moral norm that we are duty-bound to obey. The reasoning is that when a person follows the higher norm, they are absolved of their responsibility to the norm(s) they are breaking, and therefore do not sin. While this does at least alleviate the concerns mentioned above from the 1 Corinthians and Hebrews passages (we are no longer left with a situation that must result in sin, as we are not held responsible for breaking the lesser norm when we are obedient to the greater one), it does little to address the problem of God’s commands contradicting each other. If something is right because God commands it,(5) then we are left with the possibility that God’s commands could indeed contradict each other.
However, a Biblical understanding of God’s character tells us that something is right because it flows out of God’s very nature of righteousness. John Frame explains this clearly:
“Goodness is neither above God nor below God. Rather, goodness is God. God is his own goodness. Goodness is God’s eternal attribute. Without his goodness, he would not be God.”(6)
This teaching comes from the repeated teaching found in the Bible that righteousness is an attribute of God’s very character, in that he is the very definition of goodness and holiness and love. Therefore it would be contrary to God’s very character for him to command us to sin, and in fact it is contrary to God’s character to even give contradicting commands (as these commands are expressions of who God is).
Non-Conflicting Absolutism
The flaws of the previous two positions lay the foundation for the support of non-conflicting absolutism. Non-conflicting absolutism states that there is never actually a conflict between absolute moral norms. This means that there are no real moral dilemmas, just apparent ones. In the place of a moral dilemma is instead a crisis of faith, or courage, etc.(7)
John Frame makes a comprehensive analysis on the incompatibility of a moral dilemma with the Bible.(8) As stated earlier, the Bible is clear that Jesus faced every temptation that we do, and yet was sinless – these can not both be true if moral dilemmas exist. Also, stated earlier is that God promises to always provide us with a way out from under any temptation – we will never face circumstances where one’s choice is only to sin. Furthermore, the Bible is clear regarding our duty – to always do what is right, and to never do what is wrong. So, we are commanded to never sin, and promised the provision of always having a choice that does not result in sin.
It follows that if we are commanded never to sin, and we are always provided a way that is right, then we must have knowledge of what is right. “God judges even pagans because they know what is right, but reject that knowledge (Rom. 1:18-23, 32).”(9) It is logical, then, that if we face a situation that does not have a right alternative, then in this situation there is no possibility for knowing what is right. If this is the case, God’s standard for judgment is no longer consistent. In fact, we can further say that the law of God is no longer consistent, and thereby scripture itself, because it requires contradictory behavior. Continuing down this line of reasoning would lead to the laws and teachings of the Bible counseling us to sin. However, the Bible actually states the opposite:
“The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true,
and righteous altogether.”(10)
Finally, the end result is that God himself counsels us to sin – this is clearly blasphemous and clearly rejected in James 1:13-14.
Addressing Opposing Arguments
The reality is, however, that many continue to find the concept of a moral dilemma inviting. This is because many moral decisions are complicated and can be very difficult to make. In fact, there are some circumstances where we may not be able to see a right alternative – it is type of situation that requires us to remember our sinful condition, which blinds us from a complete understanding of right and wrong. As we become more and more sanctified we are more and more able to see things as God sees them – to see right as right and wrong as wrong. But we will never be fully sanctified while we are on this side of heaven, and the result of this is that we will never fully see things as God sees them during this life.
There is a second concept that addresses the apparent occurrence of moral dilemmas. God reveals to us in several places in the Bible the fact that we are simply not capable of understanding all of his ways. The prophet Isaiah speaks of this when he declares that our thoughts are not God’s thoughts, nor are our ways God’s ways.(11) This is also a theme that is woven throughout the book of Job – that we simply cannot grasp the vast knowledge of God, nor can we fully understand all of his actions.(12) In fact, it is where our ability to understand falls short that we must have faith and trust in the truths God has revealed to us. There are places in the second half of the book of Daniel where an interpretation can be taken to mean that God’s statement is intentionally vague,(13) leaving us with the conclusion that God is telling us to stop trying to understand every detail and instead trust in him. Ultimately we must trust God and take him at his word – that his commands do not conflict and he will not ask us to sin, and therefore real moral dilemmas do not exist.
Ideal Absolutism
Ideal absolutism states that absolute norms do not conflict in a world without sin, but in our broken world with sin they actually do. Resulting from this are situations where we are left choosing between different sins, with our duty being to choose the lesser of two evils. There are several clear problems with this, but three in particular stand out. Paul gives us these words:
“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”(3)
Paul is clearly telling us that God will always provide us with a way of escaping the sin that temptation is luring us to.
The book of Hebrews, speaking of Jesus, shows us the second main problem regarding ideal absolutism:
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.”(4)
Clearly we see here that the Bible tells us that Jesus faced every temptation that we might face. This means that Jesus would have had to have faced a situation where he had no choice but to sin – but this verse also states clearly that Jesus was without sin.
The third main problem with the claim of ideal absolutism, that God’s commands can contradict each other in a fallen world, is that God’s commands were given after the fall had already occurred. It would be inconsistent with God’s character for him to give commands that he expects us to obey and yet could possibly contradict each other, thereby making it impossible to be obedient.
Graded Absolutism
Graded absolutism makes the claim that absolute moral norms do conflict, and that it is the greater moral norm that we are duty-bound to obey. The reasoning is that when a person follows the higher norm, they are absolved of their responsibility to the norm(s) they are breaking, and therefore do not sin. While this does at least alleviate the concerns mentioned above from the 1 Corinthians and Hebrews passages (we are no longer left with a situation that must result in sin, as we are not held responsible for breaking the lesser norm when we are obedient to the greater one), it does little to address the problem of God’s commands contradicting each other. If something is right because God commands it,(5) then we are left with the possibility that God’s commands could indeed contradict each other.
However, a Biblical understanding of God’s character tells us that something is right because it flows out of God’s very nature of righteousness. John Frame explains this clearly:
“Goodness is neither above God nor below God. Rather, goodness is God. God is his own goodness. Goodness is God’s eternal attribute. Without his goodness, he would not be God.”(6)
This teaching comes from the repeated teaching found in the Bible that righteousness is an attribute of God’s very character, in that he is the very definition of goodness and holiness and love. Therefore it would be contrary to God’s very character for him to command us to sin, and in fact it is contrary to God’s character to even give contradicting commands (as these commands are expressions of who God is).
Non-Conflicting Absolutism
The flaws of the previous two positions lay the foundation for the support of non-conflicting absolutism. Non-conflicting absolutism states that there is never actually a conflict between absolute moral norms. This means that there are no real moral dilemmas, just apparent ones. In the place of a moral dilemma is instead a crisis of faith, or courage, etc.(7)
John Frame makes a comprehensive analysis on the incompatibility of a moral dilemma with the Bible.(8) As stated earlier, the Bible is clear that Jesus faced every temptation that we do, and yet was sinless – these can not both be true if moral dilemmas exist. Also, stated earlier is that God promises to always provide us with a way out from under any temptation – we will never face circumstances where one’s choice is only to sin. Furthermore, the Bible is clear regarding our duty – to always do what is right, and to never do what is wrong. So, we are commanded to never sin, and promised the provision of always having a choice that does not result in sin.
It follows that if we are commanded never to sin, and we are always provided a way that is right, then we must have knowledge of what is right. “God judges even pagans because they know what is right, but reject that knowledge (Rom. 1:18-23, 32).”(9) It is logical, then, that if we face a situation that does not have a right alternative, then in this situation there is no possibility for knowing what is right. If this is the case, God’s standard for judgment is no longer consistent. In fact, we can further say that the law of God is no longer consistent, and thereby scripture itself, because it requires contradictory behavior. Continuing down this line of reasoning would lead to the laws and teachings of the Bible counseling us to sin. However, the Bible actually states the opposite:
“The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the testimony of the Lord is sure,
making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the Lord is pure,
enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever;
the rules of the Lord are true,
and righteous altogether.”(10)
Finally, the end result is that God himself counsels us to sin – this is clearly blasphemous and clearly rejected in James 1:13-14.
Addressing Opposing Arguments
The reality is, however, that many continue to find the concept of a moral dilemma inviting. This is because many moral decisions are complicated and can be very difficult to make. In fact, there are some circumstances where we may not be able to see a right alternative – it is type of situation that requires us to remember our sinful condition, which blinds us from a complete understanding of right and wrong. As we become more and more sanctified we are more and more able to see things as God sees them – to see right as right and wrong as wrong. But we will never be fully sanctified while we are on this side of heaven, and the result of this is that we will never fully see things as God sees them during this life.
There is a second concept that addresses the apparent occurrence of moral dilemmas. God reveals to us in several places in the Bible the fact that we are simply not capable of understanding all of his ways. The prophet Isaiah speaks of this when he declares that our thoughts are not God’s thoughts, nor are our ways God’s ways.(11) This is also a theme that is woven throughout the book of Job – that we simply cannot grasp the vast knowledge of God, nor can we fully understand all of his actions.(12) In fact, it is where our ability to understand falls short that we must have faith and trust in the truths God has revealed to us. There are places in the second half of the book of Daniel where an interpretation can be taken to mean that God’s statement is intentionally vague,(13) leaving us with the conclusion that God is telling us to stop trying to understand every detail and instead trust in him. Ultimately we must trust God and take him at his word – that his commands do not conflict and he will not ask us to sin, and therefore real moral dilemmas do not exist.
- As John Frame says on page 125 in The Doctrine of the Christian Life (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2008), “…in the end, nobody has the right to argue an ethical principle unless he is willing to listen to the God of Scripture. Moral norms can come only from a personal absolute, and the Bible is the only written revelation that presents such a God to us.”
- Class notes, Todd Miles
- 1 Corinthians 10:13
- Hebrews 4:15
- This is one of the options presented by Plato’s Euthyphro: Is something right because God commands it, or does God command it because it is right? In the end, we find that neither of these answers is sufficient.
- p.318, The Doctrine of the Christian Life (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2008)
- I will further expand on alternatives to real moral dilemmas in the concluding section.
- This paragraph and the next draw heavily on John Frame’s 7-step refuting of the claim that the theory of moral tragic choice (moral dilemma), as found on pgs.231-232 of The Doctrine of the Christian Life (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2008).
- p.231, The Doctrine of the Christian Life (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2008)
- Psalm 19:7-9
- Isaiah 55:8-9
- This is made particularly evident in Job 38.
- One of these places I am referring to being the reference to a time period of “a time, times, and half a time” in Daniel 12:7. I am borrowing an approach to interpreting these passages suggested by Ray Lubeck that would require additional information than is immediately relevant to this paper.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Moral Dilemmas
I am going to be writing a paper during the next week describing my position with respect to moral dilemmas. When I am done I will post it on here as fair game for whatever shots anybody wants to take at it :) But until then, I thought I would post on here the three basic positions with respect to moral dilemmas and see which everybody identifies with, or if anybody has a position besides the three I describe. First, for the sake of clarity, here is how we will define a moral dilemma:
- A moral dilemma is a situation in which there appears to be, or is, a conflict between two or more moral absolutes/norms that allow no exceptions. Simply put, a moral dilemma is a lose/lose situation, where we will be unable to fulfill one of God's commands no matter what our choice.
- Non-Conflicting Absolutism - maintains that absolute moral norms never do indeed conflict. Put another way, we will never face a situation where we have no choice but to sin, and therefore moral dilemmas do not exist.
- Ideal Absolutism - maintains that absolute norms, ideally speaking (that is, in a world without sin), never conflict. But actually speaking (that is, in our world with its sin), absolute moral norms do indeed conflict. Basically, we are left with choosing the lesser of two evils, with either result being sin.
- Hierarchicalism, or Graded Absolutism - maintains that absolute moral norms do indeed conflict; moral dilemmas do exist, and in these the greater moral norm (according to a hierarchy of moral absolutes) is to receive precedence. Basically, we are left with choosing the greater of two goods, and this position argues that doing the greater good absolves one of their lesser duty they are unable to perform.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Thoughts on interpreting Scripture, with an example.
Revelation 3:15-16
“I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.”
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Everything we need is actually here for us to interpret this passage correctly. God is stating that the audience of this message is neither cold nor hot, and then states that he desires that they were either cold or hot. This makes it clear that being hot or cold are both positive or desirable qualities for the following reason: if hot and cold were opposites, with one good and one bad, this verse would be saying that God could desire a condition for people that is bad, and this would be contrary to his character. He goes on to say that it is the condition of being lukewarm that disgusts him. We see in the following verses that this lukewarm condition is that they think that they can be followers of Christ while not surrendering their lives to him. Instead of clothing themselves with God’s grace and being sanctified (which, like both hot and cold water, is beneficial and fruitful), they continue in their same course of life and in the same filthy rags of sin (which is compared to the lukewarm water).
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So we can certainly make sense of this simply by looking at the immediate context of the passage as well as what the Bible tells us of God’s character. However, there is undoubtably an added understanding to why this was such a vivid picture for the original audience when one is aware of the aqueduct that brought water to these people from a hot spring 5 miles away, resulting in the water being just lukewarm once it arrived in
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So, here is how I think scripture is best interpreted: we have sufficient information to interpret the Bible within the context of a passage, both in the surrounding verses as well as the overall context of the Bible as a whole. However, historical and cultural information can enhance this understanding, as well as shedding light on why something in particular was said, thereby helping us to more effectively and completely apply it to our lives today.
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Let me know if you have different thoughts on this passage, or my approach in general.
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