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Theology of a Tattoo

10/1/2022

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I know most people think tattoos are stupid decisions, but I have never regretted my decision to get one. Part of the reason I have no regret is because my tattoo is infused with meaning. Whether or not you agree with the decision to get a tattoo, I'd like to share with you the theology lessons you can pull from my tattoo, should you ever see me shirtless at the pool and aren't blinded by the white. 

Trinity: The most recognizable part of my tattoo is probably the center, which is the trinity knot. The trinity knot represents the trinity by having three points (for the godhead) as well as being a never ending loop (with a circle) to represent the infinite, never beginning, and never ending aspect of the godhead. The trinity is the center because God is the center of everything. 

Upside Down Kingdom: At the bottom you can see a kingdom which is upside down. I was first introduced to the "upside down kingdom" terminology by Donald Kraybill, whose book is of course titled, "The Upside-Down Kingdom." The book was revolutionary for me, and started me on a journey that would revolutionize my Christian thought and actions in the world. The concept is essentially that Christ's taught us an upside down way of living. The last are first. Slaves are free. The least are the greatest. Masters are to serve. Christ's way overturns the powers of this world not through aggressive force, but through sacrificial love. This is the foundation the world is built on. In fact, we see it in the Garden of Eden, for the first thing that happened when sin entered the world was that humanity recognized their nakedness. It was the first time they had looked to themselves, for before they had only looked to serve each other, God, and nature. The upside down Kingdom is God's way.

The Garden and the Tree of Life: It is on the foundation of God's upside down Kingdom, whose center is the godhead, that the utopia of the garden and the tree of life are built. 

The River: The river represents the streams of living water which flow forth from God's utopia. Jesus said that he is the living water, and it is he who brought the upside-down Kingdom to earth, bringing us restoration and salvation so we could live with him again in utopia upon our resurrection. But this river isn't just isolated to the Garden. Isaiah shows that this river flows forth from Christ, through his people, and out into the world. This is why the river flows out of the garden and extends to my arm. Through me - and all other believers - God moves through the world and brings life and restoration to his creation. He is making his enemies his footstool and he is calling others to himself, and he has chosen to use us as his ambassadors to do it. 

The Heart: This image is placed over my heart, as it is the godhead dwelling in me, through the Spirit, which transforms me and enables me to be the hands and feet of Christ in the world. 
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Political Rebirth and the Kingdom of God

3/1/2022

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​The book of John is among one of four gospels in the New Testament, yet it is in a class of its own. While the other three gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, are considered synoptic gospels, John is quite a bit different. John frames his gospel to accentuate various teachings not highlighted as much in the other gospels, particularly the teaching of the divinity of Jesus, the Christ. We get a glimpse of this elevation and framing from the very beginning of John's gospel as we see Jesus, the Word, residing with God and creating the universe. John's gospel is filled with this elevation and emphasis on the spiritual aspect of the good news of Jesus. Whereas Luke is more the historian with his focus on eyewitness accounts and social/political defense of Jesus and the early church (see "World Upside Down" and "Interweaving Innocence" for discussions of Acts and Luke), John is more the theologian.

Perhaps one of the most beautiful theological exhibitions in the book of John is found in chapter 3. Of course we are all familiar with verse 16, but what concerns us here is not verse 16's explanation of how our salvation obtains, but rather all that precedes the securing of salvation and instead answers the question, "what is obtained in our salvation?" Verses 3-7 are of particular interest here. They say,

 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit[b] gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You[c] must be born again.’

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The Free Will Theodicy's Implication for Nonviolence and Christian Anarchism

11/30/2021

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Photo by  Adinarayana rao Rayavarapu  on  Scopio
I find myself returning to contemplate the problem of evil time and time again. Maybe millennials (of which I barely make the cut) have a bigger hang-up with the way evil's existence seems to encroach on the possibility of a good God's existence, but I think the problem is much broader than one generation. Whether it's the death of a daughter leading Darwin to embrace his religious doubts, or the holocaust of a whole race which is remembered and lamented in the works of Elie Wiesel - each generation seems to have its own works and workers who wrestle with the reality of evil's existence. Evil is hard to stomach, and especially so if one is a Christian who proclaims the existence of an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent God who supposedly despises evil. 

In response to the problem of evil Christian history has produced a number of defenses for God. These defenses are known as "theodicies." A theodicy doesn't claim to prove that God exists or that its explanation for evil's existence is the correct one, but it merely offers what is a possible explanation for evil's existence alongside a good God. If the theodicy's explanation is logically possible, then evil's existence is not incompatible with the existence of God, even if this particular explanation doesn't end up being the correct one. The goal is simply to show that the existence of a good God and evil aren't logically incompatible. At the moment, the most broadly accepted theodicy on the market is the free will theodicy as refined and presented by Alvin Plantinga. Plantinga argues that for a God to create a world in which his creatures loved him in a meaningful sense, then those creatures would need to have the choice not to love him. God could have created robots that would have never disobeyed him or done any evil thing, but in creating such a world, he would have created a world where true love was impossible. So while it is true that evil exists, it's only in a world where evil is possible that love can exist, and God deems that the existence of love is worth the price of allowing evil. 

The Free Will Theodicy (FWT) is a beautiful defense because it makes a lot of sense. Everyone would love a world without evil, but we recognize that we'd all likely prefer a world where we make meaningful choices to love than a world where we were programmed robots - even if the price of love was the existence of evil. Love is such a beautiful and powerful thing that we recognize evil pales in comparison to it. The FWT is a fantastic defense of God, though as with all arguments, there are some problems. But it isn't in the scope of this article to expound on this theodicy or defend it. Suffice it to say that this is the going theodicy in Christianity, particularly Western Christianity. With the acknowledgement of this broad Christian adherence to the FWT, what I want to do, then, is actually draw out some implications this theodicy has for two other Christian positions: nonviolence and Christian anarchism. ​

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Arguments for Christian Pacifism

4/4/2018

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For a much expanded version of the case for nonviolence in podcast form, check out the Fourth Way Podcast.

​1. Introduction: My journey to pacifism
2. Biblical Teaching: A foundation for pacifism using scripture
3. Biblical Examples: Examples of explicit non-violence in the face of aggression from the Bible and Apostles
4. Early Church Teaching: Quotes from the early church fathers about their beliefs on war, soldiering, vengeance, violence, punishment, etc
5. Real Life Examples: Examples of non-violence, its implementation, and effect
6. Pacifism Applied: Explores what the process and action of pacifism look like
7. Evaluating the Christian Alternative to Pacifism: A look at a Just War theory of morally using violence as a Christian and asking how it isn't even more idealistic than pacifism
8. Pacifism Quotes to Ponder: A reflection on non-violence and violence from those who journeyed through persecution 
9. Counter-Rebuttals: Rebutting the greatest criticisms leveled at a pacifistic position
10. Questions for Just-War Adherents : Returning difficult questions to Just War adherents about their ideology
11. Conclusion
12. Resources


*13. Addendums - Additional arguments and ideas I'm putting here until I reformat the site or figure out where I can include them. 
​*14. My Poetry - Poetry I've written in trying to work through various issues of the Kingdom, including nonviolence.
​*15. My Book - While the book isn't specifically about pacifism, it deals with the consequentialist (ends justify the means) morality which my culture taught me that prevented me from living as Christ desires, which includes a nonviolent life. I think this inculcated morality is what must be addressed before many can hear Christ's words. I'm happy to share this document for free as well, just contact me. 

The full, original article (not updated with more recent editions) can be downloaded in PDF format below: 
arguments_for_christian_pacifism.pdf
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arguments_for_christian_pacifism.docx
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The Means to the End

8/15/2017

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I believe that thought experiments and hypothetical situations are fantastic ways to soften our hearts and show us glaring holes in our belief systems. This is what Samuel essentially did to David when he confronted him about Bathsheba in what is perhaps one of the most powerful displays of such a method used in the Bible. So, I'd like to begin by presenting you with a hypothetical situation that rocked my world for many years.

​Imagine, as in the M.A.S.H. clip below, that you are on a bus full of people trying to escape imminent death from persecutors. Your bus pulls off to the side of the road and into some thicket to avoid an incoming enemy patrol. As the patrol nears, your young child begins to scream. What do you do? Do you allow your child to scream so that the fifty lives on the bus are all lost, or do you smother your child so that only one life is lost? Fifty or one? What's the right answer?

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The Politics of Jesus

2/17/2017

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I explore and summarize John Howard Yoder's "The Politics of Jesus," which has become a very influential book in my life. The book takes a look at what Christ came to do and how what he did should influence our daily lives.

1. The Cup of Suffering: Jesus's actions were very meaningful, as he sought to establish his Kingdom in part by flipping our power systems upside down.
2. Drinking from Our Cup: While Jesus performed some actions that were specific to fulfilling his messianic role, Christ's moral life and actions are largely prescriptive for believers today. We are called to share the same cup.
3. The Cross and the Kingdom: The cross is not something that might happen for believers, it is the sure result of following Christ and living a Kingdom oriented life. 
4. The Kingdom and kingdoms: Since we serve in God's kingdom which is not of this world, yet remain living in the kingdoms of humanity, we must face the reality of conflicting interests and gauge how to handle these. 
5. Questions and Conclusion: 
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The Politics of Jesus (5): Questions and Conclusion

2/15/2017

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Go back to The Politics of Jesus (1): The Cup of Suffering
I am still trying to sift through where I line up with Yoder's thoughts – especially as they pertain to the implications of pacifism and the abstention from government. I think his work is a very important one to consider due to the messiah complex we slap onto politics, but it would be a terrible thing to simply swing the pendulum the other way without careful consideration. I want to pose each concluding point as questions to consider and leave you to grapple with the answer I believe Yoder would give.

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The Politics of Jesus (4): The Kingdom and the kingdoms

2/15/2017

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Go back to The Politics of Jesus (1): The Cup of Suffering
Christianity's View of Government’s Role:
 Thus far Yoder has set up the idea that Christ's life of willing subordination is a model for us as Christians. This subordination is done within the context of culture, but more pointedly for the Christian, it is done within a specific culture of a new kingdom, the Kingdom. It is here that reconciliation takes place and where the world sees the inexplicable, undeniable, compelling love of God. But that leaves the Christian with a very important question. If we are in a new Kingdom and we are to live as Christ, what implications does that have for our relationship to human kingdoms - to the political sphere?

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The Politics of Jesus (3): The Cross and the Kingdom

2/15/2017

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Go back to The Politics of Jesus (1): The Cup of Suffering
The last third of the book was probably the most influential for me because it tore down the theological dissonance I had brought to the table. The first two-thirds of Yoder’s book made sense because I knew the Bible pretty well, and a lot of what he said was Sunday School stuff. "Jesus said love your enemies." Yes. "Jesus said turn the other cheek." Of course. "Jesus loved the outcasts." Undoubtedly. "Jesus pushed back against the powerful religious institution of his day." Correct. But for some reason - my stupidity, the Western heritage and unique bias Christianity has in the U.S., etc. - I had always left Jesus's words where they were - with him. I never took them upon myself really. I had willfully and/or subconsciously made Christ's difficult expectations for me either suggestions, symbolism, or applicable only to him and his mission. But Yoder demolishes those options in his last section of the book.

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The Politics of Jesus (2): Drinking from Our Cup

2/15/2017

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Go back to The Politics of Jesus (1): The Cup of Suffering
​Many may agree with the assessment up to this point. Yes, Jesus was called by God to lay down his life. However, individuals begin to diverge in opinion when Yoder argues that this life Christ lived is prescriptive for Christians today. Surely there were different expectations on the savior of the world than there are on his followers in modernity. The actions we see in the gospels are descriptions of the Son of God, not prescriptions for the sons of God. But Yoder begs to differ.
 
If the gospel message is that Christ came to establish a new kingdom - his Kingdom, then it seems clear that he showed us what Kingdom life looked like - what it meant to be a citizen and participant in his Kingdom. Yoder points out several lines of reasoning for why we can be sure Christ's actions are prescriptions for our lives today.

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    *The views and ideas on this site are in no way affiliated with any organization, business, or individuals we are a part of or work with. They're also not theological certainties. They're simply thinking out loud, on issues and difficulties as I process things.

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