Responding to the problem of pain – A new look at Job

Feb 14, 2010

The following post is written by Michael Powell , a Pastor of Michael Bell. It was first published at InternetMonk.com

A wise person once wrote the following lyrics in a song called Suffer: “All that you suffer is all that you are.” Now, while this statement may not be entirely true – as we are also defined by experiences of happiness, joy and peace – I’m sure we can all agree that going through some kind of suffering is an inevitability for all of us as humans, and that what we suffer does in fact shape us profoundly. Physically, we feel pain, as our body is designed to protect itself and provide us with signals of potential or actual danger. Through trial and error, we become aware of the limits of our existence. We learn that touching things that are hot or sharp can hurt us, so that we’ll hopefully be less apt to make the same mistake again in the future. At other times, our bodies feel pain to let us know that we’re sick or that something within us demands our attention – like a warning system to let us know something’s wrong or that we should consider modifying our routine behaviour. We also feel emotional pain, which is often related to social interaction. At times, we hurt because we are intentionally or inadvertently excluded or insulted by someone else’s actions or words. Other times, we suffer because we are temporarily or indefinitely separated from a person or people who are important to us. Whatever the case, our experience of physical and emotional pain is universal, and has a direct impact on our personal identities, how we view and relate to others, and how we process and deal with spiritual things. Ultimately, what we suffer personally and collectively influences our understanding of God.

C. S. Lewis, in his book “The Problem of Pain”, wrote this:

If God were good, He would wish to make His creatures perfectly happy, and if God were almighty He would be able to do what He wished. But the creatures are not happy. Therefore God lacks either goodness, or power, or both. This is the problem of pain, in its simplest form.

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2 Comments | acts of kindness, church life, encouragement, faith, health, Pain, sermons, theology | Permalink
Posted by Eclectic Christian

Religion v. The Gospel

Nov 21, 2008

by Tim Melton

Below is an article that compares the aims of Religion v. the aims of The Gospel. The article was originally constructed by Rev. Tim Keller, a PCA pastor in Manhattan. I have refurbished it a bit. Have a read. I would relish any comments or observations! (FYI – I have included a link to the Word Document if you would like to download it Click Here - religion-v-the-gospel religion-v-the-gospel-gif

2 Comments | faith, Gospel, jesus shaped spirituality, religion | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Tim Melton

Counting Canada’s Christians – Part 2 – Anecdotally

Sep 2, 2008

Recently I was asked by someone to comment on his statement that “Roman Catholics are not Christians.” I find that this is a blanket statement with which I do NOT agree. I wish to show evidence for my disagreement both statistically and anecdotally.

In the first part I looked at the question statistically, primarily using data from Statistics Canada, and from the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.

In this second part I will focus on an anecdotal analysis.

2. Andecotal Analysis

I feel I need to offer a bit of a disclaimer, largely because of some comments that I got in part 1. I am not a Catholic, I am an Evangelical Protestant. I am not a Catholic because there are a number of Catholic doctrines that I do not believe in, and what I believe is very important to me. In my mind, some of these differences are significant, others are minor. I don’t feel it is important to list the differences here as I don’t really want to get into arguments about what should or shouldn’t be in the lists.

I would also like to reiterate from part 1, that salvation is found only through faith in Jesus Christ. What I like to look for in a person, is a definite commitment to faith in Christ, adherence to the early basic creeds of Christianity (I am sorry, but if you don’t affirm the divinity of Christ then you are not a Christian), and I look for the fruit of the Spirit. (Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self control) Of course, only God knows a person’s heart, and when the final judgment comes I am sure that I am going to find surprises on both sides of the ledger.

In that final judgment, one of my biggest surprises is going to be how many things I got wrong. Even in those areas where I am pretty sure I have my theology right there is likely to be a few shocks.   So when I write what I write, I do it with a certain amount of humbleness knowing that just because I disagree with someone, doesn’t mean that I am right.  The other person may be right, or we may both be wrong.

Much of my theology I find has been shaped by reaction against what I have seen in my own previous traditions.  I have found that those who have left a particular tradition tend to be its strongest critics as they are so focused on what was bad in their old tradition that they cannot see the good.  As anyone who has read my profile knows, I have appreciated much from the various traditions to which I have been exposed, but in some cases it took a long time to focus on the good that I experienced in a particular tradition, and focus less on the bad.  This tendency to focus on the negative of a previous tradition was very well described by C. Michael Patton in his post Converting from Evangelicalism a few weeks ago.  He wrote:

From what I have seen, converts are sometimes the most unable to see things with a balanced perspective. Because of their belief that their previous faith commitments betrayed them, they approach issues as “enlightened” warriors against those former allegiances. The problem is that they normally wear their bitterness on their sleeve and this further taints the glasses that they think they are not wearing.

He goes on to say that:

Misrepresentation, ironically, abounds in these circumstances. They feel as if being a convert gives them a pass to say anything they want. “Don’t tell me what they believe, I used to be one!”

So how does this relate to this post.  I have known both Evangelicals who have become Catholics and Catholics who have become Evangelicals.    I have been told by some former Roman Catholics what Roman Catholics believe.  Are they accurate in their assessments?  I really am not a good one to judge, as I have so little experience in this area, but my feeling is that generally their objectivity has been been clouded by their previous experiences.

Take the topic of Mary worship for example.  Do Catholics worship Mary?  Some former Roman Catholics say yes.   Catholic doctrine says no, she is to be venerated but not worshipped.  Maybe some do worship Mary, but my own experience has been that the Roman Catholics that I have come in contact with over the years have not done so.

Let me introduce you to two of them.

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4 Comments | catholic, church life, Eclectic Christian, Evangelical, faith | Permalink
Posted by Eclectic Christian

Counting Canada’s Christians – Part 1 – Statistically

Aug 28, 2008

Recently I was asked by someone to comment on his statement that “Roman Catholics are not Christians.” I find that this is a blanket statement with which I do NOT agree. I wish to show evidence for my disagreement both statistically and anecdotally. In this first part I will focus on a statistical analysis.

1. Statistically

There are obviously many ways to enumerate the numbers of Christians. The first would be that of self identification, that is people who self-identify with denominations that self-identify as Christian. Statistics Canada conducts a census every five years. A question on religion is only asked every ten years. The last time this question was asked was in 2001. Here are the numbers from Statistics Canada.

Total population 29,639,035
Catholic 12,936,905 43.65%
Protestant 8,654,850 29.20%
Christian Orthodox 479,620 1.62%
Christian not included elsewhere 780,450 2.63%
Muslim 579,640 1.96%
Jewish 329,995 1.11%
Buddhist 300,345 1.01%
Hindu 297,200 1.00%
Sikh 278,410 0.94%
Eastern religions 37,550 0.13%
Other religions 63,975 0.22%
No religious affiliation 4,900,090 16.53%

According to the table above, the total number of people in Canada who would identify themselves as Christian is 77.1%, a little more that three quarters of the population.

However, we cannot stop there.  In the words of Keith Green, “Going to church doesn’t make you into a Christian any more than going to McDonalds makes you into a hamburger.”  And who is to say that those who self-identify even go to church?

It was for this reason that the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, along with the Ipsos-Reid polling firm, co-sponsored surveys in 1996, 2003 and 2007 to determine the percentage of Evangelical Christians in Canada.  After consulting with a number of Evangelical leaders, they came up with the following criteria that they felt would determine if someone was an Evangelical Christian.

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6 Comments | catholic, church growth, Evangelical, faith, statistics | Permalink
Posted by Eclectic Christian

The End of Religion?

Mar 11, 2008

Michael Spencer, The Internet Monk, has an interesting review of Bruxy Cavey’s new book The End of Religion. While I have not yet read the book, and so cannot comment on it directly, I do find that ideas like “I’m not religious, I have a personal faith” or “It’s not about religion, it’s about relationship” are both phrases that really rub me the wrong way. Religion as defined by the American Heritage Dictionary is:

  1. Belief in and reverence for a supernatural power or powers regarded as creator and governor of the universe.
  2. A personal or institutionalized system grounded in such belief and worship.
  3. The life or condition of a person in a religious order.
  4. A set of beliefs, values, and practices based on the teachings of a spiritual leader.
  5. A cause, principle, or activity pursued with zeal or conscientious devotion.

I’m sorry, but trying to say that we are not “religious”, just confuses the person with whom we are trying to communicate. Think of “religion” as being either the structure through which your “faith” or “relationship” is able to take expression, or the set of beliefs that guide your expression of your faith.

Comments Off | faith, relationship, religion | Permalink
Posted by Eclectic Christian

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