Here’s the quote I meant to post yesterday. I think it kind of captures a postmodern searching mindset and where I’m coming from.
“A evangelical speaker and a liberal bishop each sat down to read the bible. The evangelical speaker thanked God for the precious gift of the Holy Scriptures and pledged himself once again to proclaim them faithfully. “Thank you God”, he prayed, “that I am not like this poor liberal bishop who doesn’t believe your word, and seems unable to make his mind up whether or not Christ rose from the dead”. The bishop looked puzzled as he flicked through the pages of the bible and said “virgin birth, water into wine, physical resurrection. I honestly don’t know if I can believe these things Lord. In fact, I’m not even sure that I believe you exist as a personal being, but I am going to keep on searching”. I tell you that this liberal bishop rather than the other man went home justified before God. For everyone who thinks he has arrived at his destination has actually hardly begun, and he who continues searching is closer to his destination than he realises”.
(Paraphrased from Luke 19:9-14, quoted from Dave Tomlinson, “The Post-evangelical”).
Welcome to the life of a postmodern pilgrim. I’ll keep a review of the book for a podcast down the road, since there is more than just a few pastor types listening out there looking for good connecting points. This is a gem.
You can check out more about Dave at the web site of St. Luke’s Church in North London or about the book at Amazon.
I have got to become an Amazon affiliate! Anyone out there done it?
Love the podcast, but Luke 19:9-14 is not the source text for the above modern day parable…at least not in my Bible.
hope the comment-er reads his bible, cuz the scripture ref. was probably just a typo, seeing as the correct reference is just one chapter prior (Lk 18:9-14).
tom~ signing up to be an amazon affiliate is pretty simple, no more difficult than signing up for a regular account at amazon. Here’s the link –
http://www.amazon.com/gp/browse.html/ref=sd_allcatpop_assoc/002-6133011-4503211?node=3435371
to the Associates info page.
I did the Amazon Affiliate thing… and still haven’t got any hits from it. But to be fair, I don’t know that I’ve ever bought anything through someone with Amazon Affiliate links.
…The paraphrase reminds me of how often I find myself correcting people about what postmoderns believe about absolute truth: “We don’t reject its existence; we reject the idea that you know what it is; we’re skeptical that anyone but God knows what it is; and hopefully He’ll tell me in a much more loving way than you have.” I wonder if I shouldn’t program a keypress on my computer to type that statement whenever it becomes necessary.
Oops on the quote. That’s what I get for just lifting it right off a quote on ExChristians.Org. My bad.
thanks for the info on the Amazon affiliate process. I have hit others links before but not often.
KW, thanks for your postmodern quote. Is it your own or from someone else. Either way, its right on.
What drives me nuts about this type of argument is the idea that if A is wrong, then B must be correct. The fact that the evangelical has his head up his self-righteous ass doesn’t automatically justify the position of the guy who says something different, but equally truth-denying (until you choose to believe, you’re not a believer–seeking is great, but sooner or later, you have to find).
Don’t try to tell me the bishop was justified before God. I agree that there are no destinations, but there are thresholds. Belief is only the first.
I’m finally beginning to figure out what this whole Postmodern thing is all about. It seems to be an excuse for moral & spiritual relativism. The direction this line of thinking is headed is that there is no right and wrong. There is only the searcher and his journey. Somehow, the process of the search for truth has become an enlightened state.
What’s the purpose? Where is the end? Nirvana? Righteous confuision?
Newsflash: Jesus is the Answer! Period! If a searcher can’t figure out who He is, then read the gospels.
I appreciate your journey. I’ve been there in my own sense. But, I agree with Dorsey. The Bible says if you seek, you will find.
It seems the postmodern mindset exalts the mental/intellectual search above any substantial answer. Because if there were a definitive answer, the lines would be drawn… right & wrong… black & white… god forbid!
Sorry if I’m a little aggressive, but if you take a look at my sight, you’ll see that I’ve been working all this out, and I’m still not quite there.
There is an evident beauty in the postmodern approach. But, as with anything, it seems the extremes have arisen to “spoil the whole bunch”.
Thanks for a thought-provoking post!
While it’s good to keep an open mind and keep searching, the paraphrased parable suggests that the bishop went home justified because he kept searching…Clearly this flies in the face of ‘justified by faith’! There is room for saving faith that is still a searching faith; a faith that leaves lots of questions unanswered – but something so fundamental as the resurrection of Christ surely needs to be part of the content of any Christian faith, if it is to be called Christian. Searching is great, but justified by searching goes too far!
While it’s good to keep an open mind and keep searching, the paraphrased parable suggests that the bishop went home justified because he kept searching…Clearly this flies in the face of ‘justified by faith’! There is room for saving faith that is still a searching faith; a faith that leaves lots of questions unanswered – but something so fundamental as the resurrection of Christ surely needs to be part of the content of any Christian faith, if it is to be called Christian. Searching is great, but justified by searching goes too far!
[…] [/blockquote] Interestingly enough this exact point is driven home by a commenter over at Wired Jesus Broadcast who writes: “The paraphrase reminds me of how often I find myself correcting people a […]