Baby pics

Schleiermacher; Rejection of the Trinity

Understanding the person of Jesus Christ has been widely disputed among theologians for years and will continue to be disputed until the eschaton. The heart beat and vitality of Christianity is at stake on this issue because our religion centers itself around God's revelation in Jesus to mankind. Each theologian seems to pick and choose a 'home base' in which he/she derives the rest of his/her theology and thus his/her Christology. For Calvin and Barth, the soverignty of God acts as 'home base.' For Wesley, God's love is central. Schleiermacher bases his theology on blending reason and metaphysics putting emphasis on God consciousness. Emotions and feelings play into his theory that we strive for "God consciousness" in which Jesus was the only one to ever have achieved fully . Jesus is who we are, and who we are becoming so we know no one as well as Jesus (Rigby lecture).

For Schleiermacher, Christ is the redeemer; the 'Second Adam' (209) not just to come and fix communications between God and humanity, but to reconnect them. God and humanity become inseperable. He thus rejects the doctrine of the Trinity.

The incarnation was an event in time and space where God became fully human. For Schleiermacher, this means that the event, in order to fit into natural circumstances of existence, was the time when God became fully human. He rejects the theology that God in human form, Jesus, has been around since eternity; that the existence of the Holy Spirit had no existence until the formation of the Church. The doctrine of the Trinity ascribes God's three revealed aspects as always having been. God has always been Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. What Schlermacher proposes is a reshuffling from this line of thought to that of below to above; from humanity to God rather than above to below or from God to us. To see how reaches this conclusion we first have to look at how he reaches this conclusion in his Christology and his overall theology.

For Schleiermacher, religion is our "feeling of absolute dependence" and thus our need for a 'Redeemer.' The redeeming work and worth of Christ consists not in what He taught or in what He did, but in what He was. For Schleiemacher, the crucifixion, Christ's suffering, his resurrection, are all mute points. Who Christ was is the important fact. But for Schleiermacher, the incarnation was an event in time that occured only at that specific moment. To say that the incarnation came before Abraham is not accepted by Schleiermacher. He is fixated on the fully human aspect of God, which limits Him to temporal constraints. Jesus being fully human is everything for Schleiermacher, even at the expense of saying there is no supernatural occurences in the incarnation. Much of this has to do with his ae being a 'child of the Enlightenment' and his wanting to reason his way to God.

God's divine properties were quiesced because otherwise there would be two wills within the one entity; the will of the human nature vs. the divine.(210) To this, Schleiermacher says there could be two wills, but they willed in unity. (204) He maintains and emphasizes the oneness of God. He compares the two natures of Christ in relation to humanity in that humanity contains a spark of the divine imperfect since Adam. Because Christ has full 'God consciousness' humanity is able to also seek God consciousness. Schleiermacher sees this God consciousness as internally sought out. Through Jesus we are able to communicate with God again but to an even fuller extent. Schleiermacher's theology is very pantheistic; God is 'all and all' as opposed to the panentheistic approach that says God is in all. Schleiermacher understands Chalcedon and maintaning the oneness of God in this pantheistic belief of interconnectedness among God and humanity, but in such he seems to shortcome the essence of Jesus divinity.

Schleiermacher's Christology is one that puts humanity down into the mix of understanding. For him, it doesn't matter whether Christ suffered, or died, or was resurrected, only that he achieved full 'God consciousness,' something humankind indefinately strives for. Through the Redeemer (being Jesus the Christ) we can triumph into religious consciousness (Sch. 108). God is within every one of us but imperfectly developed according to his theology. He acknowledges the Holy Spirit within us, but our comprehending it is fully dependent upon Jesus (the Redeemer's) existence.

The revelation of God through Jesus is thus, just in Christ's existence. His teachings, though they hold some weight for Schleiermacher, are portrayed as secondary. The virgin birth, death, resurrection, etc. is not of great importance to our seeking of religious God consciousness. Schleiermacher assumes that by taking all supernatural elements out of the incarnation of God (which in itself is a supernatural event) we can reason our way to God. He shifts his focus off of God and God's sovereignty to what humanity can do as far as deciphering the God consciousness within themselves. It is our feeling of absolute dependence that allows us to attribute Jesus as the 'Redeemer.' Because of this, it can be said that Schleiermacher rejects the doctrines of atonement, faith in Christ, and sanctification. Our salvation comes through who Jesus was, not by our faith, or or by Jesus' teaching but in his actual human existence.

Schleiermacher's Christology remains interesting in the light of the Enlightenment, but it is really the area where his theology breaks down. 'Schleiermacher sought to justify and maintain traditional incarnation language while redefining it in essentially naturalistic terms.' (213). He more or less denies the supernatural insofar as Jesus' divine ability. He also sucumbed to developing a theology from 'within' with reason. Jesus was fully human, and in order to be fully human, as Schleiermacher would say, Jesus' divine ability would have to be absent, or possibly in the unconscious of Jesus; quiesced. So is God a limited entity, or does God limit himself? In other words, does God decide to limit his power on earth or does he have a choice in the matter? What is the divinity of God vs. his humanity? Schleiermacher is dead set on maintaining Chalcedon and the oneness of God, but in his Christology he seems to have trouble portraying the divine Christ. "We must think of his (Jesus) actions being fully (wholy) human, for otherwise I cannot follow him."(211)

Rejecting the Trinity for Schleiermacher is not hard in the light of his view of the fully human Christ with perfect God consciousness. The weight of his arguement lies on the incarnation event in time and space because only then would Jesus be fully human. Only in temporal human existence could Jesus be fully one of us. Only in this state could he achieve full God consciousness becoming our Redeemer. Because of the Enlightenment, it was probably logical and thus easy to reject any supernatural elements surrounding Christ as well. The ability to achieve God consciousness then rests upon humanity. God's done his work, its our turn, according to Schleiermacher.

What does it mean today if we disregard the doctrine of the Trinity or if we reject it like Schleiermacher? Does that give humanity a step up in how we reason about God or does it retract from traditional progress? Humanity would ultimately rely on itself and what its 'human nature' to search out God. As is Schleiermacher's Christology, ours would become centered in human feeling rather than Scripture. One of Schleiermacher's weakness' is his lack of Scriptural reference. The doctrine of the Trinity merely illustrates the different ways God has revealed himself to us through Scripture.

Another issue would arise as well. Where does the Holy Spirit fit in? Schleiermacher's theology leaves no room for the Holy Spirit to continue acting in mankind. Jesus was a new start for humanity and in such, is the only thing humanity needs to seek out religious consciousness and salvation. Jesus Christ was everything, and the Holy Spirit gets the shaft because it is now up to humankind to seek God consciousness. Why do we need God to continue to work through us? Schleiermacher would say of the Spirit. Schleiermacher's God is immanent (in the world) but not in the sense of the Holy Spirit, but in a sense that he is connected to creation and cannot be separated.

Still researching, but thought it might be a somewhat interesting thesis on Schliermacher's Christology.

Hebrew is Over!!!!

Well I finally finished up my 4 week intensive course of the Hebrew language and thank God I got through that. Of course I am more relieved than the situation calls for because the final was yesterday, but the reality is that I still have another semester of Old Testament exegesis that starts up in a week, and this time around, we are going to be working from the original Hebrew texts. Lovely isn't it? Monotonous repetition I call it, although, in all actuality, its probably a rational reinforcement of our learned skills. Nevertheless, I am anticipating the first day of next semester a week from now.

My other classes will include: 'Baby' Preaching, New Testament, Systematic Theology II, and Interpretation of the Old Testament. In the summer comes the next 'all fun' language of Greek, but I'll deal with that when it comes my way.

I had a job interview on Sunday and I think it went very well. The job I applied for was the music director position at a church plant in Round Rock, TX. The interview went very well, and I am expecting (hoping) for a call next week when the worship committee will make their decision. The hours expected per week are between 10 and 15 hours which is doable for me while I am in seminary. One night a week practice and two services on Sunday. The pay is minimal because it is a part-time position. Hourly it is about 13-18 dollars an hour depending on whether I am working 10 or 15 hours a week. Compared to Sarah's rough $24/hour it is not much, but it will give us a bit more money to pay off some of our moving debt and student loans.

Intelligent Design vs. Evolution

What the heck kind of debate is this? I thought that this was a sort of no brainer issue that the media was just hyping up, but sure enough, there is a school district in Kansas thinking about teaching intellegent design. I'm pretty sure this is going to fall in the separation of church and state category eventually, but teaching intellegent design in schools kinda defeats the purpose of objectivity doesn't it? In science, we are learning about observations that we as humans have discovered. It does not deal with the metaphysical or epistemological questions, but rather the tangible. Evolution can fit into this category, not intelligent design.

Intelligent Design is based on the assumption that a supreme God created the universe, matter, everything. Science is not about assumptions. It deals with observations, probabilities, mathematics; things that can be discovered in our plane of being. Things are not assumed based on faith or 'faith knowledge.' Sometimes I think that these conservative Christians that bring up arguements against science don't really understand what science is. They only see science as an attack on their beliefs rather than a tool that can strengthen their understanding of the 'divine.' Christians should embrace science and learn from it.

The effects of teaching Intelligent Design could result in major educational problems down the road. Pure science, would become dilluted into a pseudo-science that, in itself, becomes a type of religious puppet. Children need to learn about evolution to understand the way the world works; the way humanity sees it working. A secular approach is the only way to be unbias and the only way to benefit all of humanity instead of benefitting a particular religious niche.

The same conservative Christians against science are the ones against secularizm. They cannot see passed their paridigmatic religious affiliation far enough to realize that all of humanity is in this world together. Right now, we all know that religions don't talk to one another or sway on another, but there has to be a middle ground where both can learn about the unbias universe.

Anyway, could write more, but give me thoughts, rebukes, rants, but no spam!

Christology

Who was/is Jesus? What does it mean to be fully human? What does it mean to be fully divine?

Open ended questions. I just finished a paper on what it means for Jesus to be fully human, but I want to hear other perspectives. I don't want to hear much about history, because I have researched and know most of the history behind this theological debate. I want to hear reasoning and philisophical information.

Apartment

Here is my new guitar!!!!




Some pics of our apartment. Its pretty small, but it is one of the largest on campus suprisingly. Don't have any of the bedroom because it is hard to take a picture in there to capture the whole thing. The kitchen is a nice size with a dishwasher and disposal, so that is nice. I'll have to get a picture of that.

Pets Are Expensive!!!

Well, aside from the shots that all puppies have to get ( like 8 of them), Chloe also has mites that are causing her to lose her hair on her head and ears. So we are now having to take her into the vet once a week for a flee dip that will supposedly kill the mites, but who knows. We've had one flee dip and the problems have escalated. At this rate she will be bald in a month. Not to mention the doctor charges 30 bucks every time she has to see her, and like 10 bucks per shot, 15 every month for heart worm control, 20 bucks a month for food, 10 bucks for toys that are destroyed in minutes, the initial 150 dollar adoption fee, the 200 dollar deposit for the Seminary for pets, 8 bucks for carpet cleaner to clean up pee and poo, 20 bucks a month for the cleaners to wash our blankets she pees on...That's just gettin' started.

I guess it is not that bad...expenses aside, she is the sweetest puppy one could hope for. She has only barked a total of like 4 times since we got her. She never growls when you take her food, or at other dogs. She knows how to sit, give a high five, come, stay, go see mommy. She has only gained about 8 pounds since we adopted her 7 or 8 weeks ago, so we don't think she will be too much bigger. She gives me an excuse to go walkin' and joggin' every day. She loves all animals and people, so she licks cats, strangers, squirrels, other dogs, etc. And she is an absolutely fabulous garbage disposal. She eats anything and everything edible known to man; vegetables, paper, fruit, lettuce, etc. Its pretty weird, but cool. She likes to crawl in laps and snuggle which my wife really likes. She is overall a great pet aside from cost. I don't regret getting her by any means, but the expenses add up. Hopefully after a few weeks we won't have to go back to the vet for a long while. But, then again, the cat hasn't been to a vet in a while....crap!!!

New Guitar

I finally got my new guitar on Saturday!!!! I replaced mine that was stolen back in Greenville, IL and it is great. I ended up getting an Epiphone Les Paul Custom. It looks very much like my old one, but doesn't have the f holes in it. It sounds awesome and is easy to play both rhythm and lead guitar. I am trying to teach Chloe how to play but she just licks the strings right now. She likes to curl up next to the amplifier and sleep while I play. It's pretty funny.

I'll post some pics on the web in a few days, but the camera's batteries are dead. I'll have to charge them.

Why is there?

Why is there anything? Why does anything exist at all? Why is there a universe? planets? stars? space? Well, one could say the Big Bang theory explains this, but does it really? Even if the Big Bang theory were proven beyond a doubt, what caused the explosion. What sparked this big lump of mass in the universe to explode eventually leading to the formation of the stars, galaxies, etc? Why was there a big lump of mass in space? Why was there a space? How did any of it get there. If space and this mass are infinite, what elements caused a change that would lead to an immense explosion?

I don't know why I thought of this tonight, as I sat researching sports trivia, but I couldn't get these interesting, relevant to existance, questions out of my head. Are they answerable? I don't know. A funny thing creation is; unexplained, expansive, abrupt, ever insuing. I wanna hear some feed back from people from a non Christian point of view on this topic if I could. I want to hear the nitty gritty logic of the cosmos and how it came to be. I could come up with a religious answer; shoot, this is part of the reason there is religion, and part of the reason there will always be religion, but I want to hear something non religious; something tangible.

A Trip to Clear the Senses

If you have not been to San Antonio, I suggest spending some vacation time there. My wife and I spent half a day walking the river walk, eventually settling into a meal at the Hard Rock Cafe on the River Walk. We sat right next to the river in an outdoor patio. It was a warm 80 degrees, but in the shade it was great.

We ventured over to the Alamo for a glimpse into the past; a glimpse of greater people than I can hope to be. The Mission was absolutely amazing; the writing on the walls; the museum artifacts. Granted it was a little strange to see the Alamo in the middle of downtown (it was moved there some years back), but the grounds that were created were very fitting for a memorial type environment

Downtown was just amazing. It is a great city for a warm climate, a romantic setting, and lots to do. You really get that 'Texas' hospitality from the people who live there. I would call it a large city with small town people. I hope to go back many times. It has that hometown feel that many large cities lack.

Afterwards we took a trip and did some shopping in San Marcus at the largest Outlet mall I have ever seen. We drove in the parking lot viewing all the stores before was decided where to shop, and just one pass of this place was about 1 mile in distance. My favorite stores were the BOSE outlet, the SONY outlet, Bombay outlet, Kirklands Outlet, and Borders Books outlet. I didn't buy anything on this trip but plan to go back. 130 bucks for a full 600 Watt 7.1 surround sound system with 8 satellite speakers and sub. Digital Video cameras 200 bucks; miniDiv and full Digital. (This is at the Sony Outlet).

Tomorrow is the day I have been waiting for: GUITAR SHOPPING!!! I am finally replacing my guitar that was stolen a few months ago. Just in the nick of time; lots of music to be done very soon; have a deadline :).

The Series

THE ASTROS ARE GOING TO THE SERIES FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!!!!! Now that they have beaten the Cardinals I don't have any issues rooting for them in the World Series. Though I still predict the Sox victorious, I will root for the under dog like usual.

The game was pretty straight forward tonight. I don't get this Cardinal team. They can score runs any time during the regular season only losing to the Stros about 4 times the whole season, and then when the post season starts, the hits stop. I know that injuries had a lot to do with it and some bad calls by umpires, but people like Larry Walker seemed useless tonight. Even Pujols had a rotten game tonight. I credit it somewhat to the Astros pitchers; they were on most of the series games. But even so, the Cardinals pitching staff was one of the best in baseball this year. They slacked a little in the post season, but overall they were strong. The only weakness I saw was the lack of runs. Everyone knows the Astros don't have their big hitters anymore, and knew that they would not score over 5 runs in any of these games. But knowing that wasn't enough.

Well, I do hope that next year's season we see a world series at the new Cardinals Stadium (with tickets in my pocket). But for this year, Go Astros.

Something Scary for Halloween

Sockers!!!!! Witch of the Kitchen....That's right.......she is guarding the popcorn!

Chloe

This is the new addition to the Smith clan, Austin, TX location. She weighs 14 pounds. She aspires to be absolutely loveable. Her trade consists of sleeping, eating, peeing, pooping, and she constantly gets the hickups. We have taught her to sit, shake, and are working on play dead.

Baseball

Oh yeah....how 'bout them 'Stros. For those not keeping up with baseball, the Cards and Astros are fightin' it out for the National League. They are both tied at 1 game a piece. The Angels are down 1 game to 2 in the American League standings. Ok...here it goes....my prediction.....

In the world series it will be the Cardinals and the White Sox. However much I want the White Sox to win my bet is on the Cards. I'll say in 7 games. I'm open for debate.

Infant Baptism

As a questioning Reformed theologian, I am finally starting to understand the concept of Infant Baptism. Many denominations have made baptism into a profession of faith and the starting of a new life in Christ. A lot of times in these cases, baptism becomes all about the individual being baptized. But the truth of baptism is something much larger in scope.

In ancient cultures, the washing with water was always something special; possibly sacred. From water springs life. In water we can see life and death. We see water as a cleaning agent of sorts used to cleanse our physical bodies as well as our physical needs.

I am not going to get preachy on the subject due to lack of time before my next class, but I will be quite general, open to many different theories and interpretations. Having said that I will get into this topic from a Biblical standpoint. John the Baptist was performing baptism to those who believed and wanted to be renewed by God, but Jesus baptism itself transformed the meaning of what baptism stands for into more than just a profession of faith.

Baptism became the symbolism by which we acknowledge one's birth into a Christian family, both parents and church congregation, and in which we acknowledge that Christ's sacrifice was for the entire world. Aidan Kavanagh quotes, "Christian baptism is seen by them (New Testament writers) - not as an attempt to mimic Jesus' baptism in the Jordan but as the primary if still developing event by which the Church responds to and appropriates under grace the 'total redemptive action which the baptism of Jesus set in motion." In other words, baptism is communal in meaning, not individually based. It should effect the entire congregation when one is baptized, not just the individual. With that and the understanding that the grace of God is for everyone infant baptism can be performed.

Many people make the arguement that infant baptism is not Scripturally based, so how one make the assumption that it is plausible. Technically they would be correct, but there are references which suggest that children and infants were baptized, i.e. Acts16:15; 18:8; and 1 Corinthians 1:16. In these accounts whole households and families are baptised together. Baptism was a communal act acknowldging one's new life in the Body of Christ. The parents and the congregation promise to raise the child in the church.

Now I have heard arguements to the means of, "What if the baby grows up and becomes an atheist?" To those I say, apply the same question to those who were baptized as an adult who lost their faith; whether it was a loved one dying or a conversion to another religion. That arguement is thus refuted. When anyone is baptized whether infant or adult, the congregation of believers is taking responsibility for that individual in their new life in Christ. When an individual turns his back on his beliefs, the congregation is just as responsible as the individual.

Inclusion in the Covenant of Grace
As circumcision was the sign and symbol of inclusion in God's grace and covenant with Israel, so Baptism is the sign and symbol of inclusion in God's grace and covenant with the Church. As an identifying mark, Baptism signifies:
-the faithfulness of God
-the washing away of sin
-rebirth
-putting on the fresh garment of Christ
-being sealed by God's Spirit
-adoption into the covenant family of the Church
-resurrection and ilumination in Christ.


(PCUSA Book of Order)

Thank God That History Test is Over!!!!

Though I think that straight memorization is very useful in our education process, this last history test hurt me......Like always I learned quite a bit, but when you cover 50 years of information every 5 minutes and are tested over about 1,000 years of stuff all at once, I think my reasoning process suffers. I know I did well, but brain dumping that much information at once should be considered dangerous to humanity.

Aside from no motivation to do a research paper for tomorrow, I can't even read any of my books due to what I call 'learning fatigue.' Thank God that fall break is next week.

BLAME GAME

I don't know why this hit me as I was out shopping for my sister's birthday today, but I am so tired of hearing about where the blame should go in the Hurricane Katrina disaster. People want to blame anyone but themselves; a scapegoat to avoid any unwanted consequences. We as people know that screwing up is a part of life, this just happened to be a major screw up on everyone's part, not just FEMA, but on the part of every person living in that area; every person who might have realized what was going to happen and did not act. This does not rule out the local gov't both Mayor Nagin and Gov. Blanco (who seemed to dodge most of the 'media' attention: obviously based on media bias). This does not rule out all of those people who predicted this in the past, and did nothing when the disaster was at hand. I just love when the media decides who to blame in such cases; it shows how modern communication will eventually lead to the demise of civilization.

The name game is nothing but a childish act that accomplishes nothing. It is started by the victims, enhanced by modern communication (distorted in the process), and used for some bull crap political agenda.

The victims themselves, though they are to blame with the rest of us who witnessed the disaster, still need to be tended to. I don't think throwing money at them is doing them a great service, but it sure looks good to the voting public.

I try not to take sides when it comes to politics, but when Mayor Nagin told people to start coming back to New Orleans, I started plucking white hairs out of my head. Two things happened. 1. Another hurricane came through the Texas/Louisiana border forcing yet another evacuation, and 2. The destruction was so severe the people came back only to leave again with little more than a hopeless scavenger hunt for lost items.

It's late...Off to bed!

New Blogger

Well, I am new to this whole blogging thing, at least as a writer. I have read my fair share of these things, but I have quite a bit more to say than many people write. So I will be posting every so often in response to current events, books, other bloggers, politics, etc. Alrighty!