Christian2.0 | Challenging Current Christianity

Contributing Author: Abu Mus’ab from Islam Blog

This post fits in a series of posts discussing the major world beliefs/views understanding of the same 7 questions.

Question 1: What is prime reality – the really real?

It is Allah, the first, before whom there was nothing, and the last, after whom there is nothing.

Question 2: What is the nature of external reality, that is, the world around us?

This world is created matter. Allah has the power to create something when there was nothing. In truth, he is the creator of all that exists.

Question 3: What is a human being?

A human being is a creation of Allah. He/She has been created with the sole purpose of worshiping Allah in the way Allah has commanded.

Question 4: What happens to a person at death?

Their souls are taken up. The Good soul is given glad tidings of paradise and allowed to rest till the day of judgment. The evil soul is rebuked and has to endure the torment of the grave till the day of judgment. Then on the appointed day of judgment, the dead shall be revived and they will face the reckoning for their deeds and be rewarded and punished accordingly. The good going to heaven and the evil being condemned to hell.

Question 5: Why is it possible to know anything at all?

We know because Allah has given us the capacity to know. We learn because he has given us the mental faculties with which we comprehend. We also know because Allah sent messengers from Adam, Moses, Jesus, to finally Muhammad (peace be upon them all), who came with divine knowledge and holy books. It isn’t possible to know everything, but the thinking man may discern some of the truth.

Question 6: How do we know what is right and wrong?

We know because of two reasons. One because Allah has taught us through his messengers and their lives. Two because of our own innate nature, which Islam terms the ‘fitrah’, which acts as our in-built moral compass.

Question 7: What is the meaning of human history?

The meaning is to worship Allah, and Allah alone without exception. To work towards that which pleases him and to refrain from that which displeases him.

This post is intended to act as a basic description of Islam.  To contrast it against Christianity, read here.

Matt Pritchard Islam

The purpose of this article is to provide a foundation from which to work.  I want to answer 7 basic questions about Christianity in hopes to offer a clear definition of what we believe versus what we are assumed to believe.  These questions are taken from The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview Catalog.  There will be future posts cataloging other major beliefs and worldviews.

Question 1:  What is prime reality – the really real?

“God is infinite and personal (triune), transcendent and immanent, omniscient, sovereign and good.”  Without delving into great detail about each part, I will try to explain a bit further.  God is infinite, which simply means he is beyond measure in every way.  He is personal, He possesses both self-determination and self-reflection.  He is also triune, Geoffrey Bromiley explained it this way, “within the one essence of the Godhead we have to distinguish three ‘persons’ who are neither three gods on the one side, not three parts or modes of God on the other, but coequally and coeternally God.”  He is beyond our world.  He is all-knowing.  Nothing is outside his interest.  God is goodness, not mere actions of good will, but the essence of goodness itself rests in the character of God.

Question 2: What is the nature of external reality, that is, the world around us?

“God created the cosmos ex nihilo to operate with a uniformity of cause and effect in an open system.”  God created from nothing.  Unlike any other creation since (only a modification of already existing matter), God created from nothing.  He spoke matter into existence.  His creation is also uniform.  It is not chaotic as some views hold, there is order with a systematic unfolding of events.  This is what allows math to be exact, science to be more than opinion, and why we can come to expect things to happen a certain way.  We can expect water to feel a certain way, flowers to bloom, and thunderstorms to be forecasted.

But, the system is open.  The creator of all the systems in place is not only able, but interested in intervening in those systems.  But, beyond that, in much the same way, we, humans, are able to dynamically interact with the system(s).  With the fall, we greatly reordered the systems in place.   And each successive day our actions have implications on the systems in which we interact with.  Think of it this way, if the universe had no order, our actions would have no impact one way or the other.  Chaos is chaos.  If the course of events were already determined (not open), our decisions would have no significance at all.

Question 3:  What is a human being?

“Human beings are created in the image of God and thus possess personality, self-transcendence, intelligence, morality, gregariousness and creativity.”   The key to the entirety of who we are rests in the statement, “in the image of God.”  Because we are modeled after God, we are self-aware and capable of more than reactionary interaction with the world.  We possess social capacity and desire for companionship.  We are able to imagine new things.

“Human beings were created good, but through the Fall the image of God became defaced, though not so ruined as not to be capable of restoration; through the work of Christ, God redeemed humanity and began the process of restoring people to goodness, though any given person may choose to reject that redemption.”  We, created in the image of God, have become less than our initial creation through our alienation from God.

Question 4:  What happens to a person at death?

“For each person death is either the gate to life with God and his people or the gate to eternal separation from the only thing that will ultimately fulfill human aspirations.”  Regardless of the composition of either heaven or hell, there is one thing we know to be true about both.  God, in the fullness of His goodness beyond anything we could begin to fathom, resides in heaven.  Therefore, God, and along with Him any trace of good, ceases to grace hell with as much as a breath.

Question 5:  How is it possible to know anything at all?

“Human beings can know both the world around them and God himself because God has built into them the capacity to do so and because he takes an active role in communicating with them.”  The foundation of our knowledge sits in the fact that we were created in God’s image.  John 1:1-4, because of the Word of God all things are made known.  God reveals himself to us in two ways, general revelation and specific revelation.  General revelation is God’s revelation through the created universe (Romans 1:19-20).  Special revelation is a more specific revealing of Himself and His character.

Question 6:  How do we know what is right and wrong?

“Ethics is transcendent and is based on the character of God as good (holy and loving).”  God is the source of morality.  Beyond the understanding that morality simply exists, Christians believe that God is the standard by which morality is measured.  And He has revealed that standard through His Word.

Question 7:  What is the meaning of human history?

“History is linear, a meaninful sequence of events leading to the fullfillment of God’s purposes for humanity.”  No matter how random or chaotic events seem are all part of a sequence that has a beginning, middle, and an end.  I’m not advocating that the events are mapped out already or not, that is a discussion within theology.  But history is not reversible, it moves forward from a starting point.

Matt Pritchard Christianity

Contributing Author: Zach Anderson

There are many different views on the subject of hell. A plethora of theologians argue and debate constantly over this subject. Will people be punished forever? Or will they be punished for an allotted amount of time, then annihilated? Other questions rise to the surface as well: How does a loving God live with Himself while people are suffering eternally? Surely, after some time, he would restore these people or grant them the favor of abolishing their souls forever. Isn’t the concept of hell completely incongruent with a loving God anyway? What is hell like for the damned? What sort of punishment is being administered to its inhabitants? Is it a emotional/mental retribution? Does it involved excruciating physical pain? Or is it all three? Are the degrees of punishment contingent upon the degree of evil in the person being punished? Is it a “lake of fire”? Is there a dude with horns and a pitch-fork laughing the whole time?

The Greek word used for hell is “Gehenna” in the New Testament. “Gehenna” is the Christian rendering of “Ge Hinnon”, literally “Valley of Hinnom”. In the Old Testament, the word used is “Gai Ben-Hinnom”, which refers to a real valley in Jerusalem. This valley is located outside the city, and it is basically a garbage dump where waste is burned. Stemming from this idea, many think that hell well be a place outside the city of God, where the filth of humanity dwells. This presents problems too: How could God and His people (his holy, loving people) be rejoicing while others (including loved ones) are being tortured outside?

As you can see, there is a lot of questions pertaining to the subject of hell. I won’t attempt to answer what only God can fully answer. But here is what I think are the underlying foundations of hell:

1. Hell is a place of isolation.

You could even use this metaphorically and say “hell is the absence of God: God-isolation”. The earth as we know it is not devoid of the presence of God. The natural processes that God instilled are still running. God is still working/sustaining life despite spiritual opposition from unknown forces and internal opposition in the hearts of mankind. Even though at certain times in history, we have seen glimpses of it (i.e. the Holocaust), the world has not experienced the complete abandonment of God’s presence. For God to completely turn his back on the world is something so horrible, so horrifying that it is reserved for the enemies of God in the afterlife. (Ironically, we see in the Gospels how Christ experienced the complete abandonment of God when he was dying on the cross. He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Indeed, Jesus was punished as an enemy of God. In the crucifixion, Jesus of Nazareth becomes the first living person in history to fully experience Hell). Humanity as we know it, could not withstand the magnitude of that catastrophe. Could you imagine what it would be like for the Creator of life to abandon the creation that is sustained by His very breath? Nothing in this world is more unnatural and appalling than that.

2. On this earth we have experienced/caught glimpses of hell itself.

Some people are so isolated and alone that they are already experiencing a pinch of hell in this life. Perhaps that is why Mother Theresa said, “The most terrible poverty is loneliness and the feeling of being unloved”. We see hell reflected in the darkest of evils on earth as well: genocide, rape, abortion (controversy alert!), suicide bombings, etc. We see hell in dead babies and starving, pot-bellied children. We see hell in tsunamis that kill thousands upon thousands. We see hell in victims of sexual abuse. We see hell when we look deeply into the eyes of a sex-trafficked girl. Some people, are so caught up in their personal hate, their life of sin, that they have ceased to become evil . . . they are evil; an “object of wrath” . . . they are the people whose natures have become utterly evil. These people are so consumed that there is no turning back for them, mainly because they have lost all notions of goodness. To love would be unnatural for them, conflicting with their nature.

3. God did not create hell.

We created hell.  From the first moment an opportunity arose, humanity as a collective whole has been sinning. We are naturally inclined to resist God’s will, thereby imposing our own. Perhaps that is all hell is. A place where those who reject God’s way finally get their way. A place where the loving God sorrowfully gives people what they really want. And to our everlasting shame, it is a place that must exist because in the end, we have chosen not God. And the only alternative to not having God is a existence of isolation. If God is the creator of reality, than those who chose other than Him have chosen nothingness . . . a void of nonexistence.

thachary Hell

In the midst of our daily pursuits, how much of what we do is motivated by self-serving desires?

You are working hard at your job.  A noble pursuit.  You strive for academic excellence.  A rewarding result awaits.  Your heart flows with love for others.  A biblical charge.  But in all of these great things, why do you do it?  I fear that your only motive is to quench this thirst within you; this thirst to be recognized by others and appear worthy or valuable.

There are two things at work here.  One, is your complete lack of self-worth.  The only way you will be considered worthy of someone’s approval is through achieving.  You must obtain.  You must succeed.  Affirmation is a drug you pursue at the cost of anything and everything. You need to appear useful.

The second thing working here is so tightly knit to the first, we often don’t see them both at the same time.  Your begging for approval is twisted and knotted around your failure to surrender.  Upon placing your faith in Christ, you proclaimed that “I no longer live, it is Christ who lives in me.”  You vowed, “I will carry my cross and come after Christ.”  Your words painted a picture of Divine surrender.  But were you merely reciting coached desires?  Did you ever truly embrace the surrender of your life?

I think more often than not you study and rehearse what is necessary to display surrender and self-confidence.  At your core you are a selfish and scared child.  Desperate to have the approval of anyone willing to offer.  Completely void of confidence in your ability to succeed at anything, yet you refuse to surrender your control of a single thread.  You have woven an attractive tapestry, but you are enslaved to holding it together.  If you let go of one thread, just one, people will begin to see the true you lying behind the carefully assembled fabric.

The void has two manifestations, but one solution.  Your failure to surrender and lack of self-worth can be remedied by nothing short of complete trust.  You have to relinquish your attempts to control the path of a falling leaf.  Trust that it will fall.  It is going to spin and shift in the wind, but it will reach the ground nonetheless.   And in the surrender of that desire to control, you realize that your greatest chance for achievement lies in the power that brought that leaf into existence.  Your right in doubting your capacity to achieve something alone, but drastically underselling your potential by merely being a vessel.  By allowing the power of the creator to flow through your words and actions, you can do more than achieve something.  You can change the world.

For the record, I wrote this to myself.

Matt Pritchard Faith, Hypocrisy, Trust

This article was recovered from my previous blog, and revised for Christian2.0.

Just “throw in the towel”

In poker the smartest play you can make sometimes is folding.  You quit.  Live to fight another day.

In life we are beginning to adhere to the same mentality.  No longer is it kosher to go down swinging.  When did this happen?

Maybe sometime during first century BC?  Couldn’t be.  A certain young general named Alexander launched one of the greatest military campaigns in history, defying every opposition that stood in his way.  I’m not sure he ever sat down and said “this is just too hard” then motioning to his opposition, “I throw in the towel.”

Or maybe first century Christian believers?  These men who were willing to stand in front of the powers that be and say, “whether it is right in the sight of god to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”  No, didn’t think so.  I haven’t read of them saying, “fine, you win, we’ll just throw in the towel.”

If not then, surely sometime around 1776.  That seems like a good year for throwing in the towel.  Our forefathers were seriously riding the fence on what to say in that Declaration of Independence thing.  The first draft had phrases like, “tired of all the fighting” “can’t we just get along” and “I sure wish we hadn’t thrown out all that tea“.  It’s a wonder to anyone how they left those parts out.

What about the men and women who fought against oppression and bigotry in the American south during the 40’s, 50’s, and 60’s?  Do you think Martin Luther King Jr’s speech, where he said,

“This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.”

would be as oft quoted if, instead, he said, “dude, I don’t know if we can win this one.  Gotta know when to hold ‘em, gotta know when to fold ‘em, right?  Brothers and sisters, it is time to fold ‘em.  Throw in the towel.”

You know what I think?  I think it happened when we decided to let our lives be influenced by heroes of syndication and wall-street.  It happened when women stopped dreaming of having strength and determination like Joan of Arc, and instead aspire to attain the shallowness and frivolity of Carrie Bradshaw and Samantha Jones.  It happened when men stopped burning with a desire to climb Everest, and instead settle to climb the corporate ladder.  We no longer create, dream, desire.  All we do is soak up what sells.

Go ahead, I understand, throw in the towel.

Just so you know, you are the towel.

So throw yourself in.

Matt Pritchard Culture, Experience, Marriage