I found chapter four to be troubling as it shows the contrast between heaven and earth. I realised that Christians are not always good at worhsipping God in all areas of life and that the hypocrisy label can often be a fair one. Later as I thought about these things a little bit more I realised I was reading the chapter as a West of Scotland person with a Higher in Guilt. I realised that the chapter is meant to encourage and to inspire and not to belittle. Or have I got that wrong?
http://docs.google.com/View?id=dhb3kbsd_7fr2jx7d5
"So teach us to number our days..."
2 years ago
I find it an intimidating prospect. Some of the things Jesus said makes him come across as a (well meaning) nutjob. The prospect of being a Christian unhypocritically is far too intimidating for me.
ReplyDeleteHowever, that specifically doesn't make me feel guilty. To act like a perfect Christian would act is far too intimidating to even consider because it would not be me. It would destroy me to try and be someone so drastically different to who I am.
So do I feel guilty about who I am? Well, I think what's important is who I'm trying to be, or put another way, the direction I am headed. As Peter Rollins would say, "faith embraces journey as a type of destination."
I suspect that being constantly totally worshipful of God equates far mor readily with where one is trying to be rather than where one is. Ie - until we become aware of various evils, our culpability is highly dubious. A bit like how Adam and Eve were naked before the Fall, but it was only when they became aware of this evil (and other evils) that they could be legitimately condemned.
Sorry, I'm going off on a tangent now.
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I haven't found support for your claim that the four creatures represent aspects of God.
http://forum.ship-of-fools.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=15;t=001457
David Herbert
Support for my claim about the four creatures representing the characteristics of God comes straight from my study bible! I'm not sure where they got it from but it is perfectly plausible. Remember what I said, there is no certainty... David Aune has a fascinating study on this in his Word commentary, try and track that down. I'm currently using mine constantly.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds unlike God to be so specifically revealing of his nature. It's one thing to be jealous or be love. It's quite another to sum oneself up in 4 elements.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I like about your interpretation is that it rubbishes the argument that likes to sloppily assert that anything that comes in 3 parts is supposed to reflect the perfect nature of the trinity, often used as a supplementary justification for a view.
There is indeed no certainty, and I believe that there's plenty of truth to be found in wrong conclusions and interpretations.
David Herbert