Plantinga starts out this chapter talking about the intricate relationship between God, the Son, and the Holy Spirit which the Greek church called "perichoresis." He especially emphasized the hospitality between the three and told of how each "made room for the others" and "helped them flourish in that room they had made." This was convicting to me, especially in the state I'm in right now. I feel like over the past few years especially (really, my whole life) I've been focusing only on myself. Since my sophomore year in high school I was bulimic and until very recently had not been able to let go of that addiction. I was going to different counselors and my conversations with my friends were mainly about my issues with my family. My senior year was all about making myself look good on college and scholarship apps. and leading my school's orchestra on tour and performing my senior recital. It was really all about me.
Then, when I came to Calvin, things started being not about me anymore. My gpa was not as high as it was in high school, I was no longer the best violinist in the orchestra, I didn't have any family around or my friends that I had known since kindergarten, and on top of that, I was trying to stop throwing up AND trying not to gain weight from dining hall food (all as a means of trying to make myself thinner so I'd be more attractive so the guys would like me). What did this gain me? Well, honestly...a crappy first semester, a night in the hospital after a huge overdose, a HUGE medical/ambulance bill to pay, and a bad relationship with my former roomate.
However, when I look back on my experience, I don't think I would change any of it. There were things that I missed out on, yes. But what I gained-an understanding that it's not all about me. I'm not saying that I remember that all the time, because I probably am still thinking about myself 99% of the time; however, I know what problems I have to fix now and have the resources and the strength to get through them. I have also come to realize the joy I can get from helping others grow in their faith; whether it's giving them a passage from Scripture, praying for them, or talking to them-it's so much more fulfilling than focusing on oneself, and so much more a picture of what God wants our relationships with each other to be like.
Back to the book. I really liked how Plantinga said, "Nothing internal or external to God compelled Him to create" and "Creation is neither a necessity nor an accident. Instead...creation is an act that was fitting for God." This goes back to the whole idea of Shalom-the way things are supposed to be, or when everything fits the way it's supposed to. "The study of creation is a classic opportunity to read Scripture and the natural world together." However, being the crazy environmentalist that I am, I know how tainted and ruined creation has become, especially since humans came into the picture. Like I said in class, when a piece of nature is destroyed (and yes, there are things in nature that we cannot bring back once they are gone), it's like tearing out a page of Scripture-because it ruins another chance to see God. "Nature is God's textbook. To read God, we read nature." Plantinga mentioned that the rainbow was a covenant between God and ALL LIVING creatures. Not just humans. It is true that we are made in the image of God and thus are in a sense "apart from" the rest of creation and have "responsible dominion;" but at the same time, we are supposed to be "a part of" creation-giving it room to be itself, just like each member of the Trinity gave each other room.
I haven't even touched on near all that was in this chapter-so much CRC theology! However, these are the parts that I am most passionate about.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
The Weight of Glory
There were so many phenomenal insights in this paper, I hardly even know where to begin. The first thing that stuck out to me was his statement about us being "half-hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us...we are far too easily pleased." This quote is made me think of the things I want and why I want them. We talked in class about how we shouldn't ask for something to see what we can get but in order to bring glory to God. As a woman who has experienced a lot of rejection and abuse by men in my life, I think my deepest desire in life is to be loved by a godly man and to have a relationship with him-the kind that I talked about in an earlier post. However, I want this for myself. I never really thought about wanting it for the purpose of bringing glory to God.
Another idea that I took from this paper is "the scriptural picture of heaven is therefore just as symbolical as the picture which our desire, unaided, invents for itself." I find myself daydreaming like, 90% of the time I'm awake. My desire to be loved creates in my mind a modern day fairytale romance that quite often is unrealistic-that is, probably won't ever happen that way. However, our relationships here on earth give us a picture of what our relationship with God will be like in heaven, only, that WILL be the perfect romance and nothing is unrealistic!
Next comes Lewis' view of glory. He says that there are two ideas of glory for him; "either glory means to me fame, or it means luminosity," the first of which "seems wicked and the other ridiculous." Lewis looks deeper into the "fame" side of glory as not fame with fellow creatures but fame with God. We all want to hear God say to us, "well done my good and faithful servant" just like a child takes pleasure in praise from an elder. This, says Lewis "is in fact the humblest, the most childlike, the most creaturely of pleasures--nay, the specific pleasure of the inferior: the pleasure...a child before its father...a creature before its Creator." I never thought about this either but it sure makes me feel better for desiring that affirmation and accepting it as an important image of heaven. If we truly work to bring God glory, we will get that great reward of affirmation from the one who Created all!
The last quote I want to emphasize from this paper is "Nature is only the first sketch." First of all, I think that Lewis meant all of earthly Creation-since Nature implies only the "natural" and I would like to think that the mountains and the ocean (abiotic factors) are part of the sketch. I also think that relationships, culture, and other intellectual and leisurely activities are part of this sketch. This made me shiver with anticipation. I am already so in love with God from experiencing earthly creation. If Creation is only the first sketch, and it already possesses an exquisite beauty that is in itself almost unbelievable to us as humans, I can't even imagine what heaven will be like!!! How much greater are the relationships in heaven going to be? Think of the most beautiful place you've ever been on earth and the time when you were so happy you couldn't stop smiling and laughing-and now multiply that times infinity-that is what heaven will be like and that is unimaginable to our mere human minds.
Another idea that I took from this paper is "the scriptural picture of heaven is therefore just as symbolical as the picture which our desire, unaided, invents for itself." I find myself daydreaming like, 90% of the time I'm awake. My desire to be loved creates in my mind a modern day fairytale romance that quite often is unrealistic-that is, probably won't ever happen that way. However, our relationships here on earth give us a picture of what our relationship with God will be like in heaven, only, that WILL be the perfect romance and nothing is unrealistic!
Next comes Lewis' view of glory. He says that there are two ideas of glory for him; "either glory means to me fame, or it means luminosity," the first of which "seems wicked and the other ridiculous." Lewis looks deeper into the "fame" side of glory as not fame with fellow creatures but fame with God. We all want to hear God say to us, "well done my good and faithful servant" just like a child takes pleasure in praise from an elder. This, says Lewis "is in fact the humblest, the most childlike, the most creaturely of pleasures--nay, the specific pleasure of the inferior: the pleasure...a child before its father...a creature before its Creator." I never thought about this either but it sure makes me feel better for desiring that affirmation and accepting it as an important image of heaven. If we truly work to bring God glory, we will get that great reward of affirmation from the one who Created all!
The last quote I want to emphasize from this paper is "Nature is only the first sketch." First of all, I think that Lewis meant all of earthly Creation-since Nature implies only the "natural" and I would like to think that the mountains and the ocean (abiotic factors) are part of the sketch. I also think that relationships, culture, and other intellectual and leisurely activities are part of this sketch. This made me shiver with anticipation. I am already so in love with God from experiencing earthly creation. If Creation is only the first sketch, and it already possesses an exquisite beauty that is in itself almost unbelievable to us as humans, I can't even imagine what heaven will be like!!! How much greater are the relationships in heaven going to be? Think of the most beautiful place you've ever been on earth and the time when you were so happy you couldn't stop smiling and laughing-and now multiply that times infinity-that is what heaven will be like and that is unimaginable to our mere human minds.
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