A curious fact about Christians is that in the early days of the Way (the earliest name for the church recorded in the book of Acts), they were known as atheists by the Roman powers that be. Today, they would have been called militant atheists because of their passionate apologetic and growth in numbers. Why were they called atheists? With today's standards, the last thing you could accuse the Church of would be atheism. In those days, every god was visible in the form of a statue or icon. And while the Church certainly employed art and icons from a very early day (to designate sacred space and to teach the story of God to an illiterate culture), they did not (or ever) view these icons as the tangible presence of God. The Incarnate Christ (Jesus) was the only tangible presence of God people needed. To destroy an image of Jesus would not diminish God in any way. In an idolatrous culture, destroying an idol would provoke the wrath of a god. Anyway, Christians had no central meeting place (like a temple) or a tangible god to worship, so they must be atheists. The same was true of the people of God in the Old Testament. The idea that God was not bound to a single place was radical.
Today, belief in God can be best described as convenient. Rather than a God who shakes our worldview and challenges our assumptions, there is a god who neatly fits into our assumptions. When God challenges our assumptions, we adapt our view of god. Our new god turns around and justifies all of our beliefs, encouraging imperial expansion, un-Christlike exclusion and incomprehensible violence. This god gets invoked to bless our actions, but never is allowed to speak into them. I would argue that the new atheism has nothing to do with Dawkins or Hitchens, but everything to do with the vending machine of blessing we call a god. May God speak into our lives, reveal our idols and bless us by guiding us down a better way. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment