I am reading A Severe Mercy and it is an absolutely amazing book. i just have to share some passages that have moved me...
The best argument for Christianity is Christians...
Indeed, there are impressive indications that the positive quality of joy is in Christianity - and possibly nowhere else. If that were certain, it would be proof of a very high order.
If minds like St. Augustine's and Newman's and Lewis's could wrestle with Christianity and become fortresses of that faith, it had to be taken seriously.
Most of the people who reject Christianity know almost nothing of what they are rejecting.
My fundamental dilemma is this: I can't believe in Christ unless I have faith, but I can't have faith unless I believe in Christ. I can put it thus: I must accept Christ to become a Christian, but I must be a Christian to accept Him.
The contradiction 'we must have faith to believe and must believe to have faith' belongs to the same class as those by which the Eleatic philosophers proved that all motion was impossible.
Christianity now appeared intellectually stimulating and aesthetically exciting. The personality of Jesus emerged from the Gospels with astonishing consistency.
Suddenly I became aware that Davy was praying beside me - she had stolen into the room in her nightgown and knelt down by the sofa. I looked at the quiet figure for a few moments. I had never seen her pray. Then she spoke.
'When I was in bed', she said very softly, 'it seemed to me that God was telling me to come to you. I have prayed God to fulfil your soul.'
She paused a moment, and then she whispered: 'Oh, my dearest - please believe!'
Moved almost to tears, I whispered back - a broken whisper....'Oh, I do believe.'
The position was not, as I had been comfortably thinking all these months, merely a question of whether I was to accept the Messiah or not. it was a question of whether I was to accept him - or reject. Perhaps the leap to acceptance was a horrifying gamble - but what of the leap to rejection? There might be no certainity that Christ was God - but, by God, there was no certainty that He was not. If I were to accept, I might and probably would face the throught through the years "Perhaps, after all, it's a lie; I've been had!" But if I were to reject, I would certainly face the haunting, terrible thought: "Perhaps it's true - and I have rejected my God!"
This was not to be borne. I could not reject Jesus. There was only one thing to do, once I had seen the gap behind me. I turned away from it and flung myself over the gap towards Jesus.
***this book is incredible. i can see why you, josh, read it every year. i may just start doing the same. it is quickly becoming one of my favorite pieces of writing, ever.****
10 comments:
You seem to have misconstrued the situation in believing that being or becoming Christian and recognizing that you have a faith in Christ are two events that may occur at two temporally distinct times. This fallacious assumption has led you into the seemingly inescapable tautology you find yourself. However, what would it mean to instead understand that acknowledging faith in Christ and being Christian is one self-truth that reveals simultaneously? There’s no catch-22 here.
Faith happens in that gap between what we know and what be believe. If you can’t close your eyes and feel your faith that’s just where you are—faithless. No novel, class, discussion, or spiritual leader can help you have faith. Looking for faith in academics or novels...I guess that’s what leads to a life of anguish. The most anyone can hope for is a spark somewhere that may ignite it.
Hope this is perceived with the kindness with which it was intended. These too are just ramblings.
Scripture teaches us that, because God made all creation and all creation yearns to be in communion with the creator, creation is inherently "Christian" whether or not the created being accepts that fact.
For example, differently abled individuals may not have the mental capacity or self-awareness to claim Christ as Lord; however, that makes them no less 'Christian' in the eyes of the one who created them. Being Christian is actually a state of creation. Accepting Christ is a state of the heart. (Are the disabled individuals in our church not Christian because they don't understand or can't speak the words "Christ is Lord?")
As for novels, classes, discussions, and spiritual leaders, it is my firm belief that God uses all means possible to call creation back into communion.
Art is a spiritual experience for many. It beckons the wandering heart home. It can happen at any time, even in very young children. Accepting Christ may happen at that moment... or it may not. If it does not, that doesn't mean that God isn't using the art, or the class, or the leader for God's purposes.
Scripture says "ask... seek... knock..." This admonition assumes the answer... the hidden treasure... the door....
Before any faith is proclaimed, God is present. The act of asking, seeking, and knocking is the Christian searching. Opening the door and walking through it is the act of a believer.
I was a Christian for many years, attending church, singing hymns, and always... always feeling the call of God. I truly accepted Christ many years later when faith was tested, refined, and found to be a precious metal. The two did not occur at the same time for me, but my experience is no less valid.
My husband was a Christian and a beliver at the same time. The beauty of God is that God is avaialbe to all in just the way that they need him to be.
A loving parent knows that her children are all different. What works for one won't work for another. The children fight over what is the "right" way, and the mother sits back and smiles knowing that none of them are "right" and none of them are "wrong".
God is like that. This blog has him smiling. :)
love,
mom
for me, i was also a Christian for years but my understanding of what a Christian is has changed as I have gotten older.
In high school, being a Christian meant participating in church activities, attending church on Sunday mornings, and praying in times of need.
Now my understanding of Christian is having a relationship with Christ, taking time out of my life to worship and give thanks, and praying at all times (whether in need or not).
I don't think I was less of a Christian in high school, I think I was as much of a Christian as I could have been at that point in my life. But I think God calls me more and expects more from me now.
I hope this blog is making him smile. I try to live my life with his will in mind and heart.
hahahahaha!!!
what's so funny? and who are you anyway? i hate it when people don't leave a name.
there is such a thing as "being less of a Christian" (although i don't like that phrase)... it's called sanctification. When we first accept Christ, we receive "justification". We are justified in many ways... for our sins... for our forgiveness... for our hope.... Justificaiton is a response of the heart
As we begin to live more of a life that God calls us to live, we are sanctified. We begin to change the way we respond to others and our world because of what the heart knows. This is the walk of sanctification.
Both the justified and the sanctified have a relationship with Christ. But the sanctified's experience is richer and more meaningful.
It's like that tired old poem about the footprints. Those who are justified experience the walk with Christ and even experience when Christ carries them. But only the sanctified know the joy of the dance.
1,2,3... 1,2,3,... 1,2,3...
:)
mom
Libby, you crack me up... only you would post about something you "hate" in the middle of theology discussion... Ha!
mom
hey, i said i was Christian, not perfect. :)
and i do hate it when people don't post their name. it's a pet peeve of mine.
that was pretty what you wrote about understanding the walk and enjoying the dance. i like the sound of that :)
karla will probably like that too. she likes it when you post, especially when you post funny comments. :)
speaking of karla, she chopped her hair off on Friday. i wish i could have been there to see it. :)
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