Friday, October 2

The Primal Vision

Okay, so we just finished reading an entirely controversial anthropological/theological/first-person account of the African worldview and its compatibility with the Gospel.

I could talk for hours about the book, but that would be boring and stupid. I will mention something that has challenged me theologically and something that challenged me practically.

The author John Taylor mentions how God became a human and a Jew. Dare we, he asks, follow Christ into cultures as He becomes a Hindu, Animist, Muslim, etc? I say we should dare to do so. Like St. Paul, we must become those people in order to win them. We must lovingly and intimately experience their presence and know them. Otherwise, we are simply defending Christianity in the way that Pharisees have defended Judaism.

The practical dimension is that Taylor suggests discipline rooted in science is based on possession of the world. Why then, do I value my intellect? What is my motive for gaining knowledge? Is it loving other people or provision of luxury for myself? Is my progress in the eyes of God based on what I know and learn or how I love others in word and deed?

0 comments:

Post a Comment