9.06.2004
The Big Question
Fred Peatross pops the question on the question at Off the Map . His provacative little piece teases us, not so much with an answer, but more questions. If Jesus never asked The Big Question that Evangelism Explosion asks, then what questions did Jesus ask?
I also read a quote from John Stuart Mill, "In all intellectual debates, both sides tend to be correct in what they affirm, and wrong in what they deny." This applies to theological debate as well. As long as Fred doesn't deny the validity of the question, then his affirmation remains balanced.
I still believe that "Christ is the answer" but I also believe we have not even begun to plumb the depths of the questions. Our chief danger is not that in Christ we have the answers, but that we are too fearful of asking too many questions. Jesus, like Aslan, is not a tame lion and will force us to come to grips with the parts of us that most need to be dealt with. He may have to rip our dragon scales off like Eustace or shake us vigorously like Trumpkin, but we will always come out better in the end. By constraining our questions, we try to tame the lion, put him in a box and make him accessable to our small, narrow minds. How many of us have allowed the machinations of apes like Shift to put a skin over an ass and call it a Christ? It's easy to spot in the fundy faithful and liberal left, but what about our own lives?
These thoughts continue to intrigue me and my life is an exploration, not just of the answers but the questions. And not the questions we are asking but the ones we are too afraid to ask.
Fred Peatross pops the question on the question at Off the Map . His provacative little piece teases us, not so much with an answer, but more questions. If Jesus never asked The Big Question that Evangelism Explosion asks, then what questions did Jesus ask?
I also read a quote from John Stuart Mill, "In all intellectual debates, both sides tend to be correct in what they affirm, and wrong in what they deny." This applies to theological debate as well. As long as Fred doesn't deny the validity of the question, then his affirmation remains balanced.
I still believe that "Christ is the answer" but I also believe we have not even begun to plumb the depths of the questions. Our chief danger is not that in Christ we have the answers, but that we are too fearful of asking too many questions. Jesus, like Aslan, is not a tame lion and will force us to come to grips with the parts of us that most need to be dealt with. He may have to rip our dragon scales off like Eustace or shake us vigorously like Trumpkin, but we will always come out better in the end. By constraining our questions, we try to tame the lion, put him in a box and make him accessable to our small, narrow minds. How many of us have allowed the machinations of apes like Shift to put a skin over an ass and call it a Christ? It's easy to spot in the fundy faithful and liberal left, but what about our own lives?
These thoughts continue to intrigue me and my life is an exploration, not just of the answers but the questions. And not the questions we are asking but the ones we are too afraid to ask.
