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I recently touched on this around the Christmas season, but to state it simply: I believe in Jesus Christ, our Lord, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary.
That being said, I wish to clarify that I do NOT believe the traditional understanding of the Virgin birth is essential to the Gospel. There are several differing theories of how Jesus came to be fully divine and fully human, which is essential to the Gospel. To put it in other words, Tradition, Scripture, and in some sense Reason convince me to hold on to this doctrine as it was stated in the Nicene Creed; however, Reason, Experience, and Scripture tend to allow for some flexibility in this. Even though I disagree, if one were to come to the conclusion that Jesus was indwelled with the Spirit from His very conception, the Gospel does not suffer…Jesus is still Lord, and the Gospel still takes place. Not that I will be the judge, but I tend to think God would not keep the skeptic of the Virgin birth from entering Paradise on this point alone.
Throughout Church history we have debated, created schisms, and have killed over the issues of how Christ came to be. Was Christ created? How did Christ come to be? Jesus is “God of God, light of light, true God of true God, begotten not made.” While Jesus took on flesh, Jesus was not created. To speak of Jesus is to speak of God. So make no mistake, even if Jesus’ birth is the ultimate redemption of a promiscuous young lady, Jesus was and is of the same substance as God. If traditional creedal statements are not enough for you, you may be asking:
But, how do we know Jesus is fully God and fully human?
Beyond the fact that Jesus was birthed, grew up, lived, and died, I would say Jesus’ humanity is most proved in Jesus’ fulfillment of humanity’s purpose, that is to live in Shalom with YHWH and direct all things under their influence toward the glory of God. It is that simple. In this sense, Jesus was more human that you or I, and the Gospel then becomes about our return to full humanity rather than the perversion of humanity in which we live.
And Jesus is most definitely fully God because…
“Christmas is over,” a declaration as the tree was taken down in my apartment. This time of year tops the charts as the most depressing time of year; the chill of winter, the overcast skies, the realization that you have overspent for one more Christmas, or that you gained more than cookie-weight (let alone breaking the well-intentioned resolutions).
But this time of year, rather the couple of weeks after Christmas, has been entitled Epiphany on the Church calendar. This is to be the time of year we take time to realize who Jesus is, and how He made Himself known. Who is Jesus? Your answer not only determines your religion, it goes so far as to determine whether you have hope. So as the religious leaders wonder at the pre-teen with understanding and explanations, they would ask, “Who is this boy? Where did he come from? Who has taught Him?”
You see, the birth of Jesus testifies to His humanity, as the miraculous surrounding His birth would testify to His divinity. But beyond theological notes, who is Jesus? Notice “to you” isn’t tagged onto the question. This isn’t about your personal stance on Jesus, or His personal relationship with you…it’s a question beyond historicity as well. There is not a concern about how Jesus did what He did, or de-mythologizing His life, death or resurrection. This is a question that can only be answered exploring Scripture. Who is Jesus? The question needs to be posed yearly, seasonally, even daily. As His disciples listen, recoil, mis-interpret, absolutize one teaching over another, betray, curse, and repent there must be a messiness that is true to life. If the answer is a verse, or as it’s been known in my life “a Sunday-school answer,” then we’re lost to religion…and if it has nothing to do with the Biblical narrative, then we’ve created our own god. This is not a quiz, it is a question that will have implications for every aspect of life, and so must be complex enough for life.
Lastly, “Who is Jesus?” must include a Trinitarian identity. Who is Jesus as He is fully YHWH and fully human? Who is Jesus as He answers to the Father and is led by the Spirit? How do we know Jesus when we meet Him?
speak.
Theology holds much for all of us, especially when it comes to the influence it plays in how we practice our faith. But every once in awhile I think it is a healthy exercise to ask ourselves or be challenged by others about what we consider essential to our faith. At this point in the year, the virgin birth of Christ would be at the forefront of our minds, but I have come to a point of self-defiance. Within theology, it is a hard pill to swallow when there is an absolute statement made…let me explain:
Whether you define Theology literally (“god”+”word”=words about god) or by four instructional items (sources: Scripture, Experience; and tools: Reason, Tradition), there is an intrinsic sense of dialog. You say this about God, I counter with that about God… Or Scripture reveals this about God, but our Experience is this; while we use Reason and Tradition to inform the questions passed between Scripture and Experience. However this happens or is defined for you two things are clear: theology is a dialog; and the end is a more adequate understanding of who God is, how God interacts with the world (including humanity), and what that implies about how we are to act. The logical starting point for monotheistic theology will always be, “if there is a God.” Modernity has taught us that the presence of an “if” means that the subject is in question, and therefore this can not be a redemptive statement unless crystallized into a solid answer. Postmodernity, however, tends to be comfortable simply saying, “to know is to be God, and I am not;” instead, we are invited to stumble and be humiliated again and again as we try to act as if God exists. This aside is simply to prove that here, at the first step of monotheistic theology, we are left with dialog, with uncertainty and the annoying “if” that might not be dealt with as long as God’s Kingdom remains “not yet.”
So when it comes to the virgin birth of YHWH into flesh, it comes as no surprise that Experience will speak up using Reason and saying, “This isn’t happening now, hasn’t happened as long as humanity has been paying attention to this stuff, and this isn’t the first or last story of a savior being born of a ‘virgin.’” Pondering, I am left to ask the question with the big picture in mind, “Is the Virgin Birth essential to salvation? Why or why not?”
Sometimes tools get in the way and overpower the sources in volume…Tradition tends to try to answer before Scripture gets a word in edgewise, Reason just waits…”Of course, this is an essential doctrine that has always been a part of the foundational beliefs of Christianity.”
Now using Reason along with Tradition, Scripture answers, “Without the virgin birth, how can Jesus be YHWH in flesh? Where is the divinity of Christ without the virgin birth?” Tradition still hasn’t had enough, “We’ve burned people at the stake for less than that question.”
This dialog goes around once or twice more, until it is finally said from Scripture’s side, “Without the virgin birth, there can be no forgiveness of sins, no cross, and no resurrection.” To which Reason and Experience shudder…because they know that proclamations such as this echo through the corridors leading to the heart of hell itself. Truth, when misused, convinces us of lies.
You see, when the question is posed and the answer lies in wait, we must realize that the answer will dictate someone’s salvation. I wish to stand aside. I’ll contribute to the conversation, but the truth of the matter is, if I am strong enough in my faith, my mouth needs to be used in a redemptive manner. Should I be speaking to a person who’s only stumbling block is the virgin birth, I wish to say, “Come, the gates of heaven are wide enough for your doubts.” And to a different person, who is completely fixed in their position, I hope to say, “Come, you have fit yourself for the narrow way into heaven.” No matter who I am speaking to, I hope to be open and loving enough to take the time to understand their answer and be a catalyst for redemption.
Personally, I have come to be open to either option, knowing that if Mary was not a virgin, YHWH redeemed and indwelt an illegitimate child (this would require a breakthrough in the Hebrew text of Isaiah, but relies heavily on the duel-meaning of the Hebrew word for “virgin” and “young woman”…this would also require the indwelling of YHWH in the child after conception. In the event that Mary was a virgin, praise YHWH, but know that it is not Jesus’ birth, life, nor death that testifies to His deity, but His resurrection that would retroactively affirm all that Jesus was, is and will be as YWHW in the flesh. So, I counter to Reason and Tradition being used by Scripture (in the hands of a fundamentalist theologian), “The birth of Jesus does not affirm the resurrection, rather, the resurrection of Jesus affirms His birth.”
All of this to say, perhaps this year you would like to take a few minutes, and answer the challenges that would come to a person who claimed the Son of God was born of a virgin. Perhaps, as we consider why Christ came, we could try to understand what was essential to the bringing about of this Gospel. So I pose you this question to dialog with, “Is the Virgin Birth essential for salvation? Why or why not?” Perhaps this Christmas season, your faith could be challenged into growth.
Think.
Speak.
NOTE: *sigh* I can’t wait any longer…it occurred to me the other day that while Moslems will call upon Allah, we tend to call upon God. “What’s the difference?” I asked. Absolutely nothing…besides a language. May we realize that our god has a name, and it is YHWH. God is simply a title…and as refreshing as being God-people is, might it be time we reclaim the name of our god? Might it be time we stop being so offended by the misuse of a title, and gingerly, humbly, and with great joy take on the name of YHWH, of Yeshua, the Holy Spirit? This is what it would mean to bear the name of YHWH your God…do not take it on in vain.
It was almost a year ago I started this blog with a post entitled “‘Bad Gift‘.” Simply put, a gift is an expression of a relationship. If a gift is given with little or no thought, or if the gift poorly fits the receiver’s needs or desires, then it would reflect a problem within the relationship between giver and receiver. This problem is as minor as a lack of communication, to the realization that the relationship is only superficial. In any case, this paradigm of relationship is hardly ever as present than at Christmas time.
Over the past month, my church has been playing 15 min. videos from the guys who founded the “Advent Conspiracy.” The idea is four-fold as has been presented in the videos: 1. Worship fully; 2. Spend less; 3. Give more; 4. Love all. The idea is simply to bring people back to an understanding of Christmas that will change the world and stay true to what we say we are actually celebrating at Christmas. If you go to SermonSpice.com and search “Advent Conspiracy” you’ll be able to view all four videos without paying for anything. I would like to take a couple of minutes and simply focus on this idea of a gift.
It’s ironic for me to think I don’t like analogies, but when speaking of Jesus, it’s hard for me to swallow. But for the sake of our conversation, Jesus is God’s gift, if you will, to humanity. Interesting, that God would give a Gift that so meets our need, that so reveals our mistaken desires, it would mean we are at fault in this relationship to admit this Gift’s viability. Parents sometimes get this joy in gift-giving, when the initial excitement fades and the children finally realize how much they like that coat or piece of clothing that just got tossed aside at first. Obviously this is a deeper sense of understanding; to the point that the presence of the Gift itself embarrasses us. “To think,” we walk away shaking our heads, “that God would give me THAT.” If you haven’t been offended yet by Jesus or His Gospel, you probably don’t understand it as well as you should (Not that any of us fully understand it).
So these pastors who started the Advent Conspiracy, come to their third point, Give More. And they begin telling us about a gift giving that actually takes seriously the relationship between the giver and recipient. The question comes up, “How often would we be able to find a gift in a retail store or on sale on Black Friday that would perfectly fit what we would wish to express within our relationships?” Some parishioners simply gave gift cards from different charities (in other words, they didn’t give more than a card to their immediate family, but they donated to charities based on who they were giving for). How would it be for you to wake up Christmas morning and be given a card that said $200 was donated towards the prevention of children in the sex trade? What if over the next ten years, someone paid for a well that provides clean water for an African village, on your behalf?
What if you woke on Christmas morning to a collage of letters, pictures and other tokens of your relationship with a loved one who has passed on?
What if Christmas became a holiday that was less expressed through the giving of material stuff (crap that simply takes up space) and became more about our relationship with God, even as it is expressed through our relationships with others?
Looking back on my life, these past 24 Christmases, I can testify that the stuff is not hidden away in a box that I rummage through occasionally, crying most of the way through; no, the stuff of Christmases passed hold on only as long as they can prove their practicality to me, awaiting the dumpster when I’m done with them.
Think.
Speak.
NOTE: The Advent Conspiracy itself presents a conundrum I see in the Western Church at large. You see, these three pastors get together and think up a way to truly practice Christmas in our world. Within their idea there is plenty of room to adapt and own it on a relationship-by-relationship scale…but I fear for movements like the Conspiracy in the Church; because I find myself saying, “We should do this around Easter too!! The Lent Conspiracy!” And, “Jesus’ table is obviously misunderstood in the general Church, ‘Eucharist Conspiracy!’” Point being, we like to program things. The institution of the Church tends to mainstream what starts as a true grassroots happening and bastardizes it with flare and commercialism within the Christian industry. Simply put, I like the Advent Conspiracy, but I fear that soon we’ll see it in program form, becoming THE way Christians celebrate Christmas. I pray I’m wrong, but the moment we make this a program is the moment this Conspiracy is no longer.
And the winner of American Idol is…this year’s Superbowl champions…new this year, from 0 to 80mph in 2.3 seconds, a rollercoaster that will warp your mind…a national phenomenon…the packaging is nice, we’re building it to sell…HYPE!!
If you have known me long, you know, I don’t like watching sports; I don’t like amusement parks; I can hardly stand concerts; I am not a fan of much if anything. Even when I take part in things such as the Twilight saga, I stand back and am disgusted by what Hollywood and young girls make it out to be. I know it sounds like I’m against alot, a negative person, a cynical jerk who sucks the fun out of every experience, but if I may, I have come to a new understanding of myself and why these things cause tension within me. It is summed up in a word: hype.
Hype, as a noun, is an exaggeration, a trick, a questionable tact in persuasion, a swindle or deception. Hype is an advertising tool which seeps into family ties and imitates loyalty. It is a deception in which we are convinced of truths that do not exist. There are traditions of our culture based strictly on hype…go to a college football game. In the most extreme cases, our most blessed values are covered in hype. Values such as patriotism, education, competition, forgiveness, freedom, spirituality…all have been covered in hype…how so? When was the last time you heard a guilt-ridden reason for any of these? If you haven’t, I think you should probably ask “why” more often…”Because you’re supposed to” is a step removed from guilt, called socially enforced fear. Hype does not always need to be positive.
I cannot, must not, should not live in a state of hype. Do I like rollercoasters? Yeah. Do I wonder at a spectacular catch? Sure. But I must somehow stop living vicariously through sports players, actors, characters in a book, creators of amusements…this too easily becomes a static existence where hype has usurped my humanity and has even conquered my ability to dream.
Let me anticipate. To anticipate is to preempt, to realize beforehand, to think, live, feel in advance. Yes, let me preempt the final consummation of all that is good; let me realize a kingdom not of this world, yet in this world and still coming to this world right now; let me think, live, and feel as though this kingdom has come already. Let me exist in truth, love, and beauty for what they are and will be, instead of what we have made them out to be. Let me awe in someone’s achievements without the assumption that this is the pinnacle of their existence. Let me not die in hype, rather be realized and pass through death in anticipation. Let me remember a date we memorialize the day that God came to dwell among us in reverence and pure wonder for that fact…what could we add but hype?
*Note: Not all guilt is a product of hype; I speak, rather, of the guilt one might face if one would challenge others to look beyond hype in a practical way (perhaps not buying presents one Christmas?).
*Note: I would also like to bring into the reader’s attention the role of integrity as we consider this understanding of hype.
Apparently when you’re a year and a half married it’s okay to open presents from one another before Christmas. Of course, she got the thing that she most wanted in the world…I think. But if I missed what she wanted this year it would have been because I was deaf, dumb, blind and couldn’t feel with my fingers (unless there’s a new way of reading with taste I think I covered all communicable senses). I, on the other hand, decided a few weeks ago that I did not want a thing within our price range (this was not out of greed, I simply couldn’t find a thing). This is not to say I expected something beyond our price range, but I thought, “My girl knows me, she’ll do well.”
Have you ever gotten a ‘bad gift?’ I’m not talking about Aunt Agatha’s thick knit sweaters. I’m talking about a gift that the person who bought it really thought you would like. They put thought into this, because they love you. They took the time to choose the one style of it they knew you’d love, because they love you. Have you ever gotten a ‘bad gift’ from someone who really loves you?
How do you hide that? How do you smile when you open it after they’ve built it up? How do you prepare for that type of let down, so that you can convince them you love it, because you love them?
I know, I know…Christmas isn’t about all the greed and the commercialism. But we liken Christ to a gift. I’m afraid though, that most of us, if we were honest, would probably think Christ was a ‘bad gift.’ He probably wasn’t what we were expecting. He really doesn’t live up to the hype. Jesus was a let down of a Messiah to everyone He knew, including the disciples.
Sooner or later, I’ll use the ‘bad gift’ she gave. It will never receive the glory of the amazingly, spot-on gift she gets me this or that holiday. But you know, this ‘bad gift’ reminds me in a funny way that my relationship with my wife is a lot more important than the ‘bad gift.’
Though He let many down, and to many He’s been a ‘bad gift,’ Jesus does well to remind us of the relationships that matter. He does well to restore those relationships in big and small ways. In a lot of ways Jesus reminds me that the nature of a gift lies in the relationship between beings. For the relationship that is not broken by the ‘bad gift,’ there is strength on the other side of the let down. For this relationship, there is no ‘bad gift.’
*Note the words ‘bad gift’ have quotes around them at all occurrences. You may interpret these quotations to suggest that the notion of a ‘bad gift’ is subjective. For example, a being that is ultimate may give a ‘bad gift’ due to the receiver’s lack of perception and not due to the ultimate being’s lack of…gift-giving skill?
Qualifier: I do not mean to suggest that Aunt Agatha does not really love you; rather, that the thick knit sweaters express the lack of understanding in your relationship with your Aunt. This is why there is hurt that comes in a close relationship when a ‘bad gift’ is given…the ‘bad gift’ is only considered so for lack of understanding in the relationship…this hurts…ouch
