Francis Berger
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What Is the Essence - the "What It Is" - of Christianity?

2/12/2022

2 Comments

 
What is the essence of Christianity? What is its "what it is"? More to the point, what should it be? 

By essence I am not referring to doctrines or denominations or theology, but more to the "is-ness" of Christianity . What is its indispensable quality -- the quality that should be "essential" to all Christian doctrines, denominations, and theology but can also exist beyond any Christian doctrine, denomination, or theology?

Well, I think the "what it is" of Christianity is about relationships between beings, especially between the divine and the human, which serves common purpose; a relationship in which the divine and human "depend" on each other. 

Classical, traditional, orthodox theology also refers to relationships between the divine and the human, but the "what it is" of classical, traditional, orthodox theology emphasizes a one-sided contingent relationship - man depends on God and needs God for everything, while God does not depend on or need man for anything.

Why?

Because God is an entirely different category of being (he is a being and the source of all beings) that does not need or depend on anything or anyone in order to be or to become (but God has no need to become anything because he already is everything and anything that can be).

This immediately raises questions about why this Omnigod – who has no need of anything and who is perfectly fulfilled as an independent being – would bother with Creation in the first place.

Classical theology always pounds the table about logic, but then goes on to explain Creation as a gratuitous act of love, which is fascinating when you consider that gratuitous means both "free" and "superfluous." Thus, God created of his own free will, but Creation itself is not necessary to God and God would be perfectly content without it.

Having outlined all of that, classical theology then goes on to insist that man still matters (why would he?) and that God is still "relational" (why would He bother)?

So, why does man matter? Well, because God decided man matters, that's why (no real "logical" explanation provided other than the notion that man should submissively worship God and thank God for everything and serve him even though God doesn’t depend on this worship, gratitude, or service).

Why does God want to establish relationships with us when he doesn't really need to? Well, because he loves us, even though he doesn't really need to love us because we are in an entirely different category of being and can never understand him. On top of that, it doesn't really matter if we love him or not because he doesn't depend on that love.

In fact, the only downside to not loving God is you end up spiritually destroying yourself -- but this spiritual destruction does not affect God in any way because he is perfectly and absolutely self-sufficient and not dependent on anything.

In my mind, this is not the essence – the what it is – of Christianity -- or at the very least, it shouldn't be.

The essence of Christianity - "the what it is" (I dislike these philosophical terms, but don't know how else to put it) should be relational - relationships between beings.

Most importantly, the relationship between the human and the divine – a relationship in which man needs God, but God also needs man. 


The basis of this relationship is love. Not love as a virtue or love as an emotion, but love as a metaphysical reality.

​The kind of love that is only possible between beings who see themselves in each other, who need each other, recognize a shared purpose, and freely commit to actively working toward a common goal – a common goal that elevates both man and God through the expansion of freedom and love.


Note: This post was inspired by a comment I left on Bruce Charlton's Notions.

Note added: What I have presented above is obviously a gross simplification of classical, traditional, orthodox theology, but the simplification serves a purpose. This purpose is not to label classical theology as all wrong, but rather to point out where classical theology can be deepened and expanded. Classic theology's glorification of God frequently comes at the price of debasing man. I believe any debasement of man is also a debasement of God. If it weren't, the demonic forces would not work so hard to debase man at every turn. 
2 Comments
Lady Mermaid link
2/12/2022 22:20:00

The "limitations" of God go back to love. When discussing the nature of power, it's important to remember that just because something can be done doesn't mean it should be done. Perhaps when addressing the nature of God, we might ponder whether God should do something rather than whether He can.

As to why God didn't simply create heaven directly, I don't know that there will be perfect understanding in this life. However, I believe it goes back to love. God could override man's free will today and cause everyone to repent and worship Him. It would be much more efficient and reduce a lot of suffering. However, this would not be real love. Man would become an automation. God wants real children who He can have relationships with. If man is incapable of doing evil, then how can he be capable of choosing good?

While I'm not a Mormon, I find their account of Satan's fall to provide some food for thought. The Mormon account depicts Satan as being a universalist with a plan of salvation in which every man will eventually be saved w/ no possibility of damnation. However, Jesus offers mankind freedom w/ the risk of damnation. The Father and Christ stand for free will whereas Satan stands for security.

To be honest, Satan's plan sounds quite tempting. Many people today claim that God cannot possibly be good if even one man is damned. This goes back to building real relationships based on love. If man is incapable of resisting God forever, then how can he truly love God?

The real issue is freedom versus security. The world today wants security more than ever. However, love is about taking risks. My flesh wants a world in which God will eventually save everyone from themselves. Thankfully, God has more wisdom in giving us freedom even if it leads to messier outcomes.

Reply
Francis Berger
2/13/2022 17:12:06

@Lady Mermaid - Your point about Mormons/Satan matches very well with Dostoevsky's Legend of the Grand Inquisitor - evil as Ahriman. We are living it now, and it slowly giving way to Sorath.

"The "limitations" of God go back to love." Yes, and freedom, which is synonymous with love as a deep metaphysical reality, and this deep metaphysical reality depends on relationship -- and the contingent freedom of man does not address this fully.

Love is about taking risks, and taking risks involves the exercise of freedom. The only question that remains is the nature of freedom -- is it God-given? If it is, a certain reality emerges. If it isn't God-given, another reality emerges.

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