Lesson 7 Flashcards
Jesus as a role model
-All Christians, whether they believe Jesus to be divine or human, see Jesus as a role model for Christian living.
-The more human Jesus is, the more relevant his example is, although perhaps it is then less authoritative.
-Conversely, perhaps the more divine Jesus is, the more irrelevant his example is (since no human could do likewise), but the more authority it has.
What does it mean if Jesus is understood to be divine
If Jesus is understood to be divine, then clearly human beings should model their behaviour on the qualities of God which Jesus exemplifies.
The teaching of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount is supported by Jesus’ own behaviour during his arrest and trial. When he was arrested, he submitted and did not fight to defend himself.
WWJD?
-For some Christians (for example, those from Evangelical Christian denominations),
-the phrase ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ has been adopted as a slogan reminding them to act in accordance with Jesus’ principle of love, applied in all situations.
-‘WWJD’ has merit only if Jesus’ example is relevant to, and possible for, ordinary human beings, or human beings empowered by the Spirit.
Jesus - conflicts
-However, although the Gospels do not ever show Jesus engaging in fighting, he sometimes found himself in conflict with the authorities.
-His response to the dealers and money-changers in the Temple precinct was to turn over the tables and drive out the merchants, accusing them of being thieves.
-For some Christians, this willingness to respond vigorously to injustice provides a model that allows them to do the same.
Where did process thought arise from?
-Process thought arose primarily from the work of the English philosopher and mathematician Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947).
-Whitehead was fascinated by quantum mechanics, which in simple terms is the science of the very small.
-Whereas models of the universe from the time of Isaac Newton (1643-1727) tended to see the universe as a gigantic kind of mechanism working by precise mathematical laws, quantum mechanics began to reveal a universe in a constant dynamic of flux and change, and according to Whitehead, God is also growing and changing.
-This is the background from which Griffin’s Process Theology evolved. Griffin’s rejection of ‘creation from nothing’, and his rejection of God as the Creator
Main starting point of griffins theodicy
-The main point from which Griffin starts his theodicy concerns the Christian view of creation ex nihilo - ‘creation out of nothing’, which most Christians assume is the way that God created the world in Genesis 1:1-3.
-Griffin insists that this is based on a mistranslation of the text
More likely Hebrew translation
‘In the beginning of God’s creating the heavens and the earth, the earth being without form and void, and darkness being upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God moving over the face of the waters, God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.’
Griffins main beliefs
• The universe is uncreated, and eternal - it was always there.
• What was there was primitive, unformed matter, that is, chaos.
• God was also always there, and just as human minds and bodies exist together, God and the universe exist together. The technical word is that they exist ‘panentheistically’, meaning everything is in God. Equally,
What was gods role?
-God is ‘in the universe, so both are eternal and uncreated.
-God’s role was therefore creative in the sense that he persuaded matter away from chaos into a state of greater order and complexity.
-The development of the galaxies we now see is one aspect of this persuasion. The evolution of life on earth is another
Rejection of omnipotence
-Perhaps the main source of the Christian belief that God is omnipotent (all powerful) is the doctrine of creation out of nothing, because a God who can literally bring the universe into existence from nothing would truly have unlimited power.
-But, if God did not create the universe from nothing, then he cannot have unlimited power, because there is something he cannot do: he cannot now create the universe, since it has always existed.
God is in the universe and the universe is in god - not omnipotent
-chaotic matter has some power of its own to resist God.
-analogy between human minds and bodies.
-We only ever see minds that are connected with bodies, so it makes sense to think of God and the universe in the same kind of way:
-God is ‘in’ the universe and the universe is ‘in’ God in the same way that our minds and bodies are both part of one thing - a human being.
-We are mental and physical unities, and we can understand the idea of God / the universe being a similar unity.
-Equally, your mind can control some of the workings of its body, but as Jesus says in Matthew 16:27, try adding to your height (or your lifespan) just by being anxious about it.
-If the mind of God seeks to persuade the vastness of the universe (or the multiverse), it has presumably taken him 13.7 billion years since the Big Bang to organise the universe into the form in which we now see it.
-God’s power on this kind of thinking is immense, but it is not unlimited, so God is not omnipotent.
