Paradox Power Activate… form of a lioness in a mud puddle!
Okay, so I couldn’t resist the reference to the Wonder Twins from the Justice League. They were my favorite because they had to work together, which was a convenient role to imitate when my brother Sam and I would play. Never mind the fact that the real (fake) wonder twins were a boy and a girl. I also found it curious that the girl could turn into the cool animals, while the brother was relegated to becoming a form of water. The image seared in my head is of the sister as an eagle carrying a mop bucket filled with her brother’s water form.
In the recent controversy surrounding Rob Bell’s book Love Wins there was a curious interview by MSNBC host Martin Bashir. He gave Pastor Bell this ultimatum. Either God is all powerful and doesn’t care about people since he can’t prevent disasters. Or He cares but is not all powerful.
Pastor Bell responded that this is a paradox and didn’t elaborate, and since the interviewer was also aware of the verbal trap he had set, he didn’t continue with the question either.
Paradox. God, it seems clear through scripture, loves paradox. While I personally believe that God is infinitely logical, I also believe that mankind is infinitely incompatible of comprehending God. As the Apostle Paul wrote, “we see through a glass dimly.” Much as a fun house mirror distorts perception, our ability to understand the infinite is distorted because we are finite.
Hence in this world we are faced with a number of paradoxes. Statements that appear, on the surface, to contradict each other. For example; a smart idiot. A kind bully. A generous miser. Etc…
God even says that he uses the foolish to confound the wise. Wisdom of God is foolishness to man. And inversely man’s wisdom makes God snort milk through His nose. I’m just glad we can be of entertainment value to the divine.
Some examples of God’s wisdom and the apparent paradox:
It is better to give then to receive.
True leaders serve.
Jesus’ command to love our enemies. His command that when an enemy compels us to go one mile (carrying all their burdens), we are to go with him a second mile, voluntarily.
In our weakness, He (God) is strong.
God is both just and loving. God’s justice demands separation (Hell), but God’s love demanded redemption (Heaven).
We have free will to live the life that God has predestined us to live.
When we surrender our lives to God, we triumph. By losing our life, we gain it.
Saint Francis put it better than I could ever hope to capture so I’ll quote someone else for a change.
“O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.”
The ultimate paradox that causes so much consternation seems to be that of God and His personhood. Specifically the concept of the Trinity. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. While the term trinity is not found in the Bible, the concept of a triune God revealed in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is a clear teaching in the New Testament.
This creates a number of uncomfortable conclusions. In my conversations with Muslims, Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons and skeptics the following questions come up a lot: Are Christians Polytheistic? Did God “know” the Virgin Mary? How could God forsake Jesus on the cross? And if not, then why was Jesus talking to himself? And How can God know stuff that Jesus doesn’t know?
And if God is all powerful and can do anything, then can he make a rock so big that even He can’t lift it? If he can’t lift the rock then he’s not all powerful. But if he can’t make a rock big enough then he can’t do anything.
Seriously though, the rock thing weighs heavily on me.
In my discussions with my Muslim friends their selling point for Islam is one based on reason. I’ve had a number of them tell me straight up that Christianity is confusing, but Islam just makes sense. Its logical and something we can understand right now. Jehovah Witnesses have used the same argument. “God isn’t the author of confusion” is one line I’ve heard a number of times.
To quote myself, “Islam is the perfect man-made religion.” And I mean it. Which is why I’m not a Muslim. For starters, God created men and women both in His image. So treating half of mankind worse then the other half is at best problematic … but I won’t go there in this article.
Assuming that those trying to convert me are correct and that Islam does make perfect sense to finite man, then doesn’t it reveal an even deeper flaw in the religion? Complexity is a sure sign of authenticity. Something that purports to make perfect sense to an idiot like me is lacking.
Said another way… Christianity is confusing, mysterious, beyond man. And I like that. It gives me great peace to know that there is a God bigger, smarter and more powerful then me.
That’s the power of paradox.
When your religion makes perfect sense to you, then it is as powerful as you. Good luck with that. I would say “God bless” but you and I both know that isn’t going to happen when “god” is just a slave to our understanding.
Proverbs 3:4-6 “So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding.”
Try this paradox on for size. By losing the right to know everything, you’ll understand more than humanly possible.
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