catapult magazine

Want to put money down on when and where the next terrorist strike will be? Now you can. Sponsored by the US government:

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/07/29/politics/29TERR.html?hp

i am torn between a number of positions. first i just have to say to grant that tolstoy is an incredible novelist, but in my ‘humble’ opinion a lousy historian. i agree with tolstoy that human autonomy is a myth but to assert that humans are slaves to history? doesn’t that negate one’s responsibility for the choices one makes? history made me do it! i am controlled by teleology, so that i murdered this person is not my fault. this makes humans automatons rather than autonomous; i agree that humans do not often have control over the choices before them, but one still has to do the best with what one has. i guess that is a variation on what dan and laryn said about human decisions.

in that same vein, grant you talked about one conforming to the spirit of Christ and by doing so speaking the words of God. i would have thought of that being something to look forward to in the new earth but not a possibility in this world, or at least not one generally associated with passing judgement on others. or am i misunderstanding what you are saying? personally i had always thought of such statements in the bible in the context of calvin’s assertion that when ministers preach the Word they are speaking the words of God.

i guess i am not sure that christians have anymore right to judge than anyone else; how do you talk about judgement in areas that have never heard the gospel? thus, as grant pointed out we are not privy to the end result, i am not certain that christian or not anyone should pass judgement, there is just something so final sounding in the word judgement. the book of revelation may provide hope that death is not the end but that seems to be it, ‘hope with no guarantees’. i guess what i am resolving on is that God’s revelation and the guidance that the Holy Spirit gives believers the wisdom to realize the finiteness of their own ability to make right decisions in their own lives; not to be hasty in drawing conclusions about other’s lives and when we do those conclusions should be open ended.

BushCo does have to be critiqued in light of the end, but what is the end? 2 Peter 3 tells us that the end is this: “both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.” In light of this end the primary question is whether BushCo and any other earthly authority is creating an environment conducive to the advance of the gospel. We are commanded to pray for kings (and presidents!) so that we (the church) may lead a quiet and peaceable life, worshipping God in peace.

As to conforming to the Spirit of Christ, I think we have to be careful. First, the Word is sufficient for its own purposes (the power of God to salvation), not ours. The Bible is not a book on politics. It won’t tell us whether it’s better to drink Miller or Guinness (though my opinion is that if it did, it would much prefer Guinness). If we say the Bible does make assertions about things is really doesn’t (say, a particular political issue), we run into the problem that Dan pointed out, the same Spirit making different statements to different people. Rather, we ought to bear in mind that a person may be a Democrat or a Republican, but the Spirit says the same to each: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The central message of the Bible respects salvation, not politics. It is sufficient for salvation, but not for politics.

The point is that we should be very careful bringing the Bible into political discourse. That having been said, I would argue that the Christian is in a better position to make judgments about politics because of the wisdom gained in studying God’s Word. He knows human nature well. Still, a Christian is not necessarily a better politician, simply by virtue of being a true Christian. Also, a Christian is only speaking the words of God when the Spirit is speaking through him. That happens most commonly with preaching. How can we know whether the Spirit or some false spirit is speaking? We are called to test spirits (1 John 4:1ff). One who is speaking God’s words will not contradict Scripture.

Christians do not have the right to judge the hearts of others (1 Cor 4:5). Still, Jesus says, “You will know them by their fruits.” And Paul says, “Now I myself am confident concerning you my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.” God has given us what is necessary to judge other people’s words and actions, but we cannot judge their heart motivations. Thus, we are commanded to love the sinner (not judging his heart) and to hate the sin (judging actions and words as righteous or sinful).

Where Bush’s heart really is and what his true motivations are, only God knows. We ought to stick to critquing his words and actions.