I want to thank everyone for their affirming comments and interesting discussions of my sermon of a couple of weeks ago, "The Bible Says: ‘We Need More Than the Bible.’" It was based on Jesus’ words as recorded in John 15:12-13: “I have much more to tell you, but now it would be too much for you to bear. But when the Spirit of truth comes, he will lead you into all the truth."

At last week’s American Baptist Biennial there was an excellent conference on "Biblical Authority." I picked up a couple of worthwhile quotes from the participants. The first has to do with the primacy of Jesus over scripture. We believe in scripture because it points us to Jesus. We do not believe in Jesus because we believe in scripture. The second has to do with the importance of maintaining the tension between the Spirit and the written Word.

The first was from David Bartlett:

©C. David Hess

There have been a whole slew of articles in the news media recently about the latest "scholarly" findings in the search for the "historical" Jesus. Prominently mentioned is the work of the "Jesus Seminar." These scholars declared that most (82% to be exact) of what the New Testament says Jesus said, Jesus did not in fact say. They present a Jesus stripped of any vestige of the supernatural or miraculous (Time magazine refers to such portrayals as "the incredible shrinking Jesus").

These "latest" findings are hardly all that recent. Such portrayals of Jesus have been fairly common since the nineteenth century. These portrayals generally reveal more about the scholar and his or her presuppositions than they do about Jesus. I. Howard Marshall; a New Testament Professor at the University of Aberdeen Scotland, in his book, I Believe in the Historical Jesus, warns that the word, "historical," when attached to Jesus is often a loaded term. It is used in a specialized sense which may trap the unwary. It does not mean simply ‘Jesus as he really was’ but rather ‘Jesus as the ordinary man that he must have been.’”

It is laughable to think that Jesus’ disciples, to whom he meant so much, would remember so few of his words or distort them as much as the "Jesus Seminar" represents. This is not to say that the gospel portrayals are 100% accurate in all the details of Jesus’ words or actions. Obviously they are not; they do not even completely agree among themselves about all the details. Too much should not be made of this. To again quote Marshall:

This past Sunday's sermon was on "The Fires of Waco." Some quotations in the sermon are worthy of wider circulation. Several of the quotations refer to hell. The quotations are certainly applicable to Waco, as well as hell as it is experienced in this life and the next.

"God does not punish us; we punish ourselves. Those who are in hell are there by their own choice. Indeed, they could walk right out of it if they so chose, except that their values are such as to make the path out of hell appear overwhelmingly dangerous, frighteningly painful, and impossibly difficult. So they remain in hell because it seems safe and easy to them. They prefer it that way... The notion that people are in hell by their own choice is not widely familiar, but the fact is that it is both good psychology and good theology." --M. Scott Peck

"I willingly believe that the damned are, in one sense, successful, rebels to the end; that the doors of hell are locked on the inside." --C. S. Lewis

"It's not a question of God 'sending' us to Hell. In each of us there is something growing up which will of itself be Hell unless it is nipped in the bud. The matter is serious: let us put ourselves in His hands at once---this very day, this hour." --C. S. Lewis

"There are dozens of ways to deal with evil and several ways to conquer it. All of them are facets of the truth that the only ultimate way to conquer evil is to let it be smothered within a willing, living human being. When it is absorbed there like blood in a sponge or a spear into one's heart, it loses its power and goes no further." --Gale D. Webbe

The prime example of the latter is Christ.

©C. David Hess

Sex and religion have been in the news a lot lately. There was an article in The Post Standard early last week about a gathering of students at SUNY at Morrisville. The purpose of the meeting was to talk to students about sexual responsibility. In order to drum up attendance, the event featured a Fake Orgasm Contest (I’ll leave the particulars to your imagination). The contest had its intended effect---attendance was great. Some objected that the contest also had an unintended effect in that it seemed to be at cross purposes with the primary message the event was to get across. As for the religion part---a local priest was to be one of the judges of the contest, but his bishop nixed his participation. (They didn’t ask me to take his place even though I would have been at least as qualified as he to judge it).

The other event of the week was the publication of the survey of the sex life of Americans by the University of Chicago. Among its interesting findings was the fact that conservative Protestant women, such as Baptists and Pentecostals, were most likely to report that they always had an orgasm. No reason was offered as to why this was the case. Indeed, it seems to go against popular opinion. In the popular view, conservative religious people perceive sex as dirty and are thus sexually repressed. This view is clearly wrong.

Might it be instead that conservative religious people are most likely to view sex, not as dirty, but as holy? (Holy---because we are sharing in the creative powers of God). It is this high view of sex which causes them to preserve its use only within the confines of a lifelong commitment and increases their enjoyment of it. Could it not be also that objections to the Fake Orgasm Contest were at root an emotional reaction to the trivialization of a holy act. I don’t know, but at least this survey should give us a good marketing slogan for our next “Bring a Friend” Sunday---”Baptists have better sex.”

©C. David Hess

On ABC News last week Tony Campolo was shown being escorted in handcuffs through the rotunda of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. It was reported that he had been arrested for demonstrating against proposed welfare cuts. This was part of a larger piece concerning the fact that the Christian Coalition does not represent the beliefs of all evangelical Christians. The reporter pointed out that it was evident which group of evangelicals has greater political power. While Tony was being arrested, Ralph Reed, the head of the Christian Coalition, was meeting with Newt Gingrich in his office. (The reporter was not being completely accurate here. Tony probably met with Pres. Clinton in the White House sometime during the same trip).

I don’t know how Tony’s being arrested struck you, but it reminded me that sometimes the most admirable place for a Christian to be is in jail (I’m leaving aside any discussion of welfare. Everyone knows it needs to be reformed. We just don’t agree on the best way to do it). Paul wrote a good portion of the Bible while in prison. Martin Luther King, Jr. and many others went to jail during the civil rights movement because they would not observe unjust laws.

I am reminded too of the story of when Henry David Thoreau went to jail rather than pay his poll tax to a state that supported slavery. He was visited by his good friend, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson peered through the bars and exclaimed, "Why, Henry, what are you doing in there?"

The uncowed Thoreau replied, "Nay, Ralph, the question is, what are you doing out there?"

©1996 C. David Hess

As I have indicated many times, I believe movies are one of these best reflections of the beliefs and yearnings of our society. As a regular moviegoer, I must say that this summer’s pickings have been rather slim. One of the more enjoyable flicks I have seen recently was Dead Again, a 1940’s murder mystery that finally gets solved in the ‘90’s with a little help from reincarnation.

To the surprise of many reviewers this movie has become a hit. Time magazine says: "...nothing quite accounts for this silly movie’s surprise success. The idea of having but one life to lead has always been a bummer, but never more than it is for today’s health-conscious audience. Movies like this one (and Ghost) suggest that working and eating right are not in vain. If they can’t assure immortality, they may at least keep you fit for the second go-around.”

I am certainly not one who believes in reincarnation (but as a character in the movie reminds the audience, this places me in the minority of the population of our planet). However, the success of the movie underscores what Leslie Newbigin calls "the myth of the secular society." This refers to the idea that the modern world will outgrow its need to view life in metaphysical and religious terms. The success of such movies as this is at least part of the evidence that the secularization of our society is a myth.

Rodney Stark, Professor of Sociology at Washington University, has written, "[The evidence] leads to the conclusion that secularization will not usher in a post-religious era. Instead, it will repeatedly lead to a resupply of vigorous otherworldly religious organizations by prompting revival."

This seemingly continual need for the transcendent indicates a ready audience for the Christian gospel.


©C. David Hess