On Monday - Wednesday - Friday I teach Theology 101. This is the general education requirement for students attending Dordt College - a Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Reformed tradition. Because it is a Gen Ed. requirement most of the students are either underclassmen, or upper classmen who have avoided taking it. Overall, it really is a joy to teach.
Today we had an interesting discussion. Students are required to read C.S. Lewis' The Magician's Nephew, mainly to help get them to think differently about reading scripture. So many Christians want to treat the Bible like a doctrinal text book - open up to Genesis 12:3 and pull out doctrines X,Y, or Z and apply them to life abstractly, ripped out of context. It's really amazing the idols we are able to construct for ourselves treating the Bible this way - making God in our own image. The Magician's Nephew forces the reader to think about story, which I believe is the proper way to view scripture. Not story as in "myth" or "fairy tale" - please know that I believe the Bible is rooted in historical events. But story as in narrative. This is really the power of the Bible - the narrative. The powerful story of God acting - creating, redeeming, re-creating; first in the history of Israel (Old Testament) and more fully in the person of Jesus Christ (New Testament).
The discussion this morning focused on the idea of "magic". In the Magician's Nephew, the adults have a difficult time in Narnia. Uncle Andrew does not hear the song of Aslan as he sings creation into existence. He sees the new world from a utilitarian perspective, focusing primarily on the money he could make exploiting the resources of the new land. His reaction to the world of Narnia is fear - which instinctively leads to the desire for control. The kids, however, see the world differently. They are awed by it. They hear the sweet song Aslan sings - and make the connection between the melody and the creation it brings forth. This discussion always makes me think about my kids - especially my daughter. She is 5 - and she is in love with the world. She talks to the moon and the sun, she plays with ladybugs, loves to lay in the snow, and watch the clouds. To her, the world is magical. Things happen....leaves turn yellow, the sun sets, the rain falls, and she doesn't understand how any of it works. But that's ok by her. As far as she is concerned all of life is magical. She believes in God, and knows that Jesus is in her heart - although she cannot figure out how he got in there - but that does not diminish the magic.
So what happens? How do we go from small children enchanted with the world to adults who are bored with it all? Don't get me wrong...I believe learning is a good thing. I think C.S. Lewis does too. After all having faith like a child does not mean being immature or stupid...it means being open to the possibility of mystery and magic. So why does so much "schooling" tend to destroy this sense of mystery instead of foster it? Why does Christianity, and more specifically Christian worship, get turned into cold, abstract, doctrinal propositions, and 30 minute lectures that explain everything? Especially since the scriptures are ripe with mystery and symbols...the waters of baptism, the bread and wine somehow connected to the body and the blood, a baby born in a manger that somehow is both fully God and fully human...And think about the stories! Bread falling from the sky, waters parting, Kings, prophets, fire from the sky - all the makings of an exciting narrative - a great story! And yet we get soooo bored with it all. Amazing.
This is what we talked about today in class.
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Perhaps we get bored, and worship turns into cold, doctrinal propositions because in some of the Reformed church tradition we insist on having a "teaching" service at night where we learn the doctrinal truths, that even though it doesn't have to, easily leads to "cold, abstract, doctrinal propositions." Then we decide we like that so we ask for it in the first service as well, and then since we're supposed to learn something, the things that we can't understand don't get talked about because then we wouldn't be learning and thus we lose much of our sense of mystery. I don't know if this comment makes any sense, but hopefully you can get something out of it. --Justin
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