The Orthodox Heretic: The Believer

This tale is about a man named Leon who was never interested in religion or religious activities.  One day one of Leon's friends was walking by the church that was in the middle of the town and noticed that Leon was kneeling at the altar and praying.  The friend knew that Leon had fallen on hard times and believed that Leon was probably praying about that particular situation.  As he went in and got closer to Leon he recognized that he was praying a folk prayer that was thought to bring both health and wealth.  He then interrupted Leon and asked him why he was praying such a prayer since he didn't believe in such things.  Leon replied that he indeed did not believe in it, but that the priest had informed him that the prayer worked even if one didn't believe in it.

In his commentary on this tale, Rollins talks about how this kind of thinking is found in many areas of our lives.  We may have things that we vehemently disagree with, but because they have become an acceptable part of our culture we participate in them.  He emphasizes the importance of having practices and structures that inform our lives but that sometimes they take over the basis of our beliefs.  So in effect to convince someone of the existence of God doesn't mean that we talk to them directly, but we must converse with their belief system.

After You Believe

I recently finished N.T. Wright's new book, After You Believe, which I received from The Ooze Viral Bloggers program. This book is a sequel to two of his earlier writings, Simply Christian and Surprised By Hope, and while you do not need to read the earlier books to make sense of this one, I would recommend it because they are good books. On that note I will have to proclaim that I loved this book. I thought that it was really well written and could be easily understood by persons from varying academic levels. There is a tad bit of redundancy, but that did not bother since he is constantly pointing to the theme of his book. I also loved the book for the content of what he had to say. I am currently ministering in a holiness denomination that is very concerned about the transformation that takes place after we come to a belief in Christ. But I feel that Wright's insights in this book can speak to much of the discussion that is currently being held over how holiness is manifested in our lives. I appreciated how he equated the possession of virtue to a habit and how one needs to make conscious decisions based around a virtue until they take hold in our life and become second nature. There is a much larger discussion in the book that I will not get into here.

Another key theme that I loved is how Wright talked about the point of Christian virtue being to show what the Kingdom of God looks like. The end is not in displaying said virtues, but the end is about becoming who we will be for all of eternity. It is about looking forward and not being content with the present and thinking that we have fully arrived. I especially like this since this kind of thinking should prevent us becoming apathetic, which many in my denomination internally struggle.

Lastly, as I usually feel reading one of Wright's book, I'm reminded how little I look at Paul's writing holistically. This is more my own personal issue, but I love how Wright is able to take the full scope of Paul's writing and make it palatable for his readers. I love this approach to scripture, instead of seeing it only through the broken parts (chapters, verses or passages) that I have used in the past. Slowly I am getting there and am thankful for the way that Wright presents this approach through his writing.

Get this book!

The Orthodox Heretic: Betrayal

This tale is about a temple master who has poured his life and teaching into a young disciple but was concerned that he would not reach enlightenment. One day he pulled this young disciples aside and told him that he was worried that one day he would betray his teachings. The young disciple vehemently denied this accusation by saying that there was not a time in the day when one of the teachings of the master were not on his mind. In fact he studied the teachings of the master so that he could be faithful to them at all times. The master replied that the fact that he has never betrayed his teachings and swears to never do that, is in fact to betray him.

Here we are encountered with the interplay between teaching and letting go. Any good teacher wants their students to surpass them and forge their own way. The teacher is in fact wanting the student to exhibit a faithful betrayal.

The Orthodox Heretic: God Joins the Army

This tale is about an independent island who was on the verge of being attacked by a neighboring nation and their dictator. The dictator had a massive army and the people of the island began to worry about the seemingly inevitable battle with this army. The inhabitants of the island were deeply religious people and never did anything without first consulting the oracle in the community. So they went to her house to see what wisdom she could impart to them. In anticipation of this she had spent the previous day in mediation. Unfortunately she had bad news for the island. In her meditation she had found out that God was on the side of the invading army. The people flew into a panic and were only settled down by the chief who was well respected by everyone. The next morning he assembled every man who was able to fight. He sent home those that had children or who had been married for less than a year. All in all they were left with about a thousand men to fight this many army. The battle was very bloody but for some reason the invading army lost the fight. Upon returning home the people asked the chief how they won against an army that over matched them so heavily. He said that whenever God was involved the oppressed always win.

In his commentary Rollins brings up a few places in scripture where God is defeated by people we wouldn't normally think about. (ex. Jacob, Jesus with the Samaritan woman seeking healing for her daughter) We see in scripture that God has a soft spot for the oppressed even to the point where God is willing to take defeat. This is the God that we serve.

The Orthodox Heretic: The Agnostic Who Became An Atheist

This tale is about a philosopher who took up the task to once and for all prove that God did not exist. He began to read the many arguments that have been given over the years in order to fully understand the scope of his project. He even began to publish a series of volumes that dealt with the subject as well. Needless to say the philosopher was very respected by his many peers. Upon completion of his final volume he was not fully satisfied with his life's work and so he set out and studied and researched for another 16 years. Then one night in his study he felt a deep stillness descend on the room. He then heard the voice of God speak to him. God said that he was very impressed with the diligence of the man but that he could not complete the task without the help of God. So God said that he would let the man in on a secret which was that God did not exist. A smile crept across the philosophers face and he never returned to his study. In its place he dedicated his life to serving the poor.

In the commentary section Rollins expounds on his reason for this tale. Jroddy's paraphrase of it goes something like this. One cannot truly be an atheist because they have to reject some particular view of God. But the problem that lies in our arguments is that they are both bound by temporal and spatial factors. We cannot conceive of a God outside of these presuppositions that we bring to the argument. But the hope is that once we can get to that place we will stop arguing about God and in turn become the manifestation of God. That is what happens to the philosopher in this tale.