Umberto Eco, in the preface to the American edition of his book, Travels in hyper reality, said he liked to teach to expound still imperfect ideas and hear the students’ reaction. He called it a “difficult game” because it didn’t always work that you were reassured when you met agreement or had doubts when faced with dissent. Then he says something I found truly profound;
“Sometimes you have to follow the opposite course; Distrust agreement and find in dissent the conformation of your own intuitions.”
That for me epitomizes the nature of Luther’s political philosophy. Martin Luther, for all intents and purposes, was a man who spent pretty much all his life swimming up the proverbial stream. He was a monk who married a nun and then spent the rest of the tie causing all manner of mayhem in the Catholic Church.
I think it’s difficult not to like Luther. He is the kind of rebel you root for and hope his cause is furthered. It seems like he got tired of all the theory and rhetoric of the Catholic Church and decided to come up with a better plan.
His philosophy is based on the idea of dual membership, as ‘O’ Donovan and O’Donovan puts it. The idea is that every Christian is subject to the temporal law and sword, that this is something within the will of God. He talks about Romans 13 that goes on at length about being subject to governing authority and 1Peter 2:13-14 which pretty much reiterates Romans. He says that it is God’s will that temporal authority be used to punish wickedness and protect righteousness.
Luther believes that temporal laws exists or at least needs to exist because of how few Christians there actually are. He talks about true believers having the holy spirit who makes them good; convicts them of sin and righteousness so to speak. He supports this with 1Timothy 1:9; “The law is not laid down not for the first but for the lawless.”
In the same breath, this renegade teaches the Christians to be followers of the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount. He clearly demonstrates the fact that Christians should be in the world but not of it – salt and light. He agrees entirely with Christ in Mathew 22:21 when He says, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.”
He goes on and on about different things; church and state, conduct of believers and the like. Not unlike Eco, he was expounding on his still imperfect ideas and learning through experimentation. Regardless of how much I like the guy though, we don’t see eye to eye on every count. I don’t think one should pick and choose the parts of the Bible to believe in just because some contradict your beliefs. His dislike of the book of James, because in it James talks about faith without works being dead, is one of the things I disagree with Luther on.
There is a song by Maroon 5 titled ‘Moves like Jagger’ and it surprisingly got me thinking about Martin Luther. The song title and the lines of the song pretty much give you the impression that, Adam Levine, the guy singing it, is cool or awesome of whatever such word you’d use to describe him because he associates himself with Mick Jagger. Everyone knows Mick Jagger and the Rolling stones and how profound their music is and so by drawing a comparison between himself and Mick, he is saying to everyone, “I am that good!”
I think of Luther and the greatest compliment I can give him is; he has the moves like the apostle Paul. In a lot of ways, they are like the same person. Paul, formerly Saul, became this ‘rebel’ after seeing the light on the road to Damascus and started a remarked journey fighting the very institution he had once so fervently represented. Through his letters, he helped the churches see for themselves how remarkable the gifts of salvation were and how they should live know the inheritance they had.
Luther, the Paul of the reformation, pretty much followed in his footsteps. He taught faith where the Catholic Church taught the law, the spoke up for what he believed even though doing that was dangerous and he made a major difference with his writings.
So, what are my thoughts on Luther’s political philosophy and writing style? He was radical and passionate and driven: A true game changer with moves like Paul.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Does God have dominion over the world? by Ruth Achilla
The first couple of times I read the question, I was stumped. I mean, how am I supposed to respond to that? I am a Christian and I believe in God and all so the right answer is certainly. Then, I thought about it and tried to figure why I was so sure.
The philosophers certainly thought He did. Irenaeus quotes Paul’s letter to the Romans which basically states that people should be subject to those in authority because they are ordained of God who is pretty much the last point of call in the power hierarchy – the supreme who everyone has to answer too ultimately.
Something else that Irenaeus said caught my attention. I mean it’s all very well that God put a bunch of people in authority over the rest of us. That has been said over and over but the idea that He put the devil under the power of men I feel is profound. The truth is, not only does God have dominion over the world; He has no qualms sharing this sovereign power with men. Talk about a God who is not threatened! The way God exercises His power and authority is a far cry from most of the leaders that I have seen around. There is always the lingering fear of being usurped and so instead of sharing their authority as God does, they often hoard their power and everybody suffers as a result their insecurity.
I think that God’s dominion is evident in the fact that He is just. He cannot stand sin and that causes a rift between Him and man. At the same time though, He is aware of our weakness and because of this, He sends His son to bear all our sin and unrighteousness upon himself. He does this because He is a fair judge. I think in every judgment, the ‘accused’ should have had a choice. By sending Christ, God gives the world the choice for good and for life. In the end, judgment has to be passed because the one who effects the sentence has to see it carried out. As Augustine of Hippos says, “remove justice and what are Kingdoms but gangs of criminals on a large scale?” Judgment, I think, is His way of saying, “I am keeping tabs on the lot of you, so be good.”
In the end of course, like the children that we are, not everyone listens and He has to punish the disobedient. This is the responsibility that comes with His authority over the world.
Then at the same time I think, He has all this power, right? He is the one who put our leaders in place and so on. If He really does control everything, He kind of is making a mess of running things. The political scene right now is going to the dogs and our belief systems are warped. Very few people seem to be living as He intended at all but He still lets that happen even when everything seems to go from bad to worse.
The truth is, so many things about the way God runs things are impossible for me to understand. Often times I find myself comparing the way God runs things to the way a ‘good’ leader would. When you really think about it, there is no way you can draw comparisons. God’s ways are a labyrinth of complexities that the human mind cannot even begin to conceive.
I was listening earlier today to a song by Cece Winans and the lyrics kind of stood out to me. She sung;
I am the I am, I am all that you need
I can Yes, I can and no it ain’t too hard for me.
Do you know do you really believe?
Every day, every night of your life… I am.
So I thought; we could throw arguments back and forth all day and spend endless hours deliberating over all the things that are representations of His dominion but in the end, it’s His air we breathe. You really cannot do better than that!
The philosophers certainly thought He did. Irenaeus quotes Paul’s letter to the Romans which basically states that people should be subject to those in authority because they are ordained of God who is pretty much the last point of call in the power hierarchy – the supreme who everyone has to answer too ultimately.
Something else that Irenaeus said caught my attention. I mean it’s all very well that God put a bunch of people in authority over the rest of us. That has been said over and over but the idea that He put the devil under the power of men I feel is profound. The truth is, not only does God have dominion over the world; He has no qualms sharing this sovereign power with men. Talk about a God who is not threatened! The way God exercises His power and authority is a far cry from most of the leaders that I have seen around. There is always the lingering fear of being usurped and so instead of sharing their authority as God does, they often hoard their power and everybody suffers as a result their insecurity.
I think that God’s dominion is evident in the fact that He is just. He cannot stand sin and that causes a rift between Him and man. At the same time though, He is aware of our weakness and because of this, He sends His son to bear all our sin and unrighteousness upon himself. He does this because He is a fair judge. I think in every judgment, the ‘accused’ should have had a choice. By sending Christ, God gives the world the choice for good and for life. In the end, judgment has to be passed because the one who effects the sentence has to see it carried out. As Augustine of Hippos says, “remove justice and what are Kingdoms but gangs of criminals on a large scale?” Judgment, I think, is His way of saying, “I am keeping tabs on the lot of you, so be good.”
In the end of course, like the children that we are, not everyone listens and He has to punish the disobedient. This is the responsibility that comes with His authority over the world.
Then at the same time I think, He has all this power, right? He is the one who put our leaders in place and so on. If He really does control everything, He kind of is making a mess of running things. The political scene right now is going to the dogs and our belief systems are warped. Very few people seem to be living as He intended at all but He still lets that happen even when everything seems to go from bad to worse.
The truth is, so many things about the way God runs things are impossible for me to understand. Often times I find myself comparing the way God runs things to the way a ‘good’ leader would. When you really think about it, there is no way you can draw comparisons. God’s ways are a labyrinth of complexities that the human mind cannot even begin to conceive.
I was listening earlier today to a song by Cece Winans and the lyrics kind of stood out to me. She sung;
I am the I am, I am all that you need
I can Yes, I can and no it ain’t too hard for me.
Do you know do you really believe?
Every day, every night of your life… I am.
So I thought; we could throw arguments back and forth all day and spend endless hours deliberating over all the things that are representations of His dominion but in the end, it’s His air we breathe. You really cannot do better than that!
What role does God play in modern politics? by Ruth Achilla
My first reaction to the question was a desire to revise it. I thought it should be, ‘What role should God play in modern politics?’ The way I see things, the political scene right now has been so secularized, it’s nearly impossible to imagine God actually participating actively in such a broken down system.
Strangely, a few countries like Uganda throw in a few lines about God in the National anthem. We even have our leaders swear on the Bible as they assume office but in truth, the way political offices are run makes the absence of any true commitment to God painfully obvious.
Let’s go back in time a little, to when God was the central point of the political scene. In Genesis 1:26 (paraphrased) God says, let’s make man in our own image and let them have dominion over the earth. Undoubtedly, it’s clear that God is not anti leadership and he wanted man to have a major role in the creation process.
God seemed to desire a partnership with man and also He shared his power with him. Well as the story goes, man fell and the dynamic shifted from the partnership and fellowship that has earlier existed to there being a few handpicked ‘judges’ who were God’s mouth piece. Then in 1Samuel 8, the people demand for a thing because they want to be like everyday else. By making this demand, God said to Samuel that the people had forsaken Him and betrayed Him after everything they had been through together.
Fast forward back to the present and you realize that things have not really changed from the time of the Israelites and Saul. There is still that constant search for the new revolutionary ‘king’ to lead them only new, the ‘them’ is us and we are repeating the same mistake over again. I think what we do not realize is that God really is not a dictator. I mean he could have a political overhaul in the blink of an eye and throw all the corrupt leaders out of cabinet if he wanted to. He does not do that. As Jesus said to Pilate before his crucifixion, all the authority that Pilate had was God given. This is reiterated in Romans 13 which teaches that there is no authority except for God and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Contrary to what a lot of people think, God is not the man in the sky, looking down on us; irrelevant, archaic and removed from the scheme of things. He actually is responsible for the leaders because there can be no authority that He has not appointed. I think, what we need to understand finally is that to operate with authority, we have to be under authority. There has to be a willingness on our part to stop sideling Him and imagining that God will be pacified by insincere demonstrations of commitment and loyalty. What he wants, like Amos says, is righteousness and justice, not sacrifice.
I think that the role of God is hindered in modern politics not only by the controlling, corrupting thirst for power but also a refusal by leaders who could make a difference to take the leadership reins and restore the partnership that existed before with God.
God is not at war with man, neither is He a weakling with a low self esteem who needs flattery to make Him feel better about Himself. No, He is sovereign and He already has all the power. I think what He is saying to us is when we have a choice, we should choose right.
Strangely, a few countries like Uganda throw in a few lines about God in the National anthem. We even have our leaders swear on the Bible as they assume office but in truth, the way political offices are run makes the absence of any true commitment to God painfully obvious.
Let’s go back in time a little, to when God was the central point of the political scene. In Genesis 1:26 (paraphrased) God says, let’s make man in our own image and let them have dominion over the earth. Undoubtedly, it’s clear that God is not anti leadership and he wanted man to have a major role in the creation process.
God seemed to desire a partnership with man and also He shared his power with him. Well as the story goes, man fell and the dynamic shifted from the partnership and fellowship that has earlier existed to there being a few handpicked ‘judges’ who were God’s mouth piece. Then in 1Samuel 8, the people demand for a thing because they want to be like everyday else. By making this demand, God said to Samuel that the people had forsaken Him and betrayed Him after everything they had been through together.
Fast forward back to the present and you realize that things have not really changed from the time of the Israelites and Saul. There is still that constant search for the new revolutionary ‘king’ to lead them only new, the ‘them’ is us and we are repeating the same mistake over again. I think what we do not realize is that God really is not a dictator. I mean he could have a political overhaul in the blink of an eye and throw all the corrupt leaders out of cabinet if he wanted to. He does not do that. As Jesus said to Pilate before his crucifixion, all the authority that Pilate had was God given. This is reiterated in Romans 13 which teaches that there is no authority except for God and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Contrary to what a lot of people think, God is not the man in the sky, looking down on us; irrelevant, archaic and removed from the scheme of things. He actually is responsible for the leaders because there can be no authority that He has not appointed. I think, what we need to understand finally is that to operate with authority, we have to be under authority. There has to be a willingness on our part to stop sideling Him and imagining that God will be pacified by insincere demonstrations of commitment and loyalty. What he wants, like Amos says, is righteousness and justice, not sacrifice.
I think that the role of God is hindered in modern politics not only by the controlling, corrupting thirst for power but also a refusal by leaders who could make a difference to take the leadership reins and restore the partnership that existed before with God.
God is not at war with man, neither is He a weakling with a low self esteem who needs flattery to make Him feel better about Himself. No, He is sovereign and He already has all the power. I think what He is saying to us is when we have a choice, we should choose right.
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