Plagiarism and the love of God

I was struck by two news articles I read in this morning's paper that on the surface have little to do with each other, but given my present state of mind promoted some furious thinking.

The first ("Schools not yet minding Minister's cheating edict," National Post, Sept. 28/11, p. A1) bemoaned the fact that in Saskatchewan students caught cheating and plagiarizing had only to re-do the assignment, with no impact on the mark received.

[As a former university dean who dealt with student discipline issues, I can assure you that plagiarism and purchasing essays from paper mills are academic problems in far more places than just that prairie province. Amazingly, when they are caught in this particular act, students are very surprised that they are given an F for the paper, or in a few cases, for the course. They anticipate a little lecture from the kindly official, a slap on the wrist, and a chance to make it up in some progressive fashion. They found that they were dealing with the wrong dean.]

The second article ("Hardly draconian: A law professor takes readers through the government's omnibus criminal-justice bill," National Post, Sept. 28/11 p. A13) addresses, among other things, the lack of accountability for the perpetrators of serious crimes, particularly towards children.

Accountability for deliberate and serious wrongdoing is the common thread, of course. What this prompted in my mind was last Sunday's discussion at neXus on the doctrine of Hell. As those in attendance know, a local pastor and writer named Brad Jersak has written a book that attempts to show (pretty well, in my view) that the teaching regarding Hell is metaphoric and that it was never intended to indicate a literal place to which a large portion of the human race would be consigned for all eternity for their sins.

I enjoyed the discussion very much, and heartily recommend Jersak's book, Her Gates Will Never be Shut. It did leave me with a problem, however. Hell has always been seen as a means of accountability. Reject Christ--go to Hell. Too much sinning--broil for eternity. Consider the revivalist American preacher Jonathan Edwards:

The sight of Hell's torments will exalt the happiness of the saints forever...Can the believing father in Heaven be happy with his unbelieving children in Hell...I tell you, yea! Such will be his sense of justice that it will increase rather than diminish his bliss ("The Eternity of Hell Torments" (Sermon), April 1739 & Discourses on Various Important Subjects, 1738).

Or my former colleague at Regent College in Vancouver, J.I. Packer:

...love and pity for hell's occupants will not enter our hearts. "Hell's Final Enigma" in Christianity Today Magazine, April 22, 2002.

Strong stuff. But if we don't believe it (and I don't), what sort of accountability is left. Does everyone who, to use old-fashioned terminology, enters heaven start with a clean slate? John Wesley and Jim ("There is no Christian way of doing business.") Pattison? George Grant and George W. Bush? Mother Teresa and Tariq ("Mother of all battles") al-Aziz?

Once again I head out into forbidding terrain. I haven't got a clue what shape accountability takes, for members of God's kingdom, either in this life or in the one to come. I'll lay on my usual supply of pain killer (i.e., wine and Tylenol) while I plumb the depths of what is, for me, another mystery.

Wish me luck. Or drop by the wine store on my behalf. I'll be needing copious amounts of both.

Fallen from grace: Hint #4 The work of the Holy Spirit

It's been too long since I posted something on this big dilemma I'm dealing with--how can a person, who is secure in God's hand, fall from grace? This is hard enough to figure out in traditional Christian theology; i.e., why would a believer stop believing? But I find the issue even more puzzling because I hold to the "emergent" position that God's creatures are all part of his kingdom, whether or not they know it, unless they choose to abandon this favoured situation. How do you abandon God when you have never heard of him? Or don't believe in him? Or believe in someone or something else?

Perhaps we should look at what the Holy Spirit's "job" is. Is there a clue there? William Young's depiction of the Holy Spirit, or as Young calls her/him, Sarayu, offers some insight:

Both evil and darkness can only be understood in relation to Light and Good; they do not have any actual existence. I am Light and I am Good. I am Love and there is no darkness in me. Light and Good actually exist. So, removing yourself from me will plunge you into darkness. Declaring independence will result in evil because apart from me, you can only draw upon yourself. That is death because you have separated from me: Life (136).

But before I go any further on what the Spirit does 9 to 5 (and all the other hours), a brief mention of his name. Regrettably, the Third Person of the Trinity is not known by nifty titles as are the First and Second Persons.

In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word for Spirit is Ruwach meaning wind or breath. The wind, like the Spirit of God, is unseen and active in the world. In the Old Testament, He is referred to as the Spirit of God, or the Spirit of the Lord, My Spirit or just the Holy Spirit (e.g., Psalm 51:11, Isaiah 63:10,11).

In the New Testament, the Greek word for Spirit is Pneuma, which like the Hebrew is derived from the meaning of wind or breath. The Holy Spirit is also called the Comforter or Helper, translated from the Greek word Parakletos, meaning one who comes alongside to plead the case before the judge (John 14:16,26;15:26). He is also called the Spirit of Jesus (Phil. 1:19).

St. Paul speaks of the work of the Spirit in the loftiest terms in I Corinthians 2:10-11: But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God....no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.

I take it, then, that to reject the Spirit is to cut oneself off from any possible knowledge of God, his character, will, love, grace, and mercy.

We don't have to ask God for knowledge about himself--the Spirit is happy to do that for us. But if we blaspheme (diminish or reject the role of) the Holy Spirit, we cut ourselves off entirely from God. This action is not unforgivable in the sense that God drops about nine pounds of mercy at this point and turns his back on a person. Rather, a person chooses to turn her/his back on God, making her/himself unforgivable, or as Young put it, plunging yourself into darkness.

I think the way I have expressed this is consistent with the traditional roles assigned to the Spirit of revealing, redeeming, indwelling, and transforming. If through revelation, creation, or conscience the Holy Spirit reveals the life that God wants to empower his creatures to lead, and some reject this revelation, we have blasphemed the Spirit and cut ourselves off from God in so doing. Presumably the Spirit will persist in attempting to turn the prodigal's face around toward the Light, but her/his respect for free will and human choice means that the one rejecting these attempts will eventually become so hardened that no further work of grace will be possible.

The unforgivable sin. The fall from grace. The end of life. Death. Tragedy. The broken heart of God.

Charity begins at home--apparently

Like everyone else, I was sad to see Jack Layton's life end at such a young age. His breakthrough in Quebec was very heartening. Sharon and I drove around the Gaspe peninsula this summer. It was new territory for us, and we thoroughly enjoyed its beauty and history. But what particularly struck me in this stretch of long-time Bloc country was the number of Canadian flags we say flying along with the expected fleurs-de-lis. I was thrilled to see them and express my gratitude for Layton's fine work in enfolding more Quebecois into this great country.

On the other hand, I was puzzled--in fact, distressed--at Layton's seemingly uncaring attitude towards the incredible repression of women and others in Afghanistan during the federal campaign and particularly during the leaders' debates. He mocked poor Michael Ignatieff for arguing that an on-going Canadian military presence was necessary in that desperately needy country in order for the job of rebuilding to go on.

Yet at the same time, he and his other party members argued vociferously on behalf of the Canadian postal workers who were planning a strike this past June. The filibuster that Layton orchestrated in the House of Commons lasted nearly 60 hours. At that time, the average starting wage of a postal worker was $23/hour. Canada Post had tabled an offer that included a wage increase, a defined benefit pension plan for both new and existing employees, up to seven weeks vacation, and job security.

While not taking any position on the collective bargaining dispute, I don't think there is anyone who would argue that the postal workers are hard done by--quite the opposite. But Layton's overwhelming support for them, in contrast to his apparent low regard for the needs of Afghan women, children, Shiites and non-Muslims struck me as very odd. If this is the NDP's view of social justice, I think that Attila the Hun has company on his side of the political spectrum.

Fallen from grace: Hint # 3 Turning from obedience to wickedness

You know the old expression about painting yourself into a corner. Well, I find myself with brush in hand, standing on tiptoe trying to keep my shoes clean. How did I ever allow myself to start speculating on theological questions as if I were any good at it? This to say that the notion of falling from grace didn't seem that tough until I actually started trying to figure it out.

It would be tempting to be a universalist at this point, if only to rid myself of these complex questions. But as I've posted elsewhere, you can have free will or you can have universalism, but you can't have both. It takes free will to jump out of Christ's hand. Nobody can pull you out from between his fingers (John 10:27-29). That decision is purely one's own.

And as we've seen, the New Testament warns us in various places that giving up one's place in the Kingdom of God is a live option. Consider, for instance, St. Paul's words (employing nautical terms of which he seemed to be fond):

Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith. Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme (1 Timothy 1:18-20).

It seems, by the way, that Hymenaeus failed to learn his lesson, even with the protection of God removed:

2 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 16 Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. 17 Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. 19 Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”

...must turn away from wickedness. The Apostle John obviously was thinking along similar lines as he wrote his first epistle:

1 John1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.

Paul and John are focusing on two things here:

1. Nobody is perfect. John matter-of-factly says that nobody can claim to be faultless, so walking in darkness isn't the same thing as falling short of perfection. Similarly, Paul tells Timothy to do his best in working for God. Clearly he wasn't expecting perfection either. Paul refers to his own failings in Romans 7:24-25 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!.

2. Perverting God's truth, rather than imperfect knowledge or occasional faltering obedience, is the big issue, especially when this action is compromising the beliefs and trust of other people. St. John is particularly graphic--if we contradict God's truth we are calling God a liar. This certainly reminds one of the sin of Lucifer--seeing himself as God's equal and able to take positions of his own that rival God's.

We keep coming back to the same themes as we explore the idea of sin finally going unpardoned: substituting one's own preferences for God's will as revealed in creation, Scripture, or conscience; thinking that these preferences (whether they be beliefs or actions) are genuine options that one would not only continue to pursue but to impress upon others to their detriment; and persisting in these illusions rather than heeding any advice or action to the contrary. Perhaps this is what it means to blaspheme the Holy Spirit.

Fallen from grace: Hint #2 The unpardonable sin

How would this sound at the gospel tent meeting?: "Christ died for all your sins--except one!"

I'm not sure how that would go over with the people on site, but it appears at first blush that this is what the Bible teaches. Here are the relevant verses.

Matthew 12:31 And so I tell you, every kind of sin and slander can be forgiven, but blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.

Mark 3:28 Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin.”

Luke 12:10 And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.

Other passages that might be relevant.

Hebrews 6:4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age 6 and who have fallen away, to be brought back to repentance. To their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.

Hebrew 10:26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?

Now compare these verses with the wonderful promise in 1 John 1:9: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

A few tentative conclusions:

a. What is in view in these passages is not a lapse into neglect of one's faith, or an indiscretion. My heavens, consider Simon the Sorcerer in the book of Acts chapter 8 who at first believed the apostles' message concerning Jesus, was baptized into the fledgling church, and then thought he could purchase the power of the Holy Spirit with his own money:

9 Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria...11 They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. 12 But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 13 Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw.

14 When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, 16 because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money 19 and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

20 Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! 21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. 23 For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”

24 Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”

Simon was guilty of what one could say was a heinous crime--perverting God's grace by thinking that he could buy it with money. Peter made himself rather clear that Simon might consider disabusing himself of that notion. Despite such wickedness, Peter still held out hope that Simon could be forgiven (for free, Simon, for free) by God. Whether Simon ever did avail himself of God's grace is left unanswered, and certainly he became a symbol for wickedness in the centuries to come. Nevertheless, the clear indication is that he had not committed an unforgivable sin.

One can think of other Scriptural giants who were guilty of great wrong yet who still found forgiveness and acceptance by God. King David, for instance, was an adulterer and a murderer. Yet in Psalm 19 he wrote that the law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul (v. 7). In the beloved 23rd Psalm, it is God who restores his soul (v. 3). The Hebrew word for 'restore' means that a person, having strayed from a place, is now restored to that same place. In this case, the place is God's arms.

Other Scriptural passages appear to indicate that "falling away" from the faith is a live prospect; e.g., 1 Corinthians 10:11-12; Hebrews 2:1-3, 3:12-13. Why be warned about the dangers of abandoning or distorting one's faith if it is not possible? But as we see with Simon and David, in such situations God's pardon is still available.

b. Whatever this sin is (and it seems to me that it can't be one act of disobedience but some kind of settled state), its effect is to prevent the person in question from wanting forgiveness, or being able to ask for it. It seems to me as well, particularly from the Hebrews chapter 6 and 10 passages, that the person whose sin is unpardonable is one who should have known better because s/he had had some significant experience with the Holy Spirit. This would certainly apply to Lucifer (Satan) and his demons who had had first hand experience with the Triune God, but through overweening pride and a desire to be God's equal, had fallen and were assigned a permanent place in Hell (i.e., abandonment by God).

This gets harder and harder! Maybe the next thing to consider is the role of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps we shall yet be enlightened.
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I can't finish this post without first drawing your attention to a song written by that great Canadian troubadour, Gord Lightfoot. One of his lesser-known songs, Rich Man's Spiritual, is a great modern rendition of Simon's sin. You can listen to it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfJONSE8Ze0.

Fallen from grace: Hint #1 The fall of Lucifer

I've raised the question, How does one fall from grace? I ask this both of Christians and those who have not heard of Christ. I don't know the answer yet, but I am considering various hints. Here's hoping that I can make sense of it. If you figure it out before I do, please send along a comment that will enlighten us all.

Hint number one, then, is to look at the fall of Lucifer in Luke 10:18 - v. 17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” 18 He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

I won't go into the controversies regarding whether Satan and Lucifer are the same being, whether Satan was an angel, and so on. The disputes are interesting to read and think about, but the majority of commentators equate the two individuals. I note the following very interesting parallels between Satan and his fallen comrades, human beings, and even Jesus himself:

a. Satan was created as a perfect being, as were our common (if mythical) ancestors, Adam and Eve.

b. Beyond perfection, Satan was of such qualities that he is described with the identical term in Isaiah 14:12--'bright morning star' or 'daystar'--as is Jesus in Rev. 22:16. In Paradise Lost, John Milton writes that Satan was "brighter once amidst the host of Angels, than the sun amidst the stars."

c. Despite his exalted position, Lucifer still had a free will. In a metaphor utilizing the King of Tyre, Ezekiel 28 describes the reason for Satan's fall:
v. 11 The word of the LORD came to me: 12 “Son of man, take up a lament concerning the king of Tyre and say to him: ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says:
“‘You were the seal of perfection,
full of wisdom and perfect in beauty.
13 You were in Eden,
the garden of God;
every precious stone adorned you:
carnelian, chrysolite and emerald,
topaz, onyx and jasper,
lapis lazuli, turquoise and beryl.
Your settings and mountings were made of gold;
on the day you were created they were prepared.
14 You were anointed as a guardian cherub,
for so I ordained you.
You were on the holy mount of God;
you walked among the fiery stones.
15 You were blameless in your ways
from the day you were created
till wickedness was found in you.
16 Through your widespread trade
you were filled with violence,
and you sinned.
So I drove you in disgrace from the mount of God,
and I expelled you, guardian cherub,
from among the fiery stones.
17 Your heart became proud
on account of your beauty,
and you corrupted your wisdom
because of your splendor.
So I threw you to the earth;
I made a spectacle of you before kings.
18 By your many sins and dishonest trade
you have desecrated your sanctuaries.
So I made a fire come out from you,
and it consumed you,
and I reduced you to ashes on the ground
in the sight of all who were watching.
19 All the nations who knew you
are appalled at you;
you have come to a horrible end
and will be no more.’”

The prophet Isaiah, in chapter 14, makes a similar comment about Lucifer's great power and beauty, and why he lost his status along with his place in God's kingdom:
12 How you have fallen from heaven,
morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth,
you who once laid low the nations!
13 You said in your heart,
“I will ascend to the heavens;
I will raise my throne
above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly,
on the utmost heights of Mount Zaphon.
14 I will ascend above the tops of the clouds;
I will make myself like the Most High.”
15 But you are brought down to the realm of the dead,
to the depths of the pit.

It would appear then, that Satan and those that followed him fell because of an immense and corrupting pride accompanied by a desire to be exactly like God.

This is, of course, exactly the temptation dangled before Eve by this self-same fallen angel in Genesis 3:5 - v. 2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’” 4 “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Two kinds of beings, then--angels and humans. Both fallen from grace for aspiring to be just like God. No gratitude for their immense privileges. No sense that what they had was an unmerited gift from God. In fact, such pride that they forgot that God was their creator and the source of all that was good and perfect in their lives.

Wikipedia (see Fallen Angel) notes that The Catechism of the Catholic Church speaks of "the fall of the angels" not in spatial terms but as a radical and irrevocable rejection of God and his reign by some angels who, though created as good beings, freely chose evil, their sin being unforgivable because of the irrevocable character of their choice, not because of any defect in the infinite divine mercy.

How does one become an un-Christian?

In my previous life as an Arminian Christian, and now as a somewhat Emergent one, I am still confronted with the same question: How could I fall from grace?

First, a definition of Arminian, in case you thought I meant Armenian. Arminianism was first propounded by a Dutch theologian named Jacob Arminius (1560-1609). He broke with the Calvinistic thought of his day in a number of respects, one being "perseverance"; i.e., that those who are believers in Christ will persevere in their faith until the end. Arminius taught that a believer could, in fact, lapse into apostasy, from which s/he could not be restored.

Arminianism, in a slightly altered form, was taught by the great John Wesley. He differed from Arminius in this important respect, however: he believed that one could be restored to faith after apostasy. That invaluable resource Wikipedia provides the following explanation:

Wesley fully accepted the Arminian view that genuine Christians could apostatize and lose their salvation, as his famous sermon "A Call to Backsliders" clearly demonstrates. Harper summarizes as follows: "the act of committing sin is not in itself ground for the loss of salvation...the loss of salvation is much more related to experiences that are profound and prolonged. Wesley sees two primary pathways that could result in a permanent fall from grace: unconfessed sin and the actual expression of apostasy." Wesley disagrees with Arminius, however, in maintaining that such apostasy was not final. When talking about those who have made "shipwreck" of their faith (1 Tim 1:19), Wesley claims that "not one, or a hundred only, but I am persuaded, several thousands...innumerable are the instances...of those who had fallen but now stand upright."

The difference between the Wesleyan view and the newer Emergent view is that Wesley was talking about professed Christians only. The Emergent view is that membership in the Kingdom of God is inherited by all of God's creatures (the human ones, that is) at birth. We have to go further than to say that a person who knowingly accepted Christ could knowingly give him up.

What giving up Christ's free gift of salvation means for those who have never heard of Christ is a different question altogether. But the answer escapes me as I write this. I'll try to figure it out in my usual "theology from the ground up" way. No successful results are guaranteed :).