Suffering and the Incarnation

Dave says:

You can also read about the author Robert Farrar Capon at:
https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2013/september-web-only/remembering-robert-farrar-capon.html

JoelG says:

Christian Wiman wrote some similar thoughts in his book “My Bright Abyss: Meditation of a Modern Believer”:

“Contingency. Meaning subject to chance, not absolute. Meaning uncertain, as reality, right down to the molecular level, is uncertain.
As all of human life is uncertain. I suppose that to think of God in these terms might seem for some people deeply troubling (not to mention heretical), but I find it a comfort. It is akin to the notion of God entering and understanding- or understanding that there could be no understanding (My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?) -human suffering. If Christianity is going to mean anything at all for us now, then the humanity of God cannot be a half measure. He can’t float over the chaos of pain and particles in which we’re mired, and we can’t think of him gliding among our ancestors like some shiny, sinless superhero. (The miracles, whatever one thinks of their veracity, didn’t set Jesus off from his contemporaries as much as they seem to now; there were many healers, prophets, and the like wandering around the Middle East in the first century. And anyway, the miracles have a pro forma or applied quality even in the telling; often Jesus himself seeks to mute their effects, wants the people around him to place their faith in more common occurrences. And indeed, what is most moving and durable about Jesus are the moments of pure- at times even helpless: My God, my God-humanity.) No, God is given over to matter, the ultimate Uncertainty Principle. There’s no release from reality, no “outside” or “beyond” from which some transforming touch might come. But what a relief it can be to befriend contingency, to meet God right here in the havoc of chance, to feel enduring love like a stroke of pure luck.“

pstrmike says:

Thanks to all for the resources.

I read some of the complaints about modern religion and it strikes me that some of those arguments are themselves, a modernist informed reaction that is in search of certainty and consistency and a cohesive systematic belief system. They don’t exist beyond the world of popular evangelicalism, or for that matter beyond any other forms of a modernistic, fairytale “ism.” Richard Rohr with his work on levels of consciousness has been helpful in this area.

I was going to write about my work in the topic of theodicy, including a conversation I had years ago with a Benedictine monk. About half that work ended up on the cutting room floor during my third edit of my dissertation. Word limits……

As I sat down, my dog started barking, wanting my attention to play fetch with three of her toy balls. I stopped what I was doing and played with her, realizing that there is fun and happiness in the world if I take the time to engage with it. Dogs are so much more fun than many people I know.