Church and Postmodernism

"My most recent faith struggle is not one of intellect. I don’t really do that anymore. Sooner or later you just figure that there are some guys who don’t believe in God and they can prove He doesn’t exist, and some other guys do believe in God and they can prove God does exist, and the arguments stopped being about God a long time ago and now it’s about who is smarter, and honestly I don’t care. I don’t believe I will ever walk away from God for intellectual reasons. Who knows anything anyway? If I walk away from Him, and please pray that I never do, I will walk away for social reasons, identity reasons, deep emotional reasons, the same reasons that any of us do anything." – Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz, 103.

After realizing the failures of the modern era with all of its promises and optimism, the postmodern culture responded with a cynical outlook on life. When the sciences left man with an empty bag, postmodernism entered the stage and questioned anything of truth and absolute. Our culture is an environment where truth is relative and anything of authority is questioned. As a believer, it is our duty to know our culture and seek ways to interact with others to bring them the power of the gospel. For an explanation of postmodernism, read here.

Reflections of Yahweh in the Psalms: King

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, But to Your name give glory…” (Psalm 115:1)

One of the intriguing marks of any artist is one’s ability to capture abstract ideas and place them in concrete images for their audience. Within their art forms, the artist uses an array of techniques and styles to lure an audience into an environment of passion, adventure, and suspense by tapping into our emotions. The participant is given the opportunity to share in the artist’s masterpiece and become entangled within plot or scene. Herein lies the mystery and beauty of art.

Even so with the Psalms, the psalmist uses poetical elements to reveal the glory and power of our God through words. Each expression is carefully used in order to illustrate the person of God. Within a single image, the psalmist captures for us the person of God but then hands over a key that will unlock the depth and richness of that image in order to describe who this God is. One particular image is the concept of a king.

In several of the psalms, the sage refers to God as King:

“The Lord is King forever and ever; Nations have perished from His land.” (Psalm 10:16)

“For the Lord Most High is to be feared, A great King over all the earth.” (Psalm 47:2)

“You are my King, O God; Command victories for Jacob.” (Psalm 44:4)

“Sing praises to God, sing praises; Sing praises to our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth; Sing praises with a skillful psalm.” (Psalm 47:6, 7)

“They have seen Your procession, O God, The procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary.” (Psalm 68:24)

“For the LORD is a great God And a great King above all gods.” (Psalm 95:3)

“I will extol You, my God, O King, And I will bless Your name forever and ever.” (Psalm 145:1)

It is questionable to what extent the ancient Near Eastern world influenced Israel, but the role of the king in the ancient world spoke volumes about their countries. The position, prestige, and honor of the king’s position represented the country and their god. For example, the Egyptians revered Pharaoh as a god who established law and order within their land. However, in other countries, the king was seen as a divine son or servant of the king god (see Gary V. Smith, “The Concept of God/the gods as King in the Ancient Near East and the Bible.” Trinity Journal 3 (1982) 18-38).

Much of the kingship language in the Psalms has been debated. Whether the reference to God as King is in a type of liturgical form or some allusion to the mythopoetic language has been a source of discussion among scholars (see Elmer B. Smick, “Mythopoetic Language in the Psalms,” Westminster Theological Seminary 44 (1982): 88-98). There appears

Yahweh is King over creation.

“Yet God is my king from of old, who works deeds of deliverance in the midst of the earth. You divided the sea by Your strength; You broke the heads of the sea monsters in the waters. You crushed the heads of Leviathan; You gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness. You broke open springs and torrents; You dried up ever-flowing streams. Yours is the day, Yours also is the night; You have prepared the light and the sun. You have established all the boundaries of the earth; You have made summer and winter.” (Psalm 74:12-17)

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Happy Father's Day: A Tribute

What’s so special about being a dad? When I woke up this morning to my first father’s day and watched my daughter quietly sleeping in her crib, this question penetrated my thoughts. I have not had much time to discover what all will be required to raise a little girl, but I do know the deep love and passion that I have for her. It’s like I have known her all of my life and honestly I cannot think of a day when she was not in my life. When I leaned over to kiss her, I gently whispered in her ear, “You are a marvel; daddy loves you so much.”

Being the financial provider for the home, my job is to make sure that the bills are paid and food on the table along with many other responsibilities. But does this mean that I am a dad. I read a bumper sticker that read “Anybody can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a daddy.” What kind of heritage will I leave for my children? Our little ones look to us to teach them about our beliefs and values. This is the true test of a father, and we fail them when we neglect our responsibility to teach them about the meaning of life. Living a wholesome, godly life and directing their lives back to our Father is the greatest mission that we will ever have in this life. What an opportunity given to fathers!

“Behold, children are a gift of the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward like arrows in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one's youth. How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them; they will not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate." (Psalm 127:3-5)

Being an involved father is every man’s battle. We enter the front line each day armed with a mission to protect our homes. Our children are looking for answers. Living in a culture where everything is relative, we are to stand in the gap. This is not the time to be Freud’s description of a father: like a Sphinx— heavy, silent, massive, and mysterious. Standing in the gap requires courage and strength. True fathers lead, guard, and protect setting the direction of their home.

Hymns to the Father

Eternal Father, Strong to Save

Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who biddest the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

O Christ! Whose voice the waters heard
And hushed their raging at Thy Word,
Who walked on the foaming deep,
And calm amidst its rage didst sleep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

Most Holy Spirit! Who didst brood
Upon the chaos dark and rude,
And bid its angry tumult cease,
And give, for wild confusion, peace;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

O Trinity of love and power!
Our family shield in danger’s hour;
From rock and tempest, fire and foe,
Protect us wheresoever we go;
Thus evermore shall rise to Thee
Glad hymns of praise from land and sea.

-William Whiting



Almighty Father, Who Dost Give

Almighty Father, who dost give The gift of life to all who live, Look down on all earth’s sin and strife, And lift us to a nobler life.

Lift up our hearts, O King of kings, To brighter hopes and kindlier things; To visions of a larger good, And holier dreams of brotherhood.

Thy world is weary of its pain; Of selfish greed and fruitless gain; Of tarnished honor, falsely strong, And all its ancient deeds of wrong.

Hear Thou the prayer Thy servants pray, Uprising from all lands today, And o’er the vanquished powers of sin, O bring Thy great salvation in.

- John H. B. Mas­ter­man

God as Father: Second Temple Judaism

Along with the New Testament writers, the Jews of Second Temple period emphasized the weight and authority of the God of the Old Testament Scriptures. In the event of the exodus, the God of Israel demonstrated His mighty hand to both the Egyptians and to Israel and revealed Himself as Israel’s Father who delivered His firstborn son from the bondage and chains of slavery. Bringing them out of Egypt, He gave them a land as an inheritance and promised to bless them as long as they remained obedient. However, because of Israel’s disobedience, they were exiled out of their land and banished from their homes. Though the exile was the penalty for their waywardness, He did not forget His people, but He brought them back to their land. An evidence of Israel’s sonship was its rightful place back in the land. The reflection of God as Father continued to thread its way from the Old Testament into Second Temple Judaism. As the Jews of the Second Temple period found themselves in similar circumstances as their forefathers, they looked to the Lord to deliver them from the hands of their enemies and restore their rightful status as children.

“And He said unto us: ‘Behold, I will separate unto Myself a people from among all the peoples, and these will keep the Sabbath day, and I will sanctify them unto Myself as My people, and will bless them; as I have sanctified the Sabbath day and do sanctify it unto Myself, even so shall I bless them, and they will be My people and I shall be their God and I have chosen the seed of Jacob from amongst all that I have seen, and have written him down as My firstborn son, and have sanctified him unto Myself for ever and ever; and I will teach them the Sabbath day, that they may keep Sabbath thereon from all work.’” (Jubilees 2:19-20)

“And now, O Lord, behold, these heathen, which have ever been reputed as nothing, have begun to be lords over us, and to devour us. But we thy people, whom thou hast called thy firstborn, thy only begotten, and thy fervent lover, are given into their hands. If the world now be made for our sakes, why do we not possess an inheritance with the world? How long shall this endure?” (2 Esdras 6:57-59)

“Lord, Thy mercy is over the works of Thy hands for ever; Thy goodness is over Israel with a rich gift. Thine eyes look upon them, so that none of them suffers want; Thine ears listen to the hopeful prayer of the poor. Thy judgements are executed upon the whole earth in mercy; And Thy love is toward the seed of Abraham, the children of Israel. Thy chastisement is upon us as upon a first-born, only-begotten son, To turn back the obedient soul from folly that is wrought in ignorance. May God cleanse Israel against the day of mercy and blessing, Against the day of choice when Blessed shall they be that shall be in those days, He bringeth back His anointed. In that they shall see the goodness of the Lord which He shall perform for the generation that is to come, Under the rod of chastening of the Lord's anointed in the fear of his God, In the spirit of wisdom and righteousness and strength; That he may direct every man in the works of righteousness by the fear of God, That he may establish them all before the Lord, A good generation living in the fear of God in the days of mercy. Selah.” (Psalms of Solomon 18:19)

In Judaism, the concept of God as Father takes on a greater meaning. In the Old Testament, the Israelites looked back to the work of God in their history, but in Second Temple Judaism, the Israelites not only remembered the past but also looked forward to a new hope when God will place Israel back to their rightful status and posititon as the firstborn son.

“And after this they will turn to Me in all uprightness and with all their heart and with all their soul, and I shall circumcise the foreskin of their heart and the foreskin of the heart of their seed, and I shall create in them a holy spirit, and I shall cleanse them so that they shall not turn away from Me from that day unto eternity and their souls will cleave to Me and to all My commandments, and they will fulfil My commandments, and I shall be their Father and they will be My children and they will all be called children of the living God, and every angel and every spirit will know, yea, they will know that these are My children, and that I am their Father in uprightness and righteousness, and that I love them and do thou write down for thyself all these words which I declare unto thee on this mountain, the first and the last, which shall come to pass in all the divisions of the days in the law and in the testimony and in the weeks and the jubilees unto eternity, until I descend and dwell with them throughout eternity and He said to the angel of the presence: "Write for Moses from the beginning of creation till My sanctuary has been built among them for all eternity and the Lord will appear to the eyes of all, and all will know that I am the God of Israel and the Father of all the children of Jacob, and King on Mount Zion for all eternity. And Zion and Jerusalem will be holy.” (Jubilees 1:33- 28)

God as Father: An Old Testament Concept

“Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, Israel is My son, My firstborn.’” (Exodus 4:22)

“For You are our Father, though Abraham does not know us and Israel does not recognize us. You, O LORD, are our Father, Our Redeemer from of old is Your name.” (Isaiah 63:16)

“But now, O LORD, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand.” (Isaiah 64:8)

“When Israel was a youth I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son.” (Hosea 11:1)

What are we to learn about God as Father in the Old Testament? Rarely referring to the Lord as Father, the father-son motif is a more developed reflection of Israel’s relationship with God. Deeply embedded within their historical and theological framework, Israel’s identification with their God is pictured through a familial relationship. It was God who promised to deliver His children out of the land of Egypt. Because Pharaoh refused to liberate the children of Israel, the tenth plaque was the final warning to Pharaoh. Israel is God’s firstborn son chosen from all other nations. Not because of their size for they were small in number, but God graciously chose the people of Israel because of His compassion and mercy.

“For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but because the LORD loved you and kept the oath which He swore to your forefathers, the LORD brought you out by a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.” Deuteronomy 7:6-8

As with each of the other plaques that the Lord of Israel was greater than any of the Egyptian gods, God sent the angel of death to visit the land of Egypt. Because Pharaoh refused to free Israel, God’s firstborn son, God would take Egypt’s firstborn child. Every firstborn son in every Egyptian home did not escape the divine judgment. Establishing the first Passover, the Hebrews followed Moses’ instructions by placing blood on their doorpost, and when the “slayer” came over the land, He passed over each Hebrew home because of the blood that protected that home. The Passover became the historical catalyst by which Israel identifies with God as their Creator and Father.

In addition to historical earmarks to the father-son motif, there are theological overtones within the relationship. The book of Deuteronomy illustrates that the love between Israel and their God must be expressed through obedience to the covenantal treaty between the two parties. Dennis J. McCarthy (“Notes on the Love of God in Deuteronomy and the Father-Son Relationship between Yahweh and Israel,” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 27: 144-47) produced a short article explaining how the relationship between God and Israel and its covenantal treaty are two sides of the same coin. Verses in Deuteronomy demonstrate the care, provision, protection, and discipline of the Lord to his people:

“The LORD your God who goes before you will Himself fight on your behalf, just as He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness where you saw how the LORD your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, in all the way which you have walked until you came to this place.” (Deuteronomy 1:30-31)

“Thus you are to know in your heart that the LORD your God was disciplining you just as a man disciplines his son.” (Deuteronomy 8:5)

“Is not He your Father who has bought you? He has made you and established you.” (Deuteronomy 32:6)