Theological Worlds
Part 6, The Theological Worlds of Evangelicalism
One of the reasons I think it is important to ponder theological worlds is how streams of Christianity tend to embody or privilege a particular theological world over the others. Pastorally, we need to be alert to this as not everyone sitting in our pews is living in the theological world of the church. This can create a sense of alienation, where a person comes to feel that their church isn't providing answers to the questions they are asking. The epiphania the church is offering isn't the epiphania the person is searching for. Consequently, a person can come to feel "weird" and "strange" that "these are not my people." The dominant obsessio of the church isn't their obsessio. This creates a spiritual restlessness which can lead to an exit from the church. The person leaves in search of an epiphania the church is not providing.
To illustrate this, in this post and the next two I want to describe three prominent theological worlds within the Christian tradition. In this post we'll describe the theological worlds of evangelicalism.
Let me argue that evangelicalism is characterized by three main theological worlds, Guilt, Belonging and Self-Alienation.
The obsessio of Guilt should be obvious. Given the dominant views of atonement within evangelicalism, oriented around penal substitutionary atonement, the primary predicament of the human condition is our sin. The epiphania for our guilt is Christ's atoning sacrifice on the cross. Accepting Jesus as our Savior is the primary experience of salvation. From Jonathan Edwards' "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" to the sermons of Billy Graham to Tim Keller, Guilt is an obsessio of the evangelical theological world.
Along with Guilt, I would add the obsessios of Belonging and Self-Alienation. You see these obsessios mainly in the lyrics of Christian praise and worship music. It has long been noted that Christian praise and worship music is very focused upon the self. The pronouns of the music are me, me, and me. This focus upon the self, in its search for connection and self-acceptance, highlights the obsessios of Belonging and Self-Alienation. The modern self is lonely and alienated, so we search for home. The modern self is also experiencing a mental health crisis. We are anxious and depressed. So we search for an inner experience of cosmic compassion, love, and acceptance to overcome our self-alienation.
Together, the obsessios of Belonging and Self-Alienation create the theological world of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. God sees me, loves me, supports me, and wants to make me happy.
As we step back and look at these theological worlds--Guilt, Belonging, and Self-Alienation--we can discern some tensions. A fire and brimstone presentation of Guilt can undermine the epiphanias of Belonging and Self-Alienation. We can come to feel that God hates and loathes us, which undercuts feelings of connection and love in relation to God. But the very best expressions of the obsessios and epiphanias of the evangelical theological world present a powerful and compelling connection between Guilt, Belonging, and Self-Alienation. We are drawn into the music and sermons by our obsessios of Belonging and Self-Alienation. We are looking for home, seeking connection. We are emotionally lost and unwell. These twin obsessios bring us powerfully to the third: our separation from God. Overcoming this separation from God in the epiphania of grace and the epiphanias of belonging and cosmic mattering follow. As you are likely aware, this is a powerful cocktail of obsessios when expressed with rhetorical skill and power, and it has proven very attractive. Many people live in the theological worlds of Guilt, Belonging, and Self-Alienation and the evangelical message resonates strongly with them.
Of course, the three keys of this piano--Guilt, Belonging, and Self-Alienation--can be played to create very different melodies. Some preachers lean heavily into Guilt, creating a old-school fundamentalist, fire and brimstone melody. Other preachers deemphasize Guilt, leaning more into Belonging and Self-Alienation. These sermons play a more "therapeutic" song, God loves me and wants me to be happy. In prosperity gospel spaces a theology of "blessing" accompanies this therapeutic message. Most evangelical pastors try to maintain a balance among the obsessios.
To conclude, gather the sermons and praise songs of evangelicalism and you will find the obsessios of three theological worlds: Guilt, Belonging, and Self-Alienation.
I’m breathing deep and taking a long pause to think carefully about what you have shared. The Hermitage Spiritual Retreat Center on Lake Pomme to Terre (‘Potato Lake’) where W. Paul Jones possibly is still the Resident Director, has on its website some amazing reflective comments by retreatants who have visited there. They are well worth reading through. I think part of the solution to dealing with the juxtapositions of Obsessio and Epiphania in our lives and various Christian communities, is to ascetically withdraw for a while, and take a spiritual and mental hiatus to embrace and rediscover who it is that we are, by emptying ourselves of all internal and external judgements and simply communing with Nature. Less of Me, more of Him! Eventually, all faith communities have the potential to become ‘lobster traps’ if we don’t allow ourselves to grow beyond their dogma. The Body of Christ is in the process of dynamic regeneration, and we must be a part of that change if our faith is real. The average human is made up of over 30 trillion cells, with about 330 billion being replaced daily. In about 100 days, that 30 trillion will have been totally replaced and replenished - essentially creating a ‘New You’. We are wonderfully made, but not meant to last in this present state. When we are subsumed into his presence, the borders and boundaries that separate us, melt and we experience a beautiful moment of what will be in our eternal regeneration. Rather than bifurcating one’s Obsessio and Epiphania, could they not be same thing coextensive within our consciousness? We ‘Existentially’ contrive a problem, only to then ‘Essentialistically’ resolve it.
This post was interesting. I had not heard it put that way before. Your observation was astute.
Evangelicalism is obsessed with sin. It is also oblivious to righteousness, which is peculiar because justification is not by the absence of sin but the presence of righteousness. The Greek words for justification and righteousness are different forms of the same word. Evangelicalism champions the Great Commandment, but is oblivious to the New Commandment. They prefer the law of sin and death over the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus; that is what they preach. They believe that loving one another as Jesus has loved you is the same as love your neighbor as yourself. Would you rather be loved as Christ loved, or as I loved myself. Christ loves me by the Spirit, I love me in the flesh.
The power of the law of Moses is condemnation - there is no provision for justification. The law of sin and death works against me. Violate it once and I am condemned.
The power of the law of the Spirit of life is justification - there is no provision of condemnation. This law works for me. Obey it once and I am justified.
The law I am under depends on the priesthood I am under (Hebrews 7:12) and Evangelicalism treats me like I am under the priesthood after the order of Aaron. Evangelicalism traffics in condemnation. I wish somebody would read them in, but I fear they would not be able to hear. If you try, they will treat you like the Catholic Church treated Martin Luther.
I am attending an independent church - at least their doctrine is not superseded at the denominational level where their essentials are carved in stone - in their hearts of stone.
With this, I have broken my New Year's resolution to stay positive.