“The most important human endeavor is the striving for morality in our actions. Our inner balance and even our very existence depend on it. Only morality in our actions can give beauty and dignity to life.”
-----Albert Einstein
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8 comments:
chris,
how does this comport with what i read of you that works-rightousness is to be avoided?
zrim
the most important "human" endeavor. I posted this quote because it speaks about how important morality is a foundation for human flourishing. Modern and post-modern systems that attempt to pull the rug out from under first principles tend to disregard this fact, or not deal with it at all. I was thinking here of C.S. Lewis' "Abolition of Man" which he starts with this quotation from Confuscious:
"he who sets to work on a different strand destroys the whole fabric." ----Analects II.16
my initial thought was the same as zrim's but we reformed need to remember that not all talk about morality is an endorsement of works righteousness - in the same way that salvation by grace alone doesn't necessarily equal antinomianism.
Be perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect - BUT, since you're not, you have an advocate with the Father - Thank God!
yes, bil, i quite agree, well said. the nuance in doing good reformed theology in striking the balance between our views of grace and works is very important. it is very easy to err on one side or the other, so easy.
concrete example: a reformed church doling out a brochure to one of those "keep our kids pure" programs. i find that just awful. do i want my daughters to "remain pure"? yes, just like any other parent, christian and non-. but i'd rather stick a copy of the HC in her backpocket than a self-righteous silver ring on her finger (not me, her boyfriend...just being clear!). that is to say, grace ought to drive us, not morality. many may look at such a view and think me antinomian, etc.
but then another concrete: our church just baptized a single woman's (a member) third child. all three babies have different fathers. and when i am bold enough to ask, um, come again? the answer is "grace, grace, all is grace!" those that accuse my reformed views as too open and liberal and dangerous can point to such a travesty and have a leg to stand on. yet what they propose is to cut grace off at the knees in order to ensure we don't have such immoralities running about loose. i can't do that. granted, such travesties give us with high views of grace a big, black eye. "grace, grace, all is grace!" is no reformed answer and is appalling and infuriating.
morality is not a bad thing. when it becomes moralism is when it is antithetical to the faith to the core. seems to me these nuances make all the difference in the world...and church.
zrim
it also strikes me that we live in a highly moralistic society.
i know that the usual refrain is just how immoral we are, how we "could make babylon blush." but i do think one could make the case for the opposite.
and it's in a moralistic society that the gospel has the hardest time, not in a licentious one. after all, who needs to be justified when all the moral ends are tied up per whatever moralist's agenda happens to be?
so it's calls to straighten up that make me nervous, much more so than prompts to ease up. again, morality is a good thing. but when it becomes focused upon and the gospel fades from christians' mouths i think we have wandered down a very bad path. the gospel transcends modernity, pre- and post-.
zrim
I had no idea that Einstein would raise so much ire. Again, the point I like about what he says is the idea that one needs a moral compass to engage in human flourishing. That is, one needs something around which to center one's life, in order to flourish as a human being. Lewis, following Confucious, called this the Tao, Christians call it the natural law.
So this quotation to me was kind of irrespective of the gospel. . .though your comments about the gospel are duly noted.
not ire, but interest.
yes, i quite agree, whether it's "lewis or confucious" we all have it inscribed on us. and none of it is as profound (read: unnatural) as the gospel. nobody has anything figured out that anybody else already doesn't already know.
"So this quotation to me was kind of irrespective of the gospel."
i find there is very little, if anything, in human inquiry of which the gospel is irrespective, especially since it flies in the face of all we know naturally.
zrim
uh, i mean nobody has anything figured out that anybody doesn't already know naturally.
...man, it's been one hell of a week...is it miller time yet?
zrim
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