The Works of God

When I blogged about a ‘hermeneutic of suspicion‘ a few weeks ago, I should have given them credit for being honest about their assessment of the Bible.

Frequently, we aren’t given that warning.  I recently came across an article written in 1997 by Avi Rose, “Who Causes the Blind to See: disability and quality of religious life,”* for the journal, Disability & Society.  There was no warning about religious bias or disdain for the Bible.

Rather, the following were offered as a statements of fact:

The root of the apparent alienation of individuals with disabilities by religion may lie in the ancient belief systems of the Judeo-Christian theology which views disability in a highly negative manner. . .

As you can see, the category ‘disability as evidence of a good and sovereign God who has the right and the authority to whatever he wants with his creation, for his glory and for our good’ is missing.  Every one of the above categories is presented about as negatively as possible in that article, while trying to sound academic.

And it wouldn’t bother me all that much, except that when disability enters our families a whole army of people also enter our lives.  Social workers, doctors, teachers, and other government employees read articles like that and conclude that religious affections are actually bad for us.  And because biblical literacy isn’t all that high even in families that attend church, many families stand defenseless in the face of such arguments.

Fortunately, the bias in this article is so blatant, such knowledge isn’t necessary to know something probably isn’t right or fair about the argument being presented.

Tomorrow, the ‘conclusion’ Avi Rose comes to about religion and the Bible.

*Unfortunately I cannot link to that article, but if you have access to an academic library or database, you can find it by searching on the above journal and title.

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William Stuntz is a professor at Harvard Law School – and he is dying of cancer.  In his very well presented, thoughtful, and ultimately sad question and answer session with Timothy Dalrymple of the website, Patheos, he talks about his cancer and what he is experiencing as a Christian.

Some of his observations are painful for me to read:

There is a tendency that’s especially strong in Calvinist circles to read Romans 8:28, “All things work together for the good,” as though it says that “All things are good.”  I heard some of that, and that hurt me too.  I am not blaming anyone else; I am sure this is more my fault than anyone else’s.  These are honest opinions, if (I think) probably misguided, and they were delivered by completely well-meaning people.  But hearing repeatedly that suffering is discipline from a loving Father, and that my circumstances are all gift — no curses, they are all blessings — made me feel sometimes as though God were coming after me with a baseball bat.

Dianne and I had two different reactions to that statement.  Here is hers:

• As Calvinists our first reaction should always be to come close to the person who is suffering, to comfort and hug and encourage and cry and listen.  We are commanded to ‘weep with those who weep’ (Romans 12:15) and walk with those in pain.

And here is mine:

• When God let me have a small glimpse of my depravity and the cost of sin that Jesus paid for me, every means that God used to show me his power and righteousness and the sole sufficiency of Jesus is a kindness to me.  Every suffering I have experienced thus far is nothing like the suffering I deserve for eternity.  I do not understand Romans 8:18 like Paul did when he wrote it (For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us), but God has shown me enough to know what God has saved me from.  Thus, I am grateful for those means of disease and disability in my family.  As hard as they continue to be in this present age, they also keep me dependent on God.

God used the kindness of many people, particularly one couple and their children, to walk and cry with us.  They also prayed for us, hoping in and trusting that God would reveal himself and help us.  Dianne is right to say that should be our first response.

I also remember when I thought God was coming after me with a baseball bat.  I would become angry when people would quote certain scriptures to me.  In those moments, the Bible was not a comfort at all, and I occasionally lashed out.  Those people who quoted scripture I’m sure felt awful.

But at the moment of God’s choosing, the Holy Spirit has come and shown me the truth and power of God’s word.  The same scriptures that made me angry were transformed into comfort and help – this is not the work of any person but God alone.

So, let us be bold to enter into people’s pain, with tenderness and mercy and compassion while also not neglecting the power of the Word of God, even if it is received, initially, as bad and unhelpful news.  Persistence in showing up in the midst of pain makes the Word much easier to take.

And most of all, let us ask God for help in those circumstances, for his leading in how we can best serve our brothers and sisters who are suffering intensely.  Jesus knows what suffering is, and he is worthy of our trust in leading us in what we should do in those moments.

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When a Russian journalist wrote a column about killing babies with Down syndrome recently, I was ready to be outraged.  His column, ”Finish it off so it doesn’t suffer,” offers plenty to be outraged about.   

But digging just a little deeper and it becomes clear he enjoys the attention of the controversy, which has spread around the world.  Whether he believes what he wrote or not, he has gotten what he wanted most – more people reading his work.

So, let’s not take the bait, which is easier for me to say than to do.  You can find references to his column easily enough through Google if you like.  But I’d suggest being outraged by something more important than the writings of a sensationalist Russian journalist – like the actual law of the land concerning abortion and its impact on pre-born babies with Down syndrome in this country.

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