Phil

So what is Psalm 22, if it's not a prediction of Jesus' death?

Hi folks,

Joseph, some days I would agree with your minimalist view; other days I feel the need for something 'more'. I suppose I'm conditioned to cling to false certainties, but from Evangelicalism to Progressivism feels like swinging from broken dogmas to empty platitudes; and like a magnetic pendulum I'm repelled continually back and forth.

I would love to abandon metaphysics altogether, simply living as Jesus lived, for the pleasure of God, but even that would necessitate countless metaphysical assumptions anyway: the nature of God; the historicity of the Gospels; etc...

Phil

God and Jesus, not knowing all that was knowable, but nothing about what was going to happen, had hoped that Jesus's preaching would be sufficient; that people would understand and change their lives. It didn't work out that way. But Judas was not the only reason and, perhaps, not even the central point on which all else turned. When the result was not quite what God and Jesus hoped for, they tried something new, resurrection of Christ. That would be a process view. God and creation, including humans, working in partnership. God remembers everything that has happened and knows all the possibilities for the next moment but does not know the future that actually happens until it does.

Hi Dutch,

I'm curious: according to this view, how do you interpret Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53? The process view of an open future makes a lot of sense, but how does it explain predictions and prophecies?

Phil

John,

I must say I'm not convinced by the Christus Victor model, though I have more sympathy for it. Penal Substitution imposes a God of fury and blood-thirst, a view which caused real psychological harm to me as a teenager. Christus Victor seems to focus too much on personified evil for me to really 'get it', however, I'm open to being persuaded, and I'll check out the link.

Thanks for the replies!

Phil

I really like this sermon, but I find this part difficult to accept:

Some today are saying, along with Andrew, that as a whole humans, through the processes of evolution, are becoming more empathetic and this is coincident with the need for larger circles of compassion that must reach around the world in an age of global consciousness. Human evolution is moving in the direction of empathy and we, as part of that evolving, we can also move in the direction of more compassion and empathy through spiritual disciplines.

Is humanity really moving in the direction of empathy? The 20th century introduced a plethora of brutally efficient methods of human destruction. Neo-liberal globalisation is fundamentally incompatible with human empathy or spiritual development. The 21st century appears thus far to have learned nothing from its predecessor. I think it was Hegel who noted that the only thing we learn from history is that we never learn from history. What do you think?

Dear all,

Greetings!

Why I am here: last summer I graduated from university and fell headlong into the free-market utopia that is the present-day British economy. Oops! Between brief, intermittent flirts with employment I have chiefly spent my time contemplating Jesus, Scripture and process theology; trying to connect the spiritual dots.

What sorts of views do persons here hold regarding the nature of Jesus' death (and possible resurrection?) Any responses or links to relevant threads would be really appreciated.

Shalom,

Phil