excuse me...
Monday, January 24, 2005 by niebuhrian
…while I whip this out. These are some thoughts in progress based on a blog at Raw Faith.
As I ponder the state of modern Christianity, I am reminded of two things: a disease and a mutation.
The Wikipedia defines disease as the following:
...any abnormal condition of the body or mind that causes discomfort, dysfunction, or distress to the person affected or those in contact with the person... The term disease is often used metaphorically for disordered, dysfunctional, or distressing conditions of other things, as in disease of society.
and mutation as:
...permanent, transmissible changes to the genetic material (usually DNA or RNA) of a cell... Mutations are considered the driving force of evolution, where less favorable (or deleterious) mutations are removed from the gene pool by natural selection, while more favorable (or beneficial) ones tend to accumulate...
Mutations are genetic mishaps, evolutionary problems or solutions to an encounter with resistance in the world. Species evolve through adaptation and change with regard to new stimuli encountered in the world (or mutation). Diseases evolve in the same manner but generally have a negative impact on the structure in which it encounters.
First, if you can imagine it, modern Christianity is nothing more than a mutation. It is merely a mutated form of God’s interactions with the world. The question before me is whether or not this current form is harmful or helpful to the world and the conversation it continues to have with God. Attempts have been made to return to “the early church;” to make this mutation revert to a previous form of existence. In essence, this would be a process of de-evolution which is, in my limited understanding impossible. The modern church cannot devolve just as I cannot will my genes to devolve into a Neanderthal (though there are sometimes when my wife may wonder about this).
Certainly, previous forms are still evident in the world, but the fact remains that the mutation has already occurred and therefore evolution has taken place. There is no return to the originally transmitted form, there is only the opportunity to evolve based on the genetic copy we have before us.
Now the question comes to whether or not the current form of Christianity is a disease (this may be said for other religions, but I cannot speak to their perceived states of being). Do those who call themselves Christians inflict disorder, dysfunction, or distress on the created world? Or are Christians more like bacteria, sometimes helpful and sometimes harmful? If we are a disease on the world, what is the remedy, the course of treatment?
As I ponder the state of modern Christianity, I am reminded of two things: a disease and a mutation.
The Wikipedia defines disease as the following:
...any abnormal condition of the body or mind that causes discomfort, dysfunction, or distress to the person affected or those in contact with the person... The term disease is often used metaphorically for disordered, dysfunctional, or distressing conditions of other things, as in disease of society.
and mutation as:
...permanent, transmissible changes to the genetic material (usually DNA or RNA) of a cell... Mutations are considered the driving force of evolution, where less favorable (or deleterious) mutations are removed from the gene pool by natural selection, while more favorable (or beneficial) ones tend to accumulate...
Mutations are genetic mishaps, evolutionary problems or solutions to an encounter with resistance in the world. Species evolve through adaptation and change with regard to new stimuli encountered in the world (or mutation). Diseases evolve in the same manner but generally have a negative impact on the structure in which it encounters.
First, if you can imagine it, modern Christianity is nothing more than a mutation. It is merely a mutated form of God’s interactions with the world. The question before me is whether or not this current form is harmful or helpful to the world and the conversation it continues to have with God. Attempts have been made to return to “the early church;” to make this mutation revert to a previous form of existence. In essence, this would be a process of de-evolution which is, in my limited understanding impossible. The modern church cannot devolve just as I cannot will my genes to devolve into a Neanderthal (though there are sometimes when my wife may wonder about this).
Certainly, previous forms are still evident in the world, but the fact remains that the mutation has already occurred and therefore evolution has taken place. There is no return to the originally transmitted form, there is only the opportunity to evolve based on the genetic copy we have before us.
Now the question comes to whether or not the current form of Christianity is a disease (this may be said for other religions, but I cannot speak to their perceived states of being). Do those who call themselves Christians inflict disorder, dysfunction, or distress on the created world? Or are Christians more like bacteria, sometimes helpful and sometimes harmful? If we are a disease on the world, what is the remedy, the course of treatment?
