Postscript: War and Scripture
0 Comments Published by Michael on Wednesday, March 08, 2006 at 9:16 AM.
As 6th grade scholars, and they were scholars indeed this morning, we continued our discussion through 1 John and came upon his oft' quoted argument at the end of chapter 4. In it he argues what I perceive to be his reasoning for asserting that believers must, by definition, love their neighbors. His justification for this statement is as such: If we cannot love our brothers, whom we have seen, how then can we love our God, whom we have not seen?
I was quite impressed, because the red-flags immediately seemed to go up in many of my students' minds. They were not impressed with John's logic, and for good reason. "Why can't we love God and not our brothers," they asked? "Does one have to mean the other? I might hate another student, but that doesn't mean I hate God, does it," another inquired? These were more than just teenage objections, though, they were heartfelt plea's for explanation.
I must admit, from a logical standpoint I agreed. My analogy was simple: Does me being a good or bad Xbox-basketball player have any bearing on whether or not I can hit a jumpshot in the gym? I pointed out that one of my former players in the room could probably beat me by thirty on Xbox (of course I don't believe that to really be true....but it made the point better), but I there is no way that he could do that in a real one-on-one game. The Xbox game is a picture of the real thing, but it's like comparing apples and oranges. One's proficiency in moving his thumbs over a joystick at proper times is not comparable to one's abilities on a court. John, in this way, seems mistaken. He is, after all, comparing apples and oranges, right? God is not man, and man is not God, and the two surely do not closely enough coincide to make that claim.
I offered what I think to be the most reasonable solution to this logical fallacy. I pointed back to Genesis 1:27 (I think.....we looked it up at the time, but not I have forgotten) where it is written very clearly that God created humans, both man and woman, in the image of God. As anyone who has studied imago dei, this means that we are in some way akin to the likeness of God, mentally, physically, etc. We are not perfect mirror-images of God, but we bear his resemblance, and in this way are the closest representation of God that is possible on the Earth. Plants nor animals are said to bear his likeness, so we can assume that those things that make us distincly human are those things that are in God's image.
Bearing this in mind it is entirely reasonable that our love for other people is a representative sample of our capacity to love God. Humans are partial-gods, in an overstated way, and so if we cannot love those things that resemble Him, how can we love that which is entirely Him?
Resolution: we did not leave the subject at this, because it still did not resolve the issues relating to things such as war. We embarked on a new discussion, equally murky and problematic: can one dislike another yet not hate them? Answer: of course - this is something we experience often. I love my wife, but there are times I am mad at her and dislike the things that she does. But where is the line? That is not so easily answered.
I was quite impressed, because the red-flags immediately seemed to go up in many of my students' minds. They were not impressed with John's logic, and for good reason. "Why can't we love God and not our brothers," they asked? "Does one have to mean the other? I might hate another student, but that doesn't mean I hate God, does it," another inquired? These were more than just teenage objections, though, they were heartfelt plea's for explanation.
I must admit, from a logical standpoint I agreed. My analogy was simple: Does me being a good or bad Xbox-basketball player have any bearing on whether or not I can hit a jumpshot in the gym? I pointed out that one of my former players in the room could probably beat me by thirty on Xbox (of course I don't believe that to really be true....but it made the point better), but I there is no way that he could do that in a real one-on-one game. The Xbox game is a picture of the real thing, but it's like comparing apples and oranges. One's proficiency in moving his thumbs over a joystick at proper times is not comparable to one's abilities on a court. John, in this way, seems mistaken. He is, after all, comparing apples and oranges, right? God is not man, and man is not God, and the two surely do not closely enough coincide to make that claim.
I offered what I think to be the most reasonable solution to this logical fallacy. I pointed back to Genesis 1:27 (I think.....we looked it up at the time, but not I have forgotten) where it is written very clearly that God created humans, both man and woman, in the image of God. As anyone who has studied imago dei, this means that we are in some way akin to the likeness of God, mentally, physically, etc. We are not perfect mirror-images of God, but we bear his resemblance, and in this way are the closest representation of God that is possible on the Earth. Plants nor animals are said to bear his likeness, so we can assume that those things that make us distincly human are those things that are in God's image.
Bearing this in mind it is entirely reasonable that our love for other people is a representative sample of our capacity to love God. Humans are partial-gods, in an overstated way, and so if we cannot love those things that resemble Him, how can we love that which is entirely Him?
Resolution: we did not leave the subject at this, because it still did not resolve the issues relating to things such as war. We embarked on a new discussion, equally murky and problematic: can one dislike another yet not hate them? Answer: of course - this is something we experience often. I love my wife, but there are times I am mad at her and dislike the things that she does. But where is the line? That is not so easily answered.
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