20070308

where soul meets body

I've been told that the modernist view of salvation and sanctification is wrong. that ideas of "making a decision for Christ" and "choosing to follow" are misguided. God does not save us by empowering our will to overcome the wicked desires of our wayward hearts, but rather, God captures our hearts. He gives us new, pure desires to combat the desires of our fallen flesh. God comes as a benevolent seducer, not a compelling logician. A theology of the affections, this is called, and i doubt i have done justice to it here.

But i fear the swing of the pendulum! One said it is about the will, and the other, the heart. Back and forth the ages go from modernity now to post-modernity, and soon we may return. I can see nothing new here. We're just shuffling the same boxes, drawing the same lines upon humanity in different directions and different shades. But i can draw no such lines upon my self.

Where does my will end and my heart begin? How can i divide my thoughts and my emotions? In this life, even soul and body cannot escape the consequences of the other. We are messy creatures, intertwined and woven tightly with threads we should not lightly discount. I recognize precious little of myself in such diagrams of the soul.

Please know, i do not protest curiosity here. Certainly, one should seek to understand the paradigms of the day and be willing to challenge them. I do not think these debates are worthless, but their questions are not mine. I can't accept the premise; i cannot see the lines between these things. But what are my questions? I'm not sure...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Perhaps the question we should be asking is how do we stop the pendulum ?

Grandma "B" said...

Love all your writings son! I did notice a typo in this one. Sorry, my tendency is to edit as I read.
where soul meets body

... the wicked desires OF our wayward hearts...

Keep up the writing :>)

MOM