The Beauty of Life (part 3)

Last updated on: November 3, 2016 at 2:24 pm by C. Don Jones

The Beauty of Life (part 3) 2016-11-03T14:24:27-06:00 C. Don Jones

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Christian people wish to experience love, grace, and beauty. St. Paul urged the Philippians to allow their minds to dwell on those things as well as other admirable attributes. Conversely, we do not wish to experience exploitation, destruction, and death.

The world as it is seeks “justice” as the primary virtue of an established order. And so a system of laws are put into place to enforce or impose order on society at large. The understanding demonstrated here is that law and order establish justice. John Adams’ assertion that “we are a government of laws and not men,” perfectly describes the illusion involved in this world. If human beings are sinful, frail, and weak who would wish to be ruled by them? Laws become perfect gods. And yet, it is neatly forgotten that humans must be the enforcers of the laws. Humans as we have just said are not Angels. Justice based on law is ultimately unrighteous because this kind of order leads to exploitation, destruction, and death which we hope to avoid.
How then can we live in an industrial/information driven society and minimize harm? There are those who reply that it cannot be done. Solutions – or rather illusions of solutions – are offered. One is that Jesus will return before bad humans can destroy everything. Jesus will come to make everything right.
The Christian hope for the final revealing of Jesus and the restoration of all things is used to argue against doing anything. Apostolic preaching does not support this view. The return of Jesus does not occur without repentance and times of refreshing come first.
Another offered answer involves being or becoming primitive. Should Christians give up industrialization and informational technology to imitate Adam and Eve? Western culture includes romanticized primitivism with either grace-filled pastoralism or noble savagery. The Maya people never had the wheel. Yet, they found ways to practice exploitation, destruction, and death until they ruined the living landscapes of their cities and destroyed their culture.
The only solution for Christian people is found in the virtue of Simplicity and the practice of Community. These attributes fulfill the apostolic command for repentance and times of refreshing for the restoration of all things. In these virtuous practices we find justice formed out of love for the neighbor. This love or loving kindness allows for all things to be reconciled to one another and to God.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

July 27, 2016

The Beauty of Life (part 2)

Next Post

May 18, 2017 A Plea for New Christian Leadership

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Addiction Advent Afghanistan Anxiety Ascension Sunday Baptism Barack Obama Biblical Interpretation Bigotry Book Banning BSA Buddhism Choice Christmas Church Discipline Community Conscience Conspiracy theories COVID-19 Culture Wars death cults deconstruction Devotional Divine Judgment Donald Trump Earth Day Election Day empathy Environmentalism Evangelism Exploitation of the Poor Faith False Claims fascism Fear Forgiveness Genocide government Grace Gun Violence Halloween Hate Health Hillbilly Elegy Hindu Holy Communion Holy Week Homelessness Hope Identity Integrity Islam Joe Biden John Hagee Kamala Harris Labor Lent Liberation Theology Lies Love Love as action Neurological disorders Non-Christian Religions Online Worship Original Goodness Pandemic Peace Pentecost Philosophy Preaching Progressive Christianity Racism Redemptive Violence Myth Resentment Saint's Days Satire Sobriety social media Spiritual Self Care Spirituality Technology The Kingdom of God The United Methodist Church Theology Transfigurations Sunday Transgender persons Truth Uncategorized Violence Wesleyan Working Class

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 March 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 September 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 January 2025 October 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 October 2018 September 2018 July 2018 February 2018 January 2018 August 2017 May 2017 November 2016 July 2016 June 2016 November 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 January 2015 November 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 June 2013 March 2013 February 2013 December 2012 August 2012 July 2012 May 2012 February 2012 December 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What did God use to lead the Israelites by day?

Select your answer to see how you score.

A pillar of cloud A pillar of fire A trumpet An angel