{"id":6141,"date":"2020-07-06T14:00:25","date_gmt":"2020-07-06T22:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=6141"},"modified":"2020-07-06T14:00:27","modified_gmt":"2020-07-06T22:00:27","slug":"christianity-for-modern-pagans-vanity-and-the-vanity-of-human-justice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2020\/07\/06\/christianity-for-modern-pagans-vanity-and-the-vanity-of-human-justice","title":{"rendered":"Christianity For Modern Pagans: Vanity and the Vanity of Human Justice"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Blog read\u00aders: Chi Alpha @ Stan\u00adford is engag\u00ading in our annu\u00adal sum\u00admer read\u00ading project. As we read through an anno\u00adtat\u00aded trans\u00adla\u00adtion of Pascal\u2019s Pensees called Chris\u00adtian\u00adi\u00adty For Mod\u00adern Pagans<\/a>, I\u2019ll post the thoughts I\u2019m email\u00ading the stu\u00addents here (which will large\u00adly con\u00adsist of excerpts I found insight\u00adful). They are all tagged sum\u00admer-read\u00ading-project-2020<\/a>. The read\u00ading sched\u00adule is online<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One rea\u00adson I appre\u00adci\u00adate read\u00ading writ\u00aders from the dis\u00adtant past is that when they make an obser\u00adva\u00adtion rel\u00ade\u00advant to mod\u00adern times it is usu\u00adal\u00adly more pow\u00ader\u00adful than if it was uttered by one of our con\u00adtem\u00adpo\u00adraries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It reminds me of an excerpt from C. S. Lewis\u2019 intro\u00adduc\u00adtion to a trans\u00adla\u00adtion of Athana\u00adsius\u2019 On The Incar\u00adna\u00adtion of the Word of God<\/a>: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every age has its own out\u00adlook. It is spe\u00adcial\u00adly good at see\u00ading cer\u00adtain truths and spe\u00adcial\u00adly liable to make cer\u00adtain mis\u00adtakes. We all, there\u00adfore, need the books that will cor\u00adrect the char\u00adac\u00adter\u00adis\u00adtic mis\u00adtakes of our own peri\u00adod. And that means the old books. All con\u00adtem\u00adpo\u00adrary writ\u00aders share to some extent the con\u00adtem\u00adpo\u00adrary outlook\u2014even those, like myself, who seem most opposed to it. Noth\u00ading strikes me more when I read the con\u00adtro\u00adver\u00adsies of past ages than the fact that both sides were usu\u00adal\u00adly assum\u00ading with\u00adout ques\u00adtion a good deal which we should now absolute\u00adly deny. They thought that they were as com\u00adplete\u00adly opposed as two sides could be, but in fact they were all the time secret\u00adly united\u2014united with each oth\u00ader and against ear\u00adli\u00ader and lat\u00ader ages\u2014by a great mass of com\u00admon assump\u00adtions. We may be sure that the char\u00adac\u00adter\u00adis\u00adtic blind\u00adness of the twen\u00adti\u00adeth century\u2014the blind\u00adness about which pos\u00adter\u00adi\u00adty will ask, \u201cBut how could they have thought that?\u201d\u2014lies where we have nev\u00ader sus\u00adpect\u00aded it, and con\u00adcerns some\u00adthing about which there is untrou\u00adbled agree\u00adment between Hitler and Pres\u00adi\u00addent Roo\u00adsevelt or between Mr. H. G. Wells and Karl Barth. None of us can ful\u00adly escape this blind\u00adness, but we shall cer\u00adtain\u00adly increase it, and weak\u00aden our guard against it, if we read only mod\u00adern books. Where they are true they will give us truths which we half knew already. Where they are false they will aggra\u00advate the error with which we are already dan\u00adger\u00adous\u00adly ill. The only pal\u00adlia\u00adtive is to keep the clean sea breeze of the cen\u00adturies blow\u00ading through our minds, and this can be done only by read\u00ading old books. Not, of course, that there is any mag\u00adic about the past. Peo\u00adple were no clev\u00ader\u00ader then than they are now; they made as many mis\u00adtakes as we. But not the same mis\u00adtakes. They will not flat\u00adter us in the errors we are already com\u00admit\u00adting; and their own errors, being now open and pal\u00adpa\u00adble, will not endan\u00adger us. Two heads are bet\u00adter than one, not because either is infal\u00adli\u00adble, but because they are unlike\u00adly to go wrong in the same direc\u00adtion. To be sure, the books of the future would be just as good a cor\u00adrec\u00adtive as the books of the past, but unfor\u00adtu\u00adnate\u00adly we can\u00adnot get at them.<\/p>C. S. Lewis<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

With that in mind, two of Pas\u00adcal\u2019s obser\u00adva\u00adtions struck me as espe\u00adcial\u00adly pre\u00adscient:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The mind nat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adly believes and the will nat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adly loves, so that when there are no true objects for them they nec\u00ades\u00adsar\u00adi\u00adly become attached to false ones.  <\/p>Pas\u00adcal, Pen\u00ads\u00e9e 661 (page 77)<\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Hun\u00addreds of years ago, Pas\u00adcal accu\u00adrate\u00adly diag\u00adnosed the mod\u00adern Amer\u00adi\u00adcan. Our decep\u00adtive\u00adly sec\u00adu\u00adlar age is full of reli\u00adgion, and for many peo\u00adple pol\u00adi\u00adtics is their pre\u00adferred form of wor\u00adship. Look back over my Fri\u00adday \u201cIssachar\u201d emails<\/a> and you will see many exam\u00adples of the reli\u00adgious dynam\u00adics in our cul\u00adtur\u00adal debates; in fact, the very first arti\u00adcle I ever shared was Joseph Bot\u00adtum\u2019s The Spir\u00adi\u00adtu\u00adal Shape of Polit\u00adi\u00adcal Ideas<\/a> and this week I\u2019m like\u00adly to share David French\u2019s Amer\u00adi\u00adca Is in the Grips of a Fun\u00adda\u00admen\u00adtal\u00adist Revival<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As your pas\u00adtor I urge you: don\u2019t par\u00adtic\u00adi\u00adpate in the crazy of what\u00adev\u00ader group you tend to vote with. You already have a reli\u00adgion, so you are free to treat pol\u00adi\u00adtics as sig\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcant but not ulti\u00admate. Back in the 90\u2019s, polit\u00adi\u00adcal sci\u00aden\u00adtist J. Budziszews\u00adki wrote two arti\u00adcles back-to-back for First Things<\/em>, The Prob\u00adlem With Lib\u00ader\u00adal\u00adism<\/a> and The Prob\u00adlem With Con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtivism<\/a>. Read them both, espe\u00adcial\u00adly read the one that describes your team. You won\u2019t res\u00adonate with every cri\u00adtique in either arti\u00adcle, but you will find much to think about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mov\u00ading on, I also appre\u00adci\u00adat\u00aded one of Pas\u00adcal\u2019s com\u00adments which is rel\u00ade\u00advant to social media:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are not sat\u00adis\u00adfied with the life we have in our\u00adselves and our own being. We want to lead an imag\u00adi\u00adnary life in the eyes of oth\u00aders, and so we try to make an impres\u00adsion. We strive con\u00adstant\u00adly to embell\u00adish and pre\u00adserve our imag\u00adi\u00adnary being, and neglect the real one.<\/p>Pas\u00adcal, Pen\u00ads\u00e9e 806 (page 79)<\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Read\u00ading this Pen\u00ads\u00e9e brought to mind Madi\u00adson Fis\u00adcher\u2019s asser\u00adtion that ditch\u00ading social media was key to her win\u00adning a medal<\/a> as a com\u00adpet\u00adi\u00adtive climber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI cared so much about what every\u00adone thought of me that it became out\u00adsourced con\u00adfi\u00addence\u2026. I couldn\u2019t step out of the rep\u00adu\u00adta\u00adtion I forged online so I lived in a world of enti\u00adtle\u00adment. Pride in my accom\u00adplish\u00adments made me con\u00adtent, and con\u00adtent\u00aded\u00adness is poi\u00adson to a young ath\u00adlete who has to stay hun\u00adgry if she wants to stay com\u00adpet\u00adi\u00adtive.\u201d<\/p>Madi\u00adson Fis\u00adch\u00ader<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

She real\u00adized that she faced a choice: actu\u00adal\u00adly become a more com\u00adpet\u00adi\u00adtive climber or spend her time try\u00ading to look like what peo\u00adple thought a com\u00adpet\u00adi\u00adtive climber should be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a sim\u00adi\u00adlar man\u00adner, we can actu\u00adal\u00adly strive to be like Jesus or we can instead try to become what oth\u00ader peo\u00adple think a fol\u00adlow\u00ader of Jesus should be. In oth\u00ader words, we can either fol\u00adlow Jesus or we can fol\u00adlow oth\u00ader peo\u00adple. We can fol\u00adlow Christ or a crowd. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is about more than social media, but it\u2019s def\u00adi\u00adnite\u00adly about social media as well. You prob\u00ada\u00adbly know that I am on Face\u00adbook and Twit\u00adter, so clear\u00adly I\u2019m not about to tell you to delete your accounts. But I do urge you to be aware of the temp\u00adta\u00adtions they cre\u00adate. Med\u00adi\u00adtate on Matthew 6:1, \u201cBe care\u00adful not to prac\u00adtice your right\u00adeous\u00adness in front of oth\u00aders to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heav\u00aden.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oth\u00ader tid\u00adbits I appre\u00adci\u00adat\u00aded:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The athe\u00adist argues: \u201cIf there were a God, how could there be injus\u00adtice?\u201d To which Pas\u00adcal replies: \u201cIf there is injus\u00adtice, there must be true jus\u00adtice for it to be rel\u00ada\u00adtive to and a defect of; and this true jus\u00adtice is not found on Earth or in man, there\u00adfore it must exist in Heav\u00aden and God.\u201d Either there or nowhere; and if nowhere, then \u201cevery\u00adthing is per\u00admis\u00adsi\u00adble\u201d. But not every\u00adthing is per\u00admis\u00adsi\u00adble. There\u00adfore there must be a God.<\/p>Kreeft com\u00adment\u00ading on Pen\u00ads\u00e9e 697, page 94<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

And I par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly like this one. It\u2019s true of babies, and it\u2019s true of adults. Dif\u00adfer\u00adent tri\u00adfles, same psy\u00adchol\u00ado\u00adgy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A tri\u00adfle con\u00adsoles us because a tri\u00adfle upsets us.<\/p>Pas\u00adcal, Pen\u00ads\u00e9e 43 (page 75)<\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pas\u00adcal diag\u00adnosed our mod\u00adern dys\u00adfunc\u00adtions 350 years ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Some thoughts on how Pascal diagnosed our modern dysfunctions 350 years ago.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8],"tags":[124,230,284,283,117,282],"class_list":["post-6141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-resources-reviews","tag-apologetically-interesting","tag-c-s-lewis","tag-kreeft","tag-pascal","tag-politics","tag-summer-reading-project-2020"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-1B3","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6141"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6147,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6141\/revisions\/6147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}