The Creator and His Creation

"For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles." (Romans 1:19-23)

The purpose of this and following essays is to explore a dichotomy. On one hand, it is the nature of fallen man to worship the creation rather than the Creator, and yet we cannot know God, and thus worship him, apart from his creation.

The passage above does not make as exclusive a claim as to say that creation is the only means by which people can know God. Here Paul simply says that creation is a means, and does not address the possibility of other means. But in this essay I am going to show how, since we are carnal creatures and God is transcendent Spirit, any interaction between the two requires some form of God's creation as an intermediary interface.

Abstractions

To begin with, it seems that many people tend to associate God's creation exclusively with the physical realm. But God's creation has a much larger scope than that, for God has also created things that are spiritual and things that are abstract. (Colossians 1:15-16, Psalm 148:2-5)

This can be particularly observed in the way that people can idolize abstractions. For example, I frequently idolize things such as knowledge, being right, flexibility, and logic. Unless someone can prove the existence of some third category, everything we know of reality can fall into two categories: God and his creation. Either something is God or it is something he created. That means it is only possible to idolize things within the category of his creation, because worshipping God is not idolatry. Thus it can be reasoned that if it is possible to idolize a thing, that thing must be a part of God's creation, and is not God himself. So that provides us with a method by which all manner of things can be tested: whatever a person can idolize is a thing created.

If that is the case and it is possible to idolize things like logic and mathematics, then those things must have been created by God and are not inherent attributes of God. Yes, God is logical, but the idea of logic is a human construct; an abstraction derived from observing consistent phenomena. When we speak of logic, we are actually speaking of a conclusion humanity has arrived at through observing creation.

The Holy Spirit

As to my proposition that we can only know God through creation, someone might point out the existence of the Holy Spirit. Isn't that God directly dwelling within Christians and communicating with them? I am open to the possibility that there is some limited capacity through which a person can know God apart from creation, particularly since that would not contradict any of my later propositions on this subject, but I don't see any evidence to justify that possibility. Someday I would like to write a series of essays on the nature of spiritual things in general, and the Holy Spirit in particular, but for now I will simply list the few key points on the matter of the Holy Spirit that directly relates to this subject.

"These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God." (1 Corinthians 2:10-12)

At first glance this passage may appear to suggest that we can know God apart from creation, but that is not what it is saying. Three times it uses the same Greek word for knowing, comprehending, and understanding. This is a function of the mind. Of course everything comes from God, but by the time those things reach the stage where they are in our mind and are being used by our mind, they have been filtered by many created things. For the full weight of this, read the first few chapters of Isaac Watts' excellent book on Logic, which thoroughly explains all the various steps employed by the human mind in perceiving, conceptualizing, and utilizing ideas.

The Holy Spirit and the Bible

"If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you." (John 15:7)

"and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God," (Ephesians 6:17b)

(Also 1 John 3:23-24, Psalm 119)

There is a close connection with the Holy Spirit and the Bible. The Holy Spirit reveals things through the Bible, and they will never conflict with one another. Even though the Holy Spirit is the direct Spirit of God, it still works through the physical/mental word of God.

Those are my primary arguments in favor of the idea that we can only know God through creation. This essay was mainly background to justify later essays exploring the challenges of reconciling our tendency to idolize creation with our need to see God through it.

Read more!

posted by Chris Johnson at 19:39pm March 03, 2009 0 Comments

Personality

I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. (1 Corinthians 9:22b-23)

I love studying brain types. Not so much the behavior of people as much as the internal causes of behavior, and the categorization of those different patterns into personality traits. The more I've studied the different inclinations a human mind can take, the more I've recognized those personality patterns throughout other dimensions of life, so that for me personality profiling has become more than a tool for better understanding people, it has become a general philosophy.

Which is my problem. Studying brain types is a major idol for me. If not checked, it can easily lead to obsession, and a feeling that if I can just figure out the human psyche to the atomic level I will somehow have Godlike control over my circumstances and everything will go my way. I think that that is one of the fundamental dangers of psychology in general, but the study of personality holds a particular attraction to me.

Of course, the mind I have studied the longest and most intimately is my own. I love my brain type. I'm an INXP: Introspective, extremely iNtuitive, 50/50 Feeling and Thinking, and a strong Perciever. My brain and the way it works is one of the primary idols in my life. I live in a world of abstractions, and it is easy for me to look down upon concrete concerns.

But since I became a Christian, year by year God has been pruning me. For example, throughout my late teens and early twenties I wrestled with my dad over how to reconcile my transcendent aspirations with the practical responsibilities of day-to-day living. Over time God has pried my fingers from my dreams and taught me to both submit to my father and to begin to appreciate a simple life. Also, given my tendency toward innovation, when I was younger I had several work experiences where I tried to improve things that people did not want changed and had many hard knocks because of this. By the time I started working at the Regency Charter Theatre last summer that aspect of my personality was so tempered that I almost couldn't relate to myself. I was actually projecting a persona of someone who is steady and consistent! And yet what was most surprising was that I didn't mind that.

But all of this did not fully hit me until a few months ago when I watched Batman for the second time. But before I continue I should give a little background. Ignoring the hideous Prince music, sexual innuendos, and lack of Christianity, Batman is one of my top five favorite movies of all time. That may sound a little strange for a movie that I first saw in my teens and did not watch again until over a decade later, but that is why I liked it so much. I didn't have to. I had already absorbed every detail like a sponge. And unlike most people, the main thing I saw in that movie was not the joker character, but Bruce Wayne. I was fascinated by Michael Keaton's performance and always felt like audiences underrated him.

The main reason I watched Batman for a second time was to see if my memory of it was correct or if my mind had simply added things to it over time. I wasn't disappointed, for it was everything I remembered it to be. Michael Keaton's performance is so subtle and transcendent. He carries this aura like he is living along a dimension the rest of the denizens of Gotham city are oblivious to. Due to his unusual circumstances, he is able to be eccentric and worry about hunting bizarre criminals through the night instead of worrying about things like paying bills and cleaning his room. As I watched this, I felt a tinge of regret. This was a part of me I left behind. Sure, I am still quirky and part of my time is spent pursuing transcendent goals, but all of that is still mild compared to what I would have naturally chosen.

But that regret after watching Batman was short lived. The old Chris died. Now I live to serve Jesus Christ, and as far as I am concerned my mind is putty that God can mold to be whatever he needs it to be at any time. "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." (Galatians 2:20a)

Traditional personality studies focus either on external behavior or on the psychological causes of behavior. But none of them consider the influence of the Holy Spirit. That is the cause of behavior that matters most.

Read more!

posted by Chris Johnson at 4:3am March 03, 2009 0 Comments

Tale of a Recovering Gameaholic

It seems like I've come across a number of Christians who wrestle with how to reconcile computer games with living for Jesus, whether it is a Christian concerned with their own interest in games or a Christian who is concerned for a loved one's interest in games.

Frankly, I do not have the answers to those questions, but I think that relating my own experiences with computer games might provide some clues that could help other people find answers.

The best place to begin would be the decade of my childhood, the 80s. There were a lot of cool toys in the 80s, but in the minds of nearly every boy in America one toy stood above the rest: Nintendo! (Note: Nintendo was just the company. The toy I'm referring to was technically the NES, but no one ever actually called it that.)

My father was adamant that I not own one. In fact, once somehow he actually acquired one for free, (either he found it in the trash or someone gave it to him) and it sat up in the garage for quite some time before he finally decided just to get rid of it. As can be imagined, that was a great source of controversy between him and I. In some ways I coveted owning a Nintendo more than anything else in my life.

Since I didn't have one, I instead spent my time playing with my toys and stuffed animals pretending I was playing a video game. I would create my own games and be both computer and player. By my teen years I would look back at this period of time and be grateful that I had spent it creating and imagining instead of letting other people do all the work for me.

When I was 10 years old my family was given its first computer, an already outdated IBM XT. Even though it was not a Nintendo, I was still ecstatic that I finally had within my reach a machine that could play some form of electronic game. At first computer use was extremely limited, and I was fine with that. Back then computer use seemed like a privilege. Eventually it became a right (at least in my mind).

After a while, I started perusing a boring looking book that had come with the computer. It was a book of code for simple BASIC games. Once I realized that the BASIC program was actually already on the XT and that program would be all I needed to make my own games, I went through the roof with excitement. I could make my own games! It was like a 10-year-old boy discovering that dinosaurs still exist!

And that's what got me into computer programming. I probably would never have gone to the library, checked out dozens of programming books, and spent endless hours puzzling over them if it wasn't for my drive to make computer games.

As I got into my teens our family eventually acquired more advanced computers, my taste for games matured as well. I wanted to play games that were dark and violent and full of magic, things my father was strongly opposed to. So I snuck them. Sneaking games into the house and playing them behind my parent's back became a way of life. I am not proud of that. I developed some very bad habits and raised subtle walls between me and my parents, though the Lord has been very gracious to me in addressing and correcting much of that in my adult years.

When I was in my late teens the Lord saved me and radically changed the direction I was heading. No longer did I want to make things for me, but for the Lord. And that's when the battle between me and computer games began. It did not take me long to see how I could use things like story writing and music to glorify God, but I could not find a similar channel through computer games. I felt like I had learned many positive things from games, but not many spiritual things. And even though at times movies and music can be a distraction to me, more and more I found so much potential harmony between them and the Gospel, while computer games seemed only to be a distraction for me.

While I still poured much of my time into making and playing games, I gradually began to move away from identifying with them. I felt increasingly guilty about how my gaming time seemed to be nothing but wasted time.

Then when I was in my early twenties I developed a complicated assortment of wrist and hand problems due to my extreme amount of highly un-ergonomic computer use. Suddenly computer use in any form was a limited resource. That significantly cut down on my game time.

Now I play games very infrequently. And in many ways I feel like a recovering alcoholic (not that I know firsthand what that's like). If I stay away from games I can kind of forget about them and the rest of life looks more interesting, but once I take a drink, suddenly the rest of life, including living for Jesus, seems to fade into the background.

And yet at the same time, I recognize how most of what I like about games is not fundamentally wrong, and are things that are wonderful in other contexts. Dynamics that are difficult to discern and analyze in any other forum than gaming. In fact, there are so many things I've learned from studying game design and game strategy that have genuinely benefited my life. But I tend to play the game long after the benefit is received, like spending hours sipping a cup that was quickly emptied.

In the past year or so God has given me some insights into how games can relate to the Christian walk at a fundamental level, and sometime I might outline some of what I've found. For example, Paul uses games as an analogy for his walk for the Lord in 1 Corinthians 9:24-27. But for now my understanding of how games and God relate is still dim. I hope that eventually the Lord will give me enough puzzle pieces so that I can clearly see how to safely incorporate games into my walk with the Lord, but until then I am focusing my life on the avenues that are already lit for me.

Read more!

posted by Chris Johnson at 21:56pm December 12, 2008 0 Comments