February 17, 2007
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At a seminary lecture tonight, I learned of an insightful quote from Max Weber, "Whatever we designate as sacred becomes uniquely unalterable." Meaning -- that once something has been established in our minds as true, as Biblical, as holy, it is difficult for us to think outside of the box (it's 'unalterable'). There's a fear that if we even think outside of what we've been believing, then something terrible is going to happen. For example, the slippery slope argument that if you embrace Biblical equality (i.e. that both men and women are equal in God's eyes and can be called and gifted by Him to serve in any and every capacity including preaching and teaching), then that will lead to embracing liberalism, which will lead to embracing homosexuality... and on and on to the downfall of Christianity. But this is a fallacy. You can't prove that these things will happen, but the arguments for an impending, catastrophic doom are pretty effective in instilling enough fear in people that they are unwilling to consider the possibility that what they've been believing all along could possibly be untrue. Once something is designated as sacred, to turn your back on it is the same as turning your back on God.
It's something I've been thinking about for awhile now -- how traditions keep people from thinking. Either that, or they give individuals a bias even if they say they are 'open' to another idea. In defense of tradition, experience is also often used as validation for the truth. (i.e. "It's worked for this many years, of course, it is true.") But just because it appears that it has always been done this way, does that mean it's been done the right way? And do we really have our facts straight in the first place (has it always been done that way really)? What is the truth? What is God's way? I hope we are searching for it, laying aside our biases and our traditions, and giving God the opportunity to truly reveal His heart to us.
Comments (3)
True, when we designate something as "sacred" we often become unwilling to examine it, often to our detriment. In balance of that, however, it must be stated that traditions—while not all good—do exist in communities for a reason, and often reflect a wisdom that is built over generations. God even instituted certain "traditions" to stimulate reflection on their relationship with him. If people make idols of them, or use them as an excuse to not think, that is more the fault of the people than the traditions. We should be willing to examine our traditions, submitting our final conclusions to the authority of Scripture (which I will agree is especially difficult), but we ought also to respect the traditions of those who came before us in the Family of Faith, even if we ultimately choose to disagree with them. So while we should never make our traditions dogma, like Luther we ought to have the strongest of biblical evidences before we choose to altar them. And as one of my professors has noted, there is right way and a wrong way to change/challenge traditions.
True. Some traditions are good because they are Biblical. But some traditions are just traditions. Even if it's been done for generations and generations, it doesn't mean that it is right. And some traditions have only been practiced for the last few decades, but since they seem 'so old' to us, it appears as though it's been done since the beginning of time. And time almost seems to be equivalent to being Scriptural in our eyes. But what about the time before that? And what about how it really was when Jesus came and described His Kingdom reign? That is how we should be living our lives.
Let us seek and find ways to honor God in the way that He would desire.
yes, this was a good quote. I was challenged to think through some of the beliefs that I hold to and evaluate them. One thing I also found very interesting that night was her discussion of the historical movements of the church and this danger (and pattern) of polarization as groups focus on male-female differences and how these comparisions have led to perceptions of inferiority and injustice. It is also interesting how she brought into perspective the dangers of "recent" formation of men's movements like promise keepers and others.
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