being human

A few months ago I read to what I believe is my favorite quote of all time:  "God reveals himself by revealing man to himself."  This has really been a capstone to my line of theological thinking for the last few years.  A couple years ago I remember being blown away reading Hans Kung who pointedly claimed that Christianity was essentially just radical humanism; humanism taken to the extreme.  I remember thinking this was a welcome corrective to the model of thought that would have Christianity be resigned to a perpetual antagonism towards the the vast plurality of lines of thought that we are all confronted with on a daily basis.  I'm pretty sick of it.  I'm certain the quantity of people who feel likewise would be innumerable.  I have long been annoyed by the simple fact that so many humanists seemed more Jesus-like than the majority of Christians.  It seems to me that so many of the concepts and attitudes that can be found at the heart of Enlightenment thinking are things that are completely in line with Jesus' teaching, only we as his followers have long forgotten how they are.

One thing that never ceases to amaze me is how multifaceted the simple concept of 'being human' is.  The depth of our existence is staggering to actually think about.  Even from a purely scientific standpoint it is awe-inspiring to consider all the complexity of humans.  From consciousness and psychology, to social networks and language, to art and the concept of aesthetic beauty, and then even to the ever subtle nuances of human spirituality, it seems it would be almost impossible ever run out of things to ponder in regard to 'being human'.  And, this is a place where I find myself confronted with the purpose of religion in our world.  

So often I think religion is foolish enough to think it possible to begin with God and precede toward man as though there is some plane above our own which is possible for us to experience.  And, invariably we find men and women standing as 'spokespeople' for this ethereal realm beyond us.  The will to power is sublimated into a pseudo-spirituality which works to enslave people rather than set them free.  I think the Enlightenment started from this same position, realizing how the power structures in the world of that time were tied to irrationality and religious superstitions which were perpetuated by the clergy and religious figures using faith as a means to hold on to power.  And, for all its flaws, the Enlightenment did serve to liberate people when religion had been overwhelmingly perverted to oppress them.  I don't think much has changed in our context.  Mega-churches perform the same function, using a 'spiritualized' self-help formula as extra incentive to 'just go with it'.  

I think it's all intertwined with the idea that revelation comes from above, and this is exactly what I have come to deny.  I don't think God has ever, or will ever, speak to us out of the heights, and any man who would speak as though he does is selling something.  Beware.

I believe God always has, and always will tell us of himself through other people, and these other people assuredly have no innate qualities which make them any better than ourselves.  The modern attitude that no 'middle man' is necessary for spirituality is right to an extent, but it goes to far when it fails to understand that part of being human is being social.  And, we will never hear from God fully if we refuse to listen to others.  This is where I see Christianity being more humanistic than humanism.  Christianity has no illusions of sufficient autonomy where the 'superman' stands alone without need of anyone else.  (I see that as one of several places where Nietzsche crossed the line from prophet to idiot)  In order to correct the mass superstition and religious delusions of the Medieval era, Modernity fled to the reverse pole where all men were islands of cursed self-sufficiency.  I believe at the heart of Jesus' message is a belief in the freedom of men from religious control and also a freedom from lonely isolation.  In this way, the heart of Christianity is an offer to be free of that which would reduce the sociality of being human.

This is one of several ways in which I see that God's revelation is something that does not come down to us, but that happens among us, between us, and within us.  The more we understand about ourselves, as individuals and communities, the more we have the potential to understand God and to grasp the message of salvation that has come to us across generations and cultures.

I'm coming to see that true Christian faith will always be a middle way between the dehumanizing tendencies of the culture it is in and the dehumanizing tendencies of those who would manipulate the gospel to keep a salary.  On both sides (church and culture) there are beautiful things that I personally think Christians a called to protect.  To swing to one side or the other is to lose the fullness of what the gospel gives us, and in doing so, to fall short of the glory of God.