On Revelation and Humility

by | Aug 18, 2020 | Women, Women's Ministry

By Elizabeth Sunshine

“By what right … do you say that you know God better than they do, that your God is better than theirs, that you have an access that I can’t claim to have, to knowing not just that there is a God, but that you know his mind. You put it modestly, but it is a fantastically arrogant claim that you make — an incredibly immodest claim.”

Christopher Hitchens

Today I started the theology class I’m teaching with this quote from the great theologian Christopher Hitchens (who would hate that I just called him a theologian). He said it in 2008 in a debate with a rabbi. I wanted to use it to wake up my college freshmen (the class is at 8 am) as well as to make a point: Hitchens is right, sort of. It really is incredible to claim to know the mind of the creator of the universe, and even more so to claim to actually have a relationship with him. By what right do religious people (Jewish, Christian or otherwise) make this claim?

I hope that my students felt the suspense, because Hitchens really does have a good point. If we claim that we know God’s mind because we are smarter, wiser, or more moral than others, we deserve to be called “fantastically arrogant.”

But perhaps my students didn’t feel suspense because they had the answer staring them in the face on the syllabus. The title of today’s class was “Revelation.”

You see, the reason why it’s not arrogant to claim to know about God, and even to know God, is that God is not like the laws of science.

Scientific laws are impersonal. They’re patterns that physical objects conform to that are out there waiting to be discovered. Gravity didn’t send a message to Isaac Newton explaining how it worked because gravity isn’t a person. God is. And that makes all the difference because a person can communicate. A person can make an effort to reach out and get to know someone. And if Christians are right, that’s exactly what God did.

God reached down to us, revealing himself to us. That is how we can know God, and it has nothing to do with our abilities or morality. It has everything to do with God’s choice. When a Christian claims to know God, it says more about God than it does about the Christian.

We’re going to spend most of the class talking about the content of God’s revelation. We’ll go through the Bible, starting in Genesis 1, and discuss what claims the text makes, and what those claims say about God. But I wanted my students to pause and reflect on what the mere fact of revelation says about God.

The first point is one we’ve already covered: God is a person, not a force. He can choose to speak. The fact that he did so choose says something else: God loves his creation and wants to be in relationship with it. And that relationship requires incredible humility on God’s part.

We don’t often think of God as being humble. Good, yes. Loving, yes. But not humble. Christians would (or at least should) affirm that humility is good, and we would also say that God is the source and the complete exemplar of all that is good. So it stands to reason that God would be humble. But it’s hard to think of him that way, perhaps because God is so great.

Think of it this way: consider something you know a lot about and care about deeply, whether it be your work, a hobby, or just a subject that interests you. Imagine trying to explain that thing to a three-year-old. Unless you’re a preschool teacher (or maybe unless the subject is trucks or dinosaurs), you’re going to have a hard time. The three-year-old is likely to be confused, and you’ll have to oversimplify a lot. The child may even going away thinking the subject is boring. You’re likely to end up frustrated and disappointed.

Explaining something you care about in terms the child can understand is an act of humility as you make your interest seem less than it really is in order to connect with someone. That’s what God does every time he reveals himself. God’s actual being is far beyond us, even more so than quantum physics is beyond a three-year-old. Our conceptions of him, grand as they may be, inevitably fall short of reality because we are finite and cannot grasp infinity. So God simplifies himself, presents himself to us in ways we can kind of understand, makes himself seem less than he is, just so he can be in relationship with us.

For Christians, the ultimate revelation is the person of Jesus, who is also the ultimate example of divine humility, of God appearing less than he is for the sake of humanity.

But this humility is also shown in God’s revealing himself to us in the text of the Bible. This humility comes to us when we do not at all deserve it. It is an act of grace.

The name of the class I’m teaching is Foundations of Theology. The phrase comes from Dei Verbum, one of the documents that came out of Vatican II, which calls Scripture and tradition the foundations of theology. But you could also say (and I think the writers of the document would agree) that the foundation of theology is God’s humble revelation of himself to finite humans. The foundation of theology is grace.

Elizabeth Sunshine is a Ph.D. student at the University of Notre Dame, where she is studying Christianity and Judaism in Antiquity. She grew up in Connecticut but now lives right on the border between Michigan and Indiana. After college, she worked in Taipei, Taiwan as an editor for Studio Classroom, an English-teaching magazine, where she also wrote scripts for TV shows, led summer camps, and taught an English Bible study. In her free time, she enjoys walking outside, reading fantasy novels, and knitting. She also blogs at Logos and Love.

An Apology for Apologies

by | May 12, 2016 | 2 Corinthians, Pastoral Practice, Repentance

In my preaching I have often distinguished between repentance and apology: repentance is where you turn from sin to God and admit your fault, while an apology is an attempt to defend yourself. I have usually said that an apology is appropriate for a mistake, whereas repentance is appropriate for sin.

But in 2 Corinthians 7:10-11, Paul commends the Corinthians repentance — and their apology! As soon as I saw this, it made perfect sense of so many situations of interpersonal conflict. Too often, when we confront someone about their sin, we simply demand repentance and refuse to hear any “explanation” (thinking that the explanation is being offered as an excuse). But Paul is demonstrating a different way. He wants to hear their explanation — their “apology” for their actions — because that will further open communication between them.

Think about how Paul says this:

10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

What is the difference between godly grief and worldly grief? John Chrysostom says it well: “Worldly sorrow…is regret for the loss of money, reputation, and friends. That kind of sorrow merely leads to greater harm, because the regret is often a prelude to a thirst for revenge. Only sorrow for sin is really profitable.” (quoted in Guthrie, 379)

Proverbs 9:7-8 says, “Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse, and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury. Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you.”

How do you respond when someone rebukes you? Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret. Verse 11 shows us what this looks like:

11 For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you, but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment!

Paul uses seven words to describe the Corinthians’ godly response: the first is “earnestness” – haste – being eager to deal with the problem.

But second, they defended themselves – being eager “to clear yourselves.” This is the word “apologia” – where we get our word “apology.” This word refers to the idea of defending yourself. An apology is a defense of your actions. When you apologize, you are explaining yourself. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t see you standing there.” “I’m sorry, I was reading a book and I lost track of time.” Those are apologies. If you tell your child, “Apologize to your sister,”you are telling your child to explain their reasons why they did something.

And Paul says here that apologies can be a good thing! Even when you realize that you have sinned, you may still need to offer an apology! You may need to say, “Yes, I was wrong – I sinned against you – and here’s the context to help you understand what happened.”

Paul does not give us all the details of what the Corinthians said to him – but plainly he was satisfied by the combination of repentance and apology that he received.

The third word – what indignation – is a much stronger word. It can refer to displeasure, annoyance, anger, even rage. The object of their indignation is not clear. Possibly they are enraged at the false teachers. Maybe they are upset at themselves for their own blindness. But godly sorrow will produce indignation in you. Godly sorrow will produce strong emotions in you!

The fourth word – what fear – shows how the Corinthians have realized the severity of what they have done. In v15 Paul will speak of the “fear and trembling” with which they received Titus. Why does the wise man love the one who rebukes him? Because the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom! Why is this person rebuking me? If this person is rebuking me out of love – then maybe I’ve missed something – maybe I need to hear what this person is saying.

The fifth word, “what longing” – is the same word used in verse 7 – where Titus told Paul of their longing for him.

And this is closely related to the sixth word – “what zeal” – which speaks of their enthusiasm for Paul – reflecting their dedication to the gospel and to Paul himself.

The final word “what punishment” focuses on the outcome: the word could be translated “what vengeance” or “what retaliation.” It has to do with the dispensing of justice. We saw back in 2:6 that Paul spoke of how the punishment inflicted by the majority was sufficient.

And so, at the end of verse 11, Paul says:

At every point you have proved yourselves innocent in the matter.

They were guilty. That’s why Paul wrote the severe letter! But now they are innocent! How can the guilty become innocent? By repentance! And by bearing fruit in keeping with repentance.

So how do you demonstrate godly sorrow? Well, when someone shows you your sin, you should respond with earnestness – promptly dealing with the sin – you should respond with an apology – explaining the situation (not to excuse yourself – but to clear yourself by specifying exactly what has happened); and you should respond with indignation, fear, longing, zeal – real emotions that express your concern that the relationship be restored! – and with “punishment” – with proper consequences that will demonstrate fruit in keeping with repentance.

And when you are confronting someone else, remember that if we demand only repentance — if we refuse to hear a person’s apology — then we are claiming to be higher than God (after all, even God asked Adam to explain himself!).

Peter J. Wallace