Truth, Views and Truth Claims

When I was young I thought all wars were over. I thought racism was a thing of the past.
The naiveté and innocence which penetrated my concepts of this world were like a buffer towards angry Marxist-Leninists in my high school class. I guess I represented most of what they hated: I was a professing Christian, politically non-socialist, pro-Israel, pro-USA. Even with all their spite and malice, they did not impress me as believable.

They did not scare me then, but as I entered into the world of academia, I noticed the compulsion this group of young radicals spread around them. I noticed, with some fear, the sharp rhetoric and the brute force of words and actions. They were like an intellectual elite, licking up liquid power, where it was seeping out of the established power structures.

For many of my co-students, they were trendy. A trend is a fad. I figured it would pass; and it did. The new trend was a rather opposite one, but perhaps not any more constructive. It was a yappie-culture, where good looks, expensive clothes were important, and striving to outscore any competitor by sacrificing anything at one's disposal. It was displaying a spirit of superiority. Capitalism as an economic idea needs to be curtailed by ethics, and biblical ethical principles are well fit for the task. Without that, it will easily result in greed, exploitation, stealing, shady deals and cover-up and more of the same kind.

In my student years in the 70ties and 80ties we heard about conflicts in the Middle East. We heard about 'Arabs' (which was a more generic term for large people groups in the the vast Middle East region) - we heard that there were inhumane slaughter, thousands of people killed,  but thought it was a domestic issue. We knew about the extreme differences between rich and poor in the oil-rich Arab states, and we thought this was part of their culture. No one really knew much about Islam. It was not a Western religion, it did not penetrate our societies.

The radical Marxist-Leninists did engage in the conflicts. Through their world view of understanding all conflicts as class struggle, and the proletariat as the under-dog fighting a superior power structure, they redefined the underdog as the particular group fighting for domain over the land strip called Israel, a group in time called the Palestinians. Why they did not identify the persecuted Jewish population of this world and their fight for survival as the struggling proletariat is in fact surprising, for Israel grew very much on the basic communist ideals in living in communes, sharing wealth. Among European Jewry, there were many who sided with the Marxist ideals, so the connection would seem natural. Established old timer politician in the Labour-movement were solid supporters of Israel as a state and of the opportunity for Jews world wide to settle there. Not so the hot-headed Marxist-Leninists: for Israel had support in the US. In their compulsive and rigid interpretation of this world, aided by the rhetoric of Edward Said and other neo-Marxist intellectuals, they identified the weak/strong struggle in the south/north, and Israel became a protrusion of the western capitalist usurper and exploiter of the poor.

A lie may become believable, if told enough times.
The goals justify the means in Marxist thinking. If it is beneficial to lie, so be it.

Postmodern confusion and despair has come as a lethargic blanket over this. There are still Marxist-Leninists, and they have all become comfortably part of the society at large, not needing to live any consequence of their philosophy. Most teaching these days - of 'great importance' is found in academia, where the faithful still refuse to believe that the Marxist theories they studied so hard and finally understood, have no relevance in the real world.
Postmodernism has many facets, some constructive, some destructive and some deconstructive. The confusion many people feel about what to think and how to express it is caused partly by the attack on language as a means of communicating truth. Any statement may be taken to be subjective, incomplete, potentially wrong, ambiguous, etc. and it leaves any proponent of any view in the quagmire of relativism: Your truth is not my truth; you have no authority in your words. There is no truth as such.
Some like to use the same strategy against the proponents of non-sence and use the same method for claiming that they are necessarily wrong. The challenge still subsists: how do we claim anything to be true?

I suppose that is all I will do: Proclaim truth I hold to be true. If they really are true, they will reveal themselves as such.

I believe  in  one God, the Father almighty,
maker  of  heaven  and  earth and of all things  visible  and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God,
begotten of the Father before all ages,
God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten not made,
being of one substance with the Father,
through Whom all things were made:
Who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven,
was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man:
Who for us, too, was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
suffered, and was buried:
the third day He rose according to the Scriptures,
ascended into heaven, and is seated on the right hand of the Father:
He shall come again with glory to judge the living
and the dead, and His kingdom shall have no end.

And  in  the  Holy Spirit, the Lord  and Giver of  life,
Who  proceeds  from  the  Father  and  the  Son:
Who together with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified:
Who spoke by the prophets.
And I believe one holy, Christian, and apostolic Church.
I acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins, and I look for the resurrection of the dead and life of the age to come.

The Second Day of Christmas

I was up early, as normal, and had coffee and a light breakfast of flatbread with goat cheese. The cat was nested sleepily in his bowl. Outside the night was still spreading its blanket of darkness. A few drops of precipitation blinked in the lamplight.

Quiet. Peace. Rest.

I remembered parties, with festivity, hustle and bustle, food, laughter. I remembered a dear friend, and I sent her a greeting on Facebook. I love my greater family, but we have made it contingent on the road conditions if we will see each other during this season. Earlier years we had made plans, and we truly risked life and limbs in the transport. This year – perhaps a bit wiser, as we are older, we said: let’s see what the weather permits.

As the snow flakes turned to rain and again to snow or sleet, my oldest son and I enjoyed a lengthy morning chat about theology – about the understanding of baptism in the Reformed and the Lutheran tradition, about the value in different aspects of forms of worship, the liturgical, the non-liturgical; the need for disciple-making in the local churches, the understanding of ‘nature’ and roles in spiritual leadership –

I thought: times like these are precious; and they come about because we have time. Outside I see the lake with a silvery surface, the forest is partly frosted over, and I hear no sound of any snowplow or sand truck. I think we will continue to enjoy the local setting and perhaps move about on foot.

Speed of Light

Google tells me it is 340 years since the speed of light was determined.

I don’t think light has a constant speed, because it is finite.

It is not good enough to assume that it keeps on when we cannot see it.

There is a Lux Aeterna, God’s light, which penetrates through all sorts of physical barriers. It is a light in a different world; it is an eternal light. As such, motion is not an issue.

Yesterday I had a small devotion during Assembly at school. I was given a text to deliberate on, but I opted to light a candle and simply read it – read it slowly, as when you recite poetry –

“For unto us a child is born.

Unto us a Son is given;

And the government will be upon His shoulder.

And His name will be called

Wonderful, Counselor,

Mighty God,

Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace.”

Then a small group of seniors from the English class stood up and sang, with clear and soft voices: “Silent night, Holy night! All is calm. All is bright. Round yon virgin mother and child, Holy Infant, so tender and mild. Sleep in heavenly peace, Sleep in heavenly peace.”

All the students rose to join a verse in the Norwegian version which starts with : Fred på jord, fryd på jord... Peace on earth, joy on earth…

If you want to measure the speed of light in set physical conditions, there is value to that, but this doesn’t even come close to the immediate soul penetrating light from the realm of God!