| Today I am simply continuing on in this paragraph by James Alison - in "The Joy of Being Wrong." This is an anthropological discovery of unimaginable proportions. At exactly the same moment as God is revealed as quite beyond any human understanding marked by death, entirely gratuitous love, so also it is revealed that the human understanding marked by death is something accidental to being human, not something essential. Here we have the linchpin of any understanding of original sin: that what we are as beings-toward-death is itself something capable of forgiveness. Furthermore we can see that the only way we are able to appreciate our true condition as humans-marked-by-death is precisely as it is revealed to us that that condition is unnecessary. It is in this way that the doctrine of original sin is the culmination of the revealed understanding of being human: the shape of divine forgiveness revealed in the resurrection of Jesus shows itself to stretch into our congenital involvement with death. The doctrine of original sin is the doctrine of the un-necessity of death. We are no longer prisoners to this sin. It has been wiped out - destroyed. The power of death that is manifest in so many ways within our world is truly at a loss. We therefore, are invited to live as though it is true - death has no power. Alison's claim is even more powerful death is un-necessary. We need not let it be the power that pulls our chain and shortens or depletes our lives. I'm at a conference on Palestinian and Israeli relations in the Middle East. The power of death thrives around this issue. We are people of life - life eternal. And yet, we - as followers of Jesus - go along with the power of death. There are not enough of us who stand up within the power of the resurrection to say no to the many ways death keeps the world spinning within that web of fear, hatred, retribution, and war. As this power of life dwells among us, our voices and our actions must come alive to pierce the veil of death's control. Connection: When we continue to stress original sin - we tend to willingly stay within its power and forget that it has no power anymore - among us. Lord of the Resurrection, raise us up to new life. Amen. |
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