Spare Change

CNN Finds Jesus

Posted by Bryan

And he's not in a box on the other side of Jerusalem.

A twin billing from the "hunting-for-Easter-readers" news conglomerate...

First, the Human Genome Project Chief Dr. Francis Collins explains why he is a follower of Jesus. His argument is not the most compelling, from the P.O.V. of those who would oppose him, but the same message that is foolishness to them is one of hope for the perishing. And that's groovy.

Then, CNN (Christian News? Not!) asks but doesn't really answer the question, "Are We Hard-Wired for Faith?" Both sides - believers and non - argue that the evidence proves their point. Whatever. I think the coolest thing to come out of that article is the term "neurotheology."

I love this time of year...not only because it is a commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus, but because it brings out the annual provocateurs. This year it was an up-and-coming documentarian who thought he had a most scintillating of expose', only see it to sink with a Titanic dud in the long-term acceptance of the public consciousness when it was evidenced that his facts were as flawed as the giant luxuryliner's design.

Do you think I exaggerate? How proliferate does the Christ-sploitation have to be if Forbes - worshippers of the mighty dollar - comment that it be so? This is no anti-Forbes screed, but merely a chance to use the term Christ-sploitation, a term for which I will in fact take credit in coining, should such a call for credit be sought. The funky thing about this phenomenon about using Christ for personal gain is one in which both followers of Jesus and non-believers alike participate, to fulfill a personal agenda.

Jesus is not a brand, the ichthys is not a logo, God is not a pitch-man or celebrity endorser, and "Christian" is neither a slogan nor an adjective to describe a subset of a trade. At least when non-believers do it, it is either ignorance or provocation (neither of which are a problem for the One who says "seek me and you'll find me."). When believers do it, it is sinful vanity and possibly heresy (both of which are a real problem for the One who says he hates both of these types of offenses).

As far as the question of whether or not our brains our hard-wired for faith...I happen to think that as long as the inquiry is entirely cerebral, seekers will be frustrated to some degree. Dr. Collins says as much, but Dr. Solomon* says it better:

I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.

The quest for eternity is established in the heart of men and women, and processed through the mind. And since the heart is deceitful above all things and cannot be trusted (trust me on this), and because the mind requires perpetual renewal, the pursuit of faith cannot be relegated to a single physiological system. In addition to neurotheology, perhaps we need to introduce pneumotheology, cardiotheology, and physiotheology to the conversation.

Man, I have some trademark work to do...I hope the office for these needs is open on Good Friday.

*if ever there was a guy with a PhD from the school of Hard Knocks, it was Solomon...a man so wise he was the envy of the world, but for all his refinery was compared infavorably to a mere flower because of his foolishness before God. His example goes to show that no matter how we're wired, we've got to be plugged in to make the connection.

April 5, 2007 3:33 PM