Introduction (Why does this site exist?)

I’ll give the long and the short answers to this question.

The long answer begins with the fact that I tend to think a lot and I tend to read a lot. Many of the books that I read are theological and historical, mainly because of my passion for the Bible as the Word of God. With this view of Scripture, I see it as the authoritative source of revelation when it comes to divine truth. Daily, it amazes me that God saw fit to make it accessible to all and I thank Him for it. But He also admonishes us to rightly divide it. The Word is many things, but first and foremost, it is extremely powerful. The author of Hebrews describes it as “living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12) In a nutshell, this is not a game. What I hope you see through what this blog will become is the (hopefully coherent) thought that runs through my mind when faced with the awesome God we serve, in all of His mind-boggling complexity and mind-boggling love.

The title is Piercing the Paradox to signify what the Word does and what the Word is. My favorite description of the Word is the one in Hebrews 4, hence the “piercing” language. I describe the Word as a paradox because this is, according to many, the most confusing part of Scripture. A breakdown of the word "paradox" might help. It's a basic Greek compound, παραδοξος, "paradoxos". The first part, "παρα", means "beyond" or contrary to. Thus we have words like "paranormal" meaning beyond normal. The second part, "δοξος", means "belief" or "opinion". Thus, we have my favorite word, "orthodoxy". We put it together and we get a paradox, something that is literally beyond belief.* So obviously we have questions. How do we have a God who is both immanent and transcendent? Some compilation of books written by a bunch of dudes is supposed to be “Holy Scripture” breathed out by God? (2 Timothy 3:16) Jesus is both God and man? (The Gospels) I’m supposed to work out my salvation, but its really God working in me? (Philippians 2:12-13) Answer a fool according to his folly or don’t answer a fool according to his folly? (Proverbs 26:4-5) Is everything actually meaningless or should I enjoy my life? (Basically the whole book of Ecclesiastes) There are a lot of questions. But the truth of Scripture is truth that is readily available through the prompting and the lens of the Holy Spirit. What you will hopefully see through my writing is a humble journey towards that truth.

As a warning to myself, I have the words of Martin Luther, saying, “What the heathen had in their wood, we have in our opinions.” What I offer here are just those: opinions…that is, unless I claim otherwise heh heh. I do not claim that what I think is absolute truth, but I do claim that what Scripture says is absolute truth. After all, that’s the conclusion we have to come to if it’s the actual Word of God. This means that however uncomfortable it makes me, I still have to proclaim it as truth. And I’ll try to do that here. I encourage you to engage me as I set out on this journey. After all, Christian thought does not and should not happen in a vacuum, but rather it should thrive within the body of believers.

The short answer is that Desiree, my lovely girlfriend, gave me the idea. So there’s that too…I guess…

My next post will be a meditation on the Ten Commandments, not just as individual commandments, but as categorical warnings, in the same vein as Matthew 5. After that, an explanation of something that reallllly gets on my nerves.

May the Lord bless you and keep you!

*Obviously this is not to say that God is impossible to believe in. Just saying that the matters of God are not always as plain and straightforward as we would like them to be.