Creation
It seems that most of my facebook
newsfeed these days consists of quizzes. Quizzes that will determine my IQ,
personality, knowledge of 90s television shows, the Jane Austen heroine I most
resemble… So, it is most appropriate when we look at a book which has the tag
line, “The gospel in a world of cultural confusion”, that we should begin with
a quiz. We’ll call it, ‘Are you a Gnostic?’
Question 1. Do you think that Christians
should be able to speak about their views on an issue in the public arena?
Question 2. Do you think Christians
should be interested in ecology?
Question 3. Do you believe Jesus rose
from the dead?
Question 4. Do you think that God will
bring about his kingdom here on earth?
Well, if you are a Christian and
answered ‘no’ to any of those questions, it’s more than likely you are on the
‘Gnostic spectrum’.
Tom Wright does not equivocate in the
first chapter of his book Creation, Power
and Truth. He outlines the ways Gnosticism has pervaded both Western
society in general and, more specifically, the church. He identifies two main
types of Gnostics in the 21st Century. The “functional atheism” (9)
of the libertine, where “the world is irrelevant to God and to our spiritual
agendas, so we can do what we like with it.” (9). And the ascetic, who, in not
letting their “spirituality get entangled with the real world of space, time
and (particularly) matter” (8), has separated that same spirituality from
“politics and public life” (8).
Wright identifies both the ancient
sources of Gnosticism, and the Enlightenment and Modernist philosophies which
underpin much of present day Gnosticism. Notably, he identifies “the cult of
self-discovery”, the search for knowledge (gnosis),
not externally but from within. And we see this, don’t we, in various guises? Reflecting
on this chapter this week, I’ve seen elements of Gnosticism all over the place.
From the overt shouts from the pulpit of the prosperity Gospel to the
pernicious attempts to slide Christianity into our culture, conforming to
culture rather than being shaped by the Gospel. Where being “cool” moves from
being a means to reach the lost into a way to avoid difference. Worship of the
Creator is secondary to licentious enjoyment of his creation. We do not need to
fear persecution or estrangement from society, as there is no discernible
difference from it. Christianity becomes the escape pod, to blast us out of
danger if and when it should ever present itself. It is the wide path of the libertine
that endangers many of us.
After astutely identifying Gnosticism in
society, Wright proceeds to examine the biblical sources for arguments against
Gnosticism, looking particularly at John’s Gospel and Paul’s epistles, but also
going back to Genesis 1 and 2. This section is essential if we are to have a
developed theology of creation and new creation, and whilst I will make a gloss
of it here, take the time to read it carefully, and to read the Bible passages
Wright mentions, as well. Wright ends this section with an examination of
Revelation and Romans 8, emphasising creation, resurrection and judgment as the
foundation for our theology as “the triple biblical witnesses against
Gnosticisms of all sorts” (28). Wright shows from these passages that it is
Jesus who is “the one who rescues creation itself, and us with it.” (29),
displacing any notion of a Gnostic Jesus who rescues us from the world he
created.
This chapter has caused me to reflect on
the rising interest, particularly amongst younger generations of Christians, in
ecology. I have been encouraged and personally challenged over the past few
years in the development of Christian thinking on the issue, particularly as
society as a whole is becoming more aware of the cataclysmic effects of human-induced
climate change. I have been impressed by various movements which are seeking to
bring about not only a change in thought (gnosis)
but also in action (praxis),
campaigning for churches to divest from investment in fossil fuels, educating
Christians not only on the small things we can be doing but the big things too.
And doing all this with a biblical theology of creation and new creation.