It started off as a comment on Peacebang, but grew too long:
Two of the first things I was taught in my first seminary class: 1) You can't be a unitarian (lower case) and a Christian - and - 2) Revelation is sealed!!! (Emphasis, professor's.)
How sad! How unnecessarily difficult it makes the connection between modern life (with its scientific knowledge) and religion!
When I think of revelation not being sealed, it is with the same joy that I think of A. Powell Davies' phrase about the "illimitable mind."
July 21 marks a long-anticipated day for Harry Potter fans. But it is also a day of sadness for many. This is the last book. There will be no new adventures for the beloved characters.
I use a children's book as an example, because that same delight and excitement at learning new things, having new facts revealed -- don't we still have that in us, for life itself? And I think there is an unnamed promise that it will always be so. That revelation is NOT sealed, and that there will always be more knowledge, more "good stuff" revealed. Long after we are dead and gone, the adventures go on.
I see so much revelation through science, especially medical science; not surprisingly, considering my story. Newsweek recently ran a story that says there is research that indicates what we think about death ... is wrong. When someone has had a heart attack and hasn't been revived within 5 minutes, it was thought that their cells began to die. And then someone looked a little closer and discovered ... no! The cells were still alive! It was when they then began re-oxygenating that the cells began to die. Total change-ola, Batman! So doctors are now experimenting with finding slower, gentler ways to reintroduce oxygen through the body. In one study, they saved 80% of patients ... the "old" (current) way? 15%.
This both floored me and excited me. Wow! We've really had it all wrong! And wow! Think of how this can change things!
And WOW ... if we can be so wrong about something so basic -- whether a person is alive or dead -- just think of all the assumptions that we base on our beliefs upon. There is always something new to learn. Always a potential gain in thinking outside the box, questioning our assumptions. Whether it's the identity of God, or the power of thought, or of how we fit into the universe.
Revelation is not sealed.
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7 comments:
I can completely see myself passing away someday and having a moment I like to call "The Forehead Slap" as the truth is revealed to me.
I imagine I'm wrong about a lot of things. I find that exciting in a way!
I love your open mind and heart.
Ooo, I have gooseflesh from this post. Thank you so much for sharing it!
What a great post, LE! I loved reading it and am now thinking "how can I use this in a sermon?"
Truly, the world is more open this way! Great post.
Curiosity: What seminary was this at which your professor had the magisterial status to make rules for God?
I see so much revelation through science
Precisely!
One of the reasons I am so drawn to process theology is that the notion of God's continuing activity is central to it. Process theologians see God as constantly issuing a call to the world at each instant of process, which they refer to as God's "initial aims". This moves away from the idea of God as a magician in the sky who somehow either intervenes or doesn't, or communicates with us or doesn't. Instead, God is constantly active in a sort of dance with creation, offering creative novelty in order to draw the world out towards greater enhancement of experience.
So yes, I believe that God is still speaking.
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