Just BECAUSE ..... Part 1

Unless Christians understand and apply the phenomenon of multiple causes we will fail to grasp the magnitude and the wonder of God’s relationship with men and women. Embracing complex causation leads to worship in the true sense of the word: admiration for God and responsibility in life.

I think the concept of multiple causes is critical to proper Christian understanding of God’s interaction with men and women.  Let’s start with an easy illustration:

 A married couple has a beautiful baby girl.  We are absolutely aware that this event occurred because this couple engaged in the marriage act which produced a baby.   But this wasn’t the first time they tried to have a baby.  What was different this time?  Well in the most basic sense, there was unification between a sperm and an egg.  So conception occurs because of this union.  Later in life this little girl grows and she asks her mother where she came from.  As my daughter likes to mimic: “Daddy loved Mommy very much and that is why you are here.”   Well of course that is a means of keeping the details to a minimum, but there is truth there.  Behind every act there is a decision a decision that more than often occurs in the deep recesses of one’s subconscious.  That baby girl is here because of the choice of the mind.

Now wait a minute.  Paul affirms about God that “the God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,” (Acts 17:24, ESV).  Psalm 139 is a classic text that insists that this baby girl of our subject is here because God made her.

So you will notice that I used the word because four times in this make-believe story.  A baby girl is here BECAUSE a man and woman chose to engage in sexual intimacy.  She is here BECAUSE they did.  She is here BECAUSE of the union of a sperm and an egg.  She is here BECAUSE God formed and fashioned her in her mother’s womb. 

Theologians (and scientists) have sometimes framed this discussion in terms of primary and secondary causes. The drawer in the theological filing cabinet that contains this discussion is called providence. God is the primary cause of all things.  The uncaused Cause of the universe. But God relates to mankind through secondary causes. When Joseph reconciled with his brothers, Moses records the classic text that reflects this existence of multiple causes. “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” (Genesis 50:20, ESV).

Correct biblical understanding will indeed show a pecking order in this arena of causation, but to deny compound causes will not only deny the reality of living, but will stunt one’s understanding of the relationship between God and man.  People who fail to embrace multifaceted causation also tend to become myopic – focusing on one aspect of reality rather than seeing the entire picture.

To be continued …