The Pastor and an Unmessianic Sense of Non Destiny
Carl Trueman [1]
Selected Quotations:
“The West worships the individual. From the cradle to the grave, it tells us all how special and unique we are, how vital we are to everything, how there’s a prize out there just for us.”
“What concerns me is the way in which our tendency to think of ourselves as special and unique bleeds over into a sense of special destiny whereby the future, or at least the future of myself, comes to be the priority and to trump all else.”
“This belief that we are each special is, by and large, complete tosh. Most of us are mediocre, make unique contributions only in the peculiar ways we screw things up, and could easily be replaced as husband, father, or employee by somebody better suited to the task.”
“My special destiny as a believer is to be part of the church; and it is the church that is the big player in God’s wider plan, not me.” [Emphasis Mine]
“When I act, I act as a whole person; my hand has no special role of its own; it acts only in the context of being part of my overall body. With the church, the destiny of the whole is greater than the sum of the destinies of individual Christians.”
“Well, the world turned for thousands of years before any of us showed up; it will continue turning long after we’ve gone, short of the parousia; and even if you, me, or the Christian next door are tonight hit by an asteroid, kidnapped by aliens, or sucked down the bathroom plughole, very little will actually change; even our loved ones will somehow find a way to carry on without us. We really are not that important.”
___________________________________
1. 9 Marks Journal, March, 2022. Carl Trueman is a Professor of Biblical and Religious Studies at Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania.
No comments:
Post a Comment