Alternative Culture: Jerusalem the Biography review

I have never been to Jerusalem. However, the history of the city has always interests me. Why is the city considered the holiest city in Christianity and Judaism, and the third holiest city in Islam? Why is there so much violence over one city? Why can't the claimants share?

Covering Jerusalem from pre-Biblical times to the Six-Day War in 1967, Simon Sebag Montefiore breaks the mold of traditional historians by portraying Jerusalem like a real, breathing human rather than a grand city.

My favourite parts include the Soviet Union's interest in newly independent Israel, the Victorian Britain's relationship with Israel and King Richard I's battles in the Holy Land.

Some things to think about

What is challenging about the book for me is that it challenges me to think deeply about the significance of the earthly Jerusalem. For instance,

What is the role of the city in my theology?
Has Christian's view on the city change over time?
Does Jerusalem has any significance in Christianity now?
Is there a moral obligation to share Jerusalem?

Summary

I loved the book, and sincerely recommend it to people who ever wants to know more about Jerusalem.

Theology 1.0: Why is it important to engage with culture?

In the world but not of the world
Recently, my colleague commented that I take fictional works likes stories, plays and movies too seriously. He does have a point. Movies like Lego aren't meant to be taken apart and studied methodically like a textbook on invertebrate dissection.

So why have an alternative culture section?
Taking a page from the Medieval monks (Hanman, 2010), I think that engaging with culture (especially popular culture) is important.

Firstly it provides a common ground to talk about. If we begin a conversation to discuss the Bible with our non-Christian friends, they might lose interest quickly.

Secondly, I passionately believe that every piece of creation, whether human or natural, for good or for bad, is a talking ground for Christianity. This everything can be viewed through the lens of Christianity. Every piece of human art has some level of divine-connotation because the creation of humanity is God-breathed.

Summary
I am not saying that we should engage with culture purely for evangelistic purposes. I am saying that if we love our neighbours, we undoubtly know more about their interests, even if we disagree with the natural of their hobbies.

We can show that Christ even speaks to them in their culture.

References
Hanman, J. (2010) God's Philosophers

For further reading
Bethinking

With Due Respect: Aren't all religions inherently peaceful?

Introduction
In a secular Singapore (where I come from) inter-religious harmony is greatly promoted. While Singapore is the only non-communist secular state in Southeast Asia, Singapore is not immune to religious or racial tension. Hence there is an idea that all religions promote peace.

In this post, I want to challenge this "peaceful idea".

Some religions are inherently violent
The Aztecs believed that sacrificing human beings (especially their prisoners-of-war) is needed to sustain the universe. The Spanish explorers including Hernan Cortes and Juan Diaz recorded their disgust as Aztecs priests rip the hearts out of their victims and offer it to the sun.

Furthermore, the Aztecs were not a primitive tribe but the most advanced civilisation in the American continent at that time.

Some religions differ on their ideas of peace
Before and during the Second World War, the Japanese government incorporated Shinto Buddhism (which promoted loyalty to the Japanese Emperor) to garner support of the Japanese war effort. Unlike the idea of universal peace that the United Nations promotes, the idea of peace in State Shinto was Japanese nationalism (that the interests of the Japanese state was more important overrides all other interests).

Again, the Japanese were not some primitive people, but one of the major powers of the global war.

Conclusion
It has never been my intention to create inter-religious hatred or misunderstandings. However, peace cannot come at the expense of truth. And the truth is this-- not all our beliefs are the same. We should be encouraged to explore our beliefs and the beliefs of others in more detail.

Alternative Culture: Lego The Movie Review

I have to be honest with you-- initially I did not want to watch this film. I thought it would be too whimsical to my liking. Nevertheless, a few of my colleagues dragged me along to watch this, and I was glad I did.

Plot summary
Lego construction worker Emmet had always led an ordinary life. His daily life is filled with routines and instructions, leaving him little room for creativity. However upon finding a special item known as the "Resistance", Emmet learnt though a prophecy that he is no ordinary person. Teaming up with a thief, Batman, a wizard, a space engineer and a pirate, Emmet goes through an adventure of a lifetime to fulfill his true destiny.

Theological issues
Despite its childish presentation, the movie brings up deep theological themes. In this post, I would like to explore a few.

1) Finding the creator
In one of the scenes, Emmet breaks the fourth wall and meets his owner. Whether intentionally or not, this seems to run coherently with Christian theology-- God is involved in the world, although He cannot be found in nature and is outside the world.

As Pastor Tim Keller (2008) mentioned, to look for God in nature is like Hamlet looking at his attic for Shakespeare. While God's work can be physically found in the world, he generally cannot.

2) The importance of purpose
The overall theme of the movie seems to be the idea of purpose. In this postmodern era, it is generally preached that we humans have the ability to craft our own destiny (Wyatt, 2009), like Emmet comments to his fellow Lego.

I would argue that that our purpose is not self-determined, but divinely-determined. The only way for us to fulfill our true purpose in this world is to ask our creator (i.e. God).

Conclusion
Do watch this movie, even if you consider yourself a mature adult! I give this movie 70/100.

Reference
Keller, T. (2008) The Reason for God.

Wyatt, J. (2009) Matters of Life and Death

Alternative Culture: The Last Christian review

[The following post is dedicated to my friend Abigail]

The Last Christian..... in America
The daughter of missionaries, Abigail Caldwell, returns to the United States in 2088 after the tribe she was working with perishes to a pandemic. However, she finds that there are no Christians in the United States due to the advent of brain transplants. Inspired by a message from her late grandfather, she takes it upon herself to bring the gospel to her homeland.

What I liked
I admire the way the author imagines the decline of Christianity in the Western World. He attributes the regression due to the rise of evolutionary theory and lack of counter-culturalness. He also imagines the moral decline of the country with the loss of marriage institutions and lowering of the sexual age.

In reality, despite the hopes of the New Atheists like Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris, it is unlikely that religious belief will disappear in the near future. If anything, the number of cultural/nominal religious people are decreasing, while the number of practising religious people are increasing (McGrath, 2004).

I also liked the way Abigail innocently describes Christianity to a sceptical audience on live television, and the process in which her understanding of her faith changed. From relying so much on her own efforts, she slowly had a reformation of her heart and trusts God instead.

What could have been improved
I am quite surprised by one factual error, considering that the author did some research in Papua New Guinea. He mentioned that that there was no reputable neurological centre in the country, which would be pretty unlikely, since there is a famed neurological disease, kuru, which is endemic to the country.

Another aspect I thought was not well written was plot device in which the author links the soul to the brain. I wished it was better explained, because it seems to run contrary to the author's theology which he links faith to a relationship, rather than a state of mind.

My theological review
Despite its convenient deus ex machinma, I enjoyed this easy-to-read science fiction novel. I give it a 70/100.


Before I end this reveiw, I would like to do the author a favour by adding his video of Abigail Caldwell in the link below:

abbysmessage

References

McGrath, A. (2004) The Twilight of Atheism

Theology 1.0: What is the importance of miracles in Christianity?

Victoria and Albert Museum, London 2013

I do not know why Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathers of the removed all mention of miracles and the supernatural from his version of the Bible. Maybe like some modern Christians, he was uncomfortable with the idea of God violating of the laws of nature.

I would like to make a bold statement-- unlike other religions and worldviews, miracles are essential to Christianity.

1.) Miracles make Christianity what it is.

Although the Bible contains accounts of many miracles such as the parting of the Red Sea and the prophet Elijah summoning fire, I want to focus on the main miracle of Christianity-- the resurrection of Christ.

As the apostle Paul says in the 1 Corinthians 15:17-19,

17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

The basis of Christianity is based on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus-- to deny any of these beliefs is to undo Christianity entirely (Lewis, 1945).

2.) Miracles presupposes reason

Many people seem to think believing miracles requires to people to suspend their intellect. In order to recognise a miracle, one needs to be reasonable.

For instance, in order to recognise the Virgin birth of Jesus Christ as a miracle, one has to understand that sex is needed before birth (Lewis, 1904).

In other words, to recognise a violation of the laws of nature, one has to know the laws of nature.

Conclusion

Miracles are important in Christianity. However, it is not the most important issue. The more pressing issue is this: is it true?

As journalist GK Chesterton (1904) writes,

"What matters about a religion is not whether it can work marvels like any ragged Indian conjurer, but whether it has a true philosophy of the Universe. The Romans were quite willing to admit that Christ was a God. What they denied was the He was the God – the highest truth of the cosmos. And this is the only point worth discussing about Christianity." 

References

Chesterton, GK (1904). The Religious Doubt of Democracy.

Lewis, CS (1942, October). St Jude's Gazette, 73, 4-7.

Lewis, CS (1945, 27 April). The Grand Miracle.  The Guardian, 161-165

Theology 1.0: Who is GK Chesterton?

G K Chesterton

Gilbert Keith Chesterton is one of my favourite authors. Known as the Prince of Paradox, Chesterton is famed for turning popular sayings unto itself. For instance he makes statements like these:

"Silver is sometimes more valuable than gold, that is, in very large quantities."

"To be clever enough to get all that money, you must be stupid enough to want it."

"I believe in getting into hot water; it keeps me clean."

While he was famed for his Father Brown novels, he was also well-known as a Christian apologist, although he claimed to have "never read a line of Christian apologetics" (Chesterton, 1908). Contemporary Christian author Philip Yancey admits that he reads Chesterton when he feels his faith is "dry", and famed apologist CS Lewis is greatly influenced by Chesterton's works.

His unique brand of apologetics
What makes Chesterton so compelling to me was the offensive nature of his apologetics. While Christian apologetics literally means the "defence of the Christian faith", Chesterton goes on a step further to reveal the irrationality of unbelief. For instance, he criticises the agnostics (people who argue that God is unknowable),

"We don't know enough about the unknown to know that it is unknowable."

His genuineness
Another thing I admire about this author is that he led an extremely joyful life, despite his plumpness and short-term memory. He found Christian theology enriching, rather than restrictive. In fact he led such a joyful life that German writer Franz Kafka commented, "He is so gay (happy), that one might almost believe he had found God."

As he asserted the importance of individuals before God, he often dressed strangely and opposed attempts to enforce conformity.

Conclusion
If you have yet to pick any books by GK Chesterton, you should give it a shot.

For more information

bethinking

Chesterton, G.K. (1908) Orthodoxy