The mission of Christ

The Bible says a lot about the mission of Christ. Here are a few of the highlights. All Bible quotations are from the World English Bible, which is public domain:

Christ came to suffer:
Isaiah 53:3 He was despised, and rejected by men; a man of suffering, and acquainted with disease. He was despised as one from whom men hide their face; and we didn’t respect him. 4 Surely he has borne our sickness, and carried our suffering; yet we considered him plagued, struck by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The punishment that brought our peace was on him; and by his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray. Everyone has turned to his own way; and Yahweh has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Christ created the universe, and sustains it, and is the owner of it.
Hebrews 1:1 God, having in the past spoken to the fathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 has at the end of these days spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom also he made the worlds. 3 His Son is the radiance of his glory, the very image of his substance, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purified us of our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Christ created the universe, and experienced human life, and came to redeem us.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him. Without him was not anything made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness hasn’t overcome it. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world didn’t recognize him. 11 He came to his own, and those who were his own didn’t receive him. 12 But as many as received him, to them he gave the right to become God’s children, to those who believe in his name: 13 who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. 14 The Word became flesh, and lived among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.

Christ created and sustains the universe, and is the owner of it. He came to redeem us sinners.
Colossians 1:14 in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins; 15 who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in the heavens and on the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things are held together. 18 He is the head of the body, the assembly, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

Christ came to suffer, to experience human life, and to redeem us.
Hebrews 2:9 But we see … Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God he should taste of death for everyone. 10 For it became him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many children to glory, to make the author of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 14 Since then the children have shared in flesh and blood, he also himself in the same way partook of the same, that through death he might bring to nothing him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and might deliver all of them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. 17 Therefore he was obligated in all things to be made like his brothers, that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted.

Much more could be said! Thanks for reading.

Can Klingons be saved?

I was amazed to stumble upon an interview in Scientific American, entitled "Did Jesus Save the Klingons?"

The person interviewed clearly is not a friend of Christianity. But so what? Is he right, and, could Jesus save the Klingons, or do Klingons need salvation through Christ?

I have previously posted on the question of religion among extraterrestrials (or not). My conclusions haven't changed. Here they are, re-stated:

First, we do not know, from science or the Bible, whether there are any intelligent races other than humans in the universe. The Bible is silent on the subject, unless Jesus was referring to such when he spoke about other sheep, not of this fold. (John 10:14) I'm not sure what He meant, but perhaps He was referring to the Gentiles. He might have been referring to extraterrestrials. Probably not. There are a lot of planets out there, orbiting other stars, and it is close to certain that there are a lot more that we haven't been able to detect. That doesn't prove that there is intelligent life out there. For that matter, it doesn't prove that there is life of any kind outside the Solar System. It is, however, impossible to disprove the existence of other intelligent beings.

Second, if there were intelligent aliens, would they need salvation? My guess is that they might not. Humans, according Christian doctrine, need salvation because of The Fall, a decision to disobey by our first ancestors, which resulted in sin becoming part of our very natures. Extraterrestrials might never have made such a terrible choice, or, possibly, may never had the opportunity to make such a choice. C. S. Lewis, no less, wrote about not one, but three races of intelligent, unfallen beings in his Out of the Silent Planet. It was fictional, of course. (See here.)

Would unfallen beings would need any sort of redemption? Maybe, maybe not. Fallen beings do.

Third, if there are fallen intelligent beings on other worlds, is it necessary that Christ died for their salvation? Maybe not. His death, once, on earth, might have been adequate for the redemption of the entire creation. Or, on some other planet, it might be that the equivalent of The Fall might require some other sort of atonement -- don't ask me what kind.

If the Bible is true, humans living on this planet need redemption through Christ. See here and here. We did sin, and we do need redemption, and can't provide this for ourselves. It is interesting to speculate about intelligent beings on other planets, but probably not very wise to speculate about it very much, unless and until we know that such beings exist.

It is possible that dolphins, whales, and great apes, and possibly some other animals, might be substituted for the extraterrestrials in the above discussion. But, again, we have no certainty that they can make important moral choices, and communicate about them effectively. Maybe, maybe not.

If there are Klingons, and they need salvation, God must have provided it, somehow.

Thanks for reading!

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February 6, 2015 and July 27, 2015: Shannon McDermott has posted on this subject, at Speculative Faith. There are links to other posts about this subject, including views contrary to McDermott's, here.

Heartless, by Anne Elisabeth Stengl

Heartless (Tales of Goldstone Wood), by Anne Elisabeth Stengl, is a fantasy book, with swords, magic, and dragons. (See here for my musings on why sword and sorcery fiction is popular). It won the Christy award for Best First Novel in 2011. I haven't read the other winners, and I'm not sure if a fantasy novel has won this particular Christy Award previously, but the award was well deserved.

Stengl does not have a Wikipedia article on her, and Heartless doesn't, either. Here is the Amazon page for the author, and she has a blog.

I'll try to give away as little as possible of the plot, but will muse on various aspects of the novel. The plot is complex.

First, I confess that I have read two novels, by the same author, published after Heartless, in her series, Tales of Goldstone Wood. The second one, Veiled Rose, mostly takes place before the events in Heartless. There are some allusions to these events in Heartless, indicating that the author didn't just write a second novel based on the first one -- the first one foreshadows the second, and she already had largely it in mind when writing the first. (There is supposed to be a fourth novel, to be released later this year.)

Second, there is no doubt in my mind that this qualifies as a Christian novel, by almost any standard. I don't say this because it mentions Christ, or God, or the Bible, or salvation. It doesn't. In fact, the theology of the characters is nearly non-existent. They don't worship together, and they don't pray on a regular basis. I hope to post later, giving more detail on why I say that the book is Christian. My guess is that the fact that there is no direct "preaching" in the book might make it more attractive to non-Christians.

There is a Christ-figure, not in the sense that he dies to pay for the sins of others, at least not within the events of this book, but in the sense that he comes from another realm -- fairyland -- with the purpose of taking a bride for himself.

There are, as I said, dragons. Stengl's dragons live a very long time. They can appear as dragons, huge lizards with wings and fiery breath, or as human, or at least human-like, beings. They can talk, and are intelligent. They love treasure. They are almost entirely evil. No dragon is a main character, but a few of them appear in the book, and they are important in it.

The theme of the book is trust. Una, a princess coming into adulthood, and who is one of the main characters, trusts the wrong person for much of the story, but finally comes to trust the right one. In fact, she trusts him enough to let him kill her, as a dragon, so that she may live as a human. The episode reminded me of the experience of Eustace Scrubb, transformed from a dragon to a human by Aslan, in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, by C. S. Lewis, but Stengl's depiction is more gripping, and, as I said, coming to that point is, in large part, what the book is about.

This is a fine book, and compares well with good fantasy from mainstream publishers. I confess that I have read Heartless twice in less than two months, and I am glad that I did.

I have read both the hardback book and the Kindle edition. Bethany House, the publisher, is to be commended for the latter. Not only are there color ornaments, and the like, and not many typos, but you can go to page numbers in the book, if you need to.

The book could have used a map, but there isn't one, in either edition.

Thanks for reading. Read Heartless.

Pilgrim's Progress anniversary

On this date, in 1678, The Pilgrim's Progress, by John Bunyan, was published. It has never been out of print since.

Here's an excerpt:

Saw! why, I went but a little further, and I saw one, as I thought in my mind, hang bleeding upon the tree; and the very sight of Him made my burden fall off my back (for I groaned under a very heavy burden), but then it fell down from off me. It was a strange thing to me, for I never saw such a thing before; yea, and while I stood looking up, for then I could not forbear looking, three Shining Ones came to me. One of them testified that my sins were forgiven me; another stripped me of my rags, and gave me this broidered coat which you see; and the third set the mark which you see in my forehead, and gave me this sealed roll. (And with that he plucked it out of his bosom).

Christian, who is the pilgrim of the title, is explaining how his load of sin was taken from him. Wonderful! Here's my source for the text of the first part of the book, which is public domain.

Thanks for reading. Read Bunyan!

John Wesley on the redemption of animals

John Wesley apparently believed that animals would be redeemed, when the effects of the Fall are overthrown by God: May it not answer another end; namely, furnish us with a full answer to a plausible objection against the justice of God, in suffering numberless creatures that never had sinned to be so severely punished? They could not sin, for they were not moral agents. Yet how severely do they suffer! -- yea, many of them, beasts of burden in particular, almost the whole time of their abode on earth; So that they can have no retribution here below. But the objection vanishes away, if we consider that something better remains after death for these poor creatures also; that these, likewise, shall one day be delivered from this bondage of corruption, and shall then receive an ample amends for all their present sufferings. John Wesley, Sermon 60, "The General Deliverance."

He also believed that animals are not moral agents, but that they do suffer.

Thanks for reading.

Redemption in basketball: Ron Artest

Ron Artest has not been a model citizen, or a model NBA basketball player, throughout his career.

Most notoriously, he was a major contributor to the downfall of the Indiana Pacers, by going into the stands after a fan in a notorious (and rare) many-person brawl in a game with the Detroit Pistons. Artest was handed a long suspension, and lost millions of dollars. He was, at least publicly, supported by the Pacers organization, but he demanded to be traded, and was so traded. The Pacers have not been much of a team since. This year, Artest was acquired by the Los Angeles Lakers, principally for his defensive tenacity, which has been his outstanding characteristic. However, in the final game of this year's championship series, Artest also proved that he can score, pretty much keeping the Lakers in the game until help arrived, and the Lakers eked out a win, and the championship.

Artest not only showed poise and good sense on the court, but he used the after-game interview to apologize to the Pacers organization, and to individuals from that organization, for his behavior, and he thanked God for the opportunity he had been given.

I've never been a big Ron Artest fan, but that changed, at least for now, even though I was pulling for the Celtics. Redeeming an individual is more important than a team championship.

Thanks for reading.

Oswald Chambers on conversion versus redemption

I am ashamed to confess that, until recently, I had never read My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers. It's a challenging devotional book. Since it is not public domain, I won't be quoting lots from it.

The entry for January 10th (the book is designed to be read as a devotional for each day of the year) discusses conversion versus redemption. I confess that I had supposed that they are the same thing. Chambers thought not. He quotes from Acts 26:18. Here is the entire verse:

'. . . to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.'

Chambers said that conversion is a human act -- turning away from sin, and a sinful lifestyle. Redemption, however, is something that is received. God does it for us. He wrote that too many so-called Christians have not gotten beyond conversion -- they have joined a church, and given up some old habits, but they have not yet received anything from God, and are satisfied as they are.

I can see that Chambers is going to be well worth reading!

Fortune and Fate, by Sharon Shinn

I have previously posted about Sharon Shinn's Twelve Houses novels, Mystic and Rider and The Thirteenth House. (This is Shinn's web site.)

I have not posted on the last three of these books, which are Dark Moon Defender, Reader and Raelynx, and Fortune and Fate. To summarize briefly, Dark Moon Defender describes an evil woman, politically powerful, Coralinda Giseltess, who has been able to almost stamp out mystics -- people born with various magical powers, such as being able to start fires, or change into an animal's shape. In Reader and Raelynx -- a raelynx is a large solitary feline predator -- her rebellion unites with that of the leaders of two of the provinces of the land, one of them her brother, the other, Rayson Fortunalt. They nearly overthrow the kingdom, and do succeed in killing the king. In the process, it becomes clear that Coralinda herself has been using magical powers. Finally, all three of these rebel leaders are killed. Amalie, the young daughter of the king marries Cammon, a mystic who can Read -- that is, he can read the minds of other people.

Throughout the books, new people, with new mystical powers, are introduced.

There is a religion in Shinn's sub-creation, and the characters believe in supernatural goddesses, and these goddesses are real, in this fictional world. A character says that she has seen two of them during the battles in Reader and Raelynx.

There is another interesting aspect, relating to religion, in fact to Christianity (although there is no reference to Christianity in the book). A bit of background first.

The action in Fortune and Fate makes up two separate stories. (Fortune is the name of the capital building of Fortunalt). In one of them, Wen, a King's Rider who was present when the King was killed, cannot forgive herself. (It wasn't her fault.) She leaves the capital, resigning from the Riders, and wanders around the country without any real goal, leaving any situation that looks like she might make new friends. She does rescue several people who are in danger, using her intelligence and her military skills. She finds herself in Fortunalt, and takes on the job of developing a competent guard force for the young heiress of that House. Meanwhile, the other story is that Cammon, the consort of the Queen, takes a very slow tour of the land, with a large entourage.

Near the end of the book, the two threads are tied together, when Cammon and his entourage come to Fortunalt. Here's a key conversation, between Senneth and Tayse, the main characters in the series, who are part of Cammon's escort:
"Whatever reason he had for making this trip. Was it really to tour the southern lands and try to determine how safe they would be for Amalie to visit? Was it to gain some consensus from the Twelve House overseers about putting together a mixed force to patrol the borders? Or was it to find Wen?"
She sat up straighter in bed. "Surely not even Cammon would believe such a long and expensive journey could be justified by the idea fo finding one lost soul?"
"I actually think it's the only sort of prize Cammon really thinks is worthwhile."
"But -- but -- all this time -- and all these people! Nine Riders and seventy guards! The dinners, the bills at the inns! All to locate a missing woman?" (Sharon Shinn, Fortune and Fate. New York: Ace, 2008. P. 351.)

Yes, Cammon went to a great deal of trouble and expense to make sure that Wen, who, although a friend, is not a special one, is able to forgive herself, and find a useful role in life. Does that remind me of anyone? Of course! Jesus did that, too, on an even larger scale, and not in fiction. He traveled here from Heaven, so that I could be forgiven, and find a useful role in life, regardless of the cost.

Thanks for reading.