Saturday, June 21, 2008

imagination

I was recently sharing with a friend about how the voice portraying Jesus' voice in The Bible Experience, in the Revelation in the part of the seven letters to the churches, gives me a sense of the greatness and majesty of God we find in such places as in Isaiah.

While I believe Jesus is God, I like to major on the truth that God is Jesus. That we find God in Jesus as God's final word to us, this Word himself, being God and becoming human in the Son by the incarnation. In doing that we must not lose sight of the full revelation of God we find in Scripture, fulfilled in Jesus himself.

So it's good for me to listen to the gospels, accepting and loving them as they are, and I enjoy that same voice for Jesus in The Bible Experience (and available in mp3) in hearing them. In contrast to the same Jesus, glorified in the Revelation, enthroned and coming back to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords, on the new heaven and earth.

Imagination is a wonderful gift from God and never to be set aside. But at the same time, we need to work on being grounded in God's word- in Scripture. That will help us avoid imaginative flights which are our own fancies and not true to God's revelation given to us in Scripture and in Jesus. Doing the hard work in so being grounded, and seeking to do so in a relational, faith-oriented way to God, which means a journey of faith for us as his people in this world and in mission in Jesus to the world.

What would you like to add, here?

2 comments:

Allan R. Bevere said...

Ted:

Good thoughts. I am preparing to teach a seminary course this summer on C.S. Lewis. I am struck at the significant place Lewis gives imagination when it comes to discerning truth. He strongly believed that the big problem with so much modern theology was its inability to incorpate the imaginative.

In fact, he believed that was one of the largest shortcomings of education.

Ted M. Gossard said...

Allan,
I really like that thought, and it should surprise no one that C.S. Lewis thought that way, as he incorporated imagination so often.

I would love to sit in your class and learn all I could. I think I've not much more than scratched the surface on C.S. Lewis, plenty there. I've especially enjoyed his "Screwtape Letters" and more recently, "The Great Divorce", both steeped with wonderful sanctified imagination, as well as "Mere Christianity", more in the past, and again recently, "The Four Loves", which I think uses imagination as well, but in a different way. Bringing sound theology based on Scripture home in ways "love" is a part of our humanity in this present existence.

Anyhow, thanks! And thanks for sharing that!