UnBound

This is a blog. I think it's safe to say you know that by now (If not, well, welcome to the digital world of free-floating opinions).

But let's take a moment and understand what exactly a blog is. It's not a book, a newspaper, or a magazine. This isn't something that's printed and delivered; this is not a physical, tangible thing. It's a bunch of words on a web page beamed to your computer. Actually, even that is a gross oversimplification. The text is translated into data packets that are translated into a binary coding, sent through a series of non-centralized relay points to your computer or phone, and eventually reconfigured back to their original format. Mind you, this happens in seconds.

But let's take this up one more level of abstraction. What you receive is a set of paragraphs made up of sentences made up of words. Each word is comprised of letters, lines that represent phonetic sounds. The combination of these sounds themselves represent ideas, something we observe or point to, without actually being those things. The word "Duck" is not a feathered, flat-billed friend, but points to and reminds us of that bird. 

So, this blog is data that makes words that represent ideas.

And yet, despite all this, you (hopefully) understand. You can read this. You kind of get what I'm pointing to. The actual letters, data "packets," nuts and bolts of the thing doesn't matter. Despite being ripped apart and glued together in your computer, despite being a set of squiggles and circles, despite the barrier of language, what I'm saying is still (somehow) coming through this blog post. This post isn't bound by words or data or language; rather, this post is that reality, that idea that lies behind the mechanics of syntax. You could call it the "heart" of the post. And, while the nuts and bolts certainly help define this post, the post itself is more than the words on the "page."

This blog is unbound. UnBound is unbound (get it?).

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 

Rather, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and real circumcision is a matter of the heart—it is spiritual and not literal. Such a person receives praise not from others but from God.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son,full of grace and truth

Just as you are trying to understand the heart of this blog, the meaning of this post, from behind the mechanics and syntax, so too are we as Christians trying to understand the Word of God. The references above point to a "spirit of the law" rather than a "letter of the law." God Himself is unbound.

Jeremiah dreams of a day where the law of God is not kept in scrolls, books, indeed maybe even in words or strict adherence to them; rather, he paints the picture of a people with a new Law, one written on their hearts. God consciousness, ethical living, for Jeremiah, is so much more than rule following. The Word of God is unbound.

Saint Paul, in writing to the "church" in Rome, makes a bold statement about circumcision. Circumcision, in Jewish communities at the time, was a religious practice that identified the followers of God; to be circumcised was to be a light-bearer. Yet the Apostle Paul says that a Jew is not one who is physically circumcised, but one who is circumcised "inwardly." He spends a good deal of time in this epistle carving out room for those who are not ethnically Jewish to still participate in the Kingdom of God. The Word of God is unbound; it is for everyone who chooses to follow.

The writer of John (we'll just call him John, for simplicity's sake) goes a step further still. The logos (sometimes translated "Word" or "logic" or more liberally "natural/governing law) is that reality that underlies or governs patterns of existence; logos is that heart of reality that makes gravity work, that makes your heart beat, that bonds carbon together. That logos, that eternal, underlying Reality, Being in and of itself, came into the structures of existence (you can think my theological great-grandfather, a Mr. Paul Tillich, for that language). The Word is Unbound.

So what am I getting at? Maybe, after thousands of years, with countless translations and revisions of translations, with all the baggage of every sermon we've heard...

Maybe after all of this, it's time we stop limiting God to the Bible

Now, I don't mean to say we should throw out the bible, or that we ought to adopt pantheism, or anything else of the sort. 

What I want to advocate is a step away from Biblical literalism. I want to forgo worship of the Bible for worship of God. The Bible certainly defines God, gives language to talk about Him, but it does not contain Him; the Word of God is vibrant, it is living, it is more than a strict adherence to a dead tradition. It is thoughtful, it is convicting, it is sharper than any two-sided sword.

Theologian Karl Barth, known as more of a conservative, orthodox theologian, noted that the Word of God lives equally in the Bible as in preaching/proclamation as in revelation; our experience of God is Unbound.

Micheal Gungor once tweeted "There is a trend in modern society, no more than a trend...a religion, an idolatry that elevates scripture above Jesus."

Which strikes me as odd, considering we had Christianity before we had a Bible (for about 300 years, in fact!).

See, the Word of God thrives, it lives, it IS, even before we can put language to it.

It's unbound.

Are we willing to be?

- Logan Long

Bound Up

The Lord said to Moses, “Bring the tribe of Levi and present them to Aaron the priest to assist him. They are to perform duties for him and for the whole community at the tent of meeting by doing the work of the tabernacle.

When he reached home, he took a knife and cut up his concubine, limb by limb, into twelve parts and sent them into all the areas of Israel.

In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.  

When I was approached to be a contributor to this blog I was apprehensive. I am in two graduate programs, have a part time job, am married, and I have a three month old dog who has yet to distinguish between inside and outside. Although I appreciated the offer I was initially going to turn it down. What eventually led me to take up the offer was the respect and admiration I have for the other contributors. As I asked questions I came to a realization that I liked the concept, the ideas, and the people. Something that I did not like was the name. Ohhh, the name “Unbound Christian” aggressively upset me. Instead of appealing to the other contributors about changing the name (which they would have gladly done) I thought I might be able to put an ironic spin on it. I am thankful for this opportunity that I have been given by the other contributors and indebted to you, the reader, that I might write something others are willing to read.

            I doubt the other contributors are going to use the word “unbound” in a similar manner as I. They most likely will point out that the meaning is derived from not being held to any sort of editorial distinctions. Such a freeing experience allows individuals who are interested in the sorts of things that we bloggers are to reflect freely, and maybe as Luther quipped, “Sin Boldly.” Now let me tell you what I do not like about it by drawing from the scripture verses utilized in the header.

            The Lord said to Moses, “Bring the tribe of Levi and present them to Aaron the priest to assist him. They are to perform duties for him and for the whole community at the tent of meeting by doing the work of the tabernacle.

            This appears at the beginning of the Book of Numbers in the Pentateuch. Israel is trying to establish governance and God is delegating tasks to the specific tribes through God’s Prophet Moses. The Levites are delegated to be priests; they tend to the matters of the Tabernacle. The Levites are the ones chosen by God to carry out the particular religious matters in the community. In contemporary society we might call the Levites: Priest, Pastor, Reverend, or Preacher. They had a special designation and an enormous responsibility which is symbolized by them tenting at the center of the community. That is to say, the ones who carry out the religious responsibilities in a community are at its center.

            When he reached home, he took a knife and cut up his concubine, limb by limb, into twelve parts and sent them into all the areas of Israel.

            This verse comes from chapter 19 in the Book of Judges. The verse comes from what is perhaps the most shockingly violent story in the Bible (although there are many candidates). For the sake of brevity I cannot rehash the entire narrative here, so please go read it. Essentially what happens is that a concubine belonging to a Levite man is gang raped and upon returning to the Levite the Concubine is slashed into 12 pieces and flung across Israel (I said it was shocking). Any good historical Biblical critic will tell you that this story is obviously allegorical, which doesn’t mean that it couldn’t have actually happened (a debate for another time). The point being that a man who is a descendant from the tribe who was supposed to be at the center of religious life, a teacher of the law, a spiritual leader acts in such an atrocious manner. Remember he was a Levite and sent the concubines remains to all twelve tribes.

            In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit

These words are the last words of the book of Judges, a book about failed leadership, political disarray, and outright social dysfunction. So, what happened? What are we supposed to have learned? How in the hell does the tribe of religious leaders turn into a people that would give up their concubine to be raped and then mutilate and discard them? A question more relevant to contemporary culture is perhaps, how did those who were supposed to be the spiritual and religious leaders degenerate into disarray, confusion, and dysfunction? The punch line perhaps provides the answer. Israel has no king; everyone did as they saw fit.

A first inclination upon picking up the subtleties of my argument might by cynicism. Before accusing me of trying to bring everyone back into the Catholic Church first answer the question, “What is doctrine?” Christology, eschatology, ecclesiology, homiletics, hermeneutics, Trinitarianism, etc…What do Christians believe about these things today? Writ large, the answer is nothing. Christian doctrine today is so broad that it either says nothing, or is so narrow that denominations need to be so sectarian as to have a paragraph explaining who exactly they are. To be an unbound Christian is to be a Christian in America today. Not truly understanding what you or your fellow parishioners believe, not reciting creeds, and not being beholden to an ecumenical body larger than “these people that I put on the church board.”

The symptoms of a Christianity without a king or an Israel without a king are the same. Everybody just simply does as they see fit. The individuals most responsible for this are the religious leaders, the Levites. Those who are too nervous to lose church members and too afraid to do the challenging that is necessary end up accepting a shallow theology not beholden to anything except their particular sympathies. It is my hope that by writing, studying, praying, conversing, and challenging through this project that I can be an agent that helps to “bound-up” this shattered Christian language. 

- Matt Loggan

We Are UnBound

I am UnBound

To some extent we—you and I—are unbound, although not completely so. Perhaps an illustration may frame what I mean:

Like you, I was born in year a, in city b, at time c. Moreover, I have genetic predispositions that we shall call d, and was raised with a set of values, e. My experiences shaped which parts of my brain was stimulated and which values, e, that I chose to value, and this we shall call f.

Here you have it, off the top of my head I have listed at least 6 separate factors that have influenced and shaped me (a-e). What is more interesting, however, is that these factors are almost infinitely broad and contain many sub-factors, which may have even more significant influence. Beyond that, I am still only limited to my own set of experiences and perspectives limited by my geographic location, historical existence, educational access, intellectual prowess (or lack thereof), my exposure to a diversity of experiences and immeasurably more factors which lead to my development.

Consequently, I am limited.

Imagine if I were born in any other year than a, or any other city than b, and so on. Naturally the variations continue on ad infinitum.  Clearly this illustration shows that I am limited.  

Then, what is it that I mean when I say that, “I am UnBound?” Why is it that I am writing with a group of Christians that consider ourselves UnBound?

My answer is simple: within these limitations I still have freedom to roam and decide freely. I will grant that I am limited; however, I am not bound. Think of it in terms of Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. I am in the cave but I am unshackled; although, I am not all that positive that I am able to leave the cave or even that I myself would choose to leave it. Still, I have the opportunity to explore my limitations with as much intensity and attention to detail that I desire—and that knowledge is valuable. I can understand and discover hidden things in my surroundings.

Hence, we, you, I are UnBound.

Now imagine again reality with this in mind. To some extent we are limited by our technology, we really cannot go far form earth if you think on a cosmological scale; however, is such a criteria fair? Should we measure our limitations in an unrealistic vacuum with such a high standard of truth that we are unable to know anything?

This is why I turn my attention from the Heavens to the earth (like Aristotle, not Plato). I do this with my Christianity, and with my philosophy. I do what I can to engage in the real world trying to keep a fair standard for what is true and what is not.

I am limited, but I am still UnBound; I am free to roam my world and to see it in as much detail and to care for it with as much passion as I choose.

And since I am limited but UnBound, so are you.

No longer can we work in a vacuum. No longer can we work as if we have higher access to truth. We must be wary of our limitations, our ignorance, when we make truth claims. Instead we must work with what we have, and within our limitations—we are still UnBound. 

-Jordan Britt

Welcome

Welcome.

For our first post it is proper to introduce my colleagues and myself. We are the UnBound bloggers. Our purpose is to critically reflect on issues of our time and explore them as Christians. This is to say that we are all Christian theists, and that to some extent we all affirm traditional orthodoxy; however, it may be better to think of this blog as neo-orthodox.

This is not to say that we are the next Karl Barth, Reinhold Niebuhr, Paul Tillich, or Dietrich Bonhoeffer---no it is to say that we are not tied to simply settling for the status quo of Christianity. We are not against orthodoxy, but rather we are willing to explore it and explore beyond it. Hence, we are UnBound.

Naturally, assuming there is a nature to such a thing, we are not here to reinforce that which most mainline Evangelicals believe. We are not here to supplement faith, we are here to question---we are here to explore. It is our exploration of faith, that my colleagues and I believe we gain the benefit of wisdom, understanding, and deeper more satisfying piety. This is our vision statement: to question anything and everything with tradition held loosley in our hand, and to do this in order to touch closely to truth as humanly possible.

Thank you for reading. We will post once a week with our four main contributors and occaisionally a guest on Thursdays at 12:00PM. We look forward to exploring with you.

-UnBound Bloggers