The Powerless God

[cizz]

Go to link to read the full article

http://theprogressiveprophet.wordpress.com/2010/01/02/the-powerless-god/

God allows himself to be edged out of the world and onto the cross. God is weak and powerless in the world, and that is exactly the way, the only way, in which he can be with us and help us. Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The notion of an all-powerful, all-encompassing, omniscient and transcendental God is so ingrained within Christian consciousness, and even in Western consciousness at large, that it can seem not only heretical but also somewhat odd to dare question it. While these terms might not be derived from the Bible in a verbatim sense, it certainly seems clear throughout scripture that God is infinitely above all things; whether this derives from Him having authority as the creator, or where it is spoken that His throne is established from of old, and is everlasting. (Psalm 93:2) Even in the plethora of instances that God is referred to as Lord indicates that, from the very beginning, His complete sovereignty and supremacy is taken as a foregone conclusion.

It seems more than a little strange, then, that a quote like that from Bonhoeffer above, might make any sense in a Christian context. Surely a powerless God makes no sense, for isn't even the term itself an oxymoron? And what use is a powerless God in the first place?

This is, however, precisely the kind of God revealed in the person of Jesus Christ, and is the true God whose power matters in the first place. The lofty imagery that had been used to describe the creator up to this point - Lord, King, Throne, Everlasting, Mighty - seemed to have been completely inverted on its head in the coming of Jesus. How little wonder that many of Jesus' disciples doubted Him or else ended up confused by His teachings. Why does the Christ, whose title itself is a huge term on the cosmic scale, come as the humble son of a carpenter and a handmaiden? Why does God's anointed warrior king teach us to love our enemies and turn the other cheek? Why does this prince ride a donkey instead of a war horse? Moreover, even after all of this, how in the world does the everlasting God who sits enthroned above all eternity become the form of a finite human being existing in the confines of space, time, and material as any one of us has to?

If this weren't ridiculous enough in the first place, look who this God chooses to associate Himself with - prostitutes, lepers, peasants, fishermen, shepherds, tax collectors, the infirm, and the destitute. In a tradition where it was believed that wealth and prosperity was a sign of God's favour, the God represented by Jesus chooses to align Himself firmly with the poor, even to the point of becoming one of them. And after a ministry demonstrating this, this Messiah ends up detained, beaten, bloodied, whipped, and crucified under the auspices of Pax Romana (the Peace of Rome). All but one of His disciples fled, and on objective terms, they can hardly be blamed. This God is an insult, a fraud, and a failure. The hope and light not only for Israel, but also for the whole world, ends up tortured and executed as a mere mortal.

As most of us know, of course, the narrative doesn't end there, and indeed what would otherwise have been a tremendous defeat is turned into ultimate victory: