New Nicaean Thinking
Fully human
Fully divine
That’s what we say
In answer to an old debate
Whose contesters have
Been dust a while
And still we say it
Because there are those who
Who want only flesh
While there are others
Who would only have perfection
Inside a ghostly presence
I don’t mean Hallowe’en
When the veil is thin
But every day, impossibly
God is only flesh
Or a spirit
I didn’t realize
(and don’t)
That, perhaps attaining
Certain saving ranks,
God could be rendered
I suppose beneath the mitre
Or in a meeting room
Though God might be outside
In holy, wild majesty
Waiting for the conference to end
To show debate instead
In hurricanes
Or life inside the vacuum
Of space, waiting for visitation
There’s flesh
There’s spirit
They stand and move apart
Or somehow they’re conjoined,
Which would be awe
Try to understand a black hole
Or transcendent Pi
Find life inside CERN
Or the baby,
Once conceived
Maybe we’ll find that we can
Create amazement, too
(I think we’ve done it)
Maybe we’ll be inventing God
As Voltaire did or did not mean
To advise,
Or we’ll say it is a better machine
Matching the workings of
A molecule or cell
Nanobots
Realizing dispensation
Plenary indulging
C L Couch
Stanford Dish
May 30, 2020 at 5:24 pm
I think that’s one of the amazing elements of the Christian faith and which enabled it to spread so quickly. God the father was too remote and so God the Son came into existence whom we as humans could relate to on a personal level. A mentor, a spirit guide, an example for us to follow. God brought down to earth from heaven. Kind of on our level but not quite. Though I am more used to saying the Apostles Creed rather than the Nicene Creed. Interesting thoughts as always Christopher.
May 30, 2020 at 8:34 pm
I like the Nicene Creed and saying it in church, because of its emphasis on community. To begin with, the voice of it is first person plural. And I know there was this intensive debate over the nature of Jesus Christ. I guess we live after the fact, but I’m not sure how he could be appreciated as anything or anyone but both divine and human and, as such, bridging the existential gap between God and us. I guess I also have to wonder how a group, if not a committee, gets to decide all this.
I like the Apostles’ Creed, too, which is what I grew up saying in church.
Thank you, Len, for your thoroughly thoughtful responding.