Dogma

There´s a recent trend in contemporary christianity to shy away from dogma. For those ignorant of what the term means, let the Merriam-Webster Dictionary enlighten you:
“a doctrine or body of doctrines concerning faith or morals formally stated and authoritatively proclaimed by a church.”

Strictly speaking, what your church of choice defines as dogma, you shall believe. But there´s little need to worry about that, just recollect the last time you heard someone shout “Heresy!” in church. In a history book, most probably...

It seems we as laymen don´t really need theology, other than the completely basic stuff (or even that). We should talk more about down-to-earth issues such as love, compassion and fair trade coffee. Which is all mighty fine stuff to think about, or even better do it and live it. The problem with this view is that it´s not the one down-to-earth issue to conquer all other that we talk about.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Dogmas are often viewed as difficult or trivial: “I believe in God, but the virginbirth/miracles/resurrection of Christ are simply un-believable and absurd”. Kierkegaard has a very interesting opinion on this, that it´s actually the absurd that make any faith whatsoever possible:
“On this the knight of faith is just as clear: all that can save him is the absurd; and this he grasps by faith. Accordingly he admits the impossibility and at the same time believes the absurd.” Fear and Trembling (yes, that´s the second time I quote it, but it´s such a good one. And I like to think of myself as a knight in a bloodsmeared, dirty, rusted armour!)

What really gets me cooking with christians who dismiss all miracles and supernatural events in the Bible, is the strange sense of proportion. Walking on water is a no-no, but God becoming man, that´s appearantly a piece of cake. And the forgiveness of sins because of him, why does that go down as yummy for the tummy, but a virgin-birth is a so much harder pill to swallow? Because they like to leave the spiritual realm to God, but has serious problems with him intervening in earthly matters, such as, for example, themselves. For in any walk of faith one is bound to come to a point where it´s obvious that I´m simply not equipped for heaven, and have no merit of my own to get me there. It´s strictly speaking impossible. Just as impossible as walking on water, if not more. This will inevitably involve some despair, and it should rightly lead to some despair. But the choice is where do I take that feeling of insufficency, and what do I do with it? The knight of faith says: For God, all things are possible!

Actually it´s the most ancient enemy of christian faith. The impossibility of our minds to grasp that God really has chosen to deal with us, to share in our existence. Nearly all major heretic versions of christianity stem from this one root: gnosticism, dualism, self-mutilators and law-christians. They may seem to come from vastly different directions, but it´s all one and the same hydra, chop off a head and another will crop up immediately. Nowadays the more common version is materialistic: Jesus as just man, just teacher and just history. But it´s the same mechanism with those who say, true god and not man. We´re in fact guaranteed that the gospel will always be a bone of contention. The value of being intellectually clear and straight in one´s faith is thus not to remove the bone, but to make it bleeding obvious that it´s the gospel that´s the “problem” (and its solution), and not flawed or superfluous thinking derived or added to that.

At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." They said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven'?"
"Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered. "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. John 6:41-44

So next time you want to duck for a dogma, try letting it wallop you in the face for a change. Who knows, there might be a knight of faith in you, just waiting to ride into battle?