Opposite A Mystery

I have come to think that to believe Christianity is often to believe two opposite things, and yet find them compatible.

Just think of the essential Christian doctrines.

God is man.
A virgin is with child.
The eternal God dies.
The dead live.
God hates sin, yet He loves man.
He is sovereign, yet He allows evil.
No one is good, yet we are holy.

God is forever turning our ideas of how things are upside down. Even when we think we understand something, we have only grasped the outer edges of His ways.

I once saw a pamphlet with an illustration that stuck with me. Imagine a paper on which is drawn a smiley face in profile - one eye over half a smile in a circle. You tell the little guy to look up. He turns counter-clockwise. "No," you say. "The other way." So he turns clockwise. "No!" you cry. "Look up!"

But his two-dimensional mind cannot understand a third dimension.

So you take a ball, and you push it through his paper world. "Do you see the ball?" you ask.

"You mean that circle that gets bigger and then smaller?" he asks. "I've heard of balls. I don't know if I believe they exist." Looking right at the ball, he sees only a cross-section, and he doesn't really understand how a whole 3D ball can exist.

This, I think, is how we are with God. Even if we believe that there is a ball, we cannot truly understand what one is really like. Our idea of a circle that is somehow continuous, bigger than just a circle, is close, but not like actually holding a ball in your hands. Now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then, face to face!

Now, don't misunderstand me. The Holy Spirit reveals things to us, and we can truly say that we know God. Nor are there contradictions with God. Opposites aren't really opposites with God.

I guess that's really my point. Things seem to be opposite, when they aren't, really.

This came to mind when considering the debate between what, for sake of simplicity, I shall call Calvinism and Arminianism, between election and free will. In case anyone is reading this seriously (I mean, I guess if you're reading this, you're probably doing it seriously, otherwise you're probably bored and already stopped, in which case, you aren't reading this and it doesn't apply to you-although you may be reading it seriously and thus are still reading it and therefore are bored-so maybe I should say in case anyone reads this), this is not a theological thesis, and I haven't studied Scripture in depth on this. I'm actually kind of thinking out loud. So don't worry too much if you think I'm wrong. But don't be afraid to tell me, either.

First, what I do know is what Scripture says: God is sovereign. We are dead in our sins. Dead normally means that the one who is dead can do absolutely nothing. God makes us alive, and He has chosen us from before the foundations of the earth. While we were still sinners in rebellion, God loved us.

It is also true that God gives us commands. That we are called to repent, believe, take up our cross, and follow Him. That when the people ask Peter, "What must we do to be saved?" he does not say, "Nothing. God does all the work."

I've listened to a lot of Calvinist thought, and I can't think of much in particular that I've heard that I disagree with. I've also listened to people on the other side of the election debate, and most of them (as long as they agree with God's sovereignty and other Biblical principles) also seem right. What I have wanted to disagree with usually is when one says the other is wrong.

Again, an illustration helps me.

God is called the author of our salvation. Think of life as a story, God as the author, and us as characters. Being a writer myself, I can relate. The author has complete authority over the story. What he decides goes. The characters have no say.

But if you create good characters, a story will almost write itself. Sometimes, I as the author do not want something to happen, but the characters do it anyway.

For example, I was writing a story in which my sister told me the main character, Nell, should marry the main guy in the story, Daniel. I told her no. I had no intention of writing such a story. I fought it, but as the story progressed, it became clear. Daniel liked Nell, and there was nothing I could do about it. That is simply what he would do. He insisted on it. I repeatedly told him not to, but he would regardless. Although I could have, to have refused to let him would have made him a stilted character in a forced world.

This idea and personal experience with the author being completely in control, and yet the characters still making decisions in accord with their desires, helped me to understand how it could be that God is sovereign, and yet we are held responsible for our actions.

This is no theological thesis, as mentioned before, but in regards to the election/free will debate, I have come to think that they are both more true than even those who believe them think they are, and that they're a mystery that we cannot really comprehend. Like every other thought we have about God, our ideas and visions are too small. They're a two-dimensional man trying to look up.

What I'm trying to say is that while God's role is far more determining and our utter depravity is far worse than the staunchest Calvinist ever imagined, we are also more culpable and responsible for our actions than any Arminian ever thought.

With God being who He is, it doesn't really make sense to me to be any other way. He's a mystery, complex beyond what we understand. And so there is going to be debate and misunderstanding and blurred sight, as there always is when you come opposite such a mystery.

Perhaps I should study and make a more informed decision-of course, we all should. There is always more to learn. But I am okay with holding these seemingly opposing views in my mind. Because, I think, Christianity means learning to embrace and delight in mystery until all is revealed.