Quotes

I cannot read self-help books (in general but this is a specific sub-topic from within that genre) that pull random quotes from wherever and use them not so much as reinforcement for but as a springboard toward their message. Eisegesis not exegesis. 

I struggle with the same when it comes to general Christian-y books that quote Scripture, comment, quote Scripture, comment as these too tend toward self-help books with a Jesus stamp and end up in the dustbins of your local Goodwill.

They arguably serve a purpose if they edify believers but they also lead to cultish followings and book after book after book being written about as many subjects as possible - heal the mind, lose weight, save your family, you name it by authors elevated to 'celebrity' status (when everyone knows good as good, this is not good...).

Recently, I came across one that was "Christian" based that pulled a quote from H.P. Lovecraft. That in and of itself is fine but I was curious if the author even knew who he was and/or had a specific reason for a quote from that particular author as the quote itself was nothing profound specific to that author. As I suspected, the quote fit, there was no context and he was not aware of Lovecraft's views. It reinforced my irritation with this method.

However, I have softened on this stance as lately I am realizing that in my pursuit there are statements, those 'aha' moments, that put into words clearly what it is I am trying to grasp mentally. When a statement is written that succinctly summarizes the gobbledygook in my head, I too have fallen prey to the same. So I have chilled on the stance. Won't be reading those books but I am working on being less judgmental (and arrogant) of the same.

Examples specific to my pursuit as of late:

As Florovsky wrote to Bulgakov in the mid-20's: “I believe in your case, too, Solov'ev long hindered you in your search for the main thing. For the road to discovering it lies through Christology, not through trinitology [sic], since only with Jesus Christ did the worship of the trinity become reality." («Theology Reasons» – in History: Neo-Patristic Synthesis and the Renewal of Theological Rationality, Matthew Baker, as quoted in Klimoff, 75).

Context: trying to get 'beyond' (or is it 'through') Jesus to the Trinity.  'Jesus' is so very much humanized that far too often he often feel more like a superhero or when we say 'God' we just think of Jesus (i.e. that empty statement 'Jesus is God'). This then leaves the question of what the Father and Holy Spirit are exactly and we head into the morass of non-Trinitarian variants: Oneness/Sabellian/Modalist, Binatarian or Arian/Unitarian. 

To quote another Matthew Baker article:

'Christians apprehend first the Person of Christ the Lord, the Son of God Incarnate, and behind the veil of His flesh they behold the Triune God." (The Eternal 'Spirit of the Son': Barth, Florovsky and Torrance on the Filioque, p. 403, quoting Florovsky)

It is this that I've been missing. My church stops at Jesus. It's truncated, the CliffsNotes version of the story. God sent His Son to die for you. What does that even mean? In essence, cynically perhaps, it is a guilt relieving mechanism (often referred to as the Holy Spirit) that gets someone through the door. But is that salvation? Is that really "the Gospel"?

I suppose a couple of Bible quotes would do the trick (John 3:16, for example). But God 'sending His Son' is intermixed with 'to die for you' (1 Corinthians 15:3). Unfortunately, the fuller part of the Corinthians passage, verse 4, is often left out of this pitch which makes 'God' (or the Father) sound so vindictive. So we run around conflating two separate passages into one 'pitch' and walk around thinking it is plain as can be.

For those of us who, for whatever reason, have made the leap and have staid the course, are we called to go 'further' with this or is our clarion call to recruit believers, er, share our story and introduce them to the goodness of God, or Jesus, or the Father or the baptism in/into/of/for/through the Holy Spirit? Forget about knowledge, save people?

I can't be the only 'believer' (or am I not really a believer?) who is totally confused (or just frustrated) with this. I suppose Sunday morning isn't really the time for high theology but I, perhaps naively, assume that throughout the year the more faithful in the EO or Catholic traditions have theology imparted into them in the liturgical cycle whereas in modern Protestantism it is up to us to pursue this in relative isolation.

So I am just as 'guilty' as those whom I accuse. We are all on the journey, all of us trying our best, let's be a part of the flow and not a dam.