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Posted by Gabriel Syme on 11-08-2004 at08:00:

  Tim, & everyone else: Divine Conspiracy

Hm, that subject line didn't come out right. Anyway....

I've been reading The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard. Yesterday I was reading his chapter on the Beatitudes & it reminded me of "The Banquet at the World's End" from Motorcycle. I'm not suggesting it was an inspiration, since the song preceded it by a decade; I am suggesting that the ideas are similar.

The first time I heard the song, I was a bit uncomfortable with the way the song put on display such objects of derision, even as examples of God's blessing on them. I have since come to love the song as one of my very favorites. Willard believes that the Beatitudes do the same thing.

Basically he says that the Beatitudes are not a description of how we are trigger God's blessings (he calls it "salvation by attitude") nor descriptions of intrinsic blessing. He believes they are a description of the kingdom of the heavens coming to those whom the world considers outcast & low. God chooses to bless those who seem beyond blessing. Surrounded by the crowd seeking His healing & His teaching, Jesus declares that the kingdom is shown to be right here, right now, by the blessing that these can & have received.

What do y'all think?

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Posted by dennis on 11-08-2004 at09:17:

  RE: Tim, & everyone else: Divine Conspiracy

quote:

Originally posted by Gabriel Syme The first time I heard the song, I was a bit uncomfortable with the way the song put on display such objects of derision, even as examples of God's blessing on them. I have since come to love the song as one of my very favorites. Willard believes that the Beatitudes do the same thing.

Objects of derision? Example please.

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Posted by Gabriel Syme on 11-08-2004 at10:32:

 

Derided by some, not by Terry Scott Taylor. Sorry to be unclear & obscure. Maybe "discrimination" would be a better word if it wasn't so over-used. Or "forgotten" or possibly "the avoided."

The outcasts of the world. The poor & the poorly dressed. The old. The mentally challenged. My high-school girlfriend with a hare-lip. The congenital quadruple amputee who was a class ahead of me. My coworker who stutters. "Blind men, sad men, dreamers with wishes, the paralytics, lunatics & the backstreet fringes...."

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Posted by dennis on 11-08-2004 at11:26:

  Thanks for clearing that up!

Of course you see to me that is the whole point of the song!

The "cool kids" are too caught up in their own world.

I love the line "Leave us alone now, 'cuz hell feels like home now."

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Posted by eddie p on 11-08-2004 at12:35:

 

I wish I could reply but I lent both of my copies out (one on cassette and one on cd) and presumably will never see them again. So without being able to closely scrutinize the song you're talking about I'll just say, "Yeah, whatever Dennis says." Don't let me down boy!

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Posted by dennis on 11-08-2004 at12:36:



you could always buy the "When Everyone Wore Hats" Book Set!

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Posted by Gabriel Syme on 11-08-2004 at14:00:

  RE: Thanks for clearing that up!

quote:

Originally posted by dennis Of course you see to me that is the whole point of the song!

Actually I got the point of the song; that's why the book reminded me of it. I mentioned my initial discomfort with it because Willard claims Jesus was doing the same thing in the Beatitudes, essentially saying, "See this poor man standing six feet from me? You think he's poor because God is displeased with him, but I say that the kingdom of heaven has come into his life today & blessed him despite his afflictions."

So I guess my question is, do you think it is the point of the Beatitudes--not to tell us how to be, but how God blesses the "unblessables" of the world?

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Posted by dennis on 11-09-2004 at15:07:

 

My answer would be "Of course!"

Great thread by the way! )