Comments on: Encore: Unapologetics 101 http://blog.evangelicalrealism.com/2009/11/30/encore-unapologetics-101/ The theology of Reality Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:08:42 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 hourly 1 By: Hunt http://blog.evangelicalrealism.com/2009/11/30/encore-unapologetics-101/comment-page-1/#comment-17160 Hunt Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:43:05 +0000 http://blog.evangelicalrealism.com/?p=1146#comment-17160 As a corrolary and practical point, it could also be said that just as the person of Goldstein as social control mechanism hinged directly on his unobservability, the elusive God is far more awesome to believers than any real manifestation could ever be. As a corrolary and practical point, it could also be said that just as the person of Goldstein as social control mechanism hinged directly on his unobservability, the elusive God is far more awesome to believers than any real manifestation could ever be.

]]> By: Hunt http://blog.evangelicalrealism.com/2009/11/30/encore-unapologetics-101/comment-page-1/#comment-17158 Hunt Wed, 02 Dec 2009 23:36:06 +0000 http://blog.evangelicalrealism.com/?p=1146#comment-17158 To the limited extent that God appears here and there to "cure" a disease or facilitate a favorable event, He "shows up" for them. His appearances are fortuitous, ambiguous and fleeting, and the moment someone says "look, up in the sky, it's a bird, it's a plane..." He's gone again, perhaps to resume His day job as a mild mannered reporter. His counterpart, Satan, is a bit like a Emanuel Goldstein, the shadowy anarchist character in 1984, who malevolently stalks society and is credited with evil deeds but is never actually seen, only cursed. So the trick is to bring home God's character as elusive celebrity and suggest to them that, just maybe, He, like Goldstein, is pure fiction. To the limited extent that God appears here and there to “cure” a disease or facilitate a favorable event, He “shows up” for them. His appearances are fortuitous, ambiguous and fleeting, and the moment someone says “look, up in the sky, it’s a bird, it’s a plane…” He’s gone again, perhaps to resume His day job as a mild mannered reporter. His counterpart, Satan, is a bit like a Emanuel Goldstein, the shadowy anarchist character in 1984, who malevolently stalks society and is credited with evil deeds but is never actually seen, only cursed.

So the trick is to bring home God’s character as elusive celebrity and suggest to them that, just maybe, He, like Goldstein, is pure fiction.

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