1 Peter Lesson 9 Simultaneity
1-peter-lesson-9-simultaneity
A STUDY OF FIRST PETER: THE RHETORICAL UNIVERSE
BY J. MICHAEL STRAWN
INCLUSION THEMATIC: SIMULTANEITY AND THE ETERNAL MOMENT
INTRODUCTION AND TERMINOLOGY:
A question which would logically arise when viewing the 3-D model of reality (a depiction of the unseen eternal world of God and the temporal world of human experience, linked by what we call an index column composed of the following layers: the Holy Spirit, revelation, faith, and the manipulation of symbols) is a question of how those stacked indices are related to one another. Rather than seeing a chain of causality linking each element to that which lies above it, one must most accurately see the relationship as a chain of contingency. For instance, the Holy Spirit doesn’t just cause revelation, revelation can be properly seen as a function of the Holy Spirit, contingent and dependent upon Him. Similarly, revelation does not as much cause faith as faith is dependent and contingent upon revelation, and so on.
This distinction between a chain of causation (which implies a type of methodology) and a chain of contingency (which, rather than looking for causes and effects directs the attention to interrelationship) has implications for teachers. Teaching and preaching which depends on causal chains, we will see, has as both goal and result the creation of “populations”, which are undernourished by an underdimensioned gospel.
The chain of contingency seen in the elements of the index column is mirrored in the way that generalizations arise in the mind of a believer. Rather than only being seen as the automatic (or reproducible and “teachable”) result of a chain of causation, generalizations are better seen as a function of the text. Ultimately, generalizations must be seen as a function of, a contingent element to, the only “freestanding” or non-contingent element of the index column: the Holy Spirit Himself.
Since, as we learned in the last lesson, time and space are shaped by the rhetorical, the will of God, then the convergence of the eternal into the temporal creates a unique kind of time we refer to as an “eternal moment”. Instead of the eternal moment being “caused” by the elements of the index column, the eternal moment is more accurately seen as a function of the index column.
The act of generalizing, therefore, is ultimately a function of the Holy Spirit, and involves a chain of contingency: coherence between the Holy Spirit, revelation, faith, and the manipulation of symbols.
ELEMENTS OF THE THEMATIC
Beginning with the two columns in the center of the page, we see illustrated the principle that the stacked indices at the left (Holy Spirit, revelation, faith, and manipulation of symbols) can better be seen interrelated as a chain of contingency wherein each ascending element is contingent upon the one below it rather than as a chain of causation where the elements have causative exertion upon those above them.
At the bottom of the page is depicted the gable-like rendering of the idea of the division of the inherently incommensurate dimensions of reality: the temporal and the eternal. Atop this peak are the stacked indices, depicted in such a way to show the functional relationship of the layers.
Both the Holy Spirit and its functionality, revelation, are most evidently anchored in the unseen, or the eternal. On the other hand, faith and its functionality the manipulation of symbols are most evident in the seen or temporal side of reality.
In the stacked indices there is another interrelationship of convergence: both the Holy Spirit and faith illustrate a convergence of wills (the Holy Spirit with God, man with God). Revelation and the manipulation of symbols illustrate a convergence of language vectors (revelation with the “deep things of God” and man’s linguistic symbolizing of himself and his surroundings with God’s understandings of them.)
When all of these things operate in the way God desires, there is a convergence of simultaneity–an “eternal moment” in which God is most evident in the temporal sphere.
This “eternal moment” is depicted in the square and semi-oval. The square depicts the realm of the temporal, and it is subsumed by an “arc of condition” inside which the universe at that point becomes responsive to the will of God. Baptism is a creation of the eternal moment: a human by his symbolic death is resurrected and completely changed at that point of convergence of the temporal and the eternal.
BIBLICAL TEXT:
“As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy”. . .
“For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the foolish talk of ignorant men.”
1 Peter 1:14-16; 2:15.
GENERALIZATIONS DERIVED FROM THE TEXT AND ILLUSTRATED BY THE THEMATICS:
1) The eternal moment takes place in the temporal, the realm of the manipulation of symbols by human beings. It is not merely an event (though it can involve and encompass one) but is rather a state of being, one which is the optimum for the human condition. What takes place in the temporal existence of each Christian should ultimately be a function of the Holy Spirit, because a life yielded to Him will portray as a symbol to outsiders the linking of the eternal to the temporal. The goal of a Christian is by his submission to God’s will to not only allow the creation of a state of “eternal moment” in his life, but to maintain and live in that state because it is there he will flourish spiritually.
In this state we call an eternal moment, the thoughts of God and the thoughts of man become simultaneous. Because all that we have in terms of time is the present (the past exists only as representations and the future exists only in the mind of God) then the arena of our action and thought is the present moment, and when we are united with God’s will, our will becomes simultaneous with His. Thus, if we are not simultaneous with God in the present moment, we are not simultaneous at all; because the eternal moment coheres in the present–and if not there, not at all. Ultimately, the coherence of all the elements in the index column cohere in simultaneity.
In 1 Peter 1:14-16 and 2:15, believers are called upon to link the qualities of God as exemplified by His holiness to their circumstances so that outsiders can draw certain conclusions not only about believers but also about the God they serve.
Elsewhere in Scripture: we can see in many, many examples how the eternal subsumed the temporal. Perhaps the best examples are those which involve resurrection: a state in which the eternal unmistakably subsumes the temporal and serves as a sign to believers and unbelievers alike.
2. The relationship of the elements of the index column (Holy Spirit, revelation, faith, manipulation of symbols) is not a chain of causation going up, but rather a chain of contingency: each layer being dependent and contingent on the underlying one. This has specific application to earthly relationships: marriage, parents-children, and master-slave. If properly understood, believers in these relationships would see that there is no set of causative steps that would enhance these relationships (revelation doesn’t necessarily cause faith, for example) but would be encouraged to look at each function as being dependent and contingent upon the ones below. If husbands, for instance, saw their relationships with their wives as the creation of a state of being, an eternal moment, everything from conversation to the sexual act itself would be enhanced. What psychologists would see as the crucial elements of relationships–dynamics of the physical union, for instance–are actually not as important as all that underlies the creation of the eternal moment in a relationship. Time and distance could not erode an eternal moment.
The Church should itself be the greatest example of contingency and not automatic causation. Specifically, this would preclude such things as periodization of Scripture (thinking, “those things happened way back then and aren’t directly relevant to our lives today except as examples of how God worked back then”) and the search for “steps” to self-improvement.
In 1 Peter, the Lord demonstrates that time and space collapse distance so that the Holy Spirit can turn our experiences into “eternal moments” of simultaneity with the thoughts of God. Unbelievers will see this as something that could not possibly be the result of a chain of causation. All of this will take place because the Holy Spirit–the only freestanding element of the index column–will “rest on you” (4:14.)
Elsewhere in Scripture: Ephesians chapters 5 and 6 show that the manifestation of “eternal moments” in individual and corporate relationships are an encouragement to believers and signs for outsiders.
3. The “eternal moment” most obvious in 1 Peter is suffering. The recipients of this letter and we need to know that there is a way to allow the eternal to subsume our temporal circumstances–a way or arc of condition that will result in the universe being responsive to God’s will as we link the two by the act of the will we call faith.
This is based on the conclusion we’ve already drawn that the rhetorical indeed does shape time and space. We see examples of this throughout Scripture: David in the valley of Elah, Moses at the Red Sea, Rahab–all believed that the rhetorical could indeed shape time and space. Further, revelation (and our generalizations about it) have specific value to us if we indeed regard them as having power to shape time and space. (If not, they would be merely theoretical: Rahab would have been foolish in her conclusions; the ark of the covenant could never have kept the rivers of the Jordan upstream so the Israelites could cross dryshod, for example.)
Since each “eternal moment” is a function of the Holy Spirit as the foundation of the index column, we see that one of the functions of the Holy Spirit is to shape time and space. In James 5, the actions that believers are called upon to perform (singing, praying, anointing) all are indices (linking agents) of the Holy Spirit to material circumstances.
However, it is much easier for our human intelligence to look for causative temporal agents. The result: this prevents us from reading Scripture looking for contingencies (which usually have nothing to do with temporal causes.) Our flesh fights against the idea contingency, preferring to look for causative temporal agents.
Understanding simultaneity actually creates in the mind of the believer a doctrine of time and history. Instead of looking at a famous battle, for instance, and looking for the economic and political issues that seem to have brought matters to conflict, the believer would see all such things as under the sovereignty of the same God as the God of Cyrus and all other Biblical battles. The categories we often use to apply to art, analysis, business, biology, economics, etc. would melt away when seen as not viable if time and history are under the control of God.
The definition of rationality would be completely changed if what we suppose to be causative elements are actually understood to be under the subsuming influence of the rhetorical universe. By definition, rationality means to live in conformity with nature–what the world would call “reasonableness.” Living the eternal moment would require no submission to nature but rather to the chain of contingency that itself controls nature. Thus the language we use to describe events and the passage of time would be very different.
The question, “What is the ultimate unity between the two worlds?” is open. Revelation, though it links the two, has always existed as a function, in order to lead people to something else. Simultaneity, an omega connection of the indices, is a state in which all barriers are removed, is characterized by love.
AN ADDITIONAL OBSERVATION:
Often we substitute a chain of synonymity, where we equate concepts and behavior in a causal way, for the concept of simultaneity. Here are some elements that characterize a chain of synonymity:
a. The question, “how much do you need to know to understand the Bible?” (The assumption that having a doctorate, reading Greek, knowing historical contexts –these things uniquely make the Bible accessible.)
b. The thought that a causal chain (five steps to salvation, “gospel sermons,” “old paths,” “first principles,” “core gospel,” “la santa doctrina”) will alone result in conversion. In some cases, even grace itself is seen as cause and not part of a chain of contingency.
c. The result of a chain of synonymity, substituted for teaching that leads to creation of the eternal moment in the lives of believers, is seen all about us. Many times the result is the creation of a population (a group sharing characteristics) which doesn’t know how to operate on contingency which would redefine preaching, “the gospel,” and other crucial matters.
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