by John Borlik | Dec 21, 2023 | depression, Faith, Hope, Love, Main posts
Introduction:
In the intricate tapestry of human emotions, depression stands as a formidable and often overwhelming thread. For many who grapple with its weight, the quest for solace and understanding extends beyond the realms of the tangible. This article explores the complex intersection of depression, God, and Christianity, delving into how faith can become both a refuge and a source of introspection in the face of mental health challenges.
Understanding Depression:
Depression is a multifaceted condition that affects millions worldwide. It is not merely a transient feeling of sadness but a persistent state that can impact one’s thoughts, emotions, and physical well-being. From a Christian perspective, acknowledging and understanding depression is crucial. In the Bible, figures like King David and the prophet Elijah experienced profound bouts of despair, demonstrating that even the faithful are not immune to the struggles of the mind.
Depression and the Search for Meaning:
Christianity often provides a framework for grappling with life’s challenges, including mental health issues. The teachings of Jesus emphasize love, compassion, and purpose. For individuals navigating depression, seeking meaning in their suffering becomes an integral part of the journey. Some may find solace in the belief that God can use their pain for a greater purpose, weaving a redemptive narrative from the threads of despair.
The Role of Faith:
Faith can serve as a resilient anchor amid the tumultuous seas of depression. Many Christians turn to prayer, meditation, and scripture as sources of comfort. The Psalms, in particular, offer a poetic expression of human struggles and triumphs, resonating with those in the throes of depression. The idea of casting burdens onto a higher power can be a balm for the wounded soul.
Yet, the interplay between faith and depression is nuanced. Well-intentioned counsel to “pray it away” may oversimplify the challenges faced by those with mental health issues. Recognizing depression as a medical condition is essential, and seeking professional help is not a betrayal of faith but a courageous step towards healing.
The Dark Night of the Soul:
In Christian mysticism, the concept of the “dark night of the soul” describes a profound spiritual crisis. This metaphorical journey mirrors the depths of depression, where one confronts inner demons and experiences a spiritual purification. The dark night, as described by mystics like St. John of the Cross, is not an abandonment by God but a transformative process leading to a deeper union with the divine.
Community and Compassion:
Christianity places a strong emphasis on community and the idea that believers are the body of Christ. In the context of depression, the support of a caring community can be instrumental. Creating a space where individuals can share their struggles without judgment fosters an environment of compassion and understanding. The Christian community can play a vital role in dismantling the stigma surrounding mental health.
Conclusion:
Depression, God, and Christianity form a complex triad, inviting individuals to navigate the depths of despair with faith as both a lantern and a lifebuoy. Acknowledging the profound challenges of mental health, embracing the wisdom of scripture, and fostering compassionate communities are integral aspects of this journey. In the delicate dance between darkness and light, the hope emerges that, through faith and understanding, individuals grappling with depression may find not only solace but a path towards healing and renewal.
by John Borlik | Dec 2, 2023 | Bible, Main posts
Mark 9:23 says, “If you can?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” These words of Jesus were spoken in response to a father who sought healing for his demon-possessed son. The father expressed doubt in Jesus’ ability to help, but Jesus challenged him to have faith.
This verse reminds us that our faith plays a significant role in our relationship with God. Jesus is calling us to trust in Him, to believe that nothing is impossible when we genuinely put our faith in Him. It calls us to have unwavering confidence in our loving Father, who is capable of all things.
In understanding this verse, we are encouraged to approach our life’s challenges and difficulties with an unwavering belief in God’s power and love. May this verse serve as a reminder that through faith, all things are possible, and that our Heavenly Father is always ready to respond to our heartfelt cries for help.
Let us pray: Heavenly Father, we come before you in faith, acknowledging that you are the God of all possibilities. Help us to trust in your power and love when faced with challenges. Strengthen our faith and fill our hearts with unwavering confidence in you. In the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
by John Borlik | Dec 2, 2023 | Hope, Main posts
The presence of troubles and life’s trial often make us ask where is God during this storm in life? Frequently the answers don’t come as fast as we would like or all we hear are crickets. But what we are experiencing is not always what is happening in reality. What is meant by reality is what is happening in God’s world that is the only world we live in. Take a look at your life and many times you will see the Hand of God most certainly brought you through. How else can it be explained? We all can cite times that mere coincidences happened that we cannot explain by our own strength. This is how God’s world works and the fact that the word “coincidence” exists in our language does not mean it does in God’s world. We are told there is a world unseen to us, like microwaves and uv light, that is still working whether we see it or not. So it is with the workings of God’s creation.
What does God say about this? “For I know the right lans I have for you…plans for good and a future and hope. (My paraphrase of Jeremiah 31:33).” The Bible is filled with God’s promises of Him taking care of us! But isn’t our tendency to look at what we are doing instead? How many times do we wonder if we are doing our part? That it’s a type of transaction with our Lord. God’s plans for our lives will supersede any choices we make. We can trust Him. Do we make wrong choices or mistakes or have ill done toward us? Most certainly but God’s world will prevail in our messes. Especially when we have made a shipwreck of our lives is our God working toward a better future. Do I sit back and wait? Maybe. He will open doors and guide us along the path for us for our good and His glory. We can trust Him.
Oh our hearts cry out for the Lord to rescue us and we wonder if He is even listening. He is listening and closer to us then the next plea that leaves our mouth. It is during our valleys that we grow closer in our relationship to Him. He is with us and will never leave us or forsake us. The God of All desires this closer relationship with His masterpieces and we can trust Him. Where are You, God? He is with us every step of the way. We walk to the car- He is with us. We eat a meal and He is with us. We sleep and wake and laugh and cry and He is with us. And He is happy with us and tells us that ALL our pains and tears He will use for His good plan for us. No demons, government, job, loss, death- NOTHING- can separate us from Him. Nothing.
by John Borlik | Oct 15, 2023 | Love, Main posts
In the realm of the heart, a sacred fire burns,
A love that for eternity, in every soul, yearns.
God, the architect of this cosmic design,
Crafted love as the bond that eternally binds.
In love’s gentle touch, we find divinity’s grace,
A reflection of God’s tender and endless embrace.
It’s a bond that unites, transcending all divide,
In the vast universe, it’s love that doth guide.
God is the author of this beautiful story,
Love, the language that reveals His glory.
In every act of kindness, in every forgiving part,
We glimpse God’s essence, the love in every heart.
Love is the answer, the path, and the key,
To find the divine in you and me.
God’s love, the source of all beauty and light,
Guides us through day and guards us through night.
In the symphony of life, love’s the sweet song,
In love’s tender arms, we all do belong.
So cherish this love, both human and divine,
For in love’s sweet embrace, we truly entwine.
God and love, inseparable, hand in hand,
A cosmic dance, an eternal band.
In love, we find God’s presence, so near,
In God, we find love, forever sincere.
by John Borlik | Jul 2, 2022 | Main posts
The journey of changing my mind about God (repenting from the Greek “metanoia”) has been filled with existential angst to uplifting joy and freedom. The black and white thinking slowly dissolves like metal in a glass of water. Yet it is progress. Like the Bible, it is a progression- a slow revelation of God with the full culmination in Jesus Christ (“If you’ve seen me, you have seen the Father” (John 14:9).
The non-dual nature of Jesus’s ministry is evident in His critique of the old ways in the Old Testament: “You’ve heard it said…” (see Matthew 5:17-48). Yet we seem to live in a current culture of black and white, them and us, yes or no, racial disharmony, and abusive Earth practices shouting from the rooftops, “I can’t hear You, Jesus!”
The violence in America is atrocious and accepted. Is it any wonder we spend billions on military might to appease our collective ego drive to dominate others?
Yet the false self (mainly ego) obscures the Christ within all. All, as in, all. The Christ is part of the hypostatic union or the joining together in Jesus the Christ (Anointed One); the other part being the historical Jesus. The fully human aspect of the historical Jesus is fully encapsulated with God in the Christ. Is it any wonder Eastern iconography has Jesus holding up two fingers with His right hand? Essentially, Jesus is the microcosm and the Christ is the macrocosm. How do I make this intuitive leap? In part, intuition, and yet that is not rigorous enough to hang your hat on. There must be more. In John 1 we read the mystical account of the apostle Jesus loved which John unflinchingly asserts “that in the beginning was the Word.” It is the New Testament version of Genesis! Mankind is under a new covenantal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
John Duns Scotus, one of the most important and influential philosopher-theologians of the High Middle Ages, was more in touch with the epistles of Colossians and Ephesians. It is hard to say where the Bible will “speak to the Christ” within each person which is one of the reasons scripture is such a dynamic, ancient book that is timeless. These letters saw Jesus as the “first image in the mind of God” (Ephesians 1:3–6, 10–11), which is even further described in the hymn in Colossians 1:15–20. Jesus, Scotus said, was a pure and gracious declaration of the primordial truth from the very beginning which was called the doctrine of “the primacy of Christ.”
The Incarnation of God, in Jesus, offers us the living “icon of the unseen God” (Colossians 1:15), who is the theme for all else (1:16), who integrates all things in himself (1:17), who is the headmaster in a cosmic body that follows after him (1:18). If I might make use of a contemporary image: Jesus is the “hologram” for all that is happening in a holographic, steady as well as repetitive cosmos (1:19). In this holographic universe (Christ-I will elaborate on this topic in future posts) we currently exist as children of God. We have a part, template, in this holographic universe making us all One in Christ. A striking characteristic of this universe is the exact representation of God. Namely, it is both immanent and transcendent. Jesus Christ is the blueprint for all. He does what we also need to do, which is why he states, “follow me.”
Let me end by saying that all the themes of this post will be expanded upon in future posts. With that being said, I would like to conclude with a hymn from Symeon the New Theologian (949–1022), a saint and mystic, revered to this day by Eastern Christians, wrote some words that point beautifully to this new force Meld, that we call the Body of Christ. It is in this cosmic embodiment created by God’s grace and our response to Trinity’s invitation to the Divine Dance. Hymn 15 in his Hymns of Divine Love beautifully names the divine union that all the Bible is forever inviting and edging us toward. Here, in Symeon’s hymn, Scripture has become spirituality:
We awaken in Christ’s body,
As Christ awakens our bodies
There I look down and my poor hand is Christ,
He enters my foot and is infinitely me.
I move my hand and wonderfully My hand becomes Christ,
Becomes all of Him.
I move my foot and at once
He appears in a flash of lightning.
Do my words seem blasphemous to you?—Then open your heart to him.
And let yourself receive the one Who is opening to you so deeply.
For if we genuinely love Him, We wake up inside Christ’s body Where all our body all over,
Every most hidden part of it,
Is realized in joy as Him,
And He makes us utterly real.
And everything that is hurt, everything
That seemed to us dark, harsh, shameful, maimed, ugly, irreparably damaged
Is in Him transformed.
And in Him, recognized as whole, as lovely, And radiant in His light,
We awaken as the beloved In every last part of our body.
“Test yourselves: Do you acknowledge that Jesus, the Christ, is really in you? If not, you have failed the test.”
by John Borlik | Aug 27, 2021 | Christian Universalism, Main posts
Author Heath Bradley wrote in the Preface to this 2012 book, Flames of Love, “this book is the fruit of wrestling with the spirit of the risen Jesus and refusing to let go until I received a blessing…. It has come in the form of a distinctively Christian vision of universal salvation that still has an integral and biblically-faithful role for the reality of hell… discovering the Bible-honoring, Christ-centered, and God-fearing vision of universal salvation that has been present in the church from the beginning has brought me a great deal of joyful confidence, even though not absolute certainty… the way of thinking about the end of all things that I will struggle to articulate in this book strikes me as the most coherent and compelling way of making sense of how God’s story of redemption through Christ will turn out.” (Pg. ix-x)
In chapter 1, he explains, “In this book, we are concerned with understanding and evaluating a specific Christian vision of God and God’s relationship to humanity known as Christian universalism…. [which is] the belief that ultimately every person will be saved through Christ. This vision of salvation stands in sharp contrast… to the dominant Christian vision of hell … that all people who are not Christians will spend eternity in conscious torment.” (Pg. 2)
He suggests, “Calvinists hold that God can accomplish whatever God wants to accomplish, it’s just that in their view God doesn’t really want to save all people. Arminians hold that God wants to save all people, but unfortunately, God cannot make free human beings choose salvation. Christian universalism simply affirms with Calvinists that God can do whatever God desires to do, and with the Arminians that God desires to save all people. Put those premises together, and you get the conclusion that God will save all people.” (Pg. 15)
He acknowledges, “many [atheists] reject traditional theism out of deep moral convictions; convictions that say that a God who tortures people forever for sin that they couldn’t help avoiding in the first place is not worth worshiping. I think they are on to something, and they are right to challenge a religious response that appeals to divine mystery to justify actions that we would immediately and unequivocally label as evil if attributed to human beings.” (Pg. 21) Later, he adds, “One of the main reasons I am motivated to argue against the everlasting damnation of all non-Christians is that I believe this doctrine… actually keeps many people from fully loving God with all they are, because deep down, to them God is a monster they are scared of, not a Father they adore.” (Pg. 129)
He observes, “while many Christians have this moral intuition that a God of love must care about justice and making things right, they wrongly assume that everlasting hell is the only way that God can bring about this justice… we are not forced to choose between believing in either a god who punishes the wicked forever on the one hand, or in a God who is morally indifferent and nonresponsive to the evil and injustice in life on the other… Indeed, most Christian universalists hold to a very robust and strong vision of divine judgment. Judgment need not be everlasting conscious torment in order for it to be very serious.” (Pg. 31-32)
He points out, “Jesus taught us to think of God primarily on the model of a loving parent. On one occasion he said, ‘Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead of a fish?…’ Jesus is encouraging his followers to compare the character of God with the character of human parents, who… would not do anything to actively harm their children… Francis Chan and Preston Sprinkle … write [in Erasing Hell: What God Said About Eternity, and the Things We’ve Made Up ], ‘… We don’t have the license to define love according to our standards and sensibilities.’ Actually, if we do take Jesus seriously, we do have the license from him to think about God according to our own standards…if we throw away human standards of goodness when thinking about God, then the claim that God is better, greater, and higher than our goodness is rendered meaningless.” (Pg. 41-42)
He asserts, “if these passages [1 Cor 15:22, Rom 5:18, Phil 2:9-11] are easily dismissed in the discussion as not really affirming universal salvation, then what WOULD it take for you to be open to the idea that a biblical author taught universal salvation? If Jesus wanted to reveal to us that God relates to all people with unlimited compassion and unbreakable love, how could he say it any more clearly than to say that God ‘is kind to the wicked and the ungrateful’ [Lk 6:35]?… A thoughtful reader… could easily argue that the apparent universalist texts are just as ‘clear’ as the apparent everlasting hell texts. There is no compelling reason why the everlasting hell texts should simply be assumed to be the clear texts that set the interpretive parameters for the supposedly ‘obscure’ universalist texts.” (Pg. 57-58)
He argues about Hebrews 9:27, “Universalists agree that humans die once and face judgment. There’s no debate there. The important question, though, is just what does the judgment consist of, and could God’s judgment actually make it possible for a person to repent and turn to Christ?… Paul can logically (and theologically) affirm both a response of faith AND an affirmation of universal salvation IF one doesn’t rule out from the start the possibility of salvation opportunities in the age to come.” (Pg. 59) Later, he adds, “There are also no explicit scriptural declarations that a person’s fate is definitively sealed at death… Supporters of the possibility of postmortem conversion will certainly agree … that all people face divine judgment when they die, but they will also affirm that God’s judgment is designed to elicit repentance and foster reconciliation.” (Pg. 123)
After quoting Revelation 21:23-25, he comments, “Throughout the book of Revelation the ‘kings of the earth’ are presented as the ultimate bad guys… their names are not found in the Book of Life, and so they are among those who are thrown into the lake of fire. Yet here we see them making their way into the heavenly city that has gates that are never closed… It is hard to imagine that they would be open so that the inhabitants of the city could leave, so they must be open so that those in the lake of fire can make their way in. Since John is clear that nothing can enter the heavenly city without being cleansed of sin, this could reasonably lead one to conclude that the lake of fire ultimately has a corrective and purifying function.” (Pg. 75-76)
He asks, “if God’s love is relentless, unstoppable, unchanging, unconditional, and never-ending, then why will physical death change all of this?… I can see no reason why a God of steadfast love will stop trying to reach out to a person after their physical death. Many early Christians couldn’t either. For the first four hundred years of the Christian church, many Christians believed that there would be postmortem opportunities for salvation.” (Pg. 84-85)
He notes, “The belief in an age of accountability is ultimately grounded, not primarily in specific scriptural declarations, but in more general scriptural affirmations about the character of God and in our deep moral sense of what is right and wrong. In that sense, it is a doctrine with a similar status as the belief in the possibility of postmortem salvation… While there are no texts that can be used to directly support an age of accountability as most contemporary Christians conceive it, there are several texts that can be marshaled in support of postmortem conversion. Christians who easily and quickly dismiss the possibility of postmortem conversion because of a lack of clear and direct scriptural support, and at the same time hold to a belief in an age of accountability, are … demanding a level of scriptural support for one doctrine that they are not for another.” (Pg. 86-87) He adds that Number 14:28-31 “clearly considers the ‘little ones’ to be anyone under twenty years old, not just infants and children.” (Pg. 88)
He suggests, “Many people argue that since Revelation speaks of the lake of fire burning forever, that it is clear that not all will enter through the open gates… One can just as easily argue the reverse position, namely, that since Revelation asserts that all things will be restored to God, the passages asserting that the lake of fire lasts forever cannot be taken literally. While I would not go so far as to say that Revelation unequivocally and unambiguously affirms universal salvation, it undeniably at least holds up as a possibility… to turn to God after death.” (Pg. 90)
He states, “I think that [1 Peter 3:18-20] teaches the descent of Christ into hell for the purpose of proclaiming the gospel to set people free. That Peter… uses the term ‘gospel,’ and … ‘proclamation,’ a word that is used throughout the New Testament to describe preaching the gospel for the purpose of conversion, all fit together nicely with the interpretation I am proposing. The only detail that seems to throw off this way … is the reference to the generation of Noah… [But] The generation of Noah came to be regarded as the most-wicked generation ever with no chance of finding redemption… In naming this generation in particular, Peter seems to be affirming that there is absolutely no group of people outside the scope of God’s will to save. If there is hope for them, there is hope for anybody!” (Pg. 91-92)
He says God has the power… to change the human will to see the ugliness and destructiveness of sin and to turn away from it and embrace the grace that is freely given by God. take the apostle Paul, for example. On the road to Damascus, as he is on his way to persecute Christians… Paul wasn’t seeking to choose Christ. He had chosen to reject Christ and to try to stamp out those who had accepted Christ as the Messiah.” (Pg. 98)
He contends, “one cannot consistently and coherently let the distinctively Christian claim that God is love be their guide, while at the same time affirming that all paths [to God] are equal… What I want to point out is that one can hold on to the affirmation that Jesus Christ is the exclusive means of salvation, without concluding that salvation is exclusively limited to those who profess Christ in this lifetime… the saving work of Christ is not limited to people who in this life knowingly and intentionally put their trust in Christ… Christ can reach through to people in this life without them necessarily knowing about him…” (Pg. 110, 114, 117)
He asserts, “When exclusivists claim that … God owes us nothing in the first place, they are making an unwarranted logical leap… to infer from this that God then has the right to create billions of people who will experience everlasting torment because they have not heard the gospel message and accepted it in this lifetime is another. To say that God owes us nothing is not the same as saying that God has the right to do anything.” (Pg. 115)
He points out, “While belief in an everlasting hell maybe what has motivated many evangelists and missionaries, I would argue that it is precisely this belief that has largely contributed to a transactional, decision-oriented focus towards evangelism that has made accepting the gospel the minimal entrance requirement for heaven. In contrast, Jesus said evangelism is to be about making disciples by teaching people how to live…” (Pg. 139)
He also argues, “Punishing someone for eternity does nothing to really make things right. Let’s return to the case of Hitler. How can everlasting punitive suffering really make up for the horrendous evil he perpetuated into so many lives?… To think that ‘getting even’ is what heals life’s deepest wounds is a myth… Hitler, for example, maybe given a role to play in the restoration of his victims. We can imagine God enabling his victims to offer him forgiveness, and in turn, God enabling Hitler to feel and see the horror of his wrongs, and then, with God’s help, to repent and do all he can to make reconciliation and restoration possible. This strikes me as a much more biblically shaped and Christ-centered view … than simply consigning Hitler to never-ending punishments where he never realizes and fully agrees with God’s condemnation of his sin.” (Pg. 158-159)
This is a marvelous, surprisingly “philosophical,” and creative explanation and defense of Christian Universalism; it will be a “must-reading” for anyone seriously studying the doctrines of Hell, Conditional Immortality, and Universalism.
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