I picked up a book in Barnes and Nobles last night- Diary of a Bad Year by J.M. Coetzee. Interestingly, (strangely, ironically, coincidentally- whatever you have it) I flipped to an entry about faith/religion/Christianity. The jist of the section was how major world religions deal with the afterlife (if they purport to having one at all). Christianity being one that does deal with the afterlife and is ambiguous as to what it will be like. Very specifically the author asked if the soul had a memory. Could the soul when in eternal glory or desolation remember its prior life and understand why it found itself in its present predicament? Is there a link between this life and the next through the soul?
Coetzee states this is very ambiguous and difficult to decipher in Christianity, therefore, making Christianity null and void. He seems to lump most religions that believe in an afterlife into this same category– my guess is he is an atheist, but this is only a guess.
Mr. Coetzee strikes me as an intelligent man, very logical and precise. And so his line of rational bothered me. I found myself thinking about it and understanding from where his doubt arose. But when I was driving to work this morning I realized something fundamentally different with his line of thought than that of a Christian. His premise is completely different.
His initial belief is our soul should think, feel, remember and know and is important. The premise being that our soul exists unto itself, for the glory of itself. Yet, the body is a carrier of that soul; unaffect by its cargo. Somehow the body and its workings can determine eternity for the soul through its actions, but the soul remains helpless of input into that body. In the end the body dies leaving the soul to deal with the eternal consequences. It seems a rather injust predicament for the soul. Especially, as Coetzee noted, the soul has no recollection of its prior life and is suffering eternal damnation for it doesn’t know what. He doesn’t like this outcome and rejects Christianity for what he feel is its lack of answer to this contradiction. I don’t blame him.
But I don’t agree with his initial premises.
In Christianity our souls are important, but they derive their importance from a Holy God. Our soul was created to be with God but our bodies sinned against Him. He is something altogether different from what our human brains recognize and hearts feel now that sin has tarnished our bodies. We are body and soul and they effect each other. And both are ultimately creations of a sovreign Creator. We do not exist unto ourselves, for our glory. We exist for His. Someday God will judge our souls according to what our bodies did, but we have choice while in this body. Our soul is allowed to affect our body. There is a link, that while not well understood, exists. And if we are creation- why do we think we need to understand that link?
And now enters faith. How do you decide which premise to believe? Either at it’s end cannot be scientifically answered or observed. Both on some level require a measure of faith. But I think the Christian premise is right.
I find it ironic one of the things Coetzee can’t get over is one of the reasons I think there is a God. Human selfishness. He can’t seem to get past that we should be in the driver’s seat. Well- I can’t either, but Christianity offers me an eternal reprieve from that need to control. Christianity offers me an explaination of why it exists and how to get around it. We are a creation. This is fundamental.
Humans do alot of creating, building, making- we have a hard time thinking we need to yield ourselves to something bigger because we are always understanding and trying to build bigger things. We have yet to find our limit and so we assume we have no limit. We are in no need of a higher being, an outside control. But there’s the inconvience of death-what do we do with that? Well, we’ll think up an afterlife where good is rewarded and bad is punished. We’ll create something else that helps us get on with our day. Some will reject that, but what does it matter if its made up for our convience anyway. But this coping mechanism with death- our limit, still puts us as the solution. That won’t work. If we are the problem, our finite lives is the problem, we cannot come up with the solution.
There must actually be something else! There must be someone else in charge. (The atheist thinks there is nothing else. We are all just kidding ourselves. Point noted. Still faith though!)
And so I arrive that there is a God. And if He is in control a certain amount of humility should be instilled in me. But then sin and our separation from God re-enters. I don’t want to be humble. I want me first! My body and my soul are at odds. And a history of human awfulness is evidence of it.
This is a dilema indeed. Again, one Coetzee may have arrived at, found no solution in himself or pop culture Christianity, so he negates and rejects the whole endeavor. Many people do this. I don’t blame them. I feel a similar hopelessness some days too.
But, historically, factually, scientifically there is a possible solution. A man named Jesus existed. He claimed to be the Son of God. He claimed to forgive sin and allow a reconcilliation of body with soul, of man with God. He who knew no sin became sin on our behalf that we might be the righteousness of God. Not only is the Creator in control, He is sympathetic to our condition. He didn’t remain separated, He entered our sitution. We are no longer orphans, but sons and share the inheritance. I don’t think there is a historian that will dispute these claims where made. Do you believe them…well.. that’s faith.
