Image of God

What if religion -- Christianity even -- is a force for good in the world?

Christianity has a message. It isn't OK to dehumanize your neighbor. Or even your enemy.

No one is a vermin.

Today's Guest Post is by John Coster. He studied Theology and Society at Regent College while continuing his career managing multimillion-dollar development projects for Microsoft, CenturyLink, Toyota, T-Mobile and other high-volume users of electricity. Coster is an unusual combination. He operates at the highest levels in the Seattle technology world; he also does hands-on missionary work in Africa and Asia.

Guest Post by John Coster

Coster

Your recent post on “Thin Veneer of Civilization” highlights the current deconstructionist inertia that seems to be gripping not just the U.S., but much of the western world. Outrage is the dominant mode of discourse, and violence is increasingly seen as the appropriate method to solve our “problems.” Widespread brutality is rationalized and even valorized. Kyle Rittenhouse -- the 2020 Kenosha shooter found innocent at trial -- is a hero with 260,000 Instagram followers and is a budding author. People who seek peaceful solutions with thoughtful civility are seen as weak and feckless (a popular insult these days). 

 

We wonder whatever happened to our 20^th Century enlightened minds. What happened to the “war to end all wars”? I propose that the degradation of our civility rides the tail of a post-Christian age.

 

In Tom Holland’s epic book “Dominion, How the Christian Revolution Remade The World,” he poses the question, “How is it that a cult, inspired by the execution of an obscure criminal, in a long-vanquished empire came to exercise such transformative and enduring influence in the world?” He goes on for the next 542 pages to trace the influence of Christianity through history to the modern day, from calendars to the whole idea of human rights. Holland is not the only historian to observe this phenomenon. Duke University’s Kavin Rowe, in his much smaller book, "Christianity’s Surprise," chronicles many of the same historical themes.

 

Notwithstanding the ancient Sumerian or Hammurabi codes or other written forms of governance that were designed to promote social order, the pre-Christian world was a brutal and inhumane place for most people. Leadership was gained and maintained through ruthless conquest. Holland’s depictions of horrific public shaming, torture, and execution of not just enemies, but disloyal citizens, is disturbing reading which shows the true hearts of men.

 

Leaders also used religion and mythologies to legitimize their regimes and keep the populace subordinated. The pre-Christian world did not recognize the personhood of people. Human life was not considered sacred. Humans were useful for securing and preserving power, but the idea of an intrinsic human right did not exist as a concept.

 

Jesus’ teaching to love your neighbor, indeed love your enemy, was revolutionary to first century Palestine. He taught and modeled servant leadership, sacrifice, forgiveness, generosity to the poor, and caring for the vulnerable. His message had no logical upside in that cultural context. He taught that all people, regardless of age, gender, race, tribe, or social status are God’s children, made in God’s image – or “imago dei.” That is what makes us sacred and of infinite worth. His message had no logical upside in that cultural context, yet his following “went viral” after his death and resurrection. His followers did the craziest things – rescuing babies that had been discarded, setting up the first hospitals for ordinary people. Emperor Julian the Apostate chastised his pagan priests because the Christian’s were embarrassing him with the sacrificial compassion they showed to those who were not their own. The culture was shifting but not because of government.

 

Fast forward to the Medieval period where an obscure clergyman, John Comenius, promoted the idea of public education for the masses. He reasoned that every person should be literate so they could not only read the Scriptures (and know God) but also study nature, science and math (and thus know God through creation.) He is still held up in Europe as the Father of modern pedagogy. The guiding principle was human dignity based on being imago dei. You are reading this essay; you are a beneficiary of his vision and techniques. 

 

The Declaration of Independence asserts that all people are endowed by their creator with irrevocable rights of life, liberty, etc. Jefferson was not a Christian but note Jefferson’s theological anchor for that assertion. He knew his audience needed cosmic authority. 

 

The sacredness of personhood was manifested by MLK and the civil rights movement. His "Theology of Personalism" (Ph.D. thesis) informed his insistence on non-violence. Since all people are made in God’s image, then Black people must demand to be treated as such. But violence against the White oppressor would be sinning against their imago dei. Malcom X did not share that view, but later softened when he saw how fruitful it was.

 

The April 1966 Time Magazine’s front cover asked if God was dead. Not an actual god being dead, but dead in the sense that an infinite and absolute god was no longer relevant to an enlightened society. Social observers call our current moment “Post-Christian,” which some may celebrate, but it comes with a price. The emergence of AI means the question of human identity is no longer an abstract philosophical discussion.

 

We live in a time of increasing moral ambiguity. Whether or not you believe in Christianity’s claims (which I do) it is hard not to see that corresponding decline of Christian influence and increase in discord, when it becomes permissible to dehumanize “the other." Social psychologist and agnostic Jonathan Haidt is worried by that decline of religion in America is decreasing social cohesion.  

 

In my view, unless there is an authentic spiritual renewal, our current trajectory will continue. Politics simply mirrors the culture and technology amplifies it.

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