Loving God through Dialectic Thinking (You're not supposed to love God with all your mind?)

The problems with translation:

I've often heard it that those who wrote the Bible were inspired and guided by God. And those who translated the Bible were too. And even when you read it you are inspired to get the right message.  Really? So, if I read a verse in the emptiness of my room- I am guaranteed to know exactly- or even pretty closely-what I'm supposed to from that verse? Or what God really meant or Jesus said? I'm not so sure.

For example, our study group looked at "the greatest commandment"- Matthew 22:37. I figured if we should delve into the true meaning of anything- it would be the greatest commandment. The greatest commandment usually reads something like this in English: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind." Seems pretty simple to me- although I'm a little fuzzy on what the heart and soul are. If anything, the mind is the most clear of all of those words.

But let's look at the Greek for that verse- arguably what Matthew was written in (some will hold it was written in Aramaic, but others argue Greek. Regardless, the oldest version we have is Greek and the Latin, German, and English versions came from the Greek).

o de ephē autō agapēseis kurion ton theon sou en olē tē kardia sou kai en olē tē psuchē sou kai en olē tē dianoia sou

Most of the words don't offer too much trouble as far as linking them to the English translation. But, the bold words are worthy of a closer look. First, agapeseis- familiar to most Christians as "agape love". Greek, it turns out, has four words- that I know of- for the English catch-all word: "love". Agape, Eros, Philia, and Storge. In this case, agape was what was used- love the Lord with Agape love. It is defined as a deeper love than the attraction suggested by "eros" and a more sacrificial love than that associated with Philia. Without the Greek translation, Christians would not be familiar with the term "agape"- and its special meaning.

"Kurion" means "Lord." "Kardia" is "heart"- and was meant to depict one's character. "Psuche", or psyche- "soul" was associated with the breath of life, what makes us human- as opposed to an animal. And now we come to "Dianoia".

Dianoia, it turns out, does not mean "mind." Instead, this term was associated with Plato and discursive thinking. Discursive was thinking that came from reason and not one's intuition. Further, reasoning, by the Greeks, was thought of as very difficult- if not impossible- for most humans to engage in... alone. The Greeks overcame this by engaging in dialectic thinking.

The Dialectic is a method of argument for resolving disagreement that relies on two or more open-minded individuals presenting conclusions based on logic to each other and all arriving at a different and higher level of understanding about the particular subject. Note the difference between this method and debating- wherein someone "wins." In the dialectic, everyone is assumed to be wrong, and yet through the sharing of different ways with which to think about a subject- all are changed.

If this is really what Jesus said, then the commandment- remember, the greatest one- the one that all other laws hinge upon- might read more like this:

"Have a sacrificial love for God with your character, your individuality, and through discursive and dialectic  thinking."

My conclusion to this is that there may be other areas- areas that are important to our understanding of the Bible and God- that we may benefit greatly from reading the original language it was written in.

Now, some may argue that loving God with one's "mind" may encompass both individual study and dialectic- and even other types- of thinking and that may be true. But if the real command was to engage in reason- and you buy into the Greek concept of reason- that on one's own reason is very difficult- if not impossible- then I'm not sure how one can arrive at any other conclusion but that in order to love God, one must engage others in discourse with an open mind.

Now, I'm not saying that one shouldn't read the Bible alone or think about God alone- but I am saying it is possible that that would not be following that specific part of the commandment. It might be that reading the Bible alone fulfills loving God with one's individuality. But loving God with one's dialectic thinking implies more than one person. It also implies an open mind. Even more- it implies using one's mind.

I've heard a lot of people discount using one's senses, reason, and intellect. It is- I think- true that to God we are pretty ignorant. And it should be true in my opinion that we can't possibly be comfortable with any conclusions drawn from our relatively small amount of sensory capabilities. But, I would argue that is why the dialectic is so important. Harnessing the ability of others to further one's own understanding- and contributing to others' understanding: that may be the best we humans can do to overcoming our limitations.

If this is true, then maybe God was attempting to help us by specifically steering us towards the dialectic. It's something worth thinking about...

What is the purpose of church?

I get a lot of polar opposite thoughts on church from acquaintances:

- "Church is man-made and really doesn't do too much for me spiritually"
- "It is wrong to not go to church."

As I'm finding out more and more, reality is usually somewhere in the middle of ideology. Churches are influenced by their parishioners and many a church could seem more earthly than heavenly when filled with the self-righteous, the judgmental, the gossipy, and the cliquish. Having said that, however, learning about heavenly matters is tough on one's own- surely discussing, sharing ideas, contemplating during sermons, and working to help others all have the potential to broaden one's understanding of universal purpose.

As a kid I usually liked to go to church. There was Sunday School- which was like regular school only some of the kids didn't go to my regular school so it was a chance to play with other kids I didn't normally see. There was usually some type of food- especially at potlucks. One Lutheran church I went to had fastnacht- which was a fun and crazy time of food, drink, dancing, skits, singing, and acting. Retreats usually were in the mountains or at lakes and those were definitely fun. Mixed in with all that were lessons on God and the Bible and these things stoked my curiosity of heavenly topics. I slowly started to seek answers to questions we didn't really touch on in school: why are we here?; what is the purpose of life?; how should we live and why?

As I got older Sunday was more of a day to recover from Saturday. I felt uncomfortable going to church alone and even after I got married it seemed more like a families-with-kids kind of place. But, I never really felt any passion about going to church at that point- it seemed more like a social club to me than anything else.

After children came along I started seriously thinking more about church and wanting "to belong". I remembered the good feeling of belonging from when I was a kid and wanted the same for my children. Since joining a few churches now for several years I think there are some obvious positives to going to church:

- it helps one broaden their social contacts. It is spiritually and emotionally healthy to have more contacts than just family and work. Church allows one to meet others that one might not normally meet. Church members may need help at times and this allows beneficial relationships between people that normally might not exist- especially in today's world of the Internet, suburbs, and TV.
- discourse is increased. Lots of books have been written on the importance of discourse in improving understanding. Reading the Bible at home is good, but talking about the Bible with others leads one to hear different ideas and attempt to articulate one's own ideas- many times a prerequisite for deeper understanding.
- Churches usually help others. At the least they help their members when they need help. Usually, though, the membership attempts to help locals in need and even those in other countries. Charity helps others and it helps the people giving it too.

But, does Church always help people, or, conversely, is it required? Would love to hear thoughts on this- because I think I know the answers, but I'm not sure. I have heard horror stories of some churches being more hurtful than helpful and I have thought at times that it would be really hard to understand God if one didn't go to church. Is there only one answer? Is this a false choice?

I do, however, think the key is discourse. If the theorists on complexity are correct and it is difficult for one person- no matter how smart- to come to greater understanding about complex subjects through only self-study- then church is probably more important than I thought. Discourse might actually be required to greater understanding of God. It might not be required to get into Heaven- but maybe it is required to understand the possibilities of what Heaven means.