Monday, April 16, 2012

The African Bushman



It keeps coming up; the African bushmen.  The solitary few living alone in the depths of the mountains or desert, living off the land, no technology, no ties to the rest of the world.  They are, except for each other, entirely alone.

We can learn a lot about a person’s faith by what they think about these people.  Not in the “shouldn’t we be helping these people” sense, but in the “where do they do when they die” sense.  Without outside influence, if they have a sense of faith and religion at all, it’s the same faith and religion passed down to them by their ancestors before them.  Maybe they believe in rain gods.  Maybe they don’t have time to think about gods because they must work constantly just to eat and drink and stay alive.  Whatever they believe in, it’s likely not the same God that is believed in by the western religions, and they probably don’t follow the philosophies of the east.

So what becomes of them when they die?  This was a question commonly asked by students in my high school youth group, and again in the early years of the philosophy program at George Fox.  As Christians, we believed that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to God except through Jesus.  This is a very specific, some might call it narrow, view of how salvation happens.  I recall one youth pastor suggesting that while these folks may not have had the gospel preached to them specifically, God present Himself to them in some manner.  The pastor thought that each person had a moment when they somehow understood that they had a choice to make - good or evil - and in that moment the African bushman made the choice that would determine his eternal destination.

What kind of God is your God?  I propose that how you answer the question of the African bushman tells you a lot about the God you believe in.  Certainly different faiths answer differently.  In my first two interviews for this blog, the answers were starkly different.  For the Evangelical, the answer is, with sincere remorse, “tough shit.”  For the Mormon, there is a glory that awaits these people, even if it isn’t the very best glory.  From what I understand of Buddhism, it doesn’t really matter what they believe in. When circumstances are no longer suitable for human life, they cease to manifest, but when circumstances become suitable again, they will manifest again.

My purpose here is not to critique one as being a better answer than another.  To critique is to suggest that I have a better alternative, and I do not.  But here are a few questions that might be worth thinking about:

According to my beliefs, what happens to the African Bushman when he dies?
If he goes to heaven, why does he go to heaven?
If he goes to heaven without having faith in anything, of what value is my faith?
If he goes to hell, why does he go to hell?
If he goes to hell, what does this say about my God?
If I don’t like how I feel about what this says about my God, what do I do about my feelings?
Does it matter if I’m uncomfortable with certain aspects of what I believe to be true about God?
If I dislike something I believe about my own God, do I accept something I dislike, or do I change how I view God?
If I believe the bushman goes to hell, what am I doing to make sure he doesn’t?

I’d love to hear your answers to some of these questions!

7 comments:

  1. LTranny

    According to my beliefs, what happens to the African Bushman when he dies?

    He either goes to Heaven or he simply fades away.

    If he goes to heaven, why does he go to heaven?

    He wants to be closer to God, who presents himself to souls in a variety of ways.

    If he goes to heaven without having faith in anything, of what value is my faith?

    I remember the parable of Jesus from Matthew about the workers in the vineyard. How does it negatively affect me if the other workers get the same reward? Didn't I get the reward I expected coming into the struggle? The reward from faith is a better understanding of God and to be able to understand the wisdom that He attempts to pass on to us.

    If he goes to hell, why does he go to hell?

    Hell is the willful disconnect from God. Hell is "hellish" because the soul does not experience the glory of being in the presence of God. It isn't a fiery pit of doom.

    If he goes to hell, what does this say about my God?

    God gives us a choice, even after our physical death.

    If I don’t like how I feel about what this says about my God, what do I do about my feelings?

    I see no problem with the existence of the hell I've described.

    Does it matter if I’m uncomfortable with certain aspects of what I believe to be true about God?

    Yes because these uncertainties can bring an individual to better understand their own faith.

    If I dislike something I believe about my own God, do I accept something I dislike, or do I change how I view God?

    I accept what I believe is true, even if that means personal sacrifice.

    If I believe the bushman goes to hell, what am I doing to make sure he doesn’t?

    N/A

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  2. ^^^^^^ Oh also that's coming from a Catholic.

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  3. Hi Ryan,

    I followed you over here from your comment on Beth's blog. I thought I recognized your name and I did. We were classmates at Fox. And I had to laugh when you said you "knew everything" when you were in college... isn't that a classic college student trait?

    Your writing is interesting even though I disagree with a lot of it! ;) I'll tell you where I'm coming from. I would call myself an evangelical Christian, but I'm afraid that brings with it a lot of stereotypes that aren't me. I have spent significant time in 3 different denominations (Baptist, Quaker, Free Methodist) that I think have helped me to have a broader picture of Christianity.

    As to this post specifically... I think there is a third option that you've missed. There have been many stories and even books written about "unreached peoples" and when missionaries get to them they find that in their folklore and beliefs is the basic gospel story, albeit without the specific name of Jesus. I think one of the books is called "People of the Book" and I know there's another one at least, but in my current sleep deprived state I can't remember it.

    So I would say that actually God does reveal himself to all people and all have a choice to choose to believe or reject this. I think we err when we think that everyone has to have specific knowledge of the Bible story and profess it exactly as we do to be considered a Christian. (or going to heaven) And I think you can back this up scripturally too, but I'm sorry, my mush brain isn't going to function on that level today.

    As to your questions...
    According to my beliefs, what happens to the African Bushman when he dies? (it depends on what he chose)

    If he goes to heaven, why does he go to heaven? (because he accepted what he could in his knowledge)

    If he goes to heaven without having faith in anything, of what value is my faith? (I don't believe he does)

    If he goes to hell, why does he go to hell? (because he chose to reject what he was offered)

    If he goes to hell, what does this say about my God? (that God is more infinite than we can understand - this I think is one of the most important pieces to the whole argument. By basing our beliefs on God on what we can see/know of him we limit him to our understanding. If we truly believe that God is this all powerful all knowing infinitely good God and then we turn around and say that "if someone goes to hell God isn't good" we have just limited God - put him in our confines. When we don't even fully understand the physical world around us (through science) how can we say that we understand God and everything he does when we can't even see/hear/touch him? And yet we want to only base our beliefs on him if we can completely understand him? I don't think you can have it both ways. :)

    If I don’t like how I feel about what this says about my God, what do I do about my feelings? My children don't like it when I tell them to clean up their room/go to bed/finish dinner, etc. They could say I am a dictator. Do they understand fully my reasoning for what I'm telling them to do? In the same way I fall back on: we are finite and can't fully comprehend the infinite God. What do I do with this? Take my feelings to God. He welcomes doubters. Continue wrestling. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

    Does it matter if I’m uncomfortable with certain aspects of what I believe to be true about God? No, it's fine.

    ReplyDelete
  4. (part 2: blogger didn't like my long comment! that's a first!)

    If I dislike something I believe about my own God, do I accept something I dislike, or do I change how I view God? I dislike all the slaughter in the old testament that God told the people to carry out. However, all this does is make me realize that I most likely do not know the whole story (and really, does the Bible give us all the details?). If we believe that this world is NOT the end then ultimately there could be people who were slaughtered who are also in heaven. (this is where I disagree with some of your other writing - God never promises that there will be no suffering here on earth - if we believe the whole God story it was never his intention, we brought it on ourselves and continue to do so by our choices. But how much more real does something become to you when it's been tested and proven true? Being a Christian in America is relatively easy. Why do we not see Christians in other countries who face mass persecution giving up on their faith? Instead it's the other way around. This is anecdotal, but I believe it has to mean something.)
    Ultimately I think the answer to this question is yes - to both. Anytime you learn something new about someone it changes how you view them. But that change does not necessarily mean that you stop liking them/stop believing they exist because what they actually are doesn't match up with what you thought they were. Perhaps you will choose to dissociate yourself from that person. Does that actually make them not exist?
    And finally, how do you know that what you believe about your God is actually true? Maybe its your beliefs that need to change? This feels like the heart of the question... I guess I come down to the idea that basing your beliefs about God on what you can see/experience does not necessarily make them true. ie, that God could cause people to be slaughtered when he supposedly can only do good. I think this is the essence of faith. Trusting in something (God is good) when presented with evidence otherwise, knowing that we don't see the whole picture and so can't fully understand.

    If I believe the bushman goes to hell, what am I doing to make sure he doesn’t? I believe we can be used by God to work for good in other people's lives. If I don't do what God has called me to do and then the bushman goes to hell I believe it might actually be possible for his blood to be on me. However, if I also believe that God is all powerful then he can and will send someone else in my place if I am not fulfilling my duties. God is not limited by what we choose to do or not.

    I'm sorry this is so rambly... not working on a whole lot of sleep for the past few months!

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  5. (part 1: not sure why this didn't actually post)

    Hi Ryan,

    I followed you over here from your comment on Beth's blog. I thought I recognized your name and I did. We were classmates at Fox. And I had to laugh when you said you "knew everything" when you were in college... isn't that a classic college student trait?

    Your writing is interesting even though I disagree with a lot of it! ;) I'll tell you where I'm coming from. I would call myself an evangelical Christian, but I'm afraid that brings with it a lot of stereotypes that aren't me. I have spent significant time in 3 different denominations (Baptist, Quaker, Free Methodist) that I think have helped me to have a broader picture of Christianity.

    As to this post specifically... I think there is a third option that you've missed. There have been many stories and even books written about "unreached peoples" and when missionaries get to them they find that in their folklore and beliefs is the basic gospel story, albeit without the specific name of Jesus. I think one of the books is called "People of the Book" and I know there's another one at least, but in my current sleep deprived state I can't remember it.

    So I would say that actually God does reveal himself to all people and all have a choice to choose to believe or reject this. I think we err when we think that everyone has to have specific knowledge of the Bible story and profess it exactly as we do to be considered a Christian. (or going to heaven) And I think you can back this up scripturally too, but I'm sorry, my mush brain isn't going to function on that level today.

    As to your questions...
    According to my beliefs, what happens to the African Bushman when he dies? (it depends on what he chose)

    If he goes to heaven, why does he go to heaven? (because he accepted what he could in his knowledge)

    If he goes to heaven without having faith in anything, of what value is my faith? (I don't believe he does)

    If he goes to hell, why does he go to hell? (because he chose to reject what he was offered)

    If he goes to hell, what does this say about my God? (that God is more infinite than we can understand - this I think is one of the most important pieces to the whole argument. By basing our beliefs on God on what we can see/know of him we limit him to our understanding. If we truly believe that God is this all powerful all knowing infinitely good God and then we turn around and say that "if someone goes to hell God isn't good" we have just limited God - put him in our confines. When we don't even fully understand the physical world around us (through science) how can we say that we understand God and everything he does when we can't even see/hear/touch him? And yet we want to only base our beliefs on him if we can completely understand him? I don't think you can have it both ways. :)

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  6. "What happens to the bushmen when they die?" Well, that's up to god now isn't it? We kid ourselves when we believe WE have the sovereign power over our existence but that is what we've been hammered with since childhood and that is what our pride demands of us. Once we lose that illusion we come face to face with an awful and frightening truth: it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living god. But then again, he is eager to be merciful, is he not? But, it is up to him, and that simply infuriates us so we create and collect myths of belief to sooth our fear of him rather than falling on our face before him and simply recognizing our place in this creation. Religion doesn't save, neither does sincerity. I think fear is in fact the beginning of wisdom and the end of wisdom is gratitude and love. Of course god has revealed himself to everyone, he is witnessed in his creation and according to paul that is enough. Unfortunately all the education and proof in the world will not bring us to repentance, only god can do that. I suspect the statement to Jesus "lord I beleive, help my unbelief" is most likely the purest and most accurate prayer recorded. God is not fair, he is just. And merciful. That is the hope of the bushman, that is the hope of the pagan in L.A., Kansas City, Eugene OR, past and present. Not religion, not committment, not sincerity, not ignorance. Mercy. Logan,

    ReplyDelete
  7. If a bushman falls in the bush, and no one is there to ponder where his soul goes, does he even really die? Did he even really exist in the first place? And if he did, would he have cared what a bunch of people 10,000 miles away think their god will do to him when his rotting body is filling the bellies of ants and various nocturnal scavengers? I'm going to guess no on that last one, but I could be wrong... :)

    MCKF

    PS: I enjoy the blog, Ryan. I'm glad I found it!

    ReplyDelete