The Promises and Perils of Christian Discourse - Part 2

What does the doctrine of God’s creating all things ex nihilo have to do with Christian discourse? The church has always confessed that God made everything and that there was nothing that was always alongside God. There is nothing beyond him, and so there is nothing he is every truly forced to do. Because He made all things and therefore needs nothing outside himself in order to be (or become) himself, we can trust that this God is therefore not exploitative. The Christian, then, is uniquely positioned to highlight Who alone is true. It is because of the aseity of God—that he is wholly himself of and within himself, having need of nothing outside of himself to be himself—that he is at the same time for that very reason uniquely trustworthy. As readers and confessors of the Apostles' Creed, we live in a fallen and sinful world of suspicion and of distrust that far too often finds expression in our inability to hear one another in a context of communal or Christian discourse. But the credal expression of God’s being has significant importance for how the Church can continue discourse in a trustworthy and uniquely Christian way.

To discuss this and more, Dr. Mark Garcia, President and Fellow in Scripture and Theology at Greystone Theological Institute, sits down once again with Greystone's Associate Fellow in Ethics and Culture, Michael Sacasas. Mr. Sacasas earned his MA in Theological Studies from Reformed Theological Seminary in 2002. Over the years he has taken a special interest in the work of Hannah Arendt and the resources it offers to those seeking to understand the personal and social implications of emerging technologies. He has written about technology and society for a variety of outlets including The New Inquiry, Rhizomes, The American, Mere Orthodoxy, and Second Nature Journal. Since July 2019, Mr. Sacasas is Associate Director at the Christian Studies Center in Gainesville, FL. 

Mr. Sacasas' Greystone lecture series on Technology, Faith, and Human Flourishing is available to all Greystone Members and on Greystone Connect. Become a member today for unlimited access to the growing Greystone Connect library.

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FOR FURTHER READING:

McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding Media. 

McLuhan, Eric and Marshall. Laws of Media.

Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death. 

Postman, Neil. Technopoly. 

Ellul, Jacques. Propaganda. 

Ong, Walter. Orality and Literacy. 

Ong, Walter. The Presence of the Word. 

Illich, Ivan. In the Vineyard of the Text. 

de Zengotita, Thomas. Mediated. 

Scott, Lawrence. The Four-Dimensional Human.