Experiencing the Divine I. Introduction A. One of the "prophets" of this age is Friedrich Nietzsche B. Much has been made of his declaration that "God is dead" 1. The declaration is often considered on its own: the idea that humanity has moved beyond God, or the supposition that atheism is the way to go 2. But is that what Nietzsche was saying? C. Full quote 1. The Madman. Have you ever heard of the madman who on a bright morning lighted a lantern and ran to the market-place calling out unceasingly: "I seek God! I seek God!" As there were many people standing about who did not believe in God, he caused a great deal of amusement. Why? is he lost? said one. Has he strayed away like a child? said another. Or does he keep himself hidden? Is he afraid of us? Has he taken a sea voyage? Has he emigrated? - the people cried out laughingly, all in a hubbub. 2. The insane man jumped into their midst and transfixed them with his glances. "Where is God gone?" he called out. "I mean to tell you! We have killed him, you and I! We are all his murderers! But how have we done it? How were we able to drink up the sea? Who gave us the sponge to wipe away the whole horizon? What did we do when we loosened this earth from its sun? Whither does it now move? Whither do we move? Away from all suns? Do we not dash on unceasingly? Backwards, sideways, forwards, in all directions? Is there still an above and below? Do we not stray, as through infinite nothingness? Does not empty space breathe upon us? Has it not become colder? Does not night come on continually, darker and darker? Shall we not have to light lanterns in the morning? Do we not hear the noise of the grave-diggers who are burying God? Do we not smell the divine putrefaction? - for even Gods putrify! God is dead! God remains dead! And we have killed him! 3. How shall we console ourselves, the most murderous of all murderers? The holiest and the mightiest that the world has hitherto possessed, has bled to death under our knife - who will wipe the blood from us? With what water could we cleanse ourselves? What lustrums, what sacred games shall we have to devise? Is not the magnitude of this deed too great for us? Shall we not ourselves have to become Gods, merely to seem worthy of it? There never was a greater event - and on account of it, all who are born after us belong to a higher history than any history hitherto!" Here the madman was silent and looked again at his hearers; they also were silent and looked at him in surprise (The Gay Science, section 108). D. Whatever his personal beliefs may have been, Nietzsche is not saying these things in a happy way: he is decrying the erosion of shared cultural values in Europe, indicating the path toward nihilism they were on E. His statement has proven prescient: how many are foundering in the waters of nihilism and the loss of meaning? How many have taken skepticism to its natural end and end up having no confidence in anything? F. How did culture get to this point? How could God have become dead to society? II. The Road to Atheistic Nihilism Through Protestantism? A. There are likely many reasons and issues behind society's movement toward nihilism 1. Science, and more specifically scientism: science as our new god 2. Skepticism toward religion and the history of religion 3. Other Enlightenment theories B. Yet perhaps all of these stem from a common issue: the loss of the experience of the divine on account of the intellectual emphasis of Protestantism C. How can this be? D. Acts 17:24-28 1. Paul declares that humans are made to seek after God 2. Throughout time there has been an emphasis on the supernatural 3. Romans 1:18-32: this emphasis not always for the best, often misdirected toward worshiping the creation , black arts, etc. 4. Nevertheless, throughout the ancient and medieval world, belief in the creation as imbued with the supernatural; superstition did abound as well E. Reformation, Enlightenment as reactions to Catholicism and superstition 1. The Reformation strongly reacted against the superstitious tendencies of Roman Catholicism 2. The Enlightenment strongly reacted against the superstitions and emphasis on the supernatural of its own time 3. Much of this reaction was justified-- much of the superstition was ungodly 4. Nevertheless, perhaps the reaction went too far 5. The Enlightenment thinkers sought to deny all things supernatural 6. And, within Protestantism, emphasis back upon the Word of God, its teaching and proclamation, has perhaps led to an overemphasis on the intellectual to the detriment of the spiritual, emotional, and experiential aspects of life and faith F. What happened? 1. A possible path 2. With the emphasis on the proclamation of the Word, emphasis on what can be known, that which can be intellectually perceived 3. Everything then gravitated toward the intellectual: faith, arguments, reasoning, etc. 4. One could then give intellectual assent to the principles of Christianity without any experience in its practice; faith could be an entirely intellectual affair 5. Everything then reduced to knowledge: all problems come from a lack of true knowledge. Once true knowledge held, right practice must naturally follow 6. Everything could be made objective, systematized, and processed 7. It could develop to the point of holding onto a system that would not change whether God truly existed or not! 8. It is not far to go from living as if there is no God to believing there is no God 9. Thus, when the intellectual argumentation underlying Christianity was strongly challenged in the late nineteenth century until now, with little to fall back upon, the faith has been publicly discredited and many have moved away from belief G. This is all possible because of the lack of expectation of the experience of the Divine! III. The Experience of the Divine A. As in all things, one must exercise caution B. There are many groups who over-emphasize the experience of the Divine (e.g. Pentecostalism); experience is no substitute for adhering to the Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17) C. Yet there is no Biblical commendation for under-emphasizing the experience of the Divine, expecting that religion is all a matter of the head 1. Great emphasis still placed today on reason and the rational 2. Experience, as subjective, does not easily fit into the rational paradigm 3. But this does not mean experience is worthless! D. Much of what goes for supernaturalism is dangerous and wrong 1. The black arts are condemned (sorcery; Galatians 5:19-21) 2. Humans have a tendency to divinize the creator (idolatry; Romans 1:18-32, Galatians 5:19-21) 3. Some things still claimed as active today have seen their days fulfilled (1 Corinthians 13:8-10) E. All things must be tested according to the standard of the Word of God (Galatians 1:6-9, 1 John 4:1, Jude 1:3)! F. And the Word of God expects us to have the experience of the Divine! 1. Acts 17:24-28: we are to seek after God, and it is in God that we live, move, and have our being 2. Colossians 1:17, Hebrews 1:3: all things are sustained by Christ and His power 3. John 17:20-23: we have been made for unity with God, and it is hard to have unity with Someone with whom you have no experience in relationship! G. How are we to experience the Divine? 1. We see the handiwork of the Divine in our creation and in our own selves (Genesis 1:26-27, Romans 1:18-20) 2. The Lord's Supper: by partaking of the bread and fruit of the vine, we partake of the Lord's body and blood, and this is our joint participation with Him and with each other (1 Corinthians 10:16-17) 3. Prayer: if we believe prayer is a monologue with ourselves, or speaking to thin air, we miss the point; we are seen as standing before God's throne in prayer (Hebrews 4:16, 10:22) G. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that more is involved with faith than just our minds 1. We are to draw near to God (Hebrews 4:16, 7:19, 7:2, 10:1, 10:22, James 4:8): an image, but a strange image if it is done objectively and systematically 2. Note Deuteronomy 6:4-5: one is to love God not just with one's mind but also with one's heart, soul, and might 3. 1 John 1:1-3: John and the Apostles fully experienced Jesus the Word of Life; that experience is what he declares to his audience and to all generations! H. We are programmed to seek after God (Acts 17:27): that is not merely an intellectual quest, but an experiential one as well! IV. God is Not Dead A. Nietzsche cried out that God was dead because European culture had killed Him B. European culture left no more room for the Divine; in the process, everything that provided meaning was lost, and therefore why is it surprising to see relativism, nihilism, and existentialism so prevalent in such a place? C. Yet it is not merely an European problem: even religious people can be living as functional atheists, having no experience with the Divine, maintaining only an intellectually rooted faith D. While the intellect must be involved with faith, rarely can a faith based only in the intellect survive; the first few questions that cannot be resolved soon lead to a loss of faith (cf. Matthew 13:5, 20-21) E. A robust faith is based not merely in the mind but in confidence in the God who created the universe and sustains it by His power, manifest in the flesh as Jesus of Nazareth (John 1:14, 18) and in the message He has left us F. That message is designed to lead us to Him so that our faith is in Him, His goodness toward us, and in His promises (Romans 8:17-18, 31-39) G. That faith not only guides and strengthens the mind but also emotions and deeds H. Ultimately, we can experience the Divine in the Lord's Supper, in prayer, and perhaps in other contexts; we can trust in God and His love toward us not merely intellectually but experientially as well I. Let us not go too far in any direction; let us love God in mind, heart, body, and soul, and not reject the supernatural in life, for God is not dead! J. Invitation