Date: Sun, 10 Nov 2002 19:02:13 -0500

Subject: Further encapsulation of the gospel

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Your father's comments prompted me to compose a short essay as an encapsulation of the Christian conception. I hope you will relay it to him, and let him know that while I value his observations and comments, he need feel no obligation to respond in any way unless he is so moved.

I have tried to incorporate some of Kant's thinking in this, but in a way which is rather undercover (except for one quote). You will spy it especially in the description of the real evil in humans, the radical evil.

One thing, I think, is interesting and beneficial in this conception. We are spared the spectacle of having to consider God as some sort of demonic Landlord who can't get over the insubordination of Adam and Eve in the Garden. Now we see in this conception that God is pleased with the death of Jesus only because it has a critical psychological effect on humans, one which opens them up to the inception of the Holy Spirit. And since this is the only way that people can become delightful to God, as I try to indicate below, it follows that God is very pleased with the sacrifice of Jesus, for it brings him and the humans together for the first time since Adam and Eve through their willingness to receive this Holy Spirit.

As a final note, I think that Islam and Christianity might differ primarily (from a conceptual standpoint) in this one point: where the Christian finds that God wants to delight in the human, the Islamic finds God being amused by the human. I suspect that God is seen enjoying issuing commands to have egos bow in awe of him and his power. And he enjoys most of all the final dispensing of rewards where the obedient are given delights beyond measure and the disobedient horrors beyond measure. That is his greatest enjoyment and one he looks forward to with great anticipation. Quite different from the Christian conception where God delights in people actually loving him naturally and without fear.

By the way, since I gather your father is a Baptist I invite him to consider my essay on the Essentials of Baptist Thinking. This essay is rather dated now and rambles much too much, but he may find it interesting. Perhaps he will even think I am presumptuous to think to have better understood the Baptists than they do themselves. It can be found here:

http://www.kantwesley.com/Weskey/EBTFrameSet.html

The short essay now follows:

[Note of November 11, 2002. I have altered the remaining portion of this letter to some degree.]

I have move the essay itself here: Christianity In A Nutshell