God and the Crisis of Power
By David Ball
()
About this ebook
Related to God and the Crisis of Power
Related ebooks
Out of Poverty. Comparative Poverty Reduction Strategies in Eastern and Southern Africa: Comparative Poverty Reduction Strategies in Eastern and Southern Africa Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInternational Organizations and Environmental Protection: Conservation and Globalization in the Twentieth Century Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRemediation in Rwanda: Grassroots Legal Forums Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Arc of Our Paths: Growing into Wholeness Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Behind Sacred Walls: The True Story of My Abuse by Catholic Priests Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPeople of the Book Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhy Not Today: Trafficking, Slavery, the Global Church . . . and You Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5After the Election: Prophetic Politics in a Post-Secular Age Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsIsrael's Black Panthers: The Radicals Who Punctured a Nation's Founding Myth Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Genealogy of Literary Multiculturalism Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMedical Humanitarianism: Ethnographies of Practice Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStrangers in the World: Multireligious Reflections on Immigration Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Rights of Spring: A Memoir of Innocence Abroad Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Are We Done Fighting?: Building Understanding in a World of Hate and Division Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThrough Middle Eastern Eyes: A Life of Kenneth E. Bailey Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLosing Ground: Reading Ruth in the Pacific Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWho is the Predator?: Warning Signs Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsVietnam, Ptsd, and Therapy: Survived All That! Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMemory Manifesto: A Walking Meditation through Cambodia Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Haves and Have-Nots: Guidelines for Leading Congregational Change and Economically Empowering Poor Communities Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDear Sister: A Letter to the Sisterhood Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRecovering Histories: Life and Labor after Heroin in Reform-Era China Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAfrica's Past, Our Future Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReligicide: Confronting the Roots of Anti-Religious Violence Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnveiling the Veil, Breaking the Silence: Domestic Violence in the Church Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPolitics of Indigeneity: Challenging the State in Canada and Aotearoa New Zealand Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ending Wars on Uganda's Children Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMake It Zero: The Movement to Safeguard Every Child Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Month in Yorkshire Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Be a Perfect Stranger (1st Ed., Vol 1): The Essential Religious Etiquette Handbook Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Religion & Spirituality For You
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies About Who You Are so You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Four Loves Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Screwtape Letters Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mere Christianity Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Billion Years: My Escape From a Life in the Highest Ranks of Scientology Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Course In Miracles: (Original Edition) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Gospel of Mary Magdalene Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Grief Observed Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Warrior of the Light: A Manual Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Odyssey Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Abolition of Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Egyptian Book of the Dead: The Complete Papyrus of Ani Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Calendar of Wisdom: Daily Thoughts to Nourish the Soul, Written and Se Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unwanted: How Sexual Brokenness Reveals Our Way to Healing Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Love Dare Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Be Here Now Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Surprised by Joy: The Shape of My Early Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Buddha's Guide to Gratitude: The Life-changing Power of Everyday Mindfulness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Leaving the Fold Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Gay Girl, Good God: The Story of Who I Was, and Who God Has Always Been Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Imitation of Christ: Selections Annotated & Explained Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5NRSV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5THE EMERALD TABLETS OF THOTH THE ATLANTEAN Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You Were Born for This: Astrology for Radical Self-Acceptance Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for God and the Crisis of Power
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
God and the Crisis of Power - David Ball
Confidence
1 The Crisis of Power
For a society that has embraced the pursuit of individual freedom as one of its primary goals, the concept of power is morally ambiguous at best. It is, both literally and metaphorically, a double-edged sword. Power can be used for good, but it can also be used for evil. More importantly, one person’s power may constrain or curtail another person’s freedom. In such cases, not only the boundaries of power, but also the legitimacy of that power, soon become hotly contested.
Power can be defined, quite simply, as the ability to do something, or to bring about a particular outcome. We often refer to electricity as ‘power’, since it enables us to cook food, or to light up a darkened room. We have the power of speech, and powers of concentration. These types of power do not necessarily come into conflict with individual freedom or autonomy. Each of us can usually exercise them without curtailing others’ ability to do likewise.
In contemporary society, the perceived problem with power is that it is not limited to power over ourselves or over our environment. It includes the ability to direct, or to influence, the behaviour of other people. It also includes the ability to constrain other people from behaving as they see fit. Parents have the power to tell a child to tidy his bedroom, or else the child will not be permitted to go out to play with his friends. A nation-state that has superior military power may be able to credibly threaten to overthrow another national government they do not like. The power to make laws, and to enforce those laws, is the defining feature of government.
Power becomes a problem where it is exercised in ways that conflict with the individual freedom of another person. This includes any situation where the other person considers that power is being exercised in a way that conflicts with his or her own best interests. Different people may have different views of what those best interests are, and of how they might best be satisfied both in the shorter term and in the longer term.
In these circumstances, the exercise of power in a way that curtails another person’s power of individual choice becomes inherently controversial. This is particularly the case where exercising the power of individual choice seems unlikely to result in obvious harm to the ability of other individuals to enjoy their own freedom and liberty.
Power and the Idea of God
The contemporary problem of power is particularly acute in relation to the idea of God. For some people, perhaps as a result of their own unpleasant experiences of religious institutions, the idea of the existence of a God is unpleasant, or even repugnant. This is particularly so where a religious or spiritual tradition holds that God is a being, or other spiritual entity, who holds supreme power.
However, power is an issue even for religious or spiritual traditions that teach that all human beings are Gods themselves, or that the goal of humanity is to become ‘one’ with God. The proposition that all human beings are Gods, or a part of God, does not necessarily leave much room for the power exercised by other human beings to be contested or challenged. If each one of us is a God, or a part of God, then it follows that we each have the power—and even the responsibility—to act on the basis of our own personal assessment of what is good. Thus, decisions about right and wrong become a matter of individual preference.
The Judeo-Christian view of God is that he holds supreme power. God is not elected. He can issue whatever commands he thinks fit, whether we like them or not. He has the power to demand obedience, whether we like it or not. If God so chooses, he can punish human beings for failing to keep his commands. God can intervene in the world, and in human affairs, for his own purposes, and he can choose to act in ways that run contrary to human desires and ambitions.
In some respects, the problem of God’s power sometimes seems to be made worse, not better, by the fact that God may sometimes appear not to exercise that power. Powerful events often seem to unfold in the world without any intervention by God. Governments rise and fall, earthquakes and floods wreak havoc, rulers oppress their people, and babies are born disabled—all in