Tuesday, April 17, 2018

Theological Anthropology: Psychology Centered in Christ

Every human being has two personalities. One, our Olympian personality, is structured in terms of the six conventional yet false and destructive Olympian gods, serves Satan, and is driven by the Flesh (or Unholy Spirit of Evil). Every person, however, Christian or non-Christian, also has a Christian personality. It is structured in terms of Jesus Christ, serves Abba, and is empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Our Olympian personality is wholly self-centered. It responds solely to promises and threats. It does what is right, but only if it is rewarded for doing so and punished—surely and quickly—for failing to do so.

Our Christian personality is wholly Christ-centered. It does what is right gratuitously, as an expression of gratitude to God who makes it possible, without hope of reward or fear of punishment.

We humans have not always had two personalities. We have not always been both wholly Christian and wholly Olympian, wholly righteous and wholly sinful, wholly good and wholly evil. Nor will we always be.

When God created Adam and Eve, he created them with only wholly Christian personalities.

When they ruptured their relationship with God, their personalities became wholly Olympian. All human beings after them likewise had only wholly Olympian personalities.

With the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, our wholly Olympian personality was doomed to destruction. With the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we each received a wholly Christian personality with only the brightest future of eternal life.

Each day, our wholly Olympian and wholly Christian personalities battle one another for supremacy. At each moment, our tongue and body are expressing either the one or the other. At each moment, we are either witnessing to the Olympian gods or to Jesus Christ.

Right now, all societies, cultures, and persons in the world are dominated by the Global Technological System (GTS). This GTS is wholly Olympian. Because its media of communication are universal, constant, instantaneous, and intense, the GTS increasing strengthens our Olympian personalities and weakens our Christian ones.

For our Christian personalities to be nurtured and protected, we need an alternative society and culture, ones not dominated by the GTS, in which to live. That’s what churches are supposed to be: the one meaningfully different society and culture on Earth promoting the freedom of Jesus Christ in which subjects of the Kingdom of Heaven share Christ’s truth, love, and vitality with one another and invite those outside to join them inside. In this way churches strengthen our Christian personality and weaken our Olympian one.

Sadly, because of the oblivious support of even Christians and churches for the painfully Olympian GTS, global societies and cultures—even churches—grow increasingly dark, cold, and despairing and everyone’s Christian personality weakens.

On Judgment Day, all will pass through the judgment of God’s fiery love. That which witnessed to the freedom, truth, love, and vitality of Jesus Christ will enter the New Age. That which didn’t, won’t. The GTS will most certainly disappear. So too will our Olympian personalities.

Copyright © 2018 by Steven Farsaci. All rights reserved.