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The Suspension of Disbelief and the Gospel William Lolli Gun News Daily Contributing Editor Sunday, September 16, 2007 Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” 2 Peter 1:16 “We did not follow
cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty” On September
12, 2007 in a now famous US Senate report to Congress, Senator Hillary Clinton
responded to General David Petraeus and Ambassador
Crocker. She said: "You have been made the de facto spokesmen for what many of us
believe to be a failed policy" in Many Americans scratched their heads at this term “suspension of
disbelief”, which in a matter of hours has etched its way firmly into the
American political lexicon. What does it mean? Was this political double-speak? Was it something that
Elizabeth Bennett said to Mr. Darcy while they danced in Jane Austen’s Pride
and Prejudice? It seems like such an odd turn-of-phrase a politician would use when
assessing matters of national security, where clarity to the American people
would seem to be a paramount concern, and where the fate of nations hangs
upon what the As it turns out, Wikipedia tells us the origins
of the phrase: [The] Suspension of disbelief is an aesthetic theory intended to
characterize people's relationships to art. It was coined by the poet and
aesthetic philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1817 to refer to what he
called "dramatic truth". It refers to the alleged willingness of a
reader or viewer to accept as true the premises of a work of fiction, even if
they are fantastic, impossible, or otherwise contradictory to
"reality". It also refers to the willingness of the audience to
overlook the limitations of a medium, so that these do not interfere with the
acceptance of those premises. According to the theory, suspension of
disbelief is a quid pro quo: the audience tacitly agrees to provisionally
suspend their judgment in exchange for the promise of entertainment. According to the theory, suspension of disbelief is an essential
ingredient in the enjoyment of many B-grade science fiction films and
television series such as the early series of Doctor Who, where the audience
willingly ignores low-budget "cheesy" props and occasional plot
holes, in order to fully engage with the enjoyable story — which may be the
more so for those additions to its inherent outrageousness. Suspension of disbelief is also supposed to be essential for the enjoyment
of many movies and TV shows involving complex stunts, special effects, and
seemingly "unrealistic" plots. The theory professes to explain why
action movie fans are willing to accept the idea that the good guy can get
away with shooting guns in public places, or never running out of ammunition,
or that cars will explode with a well-placed shot to the gas tank.” It also explains why Clark With this new understanding of the concept of the Suspension of Disbelief,
the alleged outrage of Move-on.org’s slander
against General Petraeus as a traitor, calling him
General Betray Us, is really mild when compared to Senator Clinton’s claim
that the report that the General submitted to Congress was fantastic in the
extreme—and indeed, so fantastic that it required a Suspension of Disbelief,
and therefore was as disconnected to reality as Batman, Star Wars, or the
Easter Bunny. Likewise, the Gospel of Jesus Christ—the actual Good News that a Sinner
can be Saved by a belief in Christ’s atoning sacrifice on the cross—could be
viewed by the skeptic as requiring a Suspension of Disbelief. Huh? How can that be? Well, consider Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and
the earth” To the Natural Man, educated in the public schools and Universities and
taught all the modern sciences, to adhere to the claim that God created the
heavens and the earth, a requirement to obtain a willing suspension of his
disbelief may be necessary just so the concept may form in his mind. Indeed—whereas Faith may be said to be a trust in what God has claimed and
said as true, the suspension of disbelief may be required before you could
ever believe and trust in God. If you went up to a non-believer and witnessed to him with a barrage of
Biblical Truths—such as the Flood of Noah, Jonah in the Fish for 3 days, the
parting of the Red Sea, or other equally supernatural facts, the Biblical
Truths themselves may be viewed as so bizarre and fantastic as to require a
Suspension of Disbelief on his part, before you could get your Biblical foot
in the door to deliver the message of God’s love. In my imagination I can see how Peter addressed this problem in part, with
his proclamation of 2 Peter 1:16—that they did not follow cleverly devised
fables. In the modern vernacular, “I know all this sounds fantastic, but hey,
we didn’t make this stuff up.” Paul the Apostle was wise to start out with the Athenians in Acts 17:23
talking to them about the Unknown God as a reference point. If he had started
out with Genesis 1:1 and its implications, or that Noah was 500 years old
before he had 3 sons, or jumped right into Jesus being God incarnate, he
would have lost his audience having stretched their Suspension of Disbelief
beyond Belief. It can thus be asserted that before there is Faith [a true trusting in
God], there must be an initial belief in what God said is true. And before
there is belief in what God said is true, there must be a willing ear to
listen, and open heart to not dismiss out-of-hand the radical claims of God’s
love. Indeed, a Willing Suspension of Disbelief may be just what a person needs
to loosen a stiff neck and a hardened heart in matters dealing with both the
Almighty and with Statecraft. Was it something I said? If this
commentary has effected you to respond, you can send your reactions directly
to me at william.lolli@gunnewsdaily.com |