Against the stoics: Nonorder and temporality in contemporary Christian theology

Time, order, chaos. On the face of it, Christian theology is primarily interested in the middle term to the virtual exclusion of the others. From the biblical vestiges of the ancient Near Eastern Chaoskampf myths to Karl Earth's discussion of Das Nichtige, chaos is presented in overwhelmingly negative terms. It is an entirely irrational and inexplicable "no" to the "yes" of God's creative word-an absurdity that must ultimately be overcome in Christ. Time and change also fare badly in most Western Christian traditions. There is a strong legacy of resistance to change, novelty, creativity. Virtually every major development in Western culture, art, thought, or politics has been opposed by Christians in the name of a divinely ordained static order. This suspicion of time is summed up by the evening hymn, Abide with Me. The passage of time is a descent into darkness and death: Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day; Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away; Change and decay in all around I see; O Thou, Who changest not, abide with me. Change is associated with decay and dissolution. Weary of this world, we seek respite and rest in the changelessness of God. However, these emphases sit oddly with Christianity's much-vaunted status as a historical religion. By contrast, the Judeo-Christian Scriptures paint a picture of a living God who is intimately involved in the temporal process. Thus, according to Aldous Huxley (1958), "Christianity has remained a religion in which the pure Perennial Philosophy has been overlaid, now more, now less, by an idolatrous preoccupation with events and things in time" (p. 64). It is my conviction that, far from being an idolatrous overlay, concern with events and things in time is fundamental to Christianity. The task of this paper is to explore some of the resources available to contemporary Christian theology for the development of a more constructive understanding of time and change.