How to Save the World
A prophet is one thing and a messiah is another thing. We have considered how God might extend the prophetic tradition into our present postmodern context, hopefully without further destabilizing an already unstable situation.
Back in the 'good old days' prophets were a dime a dozen, it would seem. Modernity has, by definition, been prophetless, 'lo these many years. To now stage a prophetic event, even of the minimalist version outlined above, would, at the very least, bring postmodernism out of the academy and thrust it into the mainstream, along with the media attention that would necessarily be entailed. This could not help but rock every secular and sectarian boat. What message might God have for us that could possibly justify such world-shaking 'minimalism'?
It is no secret that the long-term survival of anything deserving the name of civilization has been very much in question for at least the last half-century. If at this critical juncture there is to be any divine intervention, it would surely have to address the question of survival that is on everyone's mind. When the question of survival gets raised to this metaphysical level, we are no longer talking mere 'survival', we are talking salvation. The bottom line is quite simple: forget the prophet, at this late date, nothing less than a messiah will suffice. It may be the minimalist version of the Messiah, but it will be a messiah nonetheless. For a Christian, this would have to be the Second Coming. After all this time and grief, we have a legitimate right to say, put up or shut up!
This is a rather tall order, but its all part of the one coherent cosmic story including the Alpha and Omega that is writ large and small on our world wherever we truly care to look.
Messianic Initiative:
8/29/02