Throughout the Biblical scriptures there is a tension between order and chaos. In the beginning, we read, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep. Then God said, let there be order. This order, it seems, was based on loving relationships; organic, kind, giving, creative, truthful relationships that was never meant to be disrupted. But they were. They were not completely terminated but they were infected by some kind of formless, disordered, destructive chaos.
For human beings this mysterious chaos appears to be exceptionally attractive and we apparently desire to understand it in order to control it. As if it could ever be controlled. Perhaps this desire is so strong within us because we believe that we need to master the chaos or we will simply be controlled by it. Hence, when the unimaginable happens we immediately attempt to gather as much information as possible to see whether the darkness behind the event is present also in our own lives or the lives of those around us.
In other words, it appears as if we believe that freedom from chaos must come from understanding its design, its order. Our modus operandi is thus predicated on the conviction that if only we could know what constitutes good order and evil chaos, then surely we could also know how to distinguish between the two. But what if chaos can never be comprehended; what if it does not have a design that can be understood. Then it will not matter how much effort we put in for the purpose of mastering it because it will always break our attempts apart from within.
In my understanding of the Biblical narrative this futile struggle of ordering chaos is constantly present in the stories it tells and the same is true in our own present day lives; in our religions, cultures, politics and so forth. The tension between order and chaos therefore makes the Bible appealing to me since it tells a story that I can relate my own existence to. Unfortunately, as I see it, many Christians do not accept this understanding and they therefore attempts to create one uniformed message out of the tension between order and chaos. My claim is that the theological understandings that results from such a violent reading of the Bible always will correspond to the building of worldly empires since both undertakings share the belief that chaos can be ordered by force.
I believe that the Bible unveils the truth about the way to a life in freedom but I do not imagine that this way is constructed out of ordered chaos, rather my faith is that the creator God sent his son Jesus Christ into this world of disorder and broken relationships for the purpose of sowing a seed of a new creation that is constituted by loving relationships; organic, kind, giving, creative, truthful and everlasting relationships.
Freestyle Christianity 
Very good post…like your perspective.
Humans can judge between good and evil. Our chief role as warriors for Good is precisely this. Perhaps we were never meant to know evil, but now that we do, we cannot ignore it. We must define the chaos, that we may be best equipped to fight against it. Indeed, we cannot ally ourselves with chaos. This is treason.
As I said in the post, what if chaos does not have a design that can be understood, then all our attempts to define it will miss the mark. And my claim is not that we should ally ourselves with chaos, rather that the way to fight against it is to follow the way of Christ who’s kingdom is different than the ones of this world. I will expand on that subject in my next post.
Josef, are you suggesting that human beings cannot make moral judgements? If so, then I must disagree.
I do believe that human beings can make ethical judgments but I also think that ethics as a category might be to narrow to comprehend what it means to live as a follower of Christ. I will, as I said, write more about that but feel free to comment on my next post.
Update: Sorry for answering in such an ambiguous way. I added the part that is underlined in order to make my point clear.
Have you ever thought that the reason that we as humans are attracted to chaos is because God’s mandate to Adam still stands? He was never meant to stay in the garden. Adam was to turn the desert into a garden, essentially structuring the chaos
I do, but I believe that the way we’re usually doing it is against God rather than with him. Our attempts to bring order is to build empires rather than continuing God’s ongoing process of creation. I’m currently writing my next post and in it I will discuss how I believe that the desire for order isn’t necessarily bad, the problem is that it can never achieve what it aims for. The Law is the perfect example since it reveals how the ordering of chaos always creates new disorder. Hence we need the way of Christ since it offers us a completely new way of life that isn’t fighting chaos by force but with love and humility. To the world this way seems absurd but that is why it is called faith. As Abraham we are called to trust God’s promises even though his ways goes against our worldly rationality.
I agree with what you’re saying to a certain degree. In regards to the law, there’s a counterfeit to any truth. I am eager to read how you mean to address these things in your next post. I will say, I believe that love and humility are a lot more violent then people expect
Hence ‘Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.’