Tag Archives: Calvin and Hobbes
The Theology of Calvin . . . and Hobbes (Man in God’s Image)
Don’t you love Calvin’s response: “I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul”? We all have inscrutable exhortations of our souls”! Have you found yours? What is your soul telling you to do with your life? With your time? With your affections? God wired us to live productive, adventuresome, engaging lives. What are you and I doing with ours?
Time for a Great Cartoon: Studying and Victimhood
“Self-esteem” is a tricky concept, isn’t it? For Calvin, it appears to mean thinking highly of himself despite any evidence to the contrary.
His teacher — bless her heart! — is always trying to get Calvin to work harder, to put in the effort, to actually STUDY!
But, alas, all Calvin does is come up with more excuses — well-worded excuses, no doubt — but excuses! His claim to “victimhood” would be laughable if it were not true for some today.
Blaming others, refusing to accept personal responsibility, expecting the world to cater to your whims — these are subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) signs of a culture which no longer values hard work, genuine humility, or gratitude for those who try to instill such virtues in us.
Time for a Great Cartoon! (providence)
We seldom think about God’s providence. Theologians use the term “continuing creation” as a way of describing God’s ongoing, continuous preservation and sustaining of what He has made. His providence includes rain, the seasons, and the next beat of your heart and mine.
Several Scriptures come to mind when we think of God’s providential care. In Acts 14 Paul and Barnabus were being thought of as gods because they had healed a lame man. Paul says to the crowd, 15 “Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing 
you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. 16 In the past, he let all nations go their own way. 17 Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.”
Got any joy? I know the God who gave it to you!
Time for a Great Cartoon (responsibility)
Calvin may be onto something quite profound here. In our blame-anyone-but-yourself culture, we don’t naturally want to admit our mistakes, acknowledge our bad choices, or confess our waywardness. The evangelist Billy Sunday said, “An excuse is a skin of a reason stuffed with a lie.”
We are responsible for our actions — and our inactions. And that’s where God’s grace and mercy come in, don’t they?
Dr. Larry Dixon
larrydixon.wordpress.com 