A call to a new Reformation in the teaching and life of Jesus' followers
Due to an unfortunate trolling incident I have–at least for now–enabled moderation on this blog. I hope at some point to be able to relax the controls again; I wish Blogspot allowed for the kind of control WordPress has, that users can be approved to bypass moderation settings, but if they have that setting I haven’t found it yet. However, I want to stress that … Continue reading An apology and explanation
I just learned of this CNN report from a friend. Here’s the meat of the story, referencing a new poll by the Pew Research Center: The more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists, according to a new survey. I have no words strong enough to express my outrage. I am ashamed to be part … Continue reading Torture – May God have mercy on us!
I want to highlight a thought my friend Ben just posted over at his blog, that I think adds an additional dimension to the (mis)understanding of atonement which we have been discussing. This is the role of God the Father in the whole process. As Ben proposes the analogy, we look at atonement in an (appropriately) law-court setting. In classic PSA, God is both plaintiff … Continue reading Penal-Substitutionary Atonement–It has God’s Role Wrong
My good friend Ben and I have the greatest theological discussions by cellphone text message. This is both a blast and a pain. . .a blast in that an ordinary, underwhelming day can be interrupted at any moment by a question or a thought about stuff that really counts, and a pain in that it can be really hard to encapsulate a nice juicy thought … Continue reading Atonement and the Warfare World View
I found this article linked off of a long discussion related to a gay fellow participating in a worship team, over at Scot McKnight’s blog. Wesley Hill’s poignant piece is what I want to highlight here. Hill gives a heartfelt description of the deep frustration and intense loneliness he has experienced because, well, I’ll let him explain it himself (the “Auden” to whom he refers … Continue reading A Gay Brother’s Grief
We’ve been having a lively debate on the authority of the ancient creeds and the church fathers who wrote them, on several blogs lately. Mason, Martin, Kurt, and I have been trading comments across all four, and we’ve all shown up on a few others as well. Though in general I prefer to keep the subject matter here away from excessive navel-gazing, I think a … Continue reading The fallout of credalism . . . a personal reflection
Trevin Wax has just posted a new review on his blog . It’s Lost In Transmission?: What We Can Know About the Words of Jesus, by Nick Perrin. I can only go on Trevin’s review so far, but it looks to me like an important study for anyone who cares about the actual words of the Lord Jesus. I look forward to getting a copy.
I’ve alluded to this several times in other posts, but I think I need to throw it out as a subject in its own right. An awful lot of “doctrines” that are considered by church authorities as standards for faith, even standards for who is orthodox or heterodox, stand on what I submit are fairly tenuous grounds. I’ve been thinking about this a good deal … Continue reading Standards of Truth/Doctrine/Dogma
Last week Trevin Wax posted a review of Mark Driscoll’s new book “Death by Love: Letters from the Cross” on his (Trevin’s) “Kingdom People” blog. It was a detailed and sympathetic review of a book that, according to Wax, concentrates heavily on the suffering and death of Jesus as it impacts the redemption of human sinners. I was troubled, and I raised this question in … Continue reading Atonement and the Resurrection
I have never embedded media in my blog before but this first time is worth it: My gratitude to my brother Dave for working with artists Peter Buffet and Akon to inspire this work, and for sharing it with me. Be sure to check out the artists’ collaborative website Is there Something I Can Do? The issue of human slavery is one that gets far … Continue reading The blood of another. . .