A call to a new Reformation in the teaching and life of Jesus' followers
I want to call your attention to an excellent post by Mason over at the New Ways Forward blog. He has done a great job of pointing out why, despite the violent language of Revelation, it is not justifying or encouraging violence on the part of believers. He points out that the violence in Revelation is all done either by the evil powers, the Beast, … Continue reading War and Peace in Revelation – A friend’s post
I’d like to take a sidebar here to introduce you to a new-to-the-web translation of the New Testament. The Pioneers’ New Testament is a wholly original translation from the Greek by my Mom, who studied Greek in college and had planned to work for Wycliffe before a variety of life’s circumstances changed the trajectory. Mom’s translation has appealed to some people who aren’t familiar with … Continue reading A New and Different New Testament Translation
In June of 1984, while I was en route to a two-year assignment at a mission hospital in Shirati, Tanzania, I attended the Mennonite World Conference in Strasbourg, France. There, in front of an audience of about ten thousand Mennonites from around the world, author and professor Ron Sider delivered the most compelling address I have heard anywhere. Sider is, of course, best known for … Continue reading War and Peace – Part 8 – Words from a 20th-Century Prophet
A much briefer statement on Christians participating in the military comes from the third-century bishop Hippolytus. As with Tertullian in my previous post, I must caution that no reasonable person would take Hippolytus’ writings as authoritative at the level of Scripture, and there are plenty of instances within his writings (nude baptism, for one) that we clearly don’t care to emulate today. That said, the … Continue reading War and Peace – Part 7 – Hippolytus
I want to present to you some very interesting writings by some of the church fathers regarding participation in the military. In doing so I am not claiming that the early church was monolithic in its stand against the use of violence, for if it were, the writers I’m about to cite might not have had to make their arguments at all. There have been … Continue reading War and Peace – Part 6 – Tertullian
So far, most of my posts have addressed areas that cause me concern within that part of Christianity that would tend to self-identify as “conservative.” In fact the casual reader could be forgiven for pretty quickly lumping me in with a “liberal” stream of thought. I’m about to change that. A responsible reading of the Christian scriptures according to the “Word of God” hermaneutic that … Continue reading Homosexuality – It’s really about which kingdom you’re in!
Throughout my posts to date I have been careful (and I hope it shows) to qualify my statements with the perspective that I am not absolutely sure that no Christian can ever use violent means for any reason. I sense that some of the commenters so far (and I am grateful for your input–keep it coming!) probably feel a little more strongly on this than … Continue reading War and Peace – Part 5 – My Own Evolution
I’m tempted in my discussion of war and peace, to start from the top, outline the full Biblical case for nonviolence, and enter into dialog with major objectors to that case. I’m not going to do that–now at least–primarily because I really don’t think I’ve got much to add to what has been said far more eloquently by others. I will rather reiterate a few … Continue reading War and Peace – Part 4 – Matt. 5 vs?? Rom. 13
I think Ruben Bolling has come up with a hilarious take on theodicy (the logical dilemma of a good God and evil in the world). Be sure to see the entire “Tom the Dancing Bug” cartoon here. (Partial reproduction with cartoonist’s permission – Thanks Ruben!)
Mostly I’m sticking to more directly Scriptural, doctrinal, and church/kingdom life stuff on this blog, but I’m going to veer into current events for a moment. Lots of people made lots of noise over Rick Warren’s being asked to deliver the invocation at President Obama’s inauguration this morning. As with most such storms, the import of Warren’s presence got lost, I think, in the cultural … Continue reading Observations about Rick Warren’s inaugural prayer