I have frequently commented that intelligent design (ID) is bad theology. Equally often, I am challenged by someone who will point out that ID may be bad theology from my point of view, while it might be good theology from someone else’s point of view. This is a very valid objection to what I [...]
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In several recent posts, especially dealing with issues of harsh passages in Hebrew scriptures (or the Old Testament), I have referred to a book, Who’s Afraid of the Old Testament God? by Dr. Alden Thompson. This book was critical as I developed my own view of scripture and especially as I dealt with some [...] I dislike multiplying categories, but in trying to sort through the amount of material I have on this site, and in looking ahead at what I have planned, I think it will be too hard to find any of the older posts without some more detailed categories. I will try to go through all [...] This is another short “pride in my stepson” post. Each year since before our son James passed away, his older brother John, now a pitcher with the St. Louis Cardinals organization (as a starter with the AAA Memphis Redbirds this year), has sponsored and participated in a golf tournament to raise money for the [...] Three posts today called my attention to the problem of uncritical thinking amongst Christians. This is a topic I bring up frequently. It’s not that I believe those who think critically will automatically agree with me. I’ve had to revise some of my own opinions after thinking critically about them at a later date. [...] My ChristianityToday.com “Connection” e-mail brought me a link yesterday to their blog Out of Ur. The specific entry was an excerpt from an article by John Suk from an essay in Perspectives, A Personal Relationship with Jesus?. The Christianity Today discussion is at Your Own Personal Jesus: Is the language of “a personal relationship” biblical?, and the topic has generated some substantial discussion. I found myself quite annoyed while reading this article, and it took me a few minutes to understand why. After all, I prefer to read material with which I disagree, so I spend many unannoyed hours every day reading things that express a completely different viewpoint from mine. Here, however, I think the problem is simply the tone. This article carries exactly the tone of the older church member who comes to me to bemoan the deterioration of the modern church, and to inform me of how much more holy and righteous everyone was when he or she was young. But it also has another overtone: The expert whose views and processes have been bypassed by upstarts who just haven’t paid their dues. In the middle of all this, however, the author expresses a couple of quite appropriate theological and especially pastoral concerns. The elements of this condescending tone are illustrated by the following: Ultimately, the phrase “a personal relationship with Jesus,” is not found in the Bible. Thus, there is no sustained systematic theological reflection on what the phrase must or most likely means. In fact, people experience the personal presence of God–if that is what they are really experiencing–in a wide variety of idiosyncratic and highly personal ways. Heaven help us if we come close to God without “sustained systematic theological reflection!” The fact is that most people who do have a relationship with God are going to live their lives without what the average evangelical theologian would call “sustained systematic theological reflection.” I’m not really against such reflection, but as a criticism it reflects more elitism than either a Biblical sense of conversion and putting one’s trust in Jesus, or of serious discipleship. Some of the strongest statements of commitment and discipleship I have ever heard have come from children who have spent little or no time in reflection about God, and certainly done nothing that could be regarded as “systematic theological reflection.” I have never managed to improve on the statement of God’s grace and the call to discipleship that I made to my mother when I was eight years old. My mother tells the story in her book Directed Paths (one risks such stories when encouraging one’s mother to write!): At the time, Henry was only eight but he begged for permission to go help. I knew he could be useful in helping to carry food, water and run errands, but he had never had the measles. He kept saying, “Mama, please let me go. Patty is helping and I want to help, too. I’ve used the term phrase “divine-human combination” or something quite close to it several times over the last few days. It’s easy to make it appear that this concept of inspiration, sometimes called “incarnational” is largely a tool to deal with the difficult parts of scripture. When I read “love your neighbor as yourself” [...] Some may be aware that I’m a publisher as well as a writer, and so every so often I want to talk about one of the books I publish. My intention in starting a publishing company in the first place was simple: I wanted to produce materials for which I saw an unfilled need [...] I’d like to condense the major arguments with regard to the Bible and slavery, as it appears that at least a couple of people have missed the point at which I’m hooking into this debate. (Please resist the idea that because I use lists when summarizing that I’m actually trying to reduce this to [...] Good news! The case against Abdul Rahman has been dismissed, according to a news story on MSNBC, The downside may be the reaction of conservatives in Afghanistan where the new government of Hamid Karzai may find itself under increasing pressure from some in its own ranks. This is a chance for moderate Muslims to show their true intentions to be peaceful, to break the stranglehold of Islamic fundamentalism on their faith and country, and take a giant step forward. Doubtless this will be a difficult thing, especially in Afghanistan, but it is a necessary thing. As Christians, we also need to watch carefully for those who would use force for spiritual goals. We need to be open and ready for dialogue with our neighbors. In other words, we need to make sure that we exemplify the kind of behavior we are asking for from others. |
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