From Brian McLaren: “We are suffering the consequences of our idolatry. Our motto ‘In God We Trust’ is printed right on the front of the God in which we trust.”
Category: Religion
All posts relating to religion, including those on the relationship of religion to other fields, such as science and politics
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Populating Hell
… is not really my business. I recall one of my college professors who said that it was very liberating for him when he realized that it was not his responsibility to figure out who was going to be saved and who wasn’t. That’s basically my position. I tend to apply 1 Corinthians 2:9 (eye has not seen, etc) to the other side as well. We don’t really know. I suspect that when we do know what God has done, we will understand that to be just.
But raising the questions is a good thing, in my view. I’m not going to comment on Rob Bell’s forthcoming book which I haven’t seen. I just don’t find the advertising for it offensive. If you can’t discuss the questions it raising openly and reasonably, it’s time to learn.
I want to link to two friends who have made intelligent and challenging comments on this issue, Bob Cornwall and Allan Bevere. Both are thoughtful and challenging.
I’ll also link to a story I wrote that I hope challenges some thinking about hell, Hell Fire and Damnation. Yes, I’m using a popular story to plug something I wrote. 🙂
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My Personality Type
Image by hoyasmeg via Flickr I don’t actually get personal on this blog all that often, but what is more personal than a personality type? In any case, you can blame it all on that mastermind Joel, who published his type (INTJ), thus causing me to fall into temptation, and try to remember mine.
I didn’t remember it until I scored the test, and then I said to myself, “Oh, yes. That was me.” (Or was I, in my more grammatical moments. [Query: Can a moment be grammatical?]) So here it is, drum roll please …
INTJ
OK, the rational mastermind. Actually, though I always come up that way on the test, I don’t feel much like a mastermind.
Now here’s the funny part. The Jung Career Indicator suggests that I might go into natural science, natural science education, IT, or computer programming, with an alternative in social services as a lawyer or a librarian. Well, I do own two businesses, one of which does IT, and I do computer programming as a hobby, but my work day is in publishing, and I end up doing a great deal of sales. My training is in Biblical Languages and I often teach.
Probably I just missed my path way back when I chose a Biblical Languages major in college.
Nah! I think I’m OK with what I do. Which is why you see the Lord’s Prayer in biblical languages rather than some personality type image at the beginning of this post.
(And to demonstrate that salesmanship thing, how about a copy of Ultimate Allegiance: The Subversive Nature of the Lord’s Prayer? [How’s that for connections? (So there! {Oh, and don’t try to tell me you weren’t trying to figure out what that image of the Lord’s Prayer was about!})])
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On a Virtual Seminary Education
Image by unca_cthulhu via Flickr Jason Byassee explains why he voted to allow up to 2/3 of seminary credits to be taken online in his United Methodist conference (HT: Joel Watts).
Readers of this blog will already be aware that I believe it’s inevitable that the majority of education is delivered by virtual means. Not only that, I think this is a good thing. I think it will make it possible to deliver a higher quality education. There is always resistance to new technology, because it takes away from our old standard ways of doing things. But instead of fighting such technology, which is still just a tool, we need to find ways to use it to make things work better.
I think our current concept of a university, a college, and a seminary are doomed. But that doesn’t mean that there is nothing good in those concepts. There are experiences that do need to be carried out together. But those classroom lectures with hundreds of students ignoring the professor can be replaced by more efficient means, and we can spend our money, and the precious time of quality teachers on the most important things.
For example, I recall preparing lessons for my later classes while occupying a seat in a class on Daniel and Revelation, and then getting a comfortable ‘A’ in the course. I could have learned more by spending those hours online. Could the professor have done better? Absolutely. But he also had to deal with about 50 students, so detailed discussion of all points involving all of us would have been impossible.
On the other hand I would not want to exchange my time studying Greek exegesis with Dr. Sakae Kubo for anything else. There we had half a dozen serious students, and we made that time with an expert count.
Dr. Byassee comments on hands-on education, such as learning how to take the hand of a dying person. There’s where I think even seminary fails. I have talked to many seminary graduates who are uncomfortable praying with a member of their congregation when they graduate. They have to become comfortable as they pastor. Here the local church needs to be involved. I wonder why a young person, especially one contemplating full-time ministry, would be allowed to get through their youth in church without learning how to pray with one another.
I’d think strong local church involvement plus a good online program with additional time spent in person at a seminary (weekends, weeks, months, sabbatical years) would be a good formula. All of those elements should be lifelong, and not just during a time of preparation.
In my view, social media and virtual education will only hurt us if we don’t learn how to make the best of the resources available.
Related articles
- The State Of Virtual Education (nihiliest.wordpress.com)
- Update: Online MDivs now more flexible – GBHEM quick to change recent ruling (hackingchristianity.net)
- Online MDivs in dispute – GBHEM’s new guidelines (hackingchristianity.net)
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Allan Bevere on Methodist Identity
In a post related to John Meunier’s, which I linked earlier, Allan Bevere provides some additional form to the question of United Methodist identity.
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John Meunier Wants to be a Methodist
Image via Wikipedia No, not just a member of a United Methodist congregation, but a Methodist. He has been reading Scott Kisker, and after his discussion he notes:
I don’t want something more than they do. “More” is not the right word. I want something real. I want to be part of the movement that started in a fishing village in Galilee and was rekindled in a coal field in England. I want the assurance of the Holy Spirit. I want the power of grace working in me to restore the image of God and the mind that was in Christ. I want to be one of the people called Methodist.
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In Which I Make Two Intemperate Remarks
I was talking to a friend the other day. Our main topic was church and the way it was done. In the course of our conversation I discussed what I feel is the 1 Corinthians 14 church, you know, the one Paul was trying to correct. (I discuss what I think about it in my post The Problem with 1 Corinthians 14 Worship.) I was also discussing handling of incorrect statements in church, whether these are off-the-wall interpretations of Bible passages, or people claiming to speak a prophetic word that is truly not from God.
In summary, I believe the Corinthian church was active and alive, and everyone came in with a message. There would be multiple messages given to the group, and there would be discussion. I believe the New Testament model would be for people to speak and then for others to affirm or correct as necessary. I acknowledge the problems, and in our conversation I mentioned how many friends of mine who are pastors are not too happy with my view. They’d prefer to check the message before anyone hears it, so none are led astray, and they’d also prefer not to have to affirm or correct any statement in a public setting.
I acknowledge that I am not a pastor and thus may be less sensitive to these problems. I also know that telling someone they are actually wrong in a public place is very much against our cultural norms. We really prefer to keep the face of things happy and affirming, and take care of any questions out of sight. But I don’t think a church modeled after the ideal presented in 1 Corinthians 14 (and elsewhere in the NT) can function in that way.
In our discussion, this brought forth my first intemperate statement. After we’d discussed these points, and both agreed about the difficulty of accomplishing this, I said: “It had better be possible. If not, my life work thus far has been in vain.”
It was out of my mouth before it passed through my brain. But it has stuck with me, and I haven’t found much reason to back off of it. To me, the church, if it is to be the body of Christ, must have input coming from everyone, and must have everyone involved. We are all baptized into the same Spirit (read all of 1 Corinthians 12-14 to get this picture), and we all have gifts. These gifts are to come together. That, to me, is church. If church doesn’t work, I have truly been wasting my time.
I would note that I don’t mean spreading people’s private issues and problems in public, where they can be kept private. I don’t mean gossip and tale bearing. I mean every member involved in the theological thinking and practical visioning of the church body on a regular and constant basis.
What do you think? How intemperate was I?
Then there was the second intemperate statement, which needs more qualification on further thought. My friend asked me which seminary I would recommend a young person go to in preparation for Methodist ministry. My intemperate answer? “I wouldn’t.”
Yet there are things I like about various seminaries. My problem here is that I don’t like the professional education approach to preparation for pastoring. In fact, I don’t like it much for anything at all. I think our educational system is well-designed to prepare people to live in the 19th century. it’s not completely incapable of preparing people for the 20th century, but it’s not fully equipped for that task. Unfortunately, none of us have the option to live in either of those centuries.
I may really stun my friends in educational institutions, but I think the traditional university is a surviving fossil. It’s going to go away over time, or at least become a very minor factor. The reason is that technology and information is developing too fast for one to dedicate a certain percentage of one’s life to going to school, then assume education is complete, except for an occasional refresher in some continuing education program.
We’re going to need to find a way to work and further our education simultaneously. We’re also going to want to benefit from scholars from around the world in any educational program, not just those who happen to be in the local area. This is a long subject, and I’m sure people will be very annoyed as things progress. There is already a great deal of prejudice against distance learning. Some of this comes from growing pains. Some of it is completely unjustified. Note to critics: You need to do more than point to problems with distance/online learning. You need to realize the imperfections of resident learning as well.
So again, how intemperate was I?
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Why Millenials Leave the Church
… because they don’t need it for social networking, says Richard Beck, as quoted by Scot McKnight. So if we’re running a church that is basically just a social network, why would they go?
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Dogma Tweets
OK, these are just too much fun. I understand some people have gotten offended. If you’re that easily offended you should read them–you deserve it! (HT: Dave Black Online.)
