Over Thanksgiving I went home to North Carolina. Somehow I ended up talking about these three ‘God Songs.’ I am not sure what Regina Spektor, The Michael Gungor Band, and U2 have in common other than there conversational appearance over the holiday, but they all have songs about God that draw a response. YET if you want to know what will really REALLY draw a response….then watch the fourth video of Stryper rocking out without their spandex and Marshal stacks. That my friends is the kind of nostalgia the holidays were created for. Now I just have to pull out my Stryper in Japan VHS to play when we decorate the tree.
Early Christian Monotheism with James McGrath: Homebrewed Christianity 68
November 25, 2009 by 4 Comments
Traveling for Thanksgiving? Why not spend it with a few turkeys? Tripp and I cut up for a few minutes as usual, with fresh taunting directed toward our lovable rivals over at The Nick and Josh Podcast, then we turn to the topic du jour. This week, we’re visited by James F. McGrath from the popular Exploring Our Matrix, professor of religion at Butler University, and author of The Only True God and The Burial of Jesus. Tripp and James tackle the diversity and complexity of monotheistic beliefs during the first century among Jews and within the upstart Jesus movement. Listen
in on this great conversation with a great blogger and scholar. And Nick, we’re ready to throw down when you are. And by throw down we mean fight…with our fists (forming rocks in a Rock, Paper, Scissors competition)
Books to purchase (in this order)
The Only True God by James F. McGrath
Transforming Christian Theology by Philip Clayton in collaboration with Tripp Fuller
The Skeptical Hope by Fielder Nickolalas
Relations and Freedom for God and Creation (at AAR)
November 23, 2009 by Leave a Comment
When at the American Academy of Religion I always run into more of my friends at the Open and Relational Theologies 
Consultation. This year in Montreal was no different. On top of seeing friends and some HBC Deacons I heard a number of great papers and fine responses. You can go check out and download the papers here. Don’t miss Bruce Epperly, who has been on the podcast, discussing the Adventures of a Non-Competitive God and Elizabeth Lee on Trinitarian Virtues of Relationality. Both of these papers can be enjoyed by the academic and interested lay person alike. Ohh and if you haven’t seen it yet, Tom Oord, the O\RT consultation leader is now blogging!
How Open is God?
November 23, 2009 by 5 Comments
My friend Mike Morrell asked the question last week, ‘Is God a Recovering Practitioner of Violence?‘ and on top of being a very heretical edgy post he brought up the whole Open Theism debate. At that very same scroll through the blog reader I saw the first posts from Tom Oord who decided to lay down the core themes of Open Theism, so Mike here you go. For all you Deacons I have a question for you….how open is God?
God’s primary characteristic is love.
Theology involves humble speculation about who God truly is and what God really does.
Creatures – at least humans – are genuinely free to make choices pertaining to their salvation.
God experiences others in some way analogous to how creatures experience others.
Both creatures and God are relational beings, which means that both God and creatures are affected by others in give-and-take relationships.
God’s experience changes, yet God’s nature or essence is unchanging.
God created all nondivine things.
God takes calculated risks, because God is not all-controlling.
Creatures are called to act in loving ways that please God and make the world a better place.
The future is open; it is not predetermined or fully known by God.
God’s expectations about the future are often partly dependent upon creaturely actions.
Although everlasting, God experiences time in a way analogous to how creatures experience time.
Faith on Campus Video Contest
November 22, 2009 by Leave a Comment
Hey Deacons. Are you a student? Do you like talking and thinking and videoing about faith? Do you like cash prizes? Then you should think about participating in this contest. You should also tell me you participated so we can plug your contribution here @ HBC. Here’s the info….ohhh and if you haven’t seen the patheos website yet you are missing out.
FYI….the definition of student includes anyone over 18 who is in undergrad, graduate school, or divinity school. This includes second career students too. I know because I asked. SOOOO….that includes many Deacons.
PATHEOS, ON FAITH LAUNCH ‘FAITH ON CAMPUS’ VIDEO CONTEST
‘Patheos and On Faith are two of the leading sites in the world dedicated to driving the dialogue across the world’s many faiths,’ said Leo Brunnick, CEO of Patheos. ‘In this partnership, we’re shining a spotlight on young people and letting them show the world what their faith means to them.’
To promote the contest, Patheos has partnered with On Faith, an online feature from The Washington Post and Newsweek, to advance the dialogue on religion and the critical issues of today.
DENVER, Nov. 12, 2009, Patheos.com, the world’s premier online destination for global dialogue on religion and spirituality, is calling on all students with a digital video camera to share their perspectives on their faith with the launch of a video challenge targeted at college students and young adults across the country.
‘Faith on Campus’ will be open for video submissions from Nov. 12, 2009 through Jan. 31, 2010. During that time, students can also promote their entries and encourage votes through the end of January.
A distinguished panel of judges will select the winning video submission, which will be awarded a cash prize of $2,500. Three runner-up prizes valued at $1,000 will also be awarded for the following three categories:
1. Why I am a [fill in your faith]
2. How I live my beliefs on campus
3. Rituals and practices of my faith
A fifth prize of $1,000 will be awarded to the audience favorite, based on the audience vote at Patheos.com.
The judges for the video contest include some of the most respected figures in today’s conversation on religion:
· William A. Graham, Dean, Harvard Divinity School
· Craig Detweiler, Pepperdine University
· Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, Blogger, Author, and Radio Host
· Sally Quinn, Co-Founder, Washington Post‘s On Faith
For more information on the video contest or to submit an entry, visit the site’s Web page athttp://faithoncampus.patheos.com.
Rahner might actually be talking to you in your dreams
November 20, 2009 by 1 Comment
This site needs some Catholicity, and Rhaner’s here to give it! That is, Karl Rhaner, a famous Jesuit theologian who died in 1984, just might actually be haunting you in your dreams. But given the hearsay that the man used to fall asleep during his own lecutres, you probably haven’t noticed him.
Regardless of the guy’s speaking ability, he has an extremely interesting philosophical and sacred theology. For the first, he employs what’s called transcendental method, combining the phenomenological insights of Heidegger with the metaphysical insights of Aquinas. His conclusion? You are, as a person, an orientation toward the divine mystery, created to listen for and to that Word when spoken. Try this video out and tell me you don’t want to read more!
Everyday Justice with Julie Clawson: Homebrewed Christianity 67
November 20, 2009 by 3 Comments
This week we have Julie Clawson on the podcast, a prolific blogger, emerging woman, and author of Everyday Justice. Julie’s book challenges us all to love our global neighbors by practicing justice in our daily lives. She explains all of the systems of injustice we participate in: issues like sex trafficking and the use of fossil fuels that go into our cheeseburgers and chocolate bars. She takes a positive approach to ginormous global problems by encouraging simple but significant changes in habits.
It’s a very helpful book and an important book, a great podcast, and we’ll be blogging about the chapters in it. Enjoy!
When I talked to Harvey Cox…
November 18, 2009 by 2 Comments
Back during the first Transforming Theology conference I was able to interview a bunch of theologians and ask them the questions many of you sent in. Here’s the video of me interviewing Harvey Cox. Of course you don’t actually hear me talking or see me, but either way it is a pretty good conversation. Enjoy!
Pannenberg wants to talk to you in your dreams
November 18, 2009 by 2 Comments
Theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg is one of the people I talk with in my dreams. It happens when you read someone quite a bit. We have a number of ongoing debates, some places I think he nails it, and others where we part ways. None the less I think it does a theologian good to hangout with him. Below you can watch a little 10 minute video that introduces you to Pannenberg’s life and thought. If you are more interested you can look through our least read blog posts ever, my blogging through Pannenberg’s 3 volume systematic theology.
{HT: Sivin Kit}
If you too have conversations with Pannenberg in your dreams I would love to hear from you. Has Pannenberg ever free-styled a little rap about the ontological priority of the future for you? If only I could have recorded it!!!
Crazy Texan Monday
November 9, 2009 by 1 Comment
For those of you completely uninterested in philosophy, I can’t blame you, at least based on the current and elitist state of the discipline. Philosophy, however, hasn’t always been viewed in the terms that it is today; for Plato, philosophy was, after all, an erotic expression of love for the true order of things, a definition that formed the basis for a good chunk of Christian theology both then and now. So if you’re interested in learning how to do philosophy at a deeper and more constructive level, these introductory lectures by Roderick on the history of ethics are a great way to learn.
Here Roderick talks about the need for absolutes without being willing to define them.
