2009

Book Review by Deacon Hall

December 14, 2009 by Deacon Hall Leave a Comment

I recently gave a book review for the Scottish Bulletin of Evangelical Theology, 27.2 (Fall 2009). The book I reviewed is called The Open secret: A New Vision for Natural Theology by Alister E. McGrath. For any of you interested in the relationship between the naturalism, natural theology, and the Christian faith, the book is good, and probably worth a read. What is especially noteworthy is the way in which McGrath claims that one always views, observes, and scientifically reads the ‘book of nature’ through a set of lenses with pre-established values. No read of nature is neutral. But this non-neutral way of viewing nature is itself perfectly natural, a point that McGrath uses to further argue that the Christian value-system is most appropriate for reading nature. But, beware: as in all things philosophy, it has a lot of philosophical jargon. You’ll have to be ready to sift through that.

Regarding the review itself, it’s a hard publication to get over in the States because it’s not published in any sort of electronic form. But if you’re ever in a library and are dying to read a book review, check it out.

Filed Under: books, engaging, philosophy, science

Crazy Texan Monday Goes Derridian

December 14, 2009 by Deacon Hall Leave a Comment

Check out this Roderick video on Derrida. He deals, to no small degree, with the quintessential Derrida, namely, the meaning of deconstruction, a term that he understands to signify ‘housework (see 2:00 in).’

This lecture is still part of Roderick’s Self Under Siege lectures. And what I have realized are the most important points to consider in this series are found in the first lectures, entitled ‘The Masers of Suspicion‘ (pay special attention to what Freud does with knowledge). The reason I make this last claim is because he sets out the trajectory and logic of the course there. That is, the masters of suspicion undermine the idea that we, as humans, know either ourselves or really anything at all. But, to deny a knowledge of (and presence to) the self is to deny knowledge of a boundry between ourselves and the natural world, the natural world and our own creations.

This point, I believe, is important. Mr. Callid called me out in my previous post for defining Baudrillard a postmodern thinker, and he was right to do so. (As you’ll see through this Derrida lecture, postmodernity understood in Derrida’s terms has little to do with Baudrillard). Unless, that is, one accepts the basic premises of Roderick’s argument, that the loss of self–a trust in the self–in any respect sets the conditions for moving toward Baudrillard. Baudrillard is the logical conclusion of postmodernity if (and this is a big ‘if’) we are not careful. Then again, to someone in Baudrillard’s case, this loss is not a loss at all.

Filed Under: engaging, philosophy, pomo

Mainline Leadership is Killing the Church?

December 11, 2009 by Deacon Hall 9 Comments

Here’s a good article for you all that you might want to spend a little time with. It’s essentially saying that Mainline Churches, because of their social-stances, money, facilities, etc., should be growing. However, there’s a problem:

“George Barna… commented that mainline Protestant churches seem to have weathered the past decade better than many people have assumed, but that the future is raising serious challenges to continued stability. He identified the quality of leadership provided – especially regarding vision, creativity, strategic thinking, and the courage to take risks – as being the most critical element in determining the future health and growth of mainline congregations…”

We have a problem:

On the one hand, the union-like conditions for leading in Mainline churches, i.e. “having to put in one’s dues,” seems to stifle any creative means of formulating new ways to interact with one’s culture. You might even say that processes such as ordination are less about learning to serve within one’s community than they are about learning the rules of tenure and hierarchy. Quality control can equal a formula of ‘don’t rock the boat.’ Because of the bureauocracies, “entrepreneurial” leaders go elsewhere.

On the other hand, these entrepreneurs, while bringing the Gospel to the culture with great success, risk forming cults of personality. When any such entrepreneur leaves his or her community, the question remains as to whether that community can actually continue to not only survive, but also thrive. And if not, whether it, too, was even truly dedicated to the Gospel or just an entrepreneurial vision, a personality.

I don’t see any particularly easy answers, here. But I would like to begin fighting for one small change in my own denomination that could make something of a symbolic difference. I’d like to see it made Canon law that all Episcopal Bishops have to take communion from a child once a year. Not only do I think that this idea is good theology, but I also think that it would help to remind the above mentioned bureaucracies (bishops and priests, in this particular case) whom they have been called to serve: not themselves but ostensibly Christ and his people.

Filed Under: emergent, thinking

Emilie Townes Introduces Womanist Theology: Homebrewed Christianity 69

December 8, 2009 by Tripp Fuller 3 Comments

What a treat we have this week! None other than Emilie Townes, ground breaking theologian, Baptist minister, and now Homebrewed Christianity guest. Ever since I met her last March at the Transforming Theology conference I knew she needed to be on the podcast. There I was able to interview her for a video series that will be released soon and in the process of conversing with her it was clear that she had a remarkable gift to communicate both her theological insights and passionate faith in thought-provoking ways. She did not disappoint.

In the interview we discuss the development of Womanist theology, a piece of one of my favorite social ethics text, Womanist Ethics and the Cultural Production of Evil, and she gives bite size responses to the big 7 questions of theology discussed in Philip and my new book.

From the intro….

- Nickels of the N\J podcast has indeed confirmed that over the holidays he will be getting on skype to be issued an HBC whoopin @ paper, rock, scissors.

- This may be due to the sheer force of the HBC Deaconate. Our refusal to use his real name and title of his book is seeping out into the world wide web.

- An example……Deacon Blundell tweeted ‘The Hopeless Skeptic by @nicholasfiedler is out http://bit.ly/92SCBk // looking forward to reading it.’ Notice the two jokes our Deacon has sent!!!! Then Nickels is unable to contain himself and responds by correcting the misspelled title (as if it wasn’t intentional).

- Deacon Blundell has his first piece of fiction out (correctly) titled, St. Peter’s Brewery. Check it out (and specifically page 94!)

Standard Podcast [ 47:24 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Filed Under: podcast

Bible in Five Statements (Meme!)

December 7, 2009 by Chad Crawford 2 Comments

Who doesn’t love a good meme? My friend Tripp tagged me here at your Homebrewed Christianity, and I’m excited to participate. I may or may not have asked him to tag me. No shame in this game. I offer my humble response below. But first, the rules.

Summarise the Bible in five statements, the first one word long, the second two, the third three, the fourth four and the last five words long. Or possibly you could do this in descending order. Tag five people.

Alright, let’s get started. I am opting to up the ante, and make this even more interesting, by only using titles of songs that the Beatles have performed. That is right.

My summary in five statements:

All You Need is Love
Run For Your Life
Crying, Waiting, Hoping
Come Together
Revolution

BOOYA!

Now I tag people. Joe Bumbulis, Mike Leaptrott, Jonathan Blundell, Bob Cornwall, and RLP himself Gordon Atkinson.

And if the powers that be will grant me one more, therivermerchant

Others who have participated:

The Girl Who Cried Epiphany

(My partner in crime at) Homebrewed Christianity

The Hopeful Skeptic

Missio Dei

A Spirit Like the Wind

Tanzania and James

The Websight of Unknowing

Yewtree

Zoecarnate

Filed Under: bible stuff, engaging

Crazy Texan Monday and Postmodern Jargon

December 7, 2009 by Deacon Hall 3 Comments

I was recently skimming through the introduction of Brian McLaren’s A Generous Orthodoxy and came across an important appropriation that McLaren makes of Stanley Grenz. McLaren writes: ‘This generous orthodoxy does not mean a simple merging, conflating, or reconciling of the two schools of thought (liberalism and evangelicalism). Rather it disagrees with both regarding the ‘view of certainty and knowledge which liberals and evangelicals hold in common,’ a view Grenz describes as ‘produced…by modernist assumptions.’ Grenz adds that this generous orthodoxy must ‘take seriously the postmoedern problematic’ and suggests ‘the way forward is for evangelicals to take the lead in renewing a theological ‘center’ that can meet the challenges of the postmodern …situation in which the church now finds itself (28).’

That’s a long quote, highlighting two important contemporary ecclesiological thinkers, both of whom I, in fact, respect, and a book with which I’m pretty much in agreement. However, what’s important to bring out of this quote is the degree to which these two thinkers and, frankly, the degree to which most persons in general misunderstand that ever-popular term ‘postmodern.’ What these thinkers describe is really still part of the modern project; a fallibalist understanding of truth and its relationship to humanity. I say this because postmodernity is much different than any simple claims on truth, though that is what it’s often reduced to.

Whether the Christian faith ought or ought not think in terms of postmodern critiques, I will have to leave to you to decide–you’ll find ample compatriots on both sides of this issue, the Radically Orthodox being perhaps the only ones that I know of who actually argue for ‘postmodern sensibilities’ Christianly in a way that is actually consistent with the trajectory of postmodernity (see the debate between Oliver Davies and Graham Ward in this book). But, I would say, to perhaps defend yourself either way with a sense of what postmodernity actually means, and not with the commodified senses of the ideas that are now tossed around in contemporary circles.

Take a look at this Roderick Video for a good interpretation of the postmodern and what Roderick sees as its problems. For a good example of its meaning, read the first half of this op-ed piece in light of Roderick’s break-down between reality and image.

Filed Under: engaging, philosophy, pomo, post-something

St. Nick, Santa, and Slavery

December 7, 2009 by Chad Crawford 1 Comment

st-nicholas-of-myra You might know that the historical St. Nick was a generous person who loved children, but you might not have heard the tale about him saving little girls from being sold into sexual slavery.

The legend goes that St. Nicholas, the bishop of Myra in the 4th c, found out that a destitute father was going to sell his three daughters into prostitution because he didn’t have enough for dowries to get them married off. In an act of compassion, Nicholas threw sacks of coins into their window, which landed in shoes. It was enough gold to prevent the heinous inevitability of slavery.

I have no idea if any of this is historically accurate. What is true is that slavery existed then and exists today, with an estimated 27 million slaves in the world.

Elements from this story have evolved into traditions, which ironically benefit slavery through rampant consumerism. Instead of throwing gifts through the window into shoes, Santa climbs in through the chimney and puts them into stockings. Even the chocolate gold coins that are given are thought to be connected to the story. Chocolate is one of the biggest ways that we in the U.S. contribute to slavery.

Yesterday, Dec. 6 was the day the Feast of Saint Nicholas, the patron saint of children, was celebrated. What if the story would have led to acts of compassion and justice during the Christmas season instead of the Santa Claus tradition?

Here are some ways to change the game

Be a socially conscious consumer: Free2Work.org

Fair Trade Christmas

Become an abolitionist: NotForSaleCampaign.org

The Advent Conspiracy (HBC 35)

Get this book: Everyday Justice by Julie Clawson (HBC 67)

Filed Under: engaging

Andrew Cohen & Philip Clayton at the Parliament of the World’s Religions

December 6, 2009 by Tripp Fuller 1 Comment

Here is a video of Philip Clayton being interviewed of Andrew Cohen. Enjoy a little co-evolutionary moment today….(HT: Enlighten Next)

Filed Under: engaging

The Heart of God on Paper

December 3, 2009 by Tripp Fuller 3 Comments

Tony Jones’ newest book is an examination and application of the Didache for today. The Didache was an early church training manual for disciples that was composed and in use prior to the completion of the texts in the New Testament. What it means is that a number of communities in the early church used this document to fulfill the command in the Gospel of Matthew to ‘make disciples and teach them what I have commanded you.’ I am a huge Didache fan and not just because it demonstrates the normative practice of believer’s baptism (and dunking!) in the early church. Did I mention I am a Bapti-mergent?

In the chapter 4 ‘There are Two Ways,’ Tony looks at how the Didache appropriates a very popular teaching in first century Judaism: ‘There are two ways, one of life and one of death!’ Putting aside the scholarly and textual arguments Tony makes (because I am sure none of you want to know where I disagree with him on that), the chapter clearly presents the structure of Christian existence presented and presumably taught by the communities where the text was in use, the way of life.

The way of life is the way of God, because the way itself has been God’s gift to the world in Torah, the history of Israel and from the holy vine of David in Jesus Christ. The gift of God is a community of life and this is its way. It is different from the Gentiles and in particular those shaped by Roman imperialism because it does not love only those who will return in like kind (1:3) by abandoning the oppressed to support the wealthy (5:2), but instead lives from the way of life and to the God of life. While the way of death is focused internally upon itself and its own well being, the way of life is turned outwards and lives for the other, because God desires the gifting of all (1:5). Even when the agents of death’s way hate those in the community of life love remains the command, for people of this way have no enemies. The way of life, found in Torah and Jesus, is an insurgent’s way when the world is dominated by a political and cultural ordering of society that fails to value life and live in love.

This structure is then taught apprentice style to new converts. What? You mean you don’t just pray a prayer? Where are the quotes from Romans? That’s right, Tony is arguing for a more rigorous process of initiation into the community that involves learning the structure of Christian existence presented above. That means the individual would come to know the Torah, the story of Israel, and the teachings of Jesus. Not only would they pass the Bible quiz, but presumably someone would bear witness to the actual bearing of fruit in their life. I can imagine some people thinking this is impractical, requiring someone to actually learn the language and living of the faith before full membership, this could almost be a circumcision size evangelism problem, but ‘There are two ways, one of life and one of death! and there is a great difference between the two ways.’

Tony remembers a conversation with Trucker Frank….

‘When I later asked Frank what he meant about the heart of God on paper, he pointed to the last verse of this chapter: “Hate no one; correct some, pray for others, and some you should love more than your own life.” This, said Trucker Frank, is the cornerstone verse of the entire Didache. ‘

If that is the heart of the Didache and God as it understands and seeks to call people to then I am all in.

The Big Question…

Tony 'Emo' Jones

Has Tony pulled a Glenn Beck.? He wrote a book that contains an entire old book within it. Unlike Glenn, Tony did get the book translated (thanks, the public domain translation is ruff). There are of course other differences, like Tony’s book isn’t 1\3 the old book and Tony’s doesn’t come free with a subscription to Town Hall magazine, but none the less the two books do discuss similar topics like money and war and then end with a call to action. We can only hope that Tony sells as many copies as Glenn. Who really wants to think about Common Sense with Glenn and Thomas Paine when you can look at the Didache with Tony, Trucker Frank, and oh yeah Jesus. Through December 11th you can get the book for $8.99 when you get at least 3 copies. That means you can give a book on the teachings of Jesus to your family and friends for Jesus’ birthday. Ohhh and did I mention that if you buy this book you can get a free subscription to the Homebrewed Christianity Podcast!!!!

Here’s the rest of the Tour…click away!

November 30: An introduction with Tony Jones

December 1: Chapter 1, The Most Important Book You’ve Never Heard of, with Adam Walker Cleaveland at pomomusings and Thomas Turner at everydayliturgy

December 2: Chapter 3, The Didache Community, Then and Now, with Ted Gossard at Jesus Community and Amy Moffitt at Without a Map

December 3: Chapter 4, There Are Two Ways, with Tripp Fuller at happydaydeadfish

December 4: Chapter 5, Sex, Money, and Other Means of Getting Along, with Chris Monroe at Paradoxology and Mike Todd at Waving or Drowning?

December 5: Chapter 6, Living Together In Community, with Brother Maynard at Subversiveinfluence and Mike King

December 6: Chapter 7, The End is Nigh, with Greg Arthur at Holinessreeducation.com and Mike Stavlund at Awakening

December 7: Epilogue, with Luke C. Miller and Carl McColman at The Website of Unknowing

December 8: Special Question, Is this text, The Didache, really so important? Why? Do we know that it was important to the earliest communities of Christians? with Jonathan Brink at Missio Dei

December 9: Special Question, Does the Didache teach or advise anything that substantively differs from what was decided at the earliest ecumenical church councils (such as Nicaea) with Dwight Friesen

December 10: Special Question, Why is the Didache relevant, in particular today? Is it more relevant today than it was, say 100 years ago? Why? with Bob Hyatt

Filed Under: books, emergent, thinking

The Bible, in 5 Statements (a meme)

December 3, 2009 by Tripp Fuller 6 Comments

Mike Morrell tagged me in this meme in which the ‘tagged’ attempt to…

Summarise the Bible in five statements, the first one word long, the second two, the third three, the fourth four and the last five words long. Or possibly you could do this in descending order. Tag five people.

So here’s my attempt (constructed during the daily show)

Created from and for love
Sh*t hits the fan
God invests Godself
Reconciling Community
Homecoming

I send the love expressed in meme tagging to…Deacon Bob Cornwall, Deaconess Laura Barclay, Deacon Gilmour, Deaconess Donna Bowman, Chad ‘rock the snow ball’ Crawford

Fielder Nickolas was also tagged by Mike Morrell and his answer is very emo-skeptical (just like his book). He even attempts to convince his reader that he doesn’t know what a meme is. Really Nick? You want the guy who runs the second best EV podcast, works in the Temple of Mac, and started blogging many moons ago doesn’t know what a meme is? That reminds me of something….this….or this….or this. Don’t worry Nick. It is ok that you pretend not to know what a meme is because you still humbled yourself enough to play this little game with us.

UPDATE: Here’s the people who have already played the meme game

Hardly the Last Word

Episcopalifem

The Websight of Unknowing

The Girl Who Cried Epiphany