The Theopoetic as Way Forward. By Jason Derr Chaplaincy Assistant – LAMM(Lutheran/Anglican Mountaintop Ministry) – SFU THE CHURCH AS S/HE IS LIVED The unavoidable truth is that the church as we know it is dying. Wherever I travel in the church I hear grumbling about shrinking attendance, the increasing isolation of the church from the post-modern generation and the lack of relevance of faith to the world. Add to that the arguments, bitter disputes and controversy’s which cut straight to our...Read Full Story
Below is an outline for the two major, Christian hermeneutical systems existing after the beginning of the Age of Enlightenment. Being that this excerpt begins the "Systematic Theology" portion of an essay I am composing, I have included a preamble to set up context for the outlines. Note that the Dispensational outline is, as best as I can tell, representative of the sort of Dispensationalism subscribed to by Ryrie, and other "Post-Dallas" dispensationalists. The outline representing...Read Full Story
Apocalypse/Utopia William Stringfellows North American liberation theology/theology of the cross requires us to read the contemporary world through the apocalypse. In contrast to other popular views of the apocalypse Stringfellow does not view the text as a road map to the end of the world but instead as an imaginative telling of the possibility and future of the world captive to the principalities and powers he names as Babel. If we bring into that conversation the comments of Gustava...Read Full Story
Contrasting Baines with Waldron on Gal. 6 Galatians 6:11 See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. 12 It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. 13 For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, [remember Romans 2 here] but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. 14 But far be it from me to...Read Full Story
The following section deals primarily with, “ Section 1 of: The Lord's Coming , Israel , and the Church. 4th edition, revised and enlarged. Broom, 1881. In this section of Baines’ work, he also shows his misunderstanding of the Amillennial position. Baines writes, “ Everybody is aware of the difference prevailing among the Lord's people as to the interpretation of those passages of Scripture which foretell the future in reserve for the Church and the world. The ordinary interpretation is...Read Full Story
The children of Israel are stiff-necked and hard-hearted. God sends serpents to bite them. Then he says the only way to be healed is to look at a serpent held up on a pole. This is kind of like reading theology. When I read theology, I assume two things and I assume these same two things regardless of the author. I read Blake Ostler the same way I read Augustine or Dogen. I assume that the author is a sinner and that their theology is...
Julie Shoshana Pfau, a graduate student in religion at Emory University, and David R. Blumenthal, who teaches and writes on constructive Jewish theology, medieval Judaism, Jewish mysticism, and holocaust studies, discuss “How can you relate to an abusive God in a positive way?” at CrossCurrents:
Introduction
In 1993, I published my post-shoah theology entitled Facing the Abusing God: A Theology of Protest (Westminster John Knox). The book did...
To be or not to be the science of theology at Russian institutes and universities? At a meeting with a group of spiritual leaders, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin proposed to introduce this subject to their curriculums. However, the possibility of the doctrine of God appearing in the curriculums of higher educational establishments has already stirred controversy in Russian society. The introduction of theology in curriculums in secular...
The academic year of the United Theological College opens with a Service of the Word and the annual college lecture on Monday, February 20. This year the worship is led by the Principal, Rev Assoc. Prof Clive Pearson, with the Moderator of the Uniting ...
The average religious consumer does not get their theology from a library of theology texts. Very few religious folks even think out a half-way consistent theology. Many people just get their religion from the equivalent of various inspiring AM radio stations. Questions: Do/Did you have a thought-out theology? (see some theology choices here) Do/Did you [...]
Some say Unitarian Universalists have replaced theology with psychology. This may be true for some of us, some of the time. You could also argue that the poetry of writers like Rumi, Mary Oliver,Wendell Berry, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Denise Levertov, or ...
Rick Perlstein argues that common political enemies have united conservative Evangelicals and Catholics: Now we have a Supreme Court consisting of four justices sympathetic to the Christian right: Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, and Antonin Scalia. All are Catholics,...
“The task of the theopoetic and the theopoet is to open up spaces of unanticipated dreaming in which the past, the present and the future are reshaped as we reorganize or even recreate our stories in relationship with the other, the world and the Divine .” - Matt Guynn