A little blog from an upstart theologian that will do its best to exemplify Christ while sharing a thing or two along the way.
|
|
| Preachin's Blog A little blog from an upstart theologian that will do its best to exemplify Christ while sharing a thing or two along the way. |
|
|
Thursday, November 25, 2004 Well...Happy Thanksgiving to you all out there in bloggyland. From the descended son of a pilgrim family I wish you all the best on this day and for the rest of this year! Blessings to you all. 
Here are some links for Pilgrim reading...so much for the state of Maryland saying religion wasn't a part of their thanksgiving: Richard Bradford's Of Plymouth Plantation Edward Winslow's Mourt's Relation Have a great day! posted by Preachin Jesus | 10:10 AM | Tuesday, November 23, 2004 Quick LinksWell not much on the theobloggy side right now...but that is forth coming my friends! Here are some links to warm your Thanksgiving fireside internet surfing: Why we keep the FBI around. Yeah this is captain Obvious and his sidekick Apparent Boy at work in our government. Dubya - The Movie. Probably the best depiction of our beloved president available today. assault with a Hoagie, you know I figured this would have happened in New Jersey, not Pennsylvania. I'm sure they're a pretty committed bunch. Not the brightest kids on the block. A little old school ruler fun! Funny, because you know it'll never happen. Determining Election Results, this is so Oregon old school...here in Texas they determine the winner with a duel at high noon. Cool Dodgeball Game Thanksgiving turkey slider game Thanksgiving tic-tac-toe Submarine Commander Game Place the state. Okay I ended up 94% accuracy, hey wyoming is hard to place in the middle of nowhere! Well that's it for now...hours of fun! posted by Preachin Jesus | 9:00 AM | Monday, November 22, 2004 On Media and EvangelicalsI've noticed recently, well ever since the election that more and more media attention is being paid to evangelical political/moral/legal/social ventures. Take for instance this story (Click here! sorry registration required) from the New York Times which is about conservative, evangelical law schools. It specifically talks about the new law school at Liberty University. Also I read an op ed piece this morning where a writer discovered evangelical theme parks and was amazed. I believe we are beginning to see the mainstream media suddenly uncover the evangelical sub-culture that has been going on for the past 25 years. The major players in the media markets seem to be awstruck that such things are going on, in spite of what they've attempted to teach us. Also it seems that they are uniquely enfranchised with the prospect that all of these ventures are a unified grassroots movement towards a more reformed society. In my estimation these media types are quite astounded at the complexity of the movements and the large veracity of their participants. While I, and perhaps you, have known about many of these for years it seems that our leading media moguls have been caught off guard and are rushing to find some solid footing to understand all of this. Interesting thoughts. Maybe we are going to see a dawning spiritual reformation in our world, facilitated by the mainstream media. Well I'm off for the day...forthcoming theobloggy! posted by Preachin Jesus | 3:21 PM | Thursday, November 18, 2004 A New Pentateuch TranslationI have been running through the various news sites I hit during the day and found this article on CNN.com about a new translation of the  Pentateuch. Apparently Robert Alter, a professor at Berkeley, has put together a translation of the Hebrew Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) in order to answer his thought of:
This might be something worthwhile to watch because Alter, while recognizing some higher critical thought on formation of the Pentateuch, seems to have largely ignored scholarly concerns over peripheral textual issues and translation committees' calls for simplicity in wording to produce a text that brings out the distinctions found in the Hebrew text. I haven't read The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary or seen biblical scholar reviews on this yet, so I'm not endorsing this translation here. I simply found it compelling that this was on the front page of CNN.com and the uniqueness of this translation. I'll have to pick up a copy soon. posted by Preachin Jesus | 1:36 PM | Wednesday, November 17, 2004 Reflections on miscuesIn times of turmoil and indecision I can rely on one thing...that the fire alarm for my apartment complex will go off at 3 am at least once every 6 months. I can rely on this because ever since I've gotten to my beloved seminary at least once every semester the fire alarm has mistriggered (or been triggered by some loon) at 3 am. I really enjoy leaning out of bed and feeling the floor to see if I have time left. I really enjoy watching the legions of zombie dorm occupants slowly filter out of the dorm to the screeching of alarm buzzers. But all of this is a shadow in light of waiting ten minutes for the snoozing campus security to arrive on scene (since nothing on our campus is ten minutes anywhere by car), and then another five minutes for the fire department to drive by...turn around...then go back to their station without even stopping. Oh the joys of communal living... posted by Preachin Jesus | 11:21 AM | Thursday, November 11, 2004 Quick HitsWell I'm out for the weekend...taking the future Mrs.PJ to see the folks. Just thought I'd toss some quick hits out there following my theobloggy:
See later! posted by Preachin Jesus | 11:55 AM | There is no Postmodern ChristianityJean Lyotard has wisely defined philosophical postmodernism as "incredulity towards metanarratives" in his work The Postmodern Condition. Through this definition one can grasp the underlying tenant of philosophical postmodernity, that there is no final worldview whereby all creation is held accountable. This is exactly what philosophical postmodernity is purporting, my metanarrative is just as legitimate as yours. Now I don't simply limit philosophical postmodernity as "subjectivism" or "relativism" since philosophical postmodernity is so much more than those unhappy monikers. In our current day there is a ground swell movement in the Christian Church to develop "postmodern" ministries, or ministries that reach "postmoderns" specifically. There are self-assumed ecclesial prophets that are running around shouting this new ministry venture and purporting it as something brand new and virginally pure since it hasn't been either embraced or corrupted by the modern church. I shall posit hereafter that these ministries are neither thoroughgoing postmodern ministries nor are they awfully original. I couch this entire essay through the phrase: there is no postmodern Christian. Within the western world a revolution of thought has been taking place for the last one hundred years. In this revolution the Cartesian partiality in philosophical thought has been nixed in favor of more progressive styles of thinking. In reality this new progression in thought began with Nietzsche and has progressed since through such philosophers as Foucault, Fish, and Rorty (to name several.) While philosophical postmodernity finds much of its roots in nihilism, it has developed past this foundation. Within philosophical circles the new cool is post-"something" or another. We have thus seen this trend of classifying things as post-"something" or another (post-Christian, post-Protestant, post-cultural, etc.) Since philosophical postmodernity suggests that there is no final, dare I say absolute, metanarrative which all fall under it is quite incoherent for an evangelical Christian who believes in the exclusivity of salvation through Christ to be a true postmodern. Furthermore in a society that is suggested to be increasingly postmodern I shall suggest that most aren’t postmoderns, rather that most in our culture are hyper-moderns. One of the claims that these “postmodern ministers” toss around is that there are several factors which are unique to postmoderns in our culture: seeking community, experience driven, interested in spirituality, and looking for authenticity. These are some good things for postmoderns to look for, and if the philosophers of postmodernity are correct than several of these are conditions of postmodernism…the problem is the “postmoderns” in our society aren’t truly looking for several of these. Take the seeking for community condition, and then watch the young crowd and their relationships. By and large they are casual relationships which don’t get deep. Sure virtual communities exist and are, often, wonderful places of community but it is a safe community, a sterile community where one can move in and out of with never having to truly confront those they are dialoguing with. The virtual communities allow unfettered anonymity for the participant where they never have to encounter their virtual neighbors and never have to make an emotional connection. Instead in our culture we have become increasingly individualistic, shunning true community for a false obligation of planned flash mobbing to appease the cultural monoliths around us and not incur their wrath (or raised eyebrow.) If postmodernity were an actual cultural condition they would be building porches, not decks. As for the spirituality, there is an increased interest in things spiritual in our culture. Yet again it is a faux spiritual interest for few young “postmoderns” in our culture actually want to engage a definite spirituality and will float around to whatever appeases their varied appetites. The fake search for ancient forms of spirituality by many ministers in the “postmodern” church always exists in a place where the ancient form is conditioned through our contemporary expressions. We make these ancient forms intermeshed with contemporary forms of worship expression to  suit our needs. For goodness sake if you want to have a “Celtic Worship Service” go to the woods, build a fire and stand in the cold barefoot. Yet we seem to embark into these forms presupposing the equal legitimacy of our contemporary expression. Lots of people look for spirituality, while I agree that coffee shops breed conversations about spirituality it is because they are a societal warm blanket and a comfortable place to discuss matters…who’s going to shout and holler in a coffee shop?
This is why I suggest that our culture is not broaching into pure postmodernism as some of the ecclesial prophets have suggested. Rather it is a cultural postmodernism that is actually the beginning last vestiges of hyper-modernism. This is why I suggest there are two forms of postmodernism to confront: cultural postmodernism and philosophical postmodernism. I further suggest that those in the “postmodern” church confront neither of these awfully well. Candles, incense, low lights, and breathy chords don’t make one a postmodern. Thankfully lots of people are seeing the hypocrisy here and have moved away from this sole classification. If one is to engage cultural postmoderns it is not the language or terminology or methodology that must change, rather it is the matter that we must deliver the unfettered Gospel with resolve. To reach postmoderns I suggest that the first thing that the church must do is go and reach them…using words if necessary. While I do appreciate the zeal and understand the state of despair (when confronted with many dead modern churches out there) which many of my “postmodern” brethren posses, I would ask that we be a bit more coherent in our discussion. You cannot be a thoroughgoing postmodern and a Christian. You have embraced a metanarrative that is the only way by which people can find salvation if you are a Christian who believes the main tenants of the Gospel. There is no accommodation to pagan religions alongside the salvation of Christ. We must say plainly that Christ’s Gospel is the path by which all are judged, to disagree is death. The major thing missing in our churches today isn’t a postmodern connection…it is a passion for souls. There are lots of things broken in our churches, that happens we’re human after all, yet the Gospel still remains unfettered. posted by Preachin Jesus | 11:49 AM | Tuesday, November 09, 2004 Quick HitsWhew! Been working on a Hebrew exegetical paper all weekend and getting close to wrapping it up; 8 hours in the library on Saturday can seriously play with your head. I've got a substantive post forthcoming with good theoblogy contained therein, but for now here are some quick hits:
Thanks for reading, bigger posts forthcoming! posted by Preachin Jesus | 10:30 AM | Thursday, November 04, 2004 Why I'm not a fundamentalistRecently it has been pronounced that I am attending a "fundamentalist" seminary. This is something that I was not aware of, nor that I think is actually true (because you can't become fundamentalist overnight.) One of the reasons I chose my current seminary was because it was theologically conservative, but not fundamentalist. To be sure, I have thoroughly enjoyed and been blessed by my time at my beloved seminary and value my time here. This question of whether or not I am a fundamentalist has come up from time to time with some friends and recently I was again queried as to why I am not a fundamentalist, my response is as follows. Dictionary.com defines fundamentalist as: A usually religious movement or point of view characterized by a return to fundamental principles, by rigid adherence to those principles, and often by intolerance of other views and opposition to secularism. I think this definition is fitting, but I will also add my two cents. Fundamentalism is a facet of Christianity that can be classified any number ways. One of the clear  aspects of the fundamentalist is dogmatism of beliefs. Of course there can be theologically liberal people who are dogmatic of their beliefs and fall into this category. Yet the evangelical fundamentalism which I am speaking of is an über-conservative theological approach that combines dogmatism with modernist philosophical tendencies out of a Protestant heritage. With fundamentalists there is a cogent distinction from conservative evangelical Christians where they take traditional positions of this group and move to an extreme. Fundamentalism exists in all religious expressions and the area of coherence with all of them is an intellectual approach that suggests anyone who disagrees with you theologically has occupied some height of theological/philosophical lunacy. (How you deal with these people varies, but the extremists have their violent ways.)
More fitting of a definition in our current context is how the fundamentalist Christian addresses the matter of primary & secondary separation. The doctrine of separation has to do with how the Christian community interacts with and participates with the secular world in their striving to bring about the Kingdom of God. The doctrine of primary separation deals with not involving the secular community outside of the church in accomplishing the work of the Gospel. For example: people who hold to primary separation believe it is wrong for the church to engage a group like the Peace Corps in doing a work in a needy area to help spread the Gospel. Now the doctrine of secondary separation states that no Christian community (New Testament church) should ever engage a group of Christians who are outside of the fundamentalist’s particular brand of theological vodka. Out of these two areas does truly flow the waters of fundamentalism. I can hold that the Bible is the authoritative, inerrant, Word of God and still be okay (as I am) in interacting and working with people and groups within Christendom who do not share my view. A fundamentalist, on the other hand, will suggest that I am completely wrong for doing this and will shun both myself and those groups with whom I am working. The problem of fundamentalism is that with dogmatic pursuit of a theological system there is a limiting placed on how we interact and read Christianity both historical and contemporary, even leading to caution to more emergent forms. The great cornucopia of theological insight from various strains of Christianity will certainly broaden one’s horizon and give substance to their spiritual journey. Another matter is that in limiting one’s theological introspection leads to both theological arrogance (my position is the only right one) and anti-intellectual behavior (any person who disagrees with me based on an academic response is certainly wrong.) Fundamentalism attempts to say that old traditions are bad, yet they have their own penchant traditions which cannot be broken. So why am I not a fundamentalist? Because I believe that there have been much smarter people than I who disagree with me on some issues. Also I cannot believe that God, who has offered me so much grace in my cravenness cannot offer that same grace to those who disagree with me. A final point on my disagreement with fundamentalism, I see much of it as pure religiosity for the sake of religiosity. As I read the New Testament I see that Christ seems to be far more concerned with our motivations than our route acts of obedience. My motivations for serving Christ must come forth from a position of love and devotion to His Gospel than according myself with some foolish system of rules and regulations. Does this make fundamentalists bad people? Certainly not, in many cases some of the best people I know are fundamentalists. I cannot for a second find better people who serve Christ and witness with more passion than some of my fundamentalist friends. I admire their devotion to spreading His Gospel to a lost and dying world, though I might disagree with their methods. There are times when the fervor of fundamentalists hurts both the witness of Christ to the world and to those in the Church. When we confuse religion and politics we never end up on the right side of the fence. I love many of my friends who are fundamentalists. Yet in my love I see how I am different than they. I appreciate those fundamentalist churches which tell you they are “KJV only, fundamentalist, premillenial, pretribulational” and such because they don’t guise their beliefs and presuppositions (like many other people I know do.) I am not a fundamentalist, yet I love my fundamentalist brethren. posted by Preachin Jesus | 8:09 AM | Wednesday, November 03, 2004 Election quick hitsAlright this isn't going to be long and drawn out, and yes I am going to drop most of the political posts in favor of good ole theobloggy!
Just some quick hits...I'll be back with good ole theobloggy! posted by Preachin Jesus | 1:31 PM | I'm having serious problems with a super-low bandwidth on blogger today (and for the past month.) Every other page I go to is loading superfast but my blogger Dashboard, where I create posts, is taking minutes to load. I have some big posts forthcoming but Blogger needs to resolve these issues fast. Anyhoo...congrats to President Bush, I'll try to post some more. posted by Preachin Jesus | 1:28 PM | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
||||
|
|||||
Read my Profile
