It is too easy to want kingdom and forget the cross, or make it part of one’s agenda; and it is too easy to want cross, and not know what to make of the kingdom. But Israel’s Story, Israel’s God, the people of God, and the clash of the forces of evil with the ways [...]
Anabaptism and Atonement: Thomas Finger
Feb 17, 2012 @ 0:20 By 14 Comments
This from Thomas Finger, A Contemporary Anabaptist Theology, 361-362, where we find one of Anabaptism’s finest theologians seeking to do justice to both the Anabaptist tradition (which he says was most centrally Christus Victor) and to the Bible, articulates his own view as follows: What do you think of this explanation of atonement? Adequate? Sufficient? [...]
Pardons, Forgiveness and America’s Justice
Jan 17, 2012 @ 10:19 By 16 Comments
A Christian governor, Haley Barbour, pardoned a bundle of criminals and he did so on the basis of his Christian theology of forgiveness. What he did is a tradition in Mississippi. What say you? “The historical power of clemency by the governor to pardon felons is rooted in the Christian idea of giving second chances,” [...]
Simply Jesus 5
Nov 28, 2011 @ 0:03 By 9 Comments
Perhaps the most perplexing issue in the historical Jesus debate of the last two decades was how to make a solid connection between Jesus’ kingdom vision and the crucifixion as an atoning death. How, some of us were asking, do we get from Luke 4:16-30, Jesus’ inaugural kingdom sketch, to Romans 3:21-26? Many historical Jesus [...]
Exploring Love Wins 7
Apr 15, 2011 @ 5:22 By 143 Comments
The 5th chp in Rob Bell’s book, Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell, and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived, is called “Dying to Live.” I am asking that you pause quietly and slow down enough to pray this prayer as the way to approach this entire series: O Lord, you have [...]
Day Zero, an illustration of atonement
Mar 30, 2011 @ 5:04 By 35 Comments
A theologian friend sent this to me. It is by Gordon Coulter, and is an exploration of biblical ideas on atonement through an experience with cancer. By Gordon L. Coulter, Ed.D., with James S. Miser, M.D. “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus: What can make me whole again? Nothing [...]
Beyond the Abyss 4
Oct 4, 2010 @ 5:04 By 48 Comments
Admittedly, this is not the typical way to start off a Monday morning, but we are going through Sharon Baker’s book, and the topic she deals with — the justifiability or unjustifiability of hell — is a serious topic and one worthy of our best thinking. In chp 3 of Sharon Baker’s Razing Hell: Rethinking [...]
Saturday Afternoon Book Review: Marcus Maher
Feb 20, 2010 @ 14:53 By 11 Comments
Marcus Maher, an M.Div. student who blogs at Zetountes, writes this review on a most important book and an increasing, relational trend in Paul’s soteriology. One thing I hope you observe in this review is his fair-minded description and his charitable approach to disagreement. Inhabiting the Cruciform God: Kenosis, Justification, and Theosis in Paul’s [...]
New Perspective and a Metaphor for Sin
Dec 7, 2009 @ 0:01 By 11 Comments
Sin has a history, and the history of the use of words for sin sheds light on the current debate about the new perspective on Paul. Gary Anderson, in his superbly written Sin: A History , demonstrates that the oldest and most predominant Old Testament idea about sin was that it was a load to carry and [...]
The Gods Aren’t Angry
Jul 31, 2008 @ 0:20 By 21 Comments
Kris and I sat down the other night to watch Rob Bell’s DVD called The Gods Aren’t Angry. My question: What do you think of it? Did any of you see this live and have a response?
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