(Read the Introduction to this series) So, what is the cost to the whole community of faith when a particular part, in this case indigenous followers of Jesus and other minorities, are shut out? One of the most severe and indicting statements made by the Apostle Paul concerned those advantaged believers “hogging” the whole table and keeping out those who were disadvantaged. (more…) Read more
For years I have been exploring the idea of faith on the fringe of church-ianity and beyond. I like to explore what I call, ” radical, scandalous redemptive imagination.” I believe our old maps are worn out, in a landscape that has changed dramatically, and continues to undergo rapid change…old maps can not take us into new lands. I believe poets, story tellers and artists have the uncanny ability to be new world prophets…to resurrect old myths, create new metaphors... Read more
Today on my Radio Show I took exception to a gun range where people pay to be trained in firing high power weapons and then have a chance to kill Osama Bin Laden in a role-playing game. Read more
Dear Dr. Witherington, I feel as but a mere ant to respond to a man of your caliber, but I was impressed by your recent post in regard to the anti-ecclesial rhetoric within emerging communities. Hopefully my meager efforts will reassure you that you are on point. Furthermore, we might not be so far off in our ecclesiology. First, your words are very well put and poignant for us to consider in the emerging conversation. While it was not a revelation to me... Read more
My friend and fellow Common Tabler Pete comes at emergence not via the plethora of niche-market Christian books, but through science. He is a systems engineer by trade, a musician by training, and a scientist by passion. Last month he came and guest lectured in my Wesley Seminary course on Emergence Christianity, to rave reviews. He talked about systems theory, special relativity, quantum physics, flocking, music, and emergence, relating all of it to the grassroots changes we are seeing in... Read more
In 1969 The Who released the now famed rock opera album Tommy. Mostly written by Who guitarist Pete Townsend as a way of working through his abusive childhood, Tommy was a hit. As I think about the abusive relationship between to colonial Christian West and the indigenous peoples who have been degraded, exploited, and now forgotten I bring a challenge. Many of my friends have said, “okay, I agree, but what can I do?” So, I will try my best... Read more
This is one of my favorite stories is the gospels ( John 6:1-15 ), every time I read it, it is like a sun rise that slowly and mysteriously illuminates the landscape of reality to endless possibilities. It continuously breaks the illusion that God is restricted to borders…that he gravitates to those he likes. As Jesus reminds us in Matthew 5:45, ” In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he... Read more
There is this moment of intrinsic subversion to exclusivity in the Jesus Narrative. But what is moment, if not something captured in and by time. An idea bound and contingent in space, a dependent object that relies upon its own ontological teleology. Meaning that the moment itself finds its purpose in being that very moment, and the events that transpire are then transcendentalized by their very innate placement within the narrative. A few of Jesus friends encounter people who... Read more
It’s hard to imagine anyone coming across Jesus in the midst of the ” world crisis ” of his day thinking that Jesus was about reforming religion; maybe some institutional changes, a revamp of the worship style…more culturally relevant. They would have seen the tide changing, an uprising on the margins of an empire. It was simply a revolution. Fast forward to today. Empire is still with us, and continues to spin a story of illusion, one of... Read more
I talked with Gary Burge, a New Testament professor at Wheaton College, on my radio show today about his book Jesus and the Jewish Festivals. It was a fun chat (as fun as talking with a New Testament Prof can be I guess) and I found it quite interesting. I’m encouraged whenever Evangelicals are willing to look at the cultural situation of the Gospel. Be it in the 1st century or 21st. We talk about that in the interview. Read more
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