Following the situational shift fresh reflection has been given to theology proper (ie the doctrine of God). The theological awareness that is spreading across the Church in the West is that God himself is missional. This may sound like an odd thing to say, who doesn’t think God has a passion for mission? But in popular discourse today mission is often treated like an interim program between creation and new creation, an activity largely of the church, something that had... Read more
Acts 15 is a watershed in earliest Christianty — even if it interrupts the flow of the gospel and mission of God in the Book of Acts, and how you read this chapter affects everything about how you read the rest of the New Testament. Does this chapter create two kinds of Christians — Jewish and Gentile? Or does this chapter create a temporary expedient — some basic laws need to be followed by Gentiles until later in the Church?... Read more
Brand new book, and one you will want to read. Steve Wilkens and Mark Sanford examine eight cultural stories that shape our lives and they are eight stories that we don’t want shaping our lives, and they are eight little foxes that can spoil the church’s vines. The book is called: Hidden Worldviews: Eight Cultural Stories That Shape Our Lives . The eight scripts at work in our culture, and in our church to one degree or another, are: Individualism,... Read more
A letter from Jeremy Berg, who sometimes writes posts for this blog… I’m very keen to hear what you do when Jehovah’s Witnesses come to your door. Can you tell us what you feel, what you want to do, what you do do? Scot – I had two very nice Jehovah’s Witness women show up at my door this morning. I never quite know how to approach these encounters. I think these encounters are especially awkward for pastors/Bible teachers who... Read more
The critics of the new perspective on Paul, and they have tended to focus on the work of N.T. Wright, now have their biggest challenge yet. Until we get Tom Wright’s fourth volume, and Tom is now writing it, Douglas A. Campbell hefty tome, The Deliverance of God: An Apocalyptic Rereading of Justification in Paul , will be the benchmark for how to read Paul. Campbell’s book contains the fullest theological explanation yet of what he calls “Justification Theory,” and... Read more
O God, whose blessed Son came into the world that he might destroy the works of the devil and make us children of God and heirs of eternal life: Grant that, having this hope, we may purify ourselves as he is pure; that, when he comes again with power and great glory, we may be made like him in his eternal and glorious kingdom; where he lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.... Read more
Don’t know if you saw this, but David Neff reports on Robert Wilken’s opening lecture at Wheaton about how the early fathers read the Bible. I wish I could have been there, but I had too much on my plate that week. Theological readings of the Bible are becoming more and more prominent, and alongside this the historical-critical method and the modernist theory that we can get back to the pure meaning of that text in its time are falling... Read more
When this big fella came by for Trick or Treat, we gave him our pumpkin! It has been a grey, cloudy, cold week here at the Jesus Creed blog, the World Series plodded along with yet one more trophy for the bad guys, and here in Chicago the hopes are beginning to heat up for next summer’s Cubs season, though some oddsmakers find better chances for John Kerry and Sarah Palin. Wisdom for responding to stereotyping Asians. See the reports... Read more
Greg Boyd, in his newest book, The Myth of a Christian Religion: Losing Your Religion for the Beauty of a Revolution is about “sword-power vs. cross-power” (22). What makes Boyd singular is that he thinks cross-power must shape everything, and this lands him in the anabaptist camp. The difference is power over vs. power under. The latter is about humility and self-sacrifice. It may look weak but it is the power of God. How useful is his “power under” and “power... Read more
Hello, my name is Rachel, and I’m a recovering Bible snob. I haven’t always been this way. As a child, the stories of the Bible enthralled me. I believed in them the way one believes in dinosaurs, Camelot, Abraham Lincoln, and other magical things that happened once upon a time. As a teenager, the Bible evolved into a collection of affirmations designed to ease my angst-riddled existence (a hermeneutical shortcut Scot refers to as “morsels of blessings and promises” in... Read more
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