By Jonathan Storment (in bold); Josh Ross in regular font. One of my very good friends Josh Ross recently released his 3rd book Re\Entry. I’ve known about this project for years now because it started as a kind of method preaching/writing project that he went on to help make sense of life after a very tragic event happened in his family. It’s a project that I’ve been interested in since he first came up with the idea and am very... Read more
The claim by many today is that wisdom emerges from creation theology, not redemptive theology. Or, better yet, it emerges not from the reality of being redeemed but from the reality of being created. In other words, it is secular. Here is Tremper Longman’s summary of this set of convictions (in his new and important book) made especially popular by Walter Zimmerli and Walter Brueggemann: Wisdom thinks resolutely within the framework of a theology of creation (Zimmerli’s statement). In the... Read more
I’m curious: What is your practice when it comes to the use of set prayers? Do you pray through a psalm or the Psalms? Do you pray with prayer books? Do you, as Kris and I do, use prayer books like Phyllis Tickle’s The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime? Which are your favorites if you do use prayer books? I wrote about the use of prayer books (Praying with the Church: Following Jesus Daily, Hourly, Today), and I enjoyed all the... Read more
I’ve been reading Tom McLeish’s fascinating book Faith & Wisdom in Science – and, of course, reflecting on it here. Our first dip into the book looked at the clamor of voices proclaiming the conflict between science and faith (Faith in Science). The next chapter looks at the development and practice of science through the ages. Although it is common to think of science as a modern development, this is not quite accurate. Tom, a scientist and a Christian has... Read more
My foreword for the fine book by Sean Palmer, Unarmed Empire: In Search of Beloved Community. Sean, for whom I have deep respect, occasionally writes for this blog and he’s a teaching pastor at Ecclesia in Houston. Sean Palmer is a story-teller, a Southern storyteller if you want to know the precise genre. He’s also a preacher who loves the Bible and I’d like to say he’s a born story-teller and preacher and Bible guy, but that’s not quite right. One... Read more
Source: University of Wisconsin System leaders approved a policy Friday that calls for suspending and expelling students who disrupt campus speeches and presentations, saying students need to listen to all sides of issues and arguments. The Board of Regents adopted the language on a voice vote during a meeting at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie. The policy states that students found to have twice engaged in violence or other disorderly conduct that disrupts others’ free speech would be suspended. Students found to... Read more
What do you think? Thomas Andrew Bennett, in his book The Labor of God, contends the biggest problem with atonement theories is that they resolve a problem but not the fullness of the problem. Here are his words in the next four paragraphs: Of the idiosyncrasies characteristic of contemporary atonement theology, perhaps the most peculiar is that atonement, based as it is on the “at-oneing” of God and humanity, never appears to be concerned with a fundamental change in us. …... Read more
What depresses me about Bible translation debates today is tribalism. Some have raised the bar of this conversation to such heights that variation is tantamount to heresy. Translations can also be a window to our heart and theology and preferences. Not only can be, they are. So here goes with a sketch of tribalist translation tendencies. Each of these is partially true but not wholly true, so let’s not reify but have a little fun… NRSV for traditional mainliners; CEB... Read more
Lord of all compassion We pray for all of those caught up in the midst of tragedy or disaster: For those who have lost life and those working to save life For those who are worried for people they love For those who will see their loved ones no longer Lord Have Mercy. For those in need of the peace that passes all understanding For all who turn to you in the midst of turmoil For those who cry out... Read more
By Jeremy Berg, one of my DMin students at Northern Seminary. “They were talking with each other about everything that had happened … They stood still, their faces downcast” (Luke 24:14, 17). A murderous rampage fills the headlines again. Senseless evil has again snuffed out so many innocent lives. How long, O Lord, will evil persist? The dark cloud of death hovers over our land again. A lump hangs in our collective throat. I wept my way through a dull, rainy... Read more
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