Weekly Meanderings, 23 August 2014

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:38 pm By Scot McKnight

I am so proud of my former student, Sam Lamerson, who has been named President of Knox Theological Seminary in Ft Lauderdale. Good for Samaritan’s Purse: Smart Money magazine has named Samaritan’s Purse the most efficient religious charity numerous times, and the group maintains a reputation of being among the first to combat the worst public health crises around the world. “Given the remote and hard-to-reach areas they work in, there’s been many instances in the past where we’ve first heard of... Read more

A Liberal’s Take on Evangelicalism

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:38 pm By Scot McKnight

Kelvin Holdsworth offers his ideas of what evangelicalism is and at the link you can read his explanations. Do you think this is fair? accurate? adequate? shallow? I thought I might help Malcolm out with 10 things about Evangelicals that Evangelicals tend not to tell you when you first encounter them and when you first encounter an Evangelical church. Evangelicals believe in hell. Evangelicals claim to read the bible and claim to take it very seriously but curiously, they don’t read... Read more

Jesus, Birds, and Flowers (by John Frye)

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:38 pm By Scot McKnight

Jesus, Birds, and Flowers “Jesus’ favored form of ‘natural theology’ was to tell parables,” writes Scot McKnight in his SGBC: The Sermon on the Mount (218). In expounding Matthew 6:25-34, Scot opens the text by pressing us to wonder whether we are theists in belief, but deists in behavior. How does the truth of God’s benevolent providence shape our day to day lives about day to day necessities? Israel expressed a robust gratitude to God for his provisions as their... Read more

The Acids of Modernity and Christian Theology

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:38 pm By Scot McKnight

Modern theology is theology done in the context of modernity, which means, in the context of what happened to thinking and culture as a result of the Enlightenment. Modern theology is often a code expression for “liberal” theology, and many ways that might be right. But Roger Olson, in his big book The Journey of Modern Theology: From Reconstruction to Deconstruction, a massively updated book he co-wrote with Stanley Grenz (called Twentieth Century Theology, 1992), spends less time thinking about “liberal” and... Read more

Up Front Grace

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:38 pm By Scot McKnight

Source: (AP) An act of kindness at a Starbucks drive-thru in Florida inspired an 11-hour chain of paying-it-forward. A woman drove up and paid for her own iced coffee at 7 a.m. Wednesday at a St. Petersburg store, and also asked to pay for a caramel macchiato for the driver behind her, who then did the same for the next customer. After a few people continued the chain, the employees started keeping a tally on a piece of paper by... Read more

Archbishop of ACNA’s Prayer for the Persecuted

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:38 pm By Scot McKnight

O God, you have made of one blood all the peoples ofthe earth, and sent your blessed Son to preach peace tothose who are far off and to those who are near: Grant that people everywhere may seek after you and find you, especially in Syria and Iraq; bring the nations into your fold; pour out your Spirit upon all flesh; and hasten the coming of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. Read more

Spiritual Abuse in the Church’s System

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:38 pm By Scot McKnight

I’ll tell you when I think the system is corrupt: when Christian people sign severance packages that require silence. Those in power are buying protection; those signing are compromising integrity. The following post grabs the main points in a longer post by Jennifer LeClaire, and her points are worthy of some conversation: What are the signs of spiritually abusive church systems? Jennifer LeClaire is news editor of Charisma. She is also director of Every Nation Prayer Room in Fort Lauderdale and author... Read more

Humans Are Changing the Global Climate. (RJS)

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:38 pm By RJS

Jonathan Moo and Robert White in Let Creation Rejoice: Biblical Hope and Ecological Crisis are unequivocal about this: human activity is changing the global climate, period. They find the evidence to be undeniable and inescapable. They are also quite clear that they view this to be a serious problem that will harm humans, especially the weak and the poor. They are less certain about other aspects – whether we have or have not crossed a tipping point, how big the... Read more

Rowan Williams on Christian Prayer

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:38 pm By Scot McKnight

What is the distinctive element of Christian prayer? Rowan Williams in his little book on the Christian life, called Being Christian: Baptism, Bible, Eucharist, Prayer, contends it is calling God “Father” so that the distinctive element of Christian prayer becomes: “For the Christian, to pray — before all else — is to let Jesus’ prayer happen in you” (62). To call out “Abba, Father,” then, is the distinctive element of Christian prayer. In praying the Lord’s Prayer, or the Our Father,... Read more

Tobin Grant, Evangelicals and Homosexuality

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 10:38 pm By Scot McKnight

Tobin Grant reveals a very common approach to these sorts of issues: everything is seen through the lens of the public sector absent any ecclesial orientation. His sketch is through the lens of Christianity Today’s articles four views — shifting over time: 1. Biblical intolerance: “The Bible says it’s a sin, that’s good enough for me.” 2. Natural intolerance: “It’s against human nature.” 3. Public accommodation: “It’s a personal sin, but we live in a pluralistic society.” 4. Personal accommodation. “It’s about love and... Read more