Loosening the Grip 10

Last updated on: January 19, 2009 at 12:10 am By Scot McKnight

This post is by Mary Veeneman, professor of theology at North Park University.

In the speech he gave the night before he was assassinated, Martin Luther King, Jr. said these words:

“Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days
ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now, because I’ve been to
the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live
a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that
now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the
mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may
not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a
people, will get to the promised land!”

See this.

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Interview with Anne Rice 1

Last updated on: December 18, 2008 at 12:20 am By Scot McKnight

I recently read Anne Rice’s memoir (Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession

); the good folks at Beliefnet got me in touch with Anne for an interview — and I’m most grateful for her time and for her answers. Here is the first of two sets of questions:

Anne, your memoir singularly describes a girlhood of beauty and sensory experience and then a sensory-experience conversion, and my question is this: If it is accurate to observe a sensory dimension in your return to the Catholic Church, what would you say you were “lacking” at the sensory level that found resolution in conversion?

Your question is a challenging one, but I was not lacking at
the sensory level when I returned to the church. Rather the “going
home” was all the easier because the sensory elements of Catholicism
were still richly present, and they attracted me as much as an adult,
as they had attracted and satisfied me as a child. But my life was
full of sensory elements at the time, especially paintings by my
husband, religious statues that I had collected, numerous photographs
of gorgeous places I had visited, etc. The underlining key is this:
Catholicism does embrace the senses, and has never sought to “purify”
its sensuous elements, and for this reason I feel very comfortable in
my childhood church. The mystery of the Eucharist which drew me back
to the church is enshrined in sensuous elements: the golden tabernacle,
the ritual of the Mass, the incense, bells, the ritual of receiving
communion etc. I should add that as a child, I was shaped by this
sensuality, and it marks all my work.

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A Big Change at Jesus Creed

Last updated on: October 22, 2008 at 12:30 am By Scot McKnight

For about six months we have been in communication with a large website that has expressed an interest in hosting the Jesus Creed conversation. At first I had no interest, but I want to lay out for you today why we have made the decision to shift the site over to Beliefnet.com. |inline

Gospel 15

Last updated on: October 15, 2008 at 12:10 am By Scot McKnight

The gospel moved from Jerusalem and a gospel-shaped message for Jews to the Samaritans. When it did, this is what we read in Acts 8: |inline

Heaven 11

Last updated on: July 16, 2008 at 12:10 am By Scot McKnight

We enter into the world of John’s Gospel today. This Gospel has a stronger vertical dualism than the Synoptics, but let’s look at a few texts: |inline

Wrath 13

Last updated on: June 9, 2008 at 12:10 am By Scot McKnight

We are testing a hypothesis, namely, this one: Does “wrath” refer only to “historical” events in history, the negative implications of doing things contrary to God’s will, or does it also refer to “evangelistic” wrath (threatening with wrath when evangelizing) or “eternal” wrath (an endless state of the damned)? Our text today is illuminating. |inline

Wrath 1

Last updated on: May 19, 2008 at 12:10 am By Scot McKnight

There are some today who’d like to burn a wrath path through the Christian Church — those who believe in it can move to the right and those who don’t can move to the left as the path winds and wends its way. The question I want to ask in this series is multi-faceted and includes at least these sorts of questions: |inline

Keys of the Kingdom 41

Last updated on: March 3, 2008 at 12:10 am By Scot McKnight

Our next text is Matthew 21:31. In context: 28 “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ 29 ” ‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. 30 “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go. 31 “Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.. |inline

Surprised by Hope 13

Last updated on: February 20, 2008 at 12:15 am By Scot McKnight

(Say the Jesus Creed morning and evening during Lent.)

Chp 13 in Tom Wright’s Surprised by Hope explores building the kingdom and does so by showing that his view of resurrection reshapes justice, beauty, and evangelism. |inline

Keys of the Kingdom 13

Last updated on: January 23, 2008 at 12:10 am By Scot McKnight

The final reference in kingdom in our earliest source, the Gospel of Mark, is found in Mark 15:43 and it ties back to Mark 12:34 (Monday’s post). Here is the reference in context: 42 It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. 45 When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. 46 So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.. |inline