Last week, I wrote about a question at my dissertation defense over which I stumbled. There was one other question that tripped me up. Stacy Johnson is one of my favorite professors at Princeton, though I never took a class from him. (He is also the author of possibly the very best book on GLBT issues in the church, A Time to Embrace.) Stacy is not, however, a fan of Jurgen Moltmann, my theological muse. And at my defense, he... Read more
It’s for Google Chrome, which I also love: Read more
I’m in heavy prep mode for the first year of the Doctor of Ministry cohort that I am leading for Fuller Seminary. The cohort begins in one month, and I’m thrilled to report that a full contingent of students have been admitted. The cohort is focusing on Christian spirituality, which is, of course, a very broad subject. I’m reading several books to prep right now, among them the beautiful tome, The Story of Christian Spirituality, which traces the way that... Read more
Paraclete Press is having an awesome sale for a limited time: You can get my book, The Teaching of the Twelve, plus other Paraclete titles by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, Jon Sweeney, Scot McKnight, and Peter Rollins for $.99 on the Kindle. If you don’t have a Kindle, no worries! You can download the Kindle App on your computer or smartphone and read the book there. Of course, you can also buy a Kindle for as little as $114 — I was... Read more
Two questions during my dissertation defense last week I think I fumbled a bit. The first one was put to me by Kenda Dean who asked, in essence, “How is God revealed to human beings?” She asked this because in my dissertation, I am critical of the way that “practices” have been emphasized in practical theology over the past couple decades. This is primarily, I think, because of the preeminence of Stanley Hauerwas as Theologian Of The Americas, and because... Read more
The good people of Denver put their spiritual lives at risk by asking Nadia Bolz-Weber to preach before the myriad (look it up)-large throng at Red Rocks on Easter Sunday. I thought that maybe Nadia would borrow an idea from Watermark Church in Dallas and build a massive version of the Bridge Illustration so that she could walk across the Cross: (I shit you not. You can watch the video here. You may wonder, as I did, if the illustration... Read more
This hopeful news comes from a church that will not sign marriage licenses anymore — at least not until gay and lesbian couple are afforded the same right to marry: Louisville, Kentucky- On Sunday, April 17, the congregation of Douglass Boulevard Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) unanimously voted to end the practice of signing marriage licenses because they give legal benefits to heterosexual couples that are not available to homosexual couples. Until the church’s ministers may confer identical legal benefits... Read more
If you don’t know Richard Flory, you should. He’s the author of several books that explain GenX religion better than just about anything out there. Before heading to USC, where he is the associate research professor of sociology and Director of Research in the Center for Religion and Civic Culture, he taught at Biola (that’s the Bible Institute of Los Angeles). He’s written a post with his view on the recent NYT piece on GLBT students at Christian colleges: At... Read more
Countdown to the Wild Goose Festival I’m going to the Wild Goose Festival. I’m excited about. Yeah, yeah, the talks will be good, and so will the music. There will be great art, experiences of spirituality, and discussions about biblical justice. But this week, I’m most interested in defeating Jay Bakker and Peter Rollins. Each of us has been given a discount code, and the one of us that has the most registrants using our code will get Gareth Higgins’s... Read more
So yesterday, in front of a gallery of a couple dozen friends, a committee of five professors from Princeton Theological Seminary questioned me about my dissertation for just over 90 minutes. Then they dismissed all of us from the room, voted, and awarded me with the degree, Doctor of Philosophy. (more…) Read more
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