Every Wednesday during Lent, I’m going to explore an alternatives to the penal substitutionary understanding of the atonement, the dominant theory of the atonement in my part of the (theological and geographical) world. You can read all of the posts, and my past posts on this topic, here. I’ve got an ebook on the subject as well. The most recent major player on the scene of atonement theories is one developed by an anthropologist/literary critic who is still alive: René... Read more
After getting lots of snarky comments on last week’s post that showed the pile of books on my desk, I thought I’d open myself to your ridicule on my other piles. Today, my bedside pile: List: (more…) Read more
So, I made an off-handed remark last week about Minnesota having the best microbrew community in the country, and I got all sorts of push-back from people touting Colorado, Oregon, even Indiana (cough, cough). Puh-leeze. While I should not have to explain myself, I nevertheless will, by overwhelming you with links. Read a few of these and tell me why you’re not packing a UHaul and moving here. Because Surly Furious is ranked the #1 IPA in the world by RateBeer,... Read more
Geoff Holsclaw attempt an answer: If you missed it, postmodernism died on September 24th, 2011. Yup. At least if you take the word of Victoria & Albert Museum in London, which opened its “Postmodernism—Style and Subversion 1970-1990″ on that day… But if postmodernism is dead, is over, is done with, what comes after? Isn’t this the question we always want to ask, that we have to ask? If postmodernism indicated that which follows modernism, which being integrally an extension of... Read more
So, I think I’m turning the corner. I think I’m finding a reason to pray. Often what I do is write my way through problems, both spiritual and theological. That’s what I did in my very first book, and about half my books since have been in that same vein. This book, Why Pray?, however, is the first that is attempting to solve what has become a vexing problem for me both spiritually and theologically. I have been struggling to... Read more
Next month, I’ll be at the beautiful Kanuga Conference Center for the first time, along with Shane Hipps, Lauren Winner, and others. Join us there for a great week about new forms of preaching: NATIONAL EPISCOPAL PREACHING CONFERENCE — RECASTING THE SERMON: WHAT LANGUAGE SHALL WE BORROW? APRIL 23, 2012 – APRIL 26, 2012 How is a sermon heard in our day? How might our sermons receive a better hearing? What is the place of social media, technology and innovation in... Read more
And why you shouldn’t read blogs, check Facebook, or tweet: In the new 24/7 mediaverse, in a brutal, unending culture war, with the web unleashed and news and opinion flashing every few seconds, you can very easily lose yourself, and forget how and why you got here in the first place. There have been times writing and editing this blog on that kind of insane schedule for more than a decade when I have wondered who this new frantic way... Read more
No, not really. In fact, Hement Mehta (aka, The Friendly Atheist) and I had a very nice chat on the Drew Marshall Show last weekend. It did get a little spicy at the very end. Stream the audio here. Download the mp3 here. Listen to the show here. Read more
The Twin Cities, proudly my home, is currently going through a renaissance, especially on two fronts. The first is beer — we’ve got the finest collection of microbrews of any city in the the nation. The second is music. Driven largely by The Current — arguably the best radio station in the world 🙂 — we are back to the territory of Prince and The Replacements. The hip hop scene here is ruled by The Doomtree Collective, which is fronted... Read more
My latest book, The Church Is Flat: The Relational Ecclesiology of the Emerging Church Movement, is now $.99 in the Kindle store. This is a limited time offer, so click it today! (more…) Read more
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