Organized acts of evil, such as those witnessed over the weekend in Charlottesville, demonstrate the unleashing of ethics turned on its head. Organized evil driven by an ideology endorsed (with a wink and a nod) by the Commander in Chief means evil serves in place of the good. This is not the lawless evil of a random act; rather it is “radical evil” in which a perverse moral law is officially endorsed. The drive toward a pure race, the perfect socialist revolution, or making America great again, may not overtly promote genocide, mass murder, and white supremacy, but the latter is implicit in the former. The walls must be built, the foreigners expelled, and the “inferior races” subdued in a world in which the ultimate good is a moral law constituted in the reigning ideology. The neo-Nazis and the white supremacists are at the service of an ethic that has now been voted into place and which indeed hearkens back to an earlier era. The American electorate has created the space, through the election of this administration, for these groups to do the dirty work of maintaining the very atmosphere which we breathe[1] – the implicit presumption of white supremacy which is at the foundation of the American idea. Continue reading “The Heart of Darkness: The Appeal of Donald Trump”
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Looking for the Church
Driving on the interstate with my wife tonight, we passed another giant church billboard advertising for a church which, prophetically and almost literally, meets at Six Flags here in Atlanta. In bold letters next to a picture of the preacher in a slick suit, it said something to the effect of, “[name of church] Feels Just Like Home.”
In the darkest recesses of my mind I found myself thinking, “Then why not just stay home?” Continue reading “Looking for the Church”
Can Theology Save Science?
Rupert Sheldrake’s banned Ted Talk describing how science has fallen into a dogmatism from which it cannot, at present, extract itself, points to the necessity of a more primary form of thought. I would argue that theology, rightly done, is a mode of inquiry that precedes and grounds our understanding of all else, including science. As Sheldrake describes it, many scientists, generally those with an atheistic, materialistic bent, presume that they “know the truth” while other people – especially the religious – deal in belief. This naïve presumptuousness is not only a failure to take into account the historical dependence of science on theology it is a failure to understand how science might free itself from itself. According to Sheldrake, scientific dogmatism has halted modes of inquiry which would allow science to progress beyond its reductionist tendencies. The notion that theology might be a resource to science might seem outrageous to one unaware of the early symbiotic relationship between science and theology. At the same time, this relationship also points to the sort of theology that has proven fruitful in spawning a scientific mode of inquiry. Theologies and sciences are not all equal and one way of ascertaining a degraded or superior form of each is to judge the fruitfulness of their interaction. Continue reading “Can Theology Save Science?”
Breaking Free of Failed “Religion” Through a Practical Salvation
Religion as a projection of man (philosophy, psychology), as a sui generis essence (religious studies), or as a sacred canopy (sociology) all partake of a singular mistake. It is the same mistake found in the various Christian approaches to non-Christian religion (pluralism, inclusivism, and exclusivism). The problem with “religion” is with the category itself. There is the mistaken assumption that religion can be separated out from culture and practice and studied or theologized about as an entity or essence unto itself. The Bible does not make this mistake in that it does not address religion per se (more on this later). This raises the question as to whether Christianity is religion? Or should Christianity distinguish itself from religion? Continue reading “Breaking Free of Failed “Religion” Through a Practical Salvation”
The Blindness of “Masculine” Biblical Interpretation and the Cure of a “Feminine” Orientation
My theological journey is not very flattering in that I am not a quick study. I have come to insights such as nonviolence through a long process which, from my present perspective, look obvious and essential. I have to wonder why it took so long. If I were naturally a sweet-natured, kind, gentle, soul, learning of the biblical mandate for peace would, perhaps, not have been such a theoretical hurdle and a prolonged personal struggle. The same is true of my understanding of the role of women. If I were naturally chivalrous and loving, I suppose I would have paid more attention to a reading of Scripture that promotes these qualities. Continue reading “The Blindness of “Masculine” Biblical Interpretation and the Cure of a “Feminine” Orientation”
Recapturing Bonhoeffer’s Vision: Seminary as Radical Discipleship
With the rising cost in education, classical notions of education (liberal education aimed at character formation) are being squeezed out. Seminary education (by which I mean any collegiate biblical education) has been especially hard hit. Paul House, a seminary professor, describes the reigning questions tempting today’s seminaries: “How do we give our constituents whatever they want? Or, How do we sell degrees like any other commodity? Or, What brand of education pays well in a hurry? Or, How do we fit into the newest trend of educational technology? Or, How do we survive at all costs?”[1] He concludes that the age in which the seminary is able to produce a viable academic setting through a “good credentialed faculty” is passing as these questions come to dominate the course of seminary education.[2] Continue reading “Recapturing Bonhoeffer’s Vision: Seminary as Radical Discipleship”
We are (Not That) Church: The Forging Ploughshares Story
The convergence of the people making up the community of Forging Ploughshares is a story unto itself. Among us we have tried the megachurch, the rural church, the Roman Church, and the mission Church. We have come together more out of desperation than any organized intent. Most of us are millennials, one of the least churched groups in America.[1] I am suspicious (as a boomer) that the generational divide on this issue has more to do with an older generation which has come to expect very little.[2] Whatever reason my generation is most happy to attend ordinary church (40%), they apparently do not attend so as to grow their faith (according to Barna). The generational disaffection (some 59% of millennials who have grown up in church have left) may reflect a determined unwillingness to settle. Millennials find church irrelevant and presume God himself is absent from the institution. They are looking for honesty in regard to hard questions but most of all they are looking for a cure for loneliness – and Church is not perceived as speaking to either issue.[3] In other words, church as we mostly have it, is not being the Church. Continue reading “We are (Not That) Church: The Forging Ploughshares Story”
7 Secrets of Highly Successful – Unproductive People
The following 7 secrets are gleaned from the bestselling author (who prefers to remain anonymous); let’s call her Priscilla. Priscilla’s book reverses the standard formulas for success equated with productivity and offers an alternative ground and formula – “rest for success.” Continue reading “7 Secrets of Highly Successful – Unproductive People”
Beyond the Time That Remains: Christ’s Reconstitution of Time
The experience of gathering around the death bed of a family member creates a time experience which the New Testament refers to as Kairos. It is a time of summing up; each moment is saturated, as the time that remains is short. This is the culminating point – a point of passage. Ordinary chronos passes by in a rapid succession of moments – endured and forgotten. The sacred times of our life, the times of fulfillment or kairoi, are definitive as they mark meaning, final identity, and telos. The stories we tell to explain who we are, these are the kairoi – the definitive events which constitute our person-hood. The Hebraic notion of an event oriented time is fused with biblical narrative so that the present is an extension of the past leading to a future messianic time – the pleroma or fullness of time.[1] Every story and all time is oriented to this eschatological purpose. Continue reading “Beyond the Time That Remains: Christ’s Reconstitution of Time”
Billy Jack Versus Francis: Therapy for Overcoming Metaphysics
The violence present in our hearts, wounded by sin, is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life. This is why the earth herself, burdened and laid waste, is among the most abandoned and maltreated of our poor; she “groans in travail” (Rom 8:22). We have forgotten that we ourselves are dust of the earth (cf. Gen 2:7); our very bodies are made up of her elements, we breathe her air and we receive life and refreshment from her waters. Pope Francis, Encyclical on the Environment Continue reading “Billy Jack Versus Francis: Therapy for Overcoming Metaphysics”