A wise and important reflection:
http://thinktheology.co.uk/blog/article/witness_winsomeness_and_winter
HT: Jesus Creed
WHAT OUGHT A CHURCH BE AND DO?
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Category Archives: Culture
RELEVANCE AND THE BIBLE
Will Willimon is insightful and has an ability to cut through a lot of fog:
Unfortunately, too often Christians have treated the modern world as if it were a fact, a reality to which we were obligated to adjust, rather than a point of view with which we might argue.
When we speak of reaching out to our culture through the gospel, we must be reminded that the gospel is also a culture. In the attempt to “translate” the gospel into the language of the culture, something is lost. We are learning that you have not said “salvation” when you say “self-esteem.” “The American Way” is not equivalent to “the kingdom of God.”
The rest is here: https://stertin.wordpress.com/2011/09/20/william-willimons-the-culture-is-overrated/
HT: Trevin Wax
COLUMBIA SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM
The famous Masters at Columbia is one program I would enjoy. Ah, to have many lives!
In any case, I was amazed to see that there are four areas of study Arts & Culture; Science, Health & the Environment; Business & Economics; or Politics). I guess religion is subsumed under culture?
FAVORITE PLACES TO READ #5: STARBUCKS
I have spent many hours in various Starbucks. My favorites are in Manhattan, Charlottesville, VA, and yes, here in Austin.
For those of you old enough to remember the TV show Get Smart, you will recall the infamous “cone of silence.” Instead of keeping those on the outside from hearing top secrets, it was those on the inside who could not hear each other!
I have found too many folks in Starbucks acting as if their conversations could not be heard. Over the years, I have heard couples discussing delicate details of their relationship, questionable business practices, and I recently had someone drop some F-bombs on me when I disagreed with their understanding of the New Testament.
Third places like Starbucks are wonderful, but let’s remember that other people are there!
REMEMBER THE VERTICAL!
I was speaking with my dad the other night. I typically call him on Sundays, but this past Sunday was special. Dad was celebrating his eighty-ninth birthday. He continues to lead a full life with ministry to the poor and enjoys many, wonderful friendships.
We got talking about a prayer he recently wrote on the evil of terrorism. Dad mentioned that the word evil is being used more by journalists. Good thing, but evil is typically used to describe the wrong we have done to another human being. Sin, on the other hand, reminds us of what we have done against God. It reminds us that our vertical relationship is primary.
We can really celebrate when newscasters begin to use the “S” word!
HOW THE WEST REALLY LOST GOD
My review of Mary Eberstadt’s important new book:
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2013/09/14/saturday-book-review-mary-eberstadt/
CONFESSIONS OF AN EX-EVANGELICAL
“…I went to Evangelical churches fifty-two Sundays a year for the better part of 19 years, and I cannot for the life of me remember once when the name of a theologian was mentioned…
Instead of an intellectual tradition, it is a church built on emotion. Every sermon is a revival stump speech about the evils of the world and the need for salvation.”
The rest of this short, but extremely important piece is here: http://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/ex-evangelical-pro-gay-millennial/
WHAT IS THE KINGDOM?
FAME CULTURE
MAKING A GENIUS MORE ACCESSIBLE
I say “more accessible” because this is hardly A Secular Age for Dummies. Charles Taylor’s massive and dense book is tough sledding. I have not read much of it, but am certainly familiar with the work of Taylor.In How (Not) to Be Secular, Jamie Smith brings the intellectual cookies to a lower shelf, but don’t be fooled, serious thinking is still required. Smith respects his readers by providing an accessible, yet thoughtful distillation of one of the most consequential books of our day.
Instead of doing a typical book review, let me briefly mention six things I appreciated about this book:
*The writing style is elegant and engaging. Let me give one example from page 11: “Ardor and devotion cannot undo the shift in plausibility structures that characterizes our age.” This is wonderfully conceived, but it is also pregnant with implications.
*There is a judicious use of illustrations from literature, music, and movies.
*Since I am not a dispassionate reader on the subject of doubt (I know the struggle to believe firsthand), I am grateful for the insights on living in this unusual climate of secularism.
*The author is careful to understand his subject matter. A good example is the compassionate assessment of the troubled genius, David Foster Wallace. Smith does not offer a glib critique of Wallace’s writings. Wallace is looked at seriously, even one could say, sympathetically. To be sure, Smith does not agree with Wallace’s overall philosophy, but Smith does a good job of showing how others have missed salient features of Wallace’s approach.
*Smith clearly appreciates Charles Taylor’s overall project in A Secular Age. However, that does not impede Smith from offering important pushbacks and critiques.
*Both Smith and Taylor understand that a silly, sentimental, and Sunday School-ish type of faith is hardly enough to stave off the onslaughts of secularism. Smith does a good job of showing how foolish it is to abandon the Christian faith for the “mature” position of materialism. Rather, we ought to abandon the trivial or superficial beliefs of American Christianity.