Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology
Each year, Lancaster Theological Seminary names five “outstanding graduates” to receive complimentary one-year subscriptions to Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology. I’m not so sure I can live up to the “outstanding” tag, but I do appreciate being one of the five named by the faculty @ LTS. Too, I love free theology journals. Thank you!
Empire Tools & the Subjugation of Christianity 1
Early medieval Christianization mimicked the methodology and philosophy of empire expansion more than the evangelistic processes of the early or primitive church.
Christianity had been thoroughly absorbed into Rome and mirrored almost all of its ethnocentric prejudices by 500 C.E. The 600’s saw an almost complete superimposition of a curiously familiar sociopolitical philosophy and procedure over religious ideology, duty, and mission. The result was a systemic sort of Christianization, rather than compassion driven evangelization. Approved belief and creedal perfection replaced the original movement toward diverse unification and care for the needs and souls of neighbors. The Church became a new kingdom cut from a fading empire’s cloth. Read More »
Empire Tools & the Subjugation of Christianity 2
Some of the most vivid examples of religion perpetuating empire can be found in the historic documentation concerning the Christian emperor Charlemagne and the conquest of the Saxons. Christian conversion - if the following documents are accurate representations of historic events - was not encouraged during the early medieval period, but rather forced upon a subjugated people. Read More »
MDG: Brethren in Christ Christology
Ministerial Ethics class requirements include the perusal of my denomination’s Code of Ethics. The Manual of Doctrine and Government of the Brethren in Christ Church is really solid theological reading. I especially appreciate Section IV (Jesus Christ and Salvation). Read More »
Cultural Captivity Vs. Cultural Fluidity: What Does It Mean To Be In The World But Not Of It?
I found David Harrington Watt’s thoughts on “cultural captivity” to be surprisingly interesting. No, I’m not a fanboy of his book, or its $50.00 price tag, or his so-called Ethnography, but I do think he is saying something seriously important as regards this particular subject. Well, he might not actually be saying anything at all, at least not specifically, but he is at least hinting at something important.1 I was left pondering a familiar but old question after this read of Bible-Carrying Christians: “What does it mean to be in the world but not of it?” Read More »
A Serious Caveat Re: Christus Victor
A note of caution to those mad rushing the embrace of the Christus Victor motif of Jesus Christ’s atonement: There is a caveat, as concerns the classical view of atonement, aka Christus Victor, narrative (Weaver) or otherwise (Aulen). This caveat must be taken seriously, lest the motif be misinterpreted or misconstrued. Christus Victor presumes as reality the dualistic and cosmic battle between God’s good and Satan’s evil. Good and evil are realities of this world, visible in humanity, nature and the universe. This reality can be summarized as [S]in. We are inherently plagued by this [S]in. Yes, Jesus Christ’s atonement looses us to enjoy a real-time relationship with God, but what prevention were we bound to in the first place? In short: Sin, Death, and the Devil.¹ Christus Victor - and the New Testament - can not be taken seriously without an authentic acknowledgment of Sin, Death, and Devil, and the accompanying and cataclysmic battle between its evil power and Jesus’ holy good. So, do wrestle with the New Testament concept of Sin, Death and Devil before you start flying the Christus Victor image of atonement as a misguided appropriation of sorts. Read More »
Our Subjugation to the Subsidiary and Mutinous
The following excerpt from David B. Hart’s The Doors of the Sea properly ’sets the table’ for Christus Victor: Read More »
Penal Substitution or Christus Victor?
I have spent the last few weeks seriously grappling with the cross of Jesus of Nazareth. Atonement, specifically, is very, very important to me. Salvation is very, very important to me, as it should be. Christ’s work for humanity is important. I am a minister of the Gospel. The importance of such subjects are presumed, and correctly so. A seminary night class focused upon Christology is proving itself to be an enormously helpful guide, as far as Christological & theological clarity, focus, and construction are concerned. So, I have been seriously preoccupied with one, ultimate question: “What happened on the cross?” I found the answer while critically unpacking the Cross, Atonement Theory(ies), and honestly questioning more than a few of my previously unexamined beliefs. Read More »
Human Nature Theory and Ethical Orientations
We were presented with a worksheet in a class on Ministerial Ethics (PL311) detailing the Four Theories of Human Nature as lifted from Augsburger’s Pastoral Counseling Across Cultures. We were instructed to theologically identify with one of the four theories. We were also presented with a variety of ethical orientations, such as: Deontological (rules and duty); Teleological: (goals and outcomes); Situational (acts and decisions that fit the situation); Sense (conscience and spirit); Virtue (the formation of character in community); liberation (fulfillment of life and freedom from oppression); and Care (responsible care to self and other). The goal was to associate an ethical orientation with one’s choice of nature theory. The combinations classmates announced in class were interesting, to say the least. I’ll make this point in a bit, but first I’ll list the Four Theories of Human Nature. Read More »
Self-enrichment in a World of Relative Values?
I randomly pulled an ethics book from its shelf this morning, after my morning devotions. I flipped to a very provocative page re: the issue of postmodernism, and its relationship and/or affect upon ethics, which has been a strong and obvious theme in discussions concerning Christianity and Christian ethics of late, at least here on this weblog. The content I read deserves to be quoted in full. It is simple, rich and, as I stated earlier, provocative: Read More »
