Once again You Tube is here to save us from our own ignorance.
Flotsam and jetsam (4/20)
HT 22 Words
Good Reads
- Multisite, the Poker Tell and the Importance of Presence: nobody in the multi-site world pipes in the music by videolink in the way that is simply assumed as legitimate when it comes to the preacher. Yet in so doing, it seems to me that such ministries are conceding the importance of presence – of real, physical presence – to the gathering of the church.
- Angry Nerds: Is it me or is there a growing number of theologically conservative preachers, teachers and seminary students who just seem ticked off all of the time?
- Eugene Peterson on the Reading and Writing Life of the Pastor: Good writers are people who pay attention to language, are interested in telling the truth, and are in some ways finding themselves inoculated against the fads of what will sell, what will please. Good literature almost always goes against the grain of the culture: interpreting it, subtly criticizing it, maybe not polemically. Pastors are right in the center of deceit and corruption and bad use of language. We have a commitment to use words accurately and honestly.
- More Congregations Turn to Facebook, Web, High-Tech Outreach: No matter where you live, you can go to church, so to speak, with Christ Fellowship. The McKinney, Texas, congregation is on board with almost every high-tech gambit under heaven.
Why Old Books Smell Like Old Books
I’m one who loves the smell of old books. There’s something about the smell of musty and slightly-decaying old paper that I find comforting. (Oddly, when I smell something decaying in the back of the fridge, it’s significantly less comforting.) If you’d like to know why old books smell the way they do, here’s a great little video from Abe Books on how an old book is really like an experiment in organic chemistry, with a variety of elements coming together to produce their unique fragrance.
Retrieving Reformed Theology: Engaging the Past to Inform the Present
Books on historical theology tend to be anything but “historical.” Instead, they often appropriate some theologian for the author’s theological agenda, disguising theology as history. In Retrieving Doctrine: Essays in Reformed Theology (IVP, 2011), Oliver Crisp takes a different approach, stating up front that he’s engaging historical figures for the purpose of doing constructive theology today, an approach that he calls “theological retrieval.” In other words, Retrieving Doctrine isn’t primarily about simply understanding theologians of the past, though Crisp does a very nice job with this task as well. But his real purpose is to create “collegial” discussions with theologians of the past for the sake of doing constructive theology today. And that’s where the book is at its most interesting.
Crisp divides his nine chapters into three main sections: creation and providence, sin and salvation, and the Christian life. And, along the way, he hits on major issues like creation, providence, original sin, the incarnation, the atonement, universalism, prayer, the church, and communion. Crisp engages each of these topics through the writings of a particular reformed theologian (Calvin, Barth, Edwards, Turretin McLeod, and Nevin). So each chapter serves multiple purposes: you learn more about reformed theology, you develop a better understanding of a particular reformed thinker, and you dig into a theological issue of some importance today. That alone makes this an excellent resource.
This Week’s Book Giveaway! Practicing Theological Interpretation
For this week’s giveaway we have Joel Green’s Practicing Theological Interpretation: Engaging Biblical Texts for Faith and Formation (Baker, 2012). “Theological interpretation” has gotten a lot of attention over the last few years, but many still struggle to understand exactly what it is and how you go about doing that. If you’re interested in theological interpretation and would like to learn more about it, this would be a great place to start. So scroll down to see how to enter.
Here’s the description from the publisher.
Much is written about the theory of theological interpretation, but how does it function when it comes to actually working with biblical texts? This volume shows that theological interpretation is not so much an exegetical method as it is a practice concerned with Scripture’s role in the faith and formation of persons and ecclesial communities. Biblical scholar Joel Green demonstrates both the practice of theological interpretation and the fruitfulness of this approach to reading biblical texts, providing students with helpful ways of wrestling with knotty interpretive issues. He also explores how theological inquiry can coexist with rigorous academic study of the Bible.
Entering is simple. Just do one or more of the following. And, as usual, the more of these you do, the better your chances of winning. (To make my life easier, please leave one comment for everything that you do. So, for example, if you “like” the post on Facebook and also Tweet about it, leave two comments – one for each.)
- Leave a comment on this post saying that you want the book
- Subscribe to the blog via email (in the sidebar) or RSS
- Click the Facebook “like” button on this post
- Share this post on Twitter
- Friend me on Facebook, follow me on Twitter, or add me to your Google+ circles
See, nice and simple. I’ll select a winner next Tuesday (April 24). Stay tuned!
This Week’s Winner!
Thanks to everyone who participated in last week’s giveaway to win two books on Jesus and the gospels. Sadly, there can only be one winner. And this week’s winner is:
Vanessa
Congratulations Vanessa! Please send me an email with your contact information so I can get your books shipped over to you.
And if you’re still hoping to win some free books, stay tuned. I’ll be announcing our next giveaway shortly.
Flotsam and jetsam (4/18)
Good Reads
- The Gospel is Insufficient: the gospel is not sufficient to ensure the continuation of the gospel.
- Dear Megachurch: This Is Why We Make Fun of You: Without further ado, here are 5 reasons why people and pastors of smaller churches make fun of bigger churches.
- “Ifs” Kill: One of the problems in the current conversation regarding the relationship between law and gospel is that the term “law” is not always used to mean the same thing. This is understandable since in the Bible “law” does not always mean the same thing.
- Giving Thomas His Due:It may simply be a sign of my own dubious discipleship, but I always feel Thomas gets a bad rap. It’s not like the other disciples leapt eagerly to belief. Jesus’ appearance grounded their faith.
Other Info
- The 2012 Pullitzer Prizes have been announced
Just for Fun
- And, here are The 21 Absolute Worst Things in the World (I asked my youngest daughter, and she confirmed that some of these are truly terrible).
Doubting Dawkins in the Face of Tragedy
Does atheism have anything to offer a person struggling with tragedy and grief? That’s the question raised by this video, which I’ve seen posted in a few places. What do you think? Does a video like this score any points against atheism by pointing out how empty it is in the face of real tragedy?
My first response to this video wasn’t terribly positive. An atheist could easily use a video like this to support the claim that religion really is just a crutch for those too cowardly to face the tragic emptiness of life. The video seems to suggest that only religion can provide real solace in the face of death. But is “solace” religion’s primary function? Do we believe merely because it makes us feel better? If so, Marx was right and religion is an opiate.
But, on the flipside, the video does highlight the fact that human experience seems to raise questions that atheism is poorly equipped to handle. It’s not necessarily that we simply seek “comfort” in religion. But it’s that the answers atheism offers fall apart in the face of people’s lived experience. Atheism sounds good in the classroom, but not the cemetery. As I said in an earlier post, it’s hard to dismiss evil when the cat is sitting on your head.
But I’m probably over-thinking things (I usually do). Maybe it’s just a funny video worth a few moments of your time.
Last Chance to Win Two Books on Jesus and the Gospels
This week’s giveaway is almost over. You have until the end of the day today to enter for a chance to win A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jesus: Reading the Gospels on the Ground by Bruce Fisk and Jesus and the Gospels by Craig Blomberg. I’ll be picking a winner at the end of the day. So make sure you get your name in quickly.
And stay tuned for a new giveaway that I’ll be announcing in the morning!
What Did God Do after Adam and Eve Sinned?
I just posted the most recent excerpt from Good News for the Living Dead over at the Transformed blog. It begins with an interesting conversation that I had with my daughter a while back.
Me: What did God do after Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden?
Daughter: He punished them.
Me: Yes, but else did he do?
Daughter (after a long pause): Um, he tortured them?
That wasn’t exactly what I was looking for!
From there I go into a discussion of exactly what God did after Adam and Eve sinned. I think we spend far too much time looking at the “wrath” and “consequences” side of the story, often neglecting the many ways in which God’s response to their sin was about grace from beginning to end.
Read the rest of the post and let me know what you think.
