Nail deception, don’t be nailed by it.
Thursday, April 30, 2015
Living Spiritual Rhythms–April 29
Harm done to others and self through a lack of care or breaking of promise can’t escape the questions of “what” and “who” attributed to self, which promotes a structure of accountability for destructive actions. Such an unbearable surplus lies at the heart of existence. To be finite is not to be guilty. To be an interpreter is not to be a sinner. But to injure the other and self is indeed a fault towards the Divine. Strikingly, this culpability factor can only be remedied by the love of the Crucified and Risen One, who becomes culpable on our behalf and therefore empties one surplus and begins to fill it with another.
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
The Beauty Myth–April 29
From the insightful book The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf:
Imagine a women’s magazine that positively featured round models, short models, old models – or no models at all, but real individual women. And let’s say that it ran articles in praise of the magnificence of visible age, displayed loving photo essays on the bodies of women of all shapes and proportions, examined with gentle curiosity the body’s changes after birth and breast-feeding, offered recipes without punishment or guilt, and ran seductive portraits of men. It would run aground, losing the bulk of its advertisers. Magazines, consciously or half-consciously, must project the attitude that looking one’s age is bad because $650 million of their ad revenue comes from people who would go out of business if visible age looked good. The advertisers who make women’s mass culture possible depend on making women feel bad enough about their faces and bodies to spend more money on worthless or pain-inducing products than they would if they felt innately beautiful.
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Did Adam & Eve Really Exist?
How far do we go in holding to a historical A&E? Is it really necessary? Some (Walton) argue that they were called out of a larger group or put into sacred space in the garden as priests. But there is little biblical or scientific warrant for this. For another angle, try our new book From Evolution to Eden.
http://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Eden-Making-Sense-Genesis/dp/1938367197/
Monday, April 27, 2015
Saturday, April 25, 2015
The Fallacy of Metanarrative-April 25
In our view, Richard Dawkins and others who promote contemporary naturalism as a metanarrative (a story that explains everything), have fallen into the modernist lure of the illusion of total knowledge. But often theists and Christians advance the biblical text as a metanarrative and end up buying into the same deception. For an alternative to these extremes, focused on Genesis 1-3, read our new book From Evolution to Eden.
http://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Eden-Making-Sense-Genesis/dp/1938367197/
Friday, April 24, 2015
Friday Musing– April 24
We can only play games with others for so long before being confronted with the truth that we’re first playing them with ourselves.
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Thursday Thoughts–April 23
Humans have the outstanding capacity to navigate through various physical states and material obstacles in life, while at the same moment being immersed into imagination, which takes us into another space, tethered to what’s in front of and around us, but also allowing a ‘being’ beyond it. Fantastic !
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Science & Theology
John Walton in The Lost World of Adam and Eve has done an excellent job of carefully setting Genesis 1-3 in its ancient context (Bravo), but not enough in engaging the natural world informer and its implications for interpreting these stories. 
For another view; one that aims to take both into account, read our new book From Evolution to Eden. Making Sense of Early Genesis.
http://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Eden-Making-Sense-Genesis/dp/1938367197/
Monday, April 20, 2015
Reflection for the Week–April 20
Ode to rediscovering the “lightness” of being> When searching for life in the midst of death, we sometimes have to turn to drama rather than reason. That is, an embrace of poetics, the vertical, the breaking of clock time dimensions, takes us beyond logic and science. This elevated reality connection – contact, can never be reduced to subjectivity or objectivity, though it concerns both, but implies a resilient commitment to action, reflection, wonder, and exploration that forges new perspectives, which compel us to continue the search in spite of paradox and discord, until we find.
Saturday, April 18, 2015
Science & Theology
After reading John Walton’s helpful new book, The Lost World of Adam and Eve, I thought you might appreciate knowing that we work with Genesis 1-3 from an additional angle to Walton. Our new book, From Evolution to Eden. Making Sense of Early Genesis actually concurs with the notion that we have an evolutionary history and then tries to work out the theological implications of this, uniquely putting current science and biblical text interpretation in dialogue to see where that takes us. Developing a narrative / possible world approach for understanding Genesis, we argue, paves the way ahead for the debate between Science & Theology.
http://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Eden-Making-Sense-Genesis/dp/1938367197/
Friday, April 17, 2015
Friday Musings – April 17
I’m so grateful that in the midst of tremors of evil, there are eruptions of good.
Thursday, April 16, 2015
Thursday Thoughts - April 16
It’s almost as if the “poetic moment” is a suspension of time, in time. That is, this interruption allows for spontaneity in the creative impulse to slash through the stark and monotonous ticking of the clock. The, aesthetically charged, opens up imaginative possibilities for us to be in contact with that which is beyond, while we remain tethered to what is within. Fascinating !
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Living Spiritual Rhythms–April 15
The New Testament gospels are excellent examples of plot making. These stories are not chronological accounts of daily routines and events, but creative imitations of action that are imaginatively reconstructed to stake a claim that Jesus is the Messiah of Israel and therefore the world. Imagination is not only a feature of their compositions, but also a necessity for their interpretation, appropriation, and living.
Monday, April 13, 2015
Reflection for the Week–April 13
Current scientific understandings are raising serious questions for some traditional interpretations of Genesis 1-3. As a result, many people are turning away from the Christian faith. Biblical interpreters have to do a better job at putting science and the biblical text into dialogue, come what may. Credibility is crucial, especially in this “defining moment” for church and culture.
Sunday, April 12, 2015
From Evolution to Eden
Questions concerning the interpretation of Genesis 1-3 and our evolutionary history are a minefield. Check out our new book From Evolution to Eden, if you’re looking for a reliable guide through adventurous territory.
http://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Eden-Making-Sense-Genesis/dp/1938367197/
Friday, April 10, 2015
Science & Theology in Dialogue–April 10
Is this world some kind of freakin accident? A roll of the dice? Does Genesis 1-3 still have anything to say about these questions today? Read our new book From Evolution to Eden to see how we try to sort it out.
http://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Eden-Making-Sense-Genesis/dp/1938367197/
Thursday, April 9, 2015
Thursday Thoughts - April 9
Indictments of the supposed guardians of orthodoxy proliferate throughout the Scriptures. Prophets are continually speaking God’s word to a faithless people who set aside his commands for their own benefit. Jesus is even more to the point with his sarcastic irony towards the religious elite of his day concerning the pretense of washing hands to be clean. Pseudo-orthodoxy called for ceremonial washing before eating. Jesus says this is an absurd charade because it leaves the heart uncleansed. Those today that wave the banner of “we’re orthodox and you’re not,” need to seriously consider where their hearts are, rather than inspecting the hands of everyone else.
Wednesday, April 8, 2015
Will Churches Survive A PT Culture?–April 8
One of the salient features that marks the twenty-first century is that we are living in a post-trust culture. This means that our ability to trust institutions, governments, politicians, economies, and churches is coming to an end. Furthermore, the Christian faith in the West seems to be losing its traction, coherence, and credibility. The principles of marketing and consumerism in many of our churches are replacing the deep spiritual realities of truth, unity, and love, which are so essential in a world lost in propaganda and fraud. It seems to me, therefore, that this is a defining moment, and that churches are at a historic crossroads. Even prominent leaders of large denominations are aware: church survival is under serious threat. I believe we can make contributions to reversing this demise if we seek to exemplify a variety of perspectives:
1) Be living testimonies to God’s truth, grace, and love in serving others.
2) Engage nature and humanity missionally and redemptively.
3) Practice appropriate levels of confidence and humility in apologetics.
4) Focus on better ways of interpreting the biblical text.
5) Support credible scholarship in a multiplicity of disciplines.
6) Generate creative and interesting music, writing, and art.
7) Involve ourselves with integrity in politics, culture, and economics.
8) Care for the poor and oppressed.
9) Avoid being so self-centered.
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Science & Theology Dialogue
It is one thing to read Genesis 1-3 “as it was meant to be read” and another not only to do this, but also to bring these stories into dialogue with current science and then see where we end up. Our new book From Evolution to Eden does just that !
http://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Eden-Making-Sense-Genesis/dp/1938367197/
Monday, April 6, 2015
Reflection for the Week–April 6
It is crucial to first ask the “why” questions. Push them as far as we can. Study, wonder, and explore. But after our thoughtful investigations take us to the limit, we will sometimes still have no answers. When this happens, we want to shift the focus from “why” on to “how” to live in this world, notably as followers of the Crucified and Risen One. It is the “how” focus that overturns the “why” and becomes primary, while nevertheless the “why” questions remain; they fade into a secondary position.
Thursday, April 2, 2015
From Evolution to Eden
Our new book From Evolution to Eden is a unique collaboration between a scientist and a theologian. What’s the result of this interdisciplinary exchange for the interpretation of Genesis 1-3? Get the book here to find out:
http://www.amazon.com/Evolution-Eden-Making-Sense-Genesis/dp/1938367197/
Wednesday, April 1, 2015
Living Spiritual Rhythms–April 1
An insurmountable antagonism towards self – self-hate – read as a continual experience of fault, undoes dialogue and strikes at the heart of selfhood. When trust and suspicion cancel each other out, there will be little or no capacity to change self-hate. What and who to trust and what and who to be suspicious of, if suspended in this manner defy each other, resulting in a default adherence to the status quo. To break the cycle of the same, it must be realized that trust and suspicion orientations cannot rest solely on the self, and other informers have to be taken into consideration. An embrace of a dialogue with these reliable informers can help to validate appropriate trust and suspicion, and thereby expose self-hate as a lie, eventually replacing it with a finite, yet genuine picture of a truer self to love and be loved, in the configuration of oneself as another.
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