As significant fresh work is done in various
disciplines, including theology and science, evangelicals are going to have to
realize that the Bible is not a book dropped from heaven that answers all our
questions, nor is it an inerrant vehicle for a direct communication from God.
I’d wager the real story is rather more complex and multi-layered than this.
When the essential and challenging relevance of reading both the natural world
and the biblical world informers is eventually accepted, evangelicals may begin
to realize that their “whole notion of revelation” has to be exposed to new
light with regard to what we can know and actually don’t know.
Friday, September 29, 2017
Friday Musings - September 29
Thursday, September 28, 2017
Thursday Thoughts - September 28
Imagining Jesus walked around on dusty roads in Galilee and had encounters with Nicodemus in Jerusalem at night and the Samaritan woman in Sychar at noon is not the same as believing these actually took place. Imagining does not equate either unbelief or belief. When considering these orientations, therefore, we are indebted to other informers coming into play, which help us critique the imaginatively falser and affirm the imaginatively truer.
Wednesday, September 27, 2017
Living Spiritual Rhythms - September 27
Monday, September 25, 2017
Reflection for the Week - September 25
There is no worse testimony than when Christians
miss defining moments in the history of the Christian faith. Too much gets
trashed and the next generation spends most of its time digging its way out of
the wreckage. I believe we are now facing a hugely significant issue that will
mark the faith for years to come: the dialogue between current science and ancient
theology. Unless we are willing to engage with new data and seriously consider
our interpretations afresh, there is the danger of leaving behind us the
powerful shadow of ignorance and arrogance.
Friday, September 8, 2017
Friday Musings - September 8
A key part of the drama of the gospel narratives is
that Jesus manifests himself as the sent One in the midst of the “actual” world
in order to point people in the direction of a “possible” world that is so much
more than the actual one. The actual and possible world connection and
trajectory he provides leads us into the “real” world, which can only be
grasped through imagination. Thus, when our imaginations are engaged by these
stories and in dialogue with the rest of who we are, the beliefs and actions
that pertain to this real world gradually come into focus and in so doing offer
us an illuminating vision for beginning to live a transformed life.
Thursday, September 7, 2017
Thursday Thoughts - September 7
The notion of the supposed loss or partial loss of
humans being “images of God” has had disastrous results for humanity, but
especially for the weak, disabled, and impoverished, as well as for those with
a skin color other than white, or for women. Approaches to God’s image have all
too frequently been more connected to early church, Medieval, or Reformation
ideas (of course the case for God too), than the biblical narrative. As far as
I can tell from my contemporary standpoint, in that mega story, all humans
were, are, and will continue to be “images of God,” and thus should be treated
as such.
Wednesday, September 6, 2017
Living Spiritual Rhythms - September 6
Fallen leaves, so fragile, flutter in the breeze.
Monday, September 4, 2017
Reflection for the Week - September 4
We can often tend to put far too much weight on
knowing and being a knower. While this is fitting to some degree, the
over-emphasis is a major plague, and expresses itself in several ways
including: reductionism, hiddenness, and falsification. Other perspectives are
necessary. My proposal, for one of these, is that to have knowledge is to ‘be
known.’ Being known carries significant power for knowing and therefore without
this ‘knowness’ our knowledge will surely be greatly impoverished. The more one
attempts to be a knower with a single focus trajectory of knowing, the further
one is away from the actuality of knowledge.
Friday, September 1, 2017
Vive l'imagination
What’s
your take on imagination? Do you see it as opening up creative possibilities or
fraught with dangerous fantasies?
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