Revelation

What is important about revelation is not that we seek to interpret it in the same way but that we all love it and are transformed by it. To fail to recognize this would be similar to an art critic saying that what is important when considering a piece of art is that we interpret it correctly rather than loving it and being challenged by it. Indeed, this is what happens when we see various groups and denominations being set up that are founded upon the supposedly 'correct' interpretation of revelation. While joining together in groups that share the same Christian tradition has an important role, the problem arises when we claim that we have the right interpretation while all those who disagree with us are ignorant, deluded or sinfully turning their eye away from the clear light of revelation.—Peter Rollins, How (Not) to Speak of God (Brewster, MA: Paraclete Press,  2006),  p. 17.

Adam and Eve and Science

What, if anything, does evolution do to the Christian faith? Click on the title above for a video to get the discussion going. Then listen to what N. T. Wright has to say on the same subject: http://biologos.org/resources/nt-wright-on-adam-and-eve/

Green Fields

There is a fossilized and often frightened part of us that does not want to be unsettled by different than we are. We find defense and support for our too often moribund opinions in unexamined creeds, anachronistic institutions, and hackneyed cant. To think with fresh insight may threaten our worldviews and thereby our stability and protected enclaves. To question authority and the “known” may bring down upon us the wrath of present orthodoxy. We often speak past one another with different definitions of the same terms in our attempts to be diplomatic. Or we rail against those in disagreement with us—those who “stupidly” don’t see things the way we do. It may be frightening to question foundational understandings and doctrinaire presumptions, but it is this that leads to green fields and fills our hearts with existential knowing. To become unsettled in truth seeking is the joy in the pain of birthing.

Christian Atheism

No, I don't know that atheists should be considered as citizens, nor should they be considered as patriots. This is one nation under God.—George H. Bush

—Echoes of Caesar. It is enlightening to know that early Christians were referred to as "atheists." They came along not believing in any of the many gods of Rome or in Caesar as god. When the state foists a particular religion onto its citizens with the judgement that they are not "citizens" or "patriots" because they do not believe in the subscribed gods, the people of the state are no longer free, and the minds and hearts of its people are enslaved. It seems to me a good thing to be "atheistic" or at least agnostic regarding the cant of the establishment whether political, secular, or religious. 

I do not consider it an insult, but rather a compliment to be called an agnostic. I do not pretend to know where many ignorant men are sure—that is all that agnosticism means.—Clarence Darrow

What Do We Do with Spiritual Disciplines?

Let's have a conversation on the increasing controversy about Christian Spiritual transformation. As you may know, many Christians are concerned about, what they regard as, the rise of Catholic and Eastern mysticism in Protestant churches practicing the various techniques intended as means to spiritual transformation.Lectio divina, meditation, centering prayer, imaging, and a host of other practices or disciplines have been offered to the spiritually hungry as means to intimacy with God. 

What say you? Is there reason for concern or caution? Or should these kinds of practices be employed without discrimination? So as not to sway the beginning discussion, I will wait for the first comment before I give my take on the issues.

To Be Wrong

The claim that Christ died for the sins of the world rests upon who Christ is. That is, Christology will inform Christian beliefs regarding the all-important work, acceptance, status, and accessibility of salvation as provided by Christ. To be wrong here is to miss the mark and to believe a lie.

God-Man

Jesus Christ is the agent, foundation, center, and completion of salvation. All that is required for lost creation is found in the salvific work of Christ. God’s incarnation pointed to the need of Jesus' suffering on the cross, and nothing was allowed to get in the way of that mission, not even those who were closest to him (Mark 8: 31-33). This was God communicating his will in his incarnation to affect salvation. The God-man’s free-will action demonstrated an unimaginable union of God and man for the satisfaction of God and the salvation of man.