A call to a new Reformation in the teaching and life of Jesus' followers
OK, time to stir the pot a little. Our particular corner of the blogosphere has been buzzing fow a while now on the subject of atonement. I’ve enjoyed it, I don’t think we’ve nearly closed the topic, and I certainly intend to return there myself at some point. Nevertheless, I think we need to step back and pause for a reality check. First of all, … Continue reading Enough with salvation already!
I have a bunch of things I need to get written and no time to write, but you guys have got to check out my Mom’s latest article on repentance. It’s related to all the sin and atonement and kingdom stuff we’ve been talking about. . .
I’m going to write about this in more detail some day, but I just came across a post that addresses my concerns very well. In fact, Dave has highlighted one of my biggest issues with the usual methods of “presenting the gospel,” by going back to Acts and looking at what the apostles actually talked about when THEY presented the gospel. Not too surprisingly (to … Continue reading Evangelism – what does it mean to share the gospel?
Due to an unfortunate trolling incident I have–at least for now–enabled moderation on this blog. I hope at some point to be able to relax the controls again; I wish Blogspot allowed for the kind of control WordPress has, that users can be approved to bypass moderation settings, but if they have that setting I haven’t found it yet. However, I want to stress that … Continue reading An apology and explanation
I just learned of this CNN report from a friend. Here’s the meat of the story, referencing a new poll by the Pew Research Center: The more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists, according to a new survey. I have no words strong enough to express my outrage. I am ashamed to be part … Continue reading Torture – May God have mercy on us!
I want to highlight a thought my friend Ben just posted over at his blog, that I think adds an additional dimension to the (mis)understanding of atonement which we have been discussing. This is the role of God the Father in the whole process. As Ben proposes the analogy, we look at atonement in an (appropriately) law-court setting. In classic PSA, God is both plaintiff … Continue reading Penal-Substitutionary Atonement–It has God’s Role Wrong
My good friend Ben and I have the greatest theological discussions by cellphone text message. This is both a blast and a pain. . .a blast in that an ordinary, underwhelming day can be interrupted at any moment by a question or a thought about stuff that really counts, and a pain in that it can be really hard to encapsulate a nice juicy thought … Continue reading Atonement and the Warfare World View
I found this article linked off of a long discussion related to a gay fellow participating in a worship team, over at Scot McKnight’s blog. Wesley Hill’s poignant piece is what I want to highlight here. Hill gives a heartfelt description of the deep frustration and intense loneliness he has experienced because, well, I’ll let him explain it himself (the “Auden” to whom he refers … Continue reading A Gay Brother’s Grief
We’ve been having a lively debate on the authority of the ancient creeds and the church fathers who wrote them, on several blogs lately. Mason, Martin, Kurt, and I have been trading comments across all four, and we’ve all shown up on a few others as well. Though in general I prefer to keep the subject matter here away from excessive navel-gazing, I think a … Continue reading The fallout of credalism . . . a personal reflection
Trevin Wax has just posted a new review on his blog . It’s Lost In Transmission?: What We Can Know About the Words of Jesus, by Nick Perrin. I can only go on Trevin’s review so far, but it looks to me like an important study for anyone who cares about the actual words of the Lord Jesus. I look forward to getting a copy.