Opinion Central Poll 2010.40: Final Results

Will you stay awake on New Year's Eve to welcome the new year?

In Memoriam-- 2010

Theologians Who Passed the Torch to Us in 2010

From Michael Westmoreland-White:

Vernon M. Grounds (1914-2010). This is an addition from the comments. Grounds, the Emeritus President of Denver Seminary, passed away on 12 September at the age of 96. A Conservative Baptist, Grounds taught theology and Christian ethics. He was an ambassador for the best of American evangelicalism; always a voice for the poor and for peacemaking.

Edward Schillebeeckxx (1915-2010) Dominican priest and theologian who was hugely influential in Vatican II and was one of the progressive Catholic leaders after the Council. He was especially strong in incorporating critical biblical scholarship into his work as a systematic theologian.

John M. Swomley (1915-2010). Moderately liberal United Methodist theological ethicist. A pacifist, Swomley was a conscientious objector to WWII, a leader of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and a behind the scenes player in the Civil Rights movement. He taught Christian social ethics at St. Paul School of Theology, St. Louis, MO.

Raimon Pannikar (1919-2010). Spanish Catholic theologian and "apostle of interfaith dialogue."

George R. Edwards (1920-2010). Presbyterian New Testament scholar and longtime pacifist and peace activist, especially through the Fellowship of Reconciliation. Teaching for decades at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Edwards was known not only for an amazing classroom presence (and prayerful gentleness), but for two major monographs, Jesus and the Politics of Violence (1972) and Gay/Lesbian Liberation: A Biblical Perspective (1984).

Robert Bratcher (1920-2010). Baptist missionary and Bible translator for the American Bible Society and the United Bible Societies. Bratcher was the major translator of Good News for Modern Man which became the New Testament section of The Good News Bible, at one time the most popular English translation sold in the United States. This established the "dynamic equivalence" approach to biblical translation.

W. Morgan Patterson (1925-2010). Southern Baptist church historian who taught at 4 different Baptist seminaries and was president of Georgetown College (Georgetown, KY). Patterson was most famous for his strong critique of "Baptist successionism," the erroneous view (still popular in some circles) that Baptists are not Protestants but the “true church” traced in unbroken succession from Jesus’s baptism by John in the River Jordan through dissenting groups throughout the centuries.

E. Earle Ellis (1926-2010) Southern Baptist New Testament scholar with a scholarly conservative bent. Worked especially on the use of the Old Testament by New Testament writers.

Donald G. Bloesch (1928-2010) Evangelical systematic theologian who stayed with the mostly-liberal United Church of Christ and taught at the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary. An evangelical interpreter of Karl Barth (and, to lesser extents, Emil Brunner and Reinhold Niebuhr), Bloesch had a two-fold mission: to bring back more orthodoxy into mainline Protestant theology and to get evangelicals to read more widely, think more self-critically, with more openess to the entire global church, and to persuade the entire church of the centrality of prayer and piety to both theology and the life of the church.

Bruce L. Shelly (1929-2010) Evangelical Baptist church historian in the Conservative Baptist Association. Taught for decades at Denver Seminary.

Ralph McInerny (1929-2010). American Catholic priest, philosopher, and professor at University of Notre Dame. Also author of the best-selling mystery novels of Father Downing.

David Livingstone Mueller (1930-2010). Baptist theologian and pastor who was a major interpreter of the work of Karl Barth. Mueller was one of my teachers and although others made more of an impact on the content of my thought, Mueller did the most in helping me to think theologically. After retiring from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1994, Mueller taught for another decade at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Austin, TX.

Moishe Rosen (1932-2010). American Baptist minister and controversial founder of Jews for Jesus, an evangelistic ministry to members of the Jewish faith.

Clark Pinnock (1937-2010). Canadian evangelical Baptist who moved from a Carl Henry-style evangelical rationalism to embracing the Charismatic movement, Arminianism, interfaith dialogue, and "Open Theism."

Arthur Gish (1939-2010). Amish-born conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, Gish was a minister in the Church of the Brethren, a popular pacifist author and peace activist. He worked especially on peacemaking in Israel-Palestine through Christian Peacemaker Teams.

Andrew D. Lester (1940-2010). Baptist minister and longtime professor of psychology of religion and pastoral care and counseling at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Louisville, KY) during the 1970s and 1980s. With the fundamentalist takeover, Lester moved to Texas and finished his teaching career at Brite Divinity School of Texas Christian University.

We thank God for their faithful witness.
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This list is surely incomplete. If you know of anyone else who should be listed, please indicate that in the comments.

HT: Dave Black

Calvinist Pick-Up Lines

This Wesleyan is loving it!

HT: Andy Stoddard

Top Ten Posts of 2010

Based on hits and comments (in chronological order):

1. Did Independents Perpetrate a Massacre in Massachusetts?

2. Darwin Trumps Jesus

3. What Happened to All the Folks Screaming "Empire!"

4. The Underlying Narrative of the Obama/Notre Dame Controversy

5. It's Fiscal "Cancer" But What Stage Is It?

6. Should Christians Align Themselves with a Political Party?

7. We Are All Fundamentalists About Something

8. Freedom of Speech, Yes... But to What End?

9. Orthodoxy Versus Orthopraxy?

10. How Something Gets Done Is Just As Important As What Gets Done: Why Health Care Reform Is So Unpopular

The Lion, The Klingon, and The Carpenter's Son: Is Our Universe Only Part of a Multiverse?

We have learned a lot since God humbled Job by daring him to comprehend how Orion and the Pleiades held together. But some scientists and philosophers say our idea of the universe is still too small for the infinite mind of God.

"Creation is more vast than we've ever understood," says Gerald Cleaver, a physics professor at Baylor University. "We as humans have gone through stages, understanding reality to be much larger than it was before."

We first expanded our understanding of the cosmos from a single planet with an intriguing, sparkling sky overhead, to a system of planets circling the sun, then to a galaxy of stars. Now we know that our galaxy, comprising a hundred billion stars, is one part of a universe that includes immense superstructures containing thousands of galaxies—"Great Walls," astronomers call them, millions of light-years across. Imagining this expanse shames some of our finest minds into Job-like awe. Cleaver and others believe we might have to widen our view yet again.

"The vastness of reality makes me appreciate the vastness of the Creator," says Robin Collins, a philosophy professor at Messiah College in Pennsylvania. "I come into contact with it through just thinking about the universe itself. It serves as sort of an icon for me."

Cleaver and Collins say we might have a clearer answer than ever to God's later, more basic question for Job: Do you know the laws of the heavens? (38:33).

Cleaver works in a branch of theoretical physics called string theory, specifically M-Theory—the same theory that gives physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking the confidence, in his recent book with Leonard Mlodinow, The Grand Design, to declare philosophy dead and God unnecessary.

"To me [M-Theory] offers a Christian God whose creative ability is much larger than we ever could imagine before," Cleaver says.

At first, string theory at its simplest had a lyrical—or at least musical—explanation. Every particle in the universe was a tiny, one-dimensional string, and different particles existed because of the different ways a string could vibrate. Physicists say that, just as different vibrations produce different notes on a violin or cello, the vibrations of a string could produce an electron, a quark, a neutrino, and so on. That, the theory said, was how the universe worked.

Those were the days. By the mid-1990s, debates over the exact properties of strings had created five competing string theories. Princeton University's Edward Witten came up with a way to stitch them together, but the result was not really a "string" theory anymore. A new, single theory arose, called M-Theory, which remains so sketchy that theorists don't agree on what the M stands for. It might be membrane.

In the old string-theory days, many theorists had come to believe that space had ten dimensions—the three directions that we see, with time as a fourth dimension, then six curled-up spatial directions that are too small to see unless you happen to be a string. M-Theory added an eleventh dimension, in which a lot seemed to be going on. In addition to one-dimensional strings, the eleventh dimension revealed multi-dimensional objects dubbed membranes (branes for short). Hidden from us with our three-dimensional perception, branes could be as small as a string or as large as a universe. In fact, some have suggested that our universe is a massive brane inside a much larger reality.

The violin metaphor doesn't really seem to encapsulate all this. But if experiments prove it accurate, M-Theory might solve several technical problems that have previously kept scientists from creating a unified "Theory of Everything." At the moment, M-Theory is the best chance scientists have for arriving at a complete picture of the universe. Some M-Theorists, Cleaver included, think ultimately it will take us even further: that our entire universe—planets, stars, Great Walls, and all—is just a "bubble" on an ocean of existence covered with many more like it.

These aren't Star Trek-style mirror universes, in which duplicates of each one of us live on parallel Earths where Hitler won the war or the Twin Towers never fell. The multiverse made possible in M-Theory predicts an incredibly diverse array of possible universes with different sets of physical laws—maybe as many as 10500 possible realities. We likely cannot ever reach them, and only a few would be hospitable to human life. Some suggest that universes are continually created, and maybe destroyed, as branes collide with one another.

According to Hawking, the multiverse eliminates the need for God. "M-Theory predicts that a great many universes were created out of nothing," he writes in The Grand Design. "Their creation did not require the intervention of some supernatural being or god. Rather, these multiple universes arise naturally from physical law."

But Collins says Hawking can't escape God that easily: If the universe arose from the laws of physics, then who designed the laws of physics? Why does the multiverse work the way it does? Trying to apply science to the question of God, Collins said, "is where scientists are way overstepping their area of competence."

"One of the problems with those arguments is it really puts God … in a very small box," Cleaver says. "It portrays God as someone who can only fill in the gaps that science can't explain. As theists, we need to perceive God as the primary source, the fundamental laws of physics as the secondary."

To Cleaver, M-Theory's multiverse, with its dizzying variety, unending moments of new creation, and perhaps infinite scope, makes perfect sense as the work of "a God of the infinities, who creates eternally." If God is truly eternal, infinite, and self-consistent, Cleaver wrote in a 2006 paper, "We should expect God to create eternally and infinitely, or not at all."

A scientist stepping on philosophy's turf? Maybe. But Collins expressed similar thoughts.

"Paul says in Romans 1 that creation manifests the eternal attributes of God—God's eternal and infinite power," Collins says. "You may expect an infinitely creative being to create more than one universe—in fact, many, and maybe more kinds of realities."
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You can read Trevor Persaud's entire article, "Christ of the Klingons: A Physicist and a Philosopher Envision God's Design in the Beautiful Equations of String Theory," here.

HT: David Opderbeck

The Power of Personal Testimony

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched-- this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you may also have fellowship with us-- 1 John 1:1-3

The writer of 1 John states in no uncertain terms right from the beginning why his testimony concerning Jesus should be believed: he was there, he witnessed the life and ministry of Jesus personally. John and his companions heard Jesus with his own ears, he saw Jesus with his own eyes, and he touched with his hands the one whom he refers to as the Word of life. This story is not being passed down second-hand; it is not based on vague recollections from people long removed from the events.

Throughout the centuries nothing has been more powerful and significant in convincing unbelievers that Jesus is Lord than personal testimony-- testimony that can trace the truth back to the ministry of Jesus and the testimony of a changed life. Christians clearly stand on firm ground in reference to the former, we have all too often failed in reference to the latter.

How absolutely essential it is for Christians to embody the character of Jesus in their lives. There are no shortcomings more damaging to the cause of Christ in this world than the shortcomings that stem from lack of integrity. Such failings lead people to question if indeed the Gospel is true, or at the very least, they question whether in fact we truly believe what we confess.

Of course, it is the case that none of us is perfect. We are going on to perfection, but we are not there yet; but I do think this is the issue. Most non-Christians I have known do not reject the faith because believers aren't perfect; but they are bothered by what they so often see as a consistent lack of character in the lives of those who profess Christ and who claim that it is good for others. In other words, the problem is not with people of character who, at times, are inconsistent; it is with those Christians whose character is consistently inconsistent. It is a matter of degree.

In 3:18, John states, "let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." It is in embodying the life of Jesus in our lives, that we will gain a hearing when we testify to the Word of life that has come into our lives and changed us.

We are in Christ; we must become who we are.

Christians Declare War on Christmas...

...in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries:

It may seem like Christmas has always been celebrated in the United States, but that's not the case. In fact, the joyous religious holiday was actually banned in America for several decades – by Christians themselves.

The original war on Christmas was waged during the sixteenth and seventeenth century by Puritans, or Protestant Christians who believed that people needed strict rules to be religious and that any kind of merrymaking was sinful.

"Shocking as it sounds, followers of Jesus Christ in both America and England helped pass laws making it illegal to observe Christmas, believing it was an insult to God to honor a day associated with ancient paganism," according to "Shocked by the Bible" (Thomas Nelson Inc, 2008). "Most Americans today are unaware that Christmas was banned in Boston from 1659 to 1681."

All Christmas activities, including dancing, seasonal plays, games, singing carols, cheerful celebration - and especially drinking - were banned by the Puritan-dominated Parliament of England in 1644, with the Puritans of New England following suit. Christmas was outlawed in Boston, and the Plymouth colony made celebrating Christmas a criminal offense, according to "Once Upon a Gospel" (Twenty-Third Publications, 2008).

Christmas trees and decorations were considered to be unholy pagan rituals, and the Puritans also banned traditional Christmas foods such as mince pies and pudding. Puritan laws required that stores and businesses remain open all day on Christmas, and town criers walked through the streets on Christmas Eve calling out "No Christmas, no Christmas!"

In England, the ban on the holiday was lifted in 1660, when Charles II took over the throne. However, the Puritan presence remained in New England and Christmas did not become a legal holiday there until 1856. Even then, some schools continued to hold classes on December 25 until 1870.

Although the change was gradual, people began to once again embrace the holiday until Christmas as we know it today – complete with mistletoe, eggnog and candy canes – was celebrated throughout the American colonies.

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Post by Remy Melina, Life's Little Mysteries, Staff Writer

Income and Life Expectancy: 200 Countries Over 200 Years

This is fascinating... and surprising if one accepts the conventional wisdom.

HT: Scot McKnight

Living in the Time Between the Times

I find the week between Christmas and New Year's to be an interesting time of the year for me. The mad rush and hubbub to prepare for the celebration of December 25th basically comes to a halt. I do not participate in the insane nonsense of rushing to the stores on December 26th for the purpose of standing in long lines to return the gifts I received. I have the same revulsion to December 26th as I do the day after Thanksgiving. And our New Year's celebration is usually very low key. I don't understand the value of the practice of bringing in another twelve month cycle with inebriation and embarrassing behavior. In this week I will attend to my responsibilities after the Christmas holiday, but things still are not back to "normal" for me. This is one week when the church will have no committee meetings, nothing of critical importance will take place unless, of course, it is an emergency. This is a week that just feels different.

But even though my welcoming of the new year is quite tame, I do have a sense of anticipation for what is to come, just as I am thankful for having journeyed through another year. We have finished with one major celebration and we now look to another one; and this week is a time to look back and to strain forward to see over the horizon of what is to come. It is a week that feels like a time of transition for me-- looking in one direction and then another. Christmas and New Year's are the bookends that frame the shelf of events that will take place this week.

The New Testament consistently claims that we Christians live in the time between the times. Our identity, who we are, is intrinsically bound up with what God has already accomplished for us in Jesus Christ, and we look toward God's final fulfillment of his promises as all things are once and for all finally reconciled in God's own good time. What has already happened makes it possible for us to journey in the here and now in the resurrection life (Colossians 3:1-3) and anticipate that resurrection in its fullness which has yet to happen. We look backward and forward, in one direction and then another. Both past and future come together in the present with the one constant of God's presence with us along the way.

Living in the time between the times we experience the tension embodying kingdom citizenship in our present space that resists God's kingdom come. We do not live with one foot in God's kingdom and the other in the kingdoms of the world. The Sermon on the Mount is meant to be lived in the here and now, but it cannot be fully obeyed unless we posture ourselves completely in the divine reign while confronting the current age with the Lordship of Jesus Christ, as we live as God's kingdom citizens in the present time between first and second Advents. Thus, it should not be surprising that we can, rather often, feel a sense of exile in these times, as if the church is more of an outpost in enemy territory than an established colony. But what God has already accomplished in Jesus Christ some two thousand years ago firmly establishes Christ's church as a colony in this world, though still in enemy territory. Thus we can live in the here and now as if God's kingdom has already come in its fullness and we look with confidence to the future that God will bring its fullness to pass in his own good time.

In this time between the times, we look backward and forward, we glance in one direction and then another; and seeing what God has already done, we trust in the words of St. Paul that no eye has seen, and no ear has heard, nor has any human heart conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Opinion Central Poll 2010.39: Final Results

Are you in favor of the full body scanners and aggressive pat down searches now being implemented for airport security?

A Prayer for the Sunday after Christmas

Let Your goodness Lord appear to us, that we made in your image, conform ourselves to it. In our own strength we cannot imitate Your majesty, power, and wonder nor is it fitting for us to try. But Your mercy reaches from the heavens through the clouds to the earth below. You have come to us as a small child, but you have brought us the greatest of all gifts, the gift of eternal love Caress us with Your tiny hands, embrace us with Your tiny arms and pierce our hearts with Your soft, sweet cries. Amen.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153)

Have a Merry Christmas!

For Your Enjoyment on This Christmas Eve

Jesus Is Not Martha Stewart

"Jesus does not give recipes that show the way to God as other teachers of religion do. He is Himself the way." --Karl Barth (1886-1968)

I once heard someone say that Christianity is not a once-upon-a-time kind of religion. It involves real times and real places and real people. So too is the story of Jesus. He was born during the reign of Caesar Augustus. He was crucified by the order of Pontius Pilate. Jesus lived and taught in Galilee and in Jerusalem. Not one of the four Gospels begins with the words, "Once upon a time," or "A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away." Indeed, Luke begins his Gospel, Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the truth concerning the things about which you have been instructed (1:1-4).

And if there's one thing that each of our canonical Gospels states clearly is that Jesus does not simply point the way to God; Jesus is the way to God. Jesus more than reveals what God is like; Jesus is God revealed. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, says the Gospel of John (1:14). The Greek word for "dwelt" is the same word used in the Greek Old Testament to refer to the presence of God in the Tabernacle. The presence and glory of God once reserved only for the tent of God in the wilderness is now made known in Jesus Christ.

Many interpret the celebration of Christmas as nothing more than a season for emphasizing and celebrating abstract concepts like joy and love. In fact, a recent survey revealed that the majority of Americans (62%) believe that the significance of Christmas centers on things (e.g. family, giving) other than the birth of Jesus. But if we are to take the birth narratives of Matthew and Luke seriously, we must know that they will not allow us to get away with the safe domestication of the birth of Jesus and the sentimentalization of his coming. The joy and love of Christmas only find their legitimate expression in this Jesus, the one who is much more than just another great teacher or sage. Indeed, it is Jesus who gives concrete expression to our joy and our giving and our expressions of love.

Karl Barth states as well: God is not an abstract category by which even the Christian understanding of the word can be measured, but he who is called God is the one God, the single God, the sole God. And that one and single and sole God has come to us in the one and single and sole Jesus Christ. He has no rivals and no competitors for his lordship, except for those we allow him to have in our lives. Lordship is an all or nothing kind of proposition. God did not come to this world in Jesus Christ to be one lord among many or to be one recipe among others for how to achieve eternity. If that were the case, then the Gospel writers wasted their time in telling the story. But John in his Gospel wastes no time in encapsulating for us the meaning of this time of the year:

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known (John 1:14, 18).

As Barth would say, this is "the mystery and the miracle" of Christmas.

So, What Was the Manger Really Like?

The scene is familiar to billions the world over: a ramshackle but warm stable, a newborn baby lying in a manger, and a collection of livestock standing peacefully in the background. But was it really like that? What animals would actually have there been in a Bethlehem stable 2000 years ago, and what else was lurking in the shadows and dirt?

There are no first-hand accounts of the birth of Jesus. Nevertheless, the archaeology of the region has given us a wealth of information on the history of domestic animals, and veterinary science allows us to make educated guesses about the animals likely to have witnessed such an event. Our sketch of the Nativity scene is in no way definitive, but it represents a best guess at what might have been around.

Most of the familiar farmyard animals were firmly domesticated by Jesus's time, possibly because wild animals were being over-hunted and people needed another food source. "With the exception of the turkey, all livestock animals had been domesticated a long time before the birth of Jesus," says Albano Beja-Pereira of the University of Porto in Portugal.

This all tells us that the popular picture of the Nativity attended by familiar livestock animals like cows, sheep and donkeys is at least archaeologically plausible, if unverifiable. But what else might have been there?

The obvious answer is insects and parasites, in huge numbers. Densely packed creatures are always tempting targets for parasites looking for a home, and domestic animals are no exception.

Anyone hanging around a stable would have been irritated by the bazaar fly, the Middle East equivalent of the common housefly. As well as buzzing around infuriatingly, the fly can also spread the eye disease trachoma.

Plenty of insects bite humans, and some are willing to venture indoors. Stable flies mostly feed on the blood of livestock, particularly cattle, but they do sometimes bite humans as well. Aside from the obvious harmful effects of having one's blood sucked, some of these flies carry anthrax.

It's best to be careful when using straw as bedding, too. It is often infested with straw itch mites, one of the most aptly named organisms around. They do not feed off humans, preferring to eat other insects, but if they get on your skin they can cause dermatitis.

Annoying and potentially harmful as these species are, their unpleasantness pales in comparison with that of the sheep bot fly. Adult females squirt live maggots up the noses of sheep, where they crawl up into the sinuses and head cavity. The maggots spend the winter there, feeding on the animal's mucous membranes. In spring they crawl back down into the nostril and get sneezed out.

Notwithstanding their name, the flies don't limit themselves to sheep. Unlucky humans can wind up with maggots living in their throats or up their noses, which can cause fever. Particularly unfortunate individuals suffer ophthalmomyiasis – maggots living in their eye sockets.

We won't even mention rats and mice. All in all, if you are about to give birth, try and arrange to do so somewhere other than a stable.
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You can read the entire article by Michael Marshall, "Away in a Vermin-Infested Manger," here.

Advent Meditation: Peace In Spite of It All

In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid; for see-- I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favours!'

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, 'Let us go now to Bethlehem and see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.' So they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them (Luke 2:8-20).

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was filled with sorrow at the tragic death of his wife in a fire in 1861. The Civil War broke out that same year, and it seemed this was an additional punishment. Two years later, Longfellow was again saddened to hear that his own son had been seriously wounded as a Lieutenant in the Union Army of the Potomac. Sitting down to his desk that following Christmas Day, he heard the church bells ringing and ringing. It was in that setting he wrote:

I heard the bells on Christmas Day,
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, goodwill to men.

And in despair I bowed my head,
There is no peace on earth I said.
For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep,
God is not dead, nor doth he sleep.
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.

One wonders if the shepherds watching their flocks felt the same way as Longfellow when he wrote that second verse of his song. They had grown up hearing of God's promise to send a Messiah to deliver his people and bring peace. But it sure seemed as if there was no peace on earth in first-century Judea. Yes, there was the "peace" of Rome, but that "peace" came at the expensive price of freedom. Peace without freedom is not shalom; it is law and order kept in brutal ways.

Now those watching their flocks were being told that God was now making good on his promise to bring peace. And as they beheld this newborn child, they were seeing the one who would usher in the shalom the prophets envisaged. Yet, the shepherds had absolutely no clue as to how this Jesus was going to bring peace. He would do so in a way that would go against the conventional wisdom of revolt and sword, revolution and violence. Jesus would bring peace through, of all things, a cross and an empty tomb.

The New Testament writers were not naive. They understood well that even after Jesus' death, resurrection, and ascension, the world remained a violent place. Yet in the letter to the Ephesians, we are told that Jesus is our peace (2:14). We misunderstand the biblical authors if we interpret this peace only as something individually internal as in "Jesus gives me peace in my heart." Jesus, of course, does that, but St. Paul and the other New Testament theologians still believed that the work of Christ had in some way already brought God's shalom to a violent world and the church, God's people, were to embody that peace for the world. To be sure, they looked forward to that day when such peace would create the context for a redeemed creation without violence, but they also knew that in Jesus God had brought his peace in the present, in the here and now. Such peace is now possible in the church if God's people will abandon the conventional wisdom as to what brings peace in this world and look to the ministry of Jesus as our singular example.

God is not dead, nor doth he sleep.
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.

In spite of it all, God's peace reigns.

Hey, Death! Go to Hell!

Methoblogger, Guy Kent, also known as the Questing Parson, lost his wife last week. He eloquently posts his raw feelings. I quote only a portion here:

Death came to visit last week, to virtually rip my heart from my chest. Death came and claimed the life of my beloved Lynn, unexpectedly, unfairly, in a most horrible of way.

Death came to visit last week. Life is different now. I no longer have to time the cooking to coincide with her arrival. The closet hides a present that has no recipient. There are two cars in the driveway where only one now lives.

Death came to visit last week. But death could not take away the memory of her smile, the sparkle in her eye, the whisper of her hope for the future, nor the promise of her faith.

Death came to visit last week. Death left me with a compulsion to infuse her lineage with the lessons of life she sought so diligently to teach, to know the difference in wants and needs, that stewardship is the art of planning for those who follow behind, that life's greatest beauty and life's most delicate treasure is found in the simple things – a wild flower in bloom, a child's smile, and expressions of appreciation and a hug for those who seldom are hugged, that a shared pot of soup can be the occasion of new beginnings, new friendships, new ministries, and new purpose.

In this season of Advent and Christmas, we remember that the pain and grief of death's visits, as difficult as they are, cannot squelch the hope we have in Jesus Christ. Because of his death and resurrection, we can confidently and defiantly say with Guy today...

"Hey, Death! Go to Hell!"

Parson, you remain in our prayers.

Quote of the Day: Hauerwas on Mary as Abraham

Without Mary's obedience, without Mary's willingness to receive the Holy Spirit, our salvation would be in doubt. Raniero Cantalamessa, therefore, quite rightly entitles his 1992 book Mary: Mirror of the Church. With some justification Mary is often identified as the second Eve, but Mary is also our Abraham. Just as Abraham obeyed God's call for him to leave his familiar land to journey to a foreign destination, so Mary through her willingness to become the very Mother of God is the beginning of the church. She is the firstborn of the new creation faithfully responding to the Son who calls into being a new people. Just as Abraham is the father of Israel, so Mary is the mother of the church.

All of this means that when Christians lose the significance of Mary in the economy of salvation we also risk losing our relation with the people of Israel. Jesus is born of a Jewish mother. His flesh is Jewish flesh. To be sure Jewish flesh is human, but Christians dare not forget that the flesh that is 'very man' is particularly the flesh of Mary. Matthew will not let us forget that the one born of Mary is he who has come to free Israel from its sins. Jesus is very God and very man, but that formula does not mean we can ever forget that the God he is, and the man he is, is the same God that has promised to always be faithful to the people of Israel.

Stanley Hauerwas, Matthew (London, SCM Press, 2006), p. 36.

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Update: Kim Fabricius adds an additional comment at Connexions: I would add just one caveat - a good word for Joseph! Indeed a most excellent word. In fact, Karl Barth went so far as to say (in a letter written in 1963): “I find this biblical figure, so moving and obedient and subservient, much more appropriate as a protector (et exemplar) ecclesiae than Mary, with whose function that of the church cannot be compared.” Joseph was both daring and caring. He’s the real hero of the Christmas story. Call Joseph, also a Jew of course, the step-father of the church (vitricus ecclesiae)!
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Excellent!

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HT: Kim Fabricius

Season's Greetings

To my politically correct and overly sensitive friends:

Please accept with no obligation, implied or explicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all.
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I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2011 but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere.
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Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee.
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To everyone else:
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Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
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See also James McGrath's The Articles of Christmas

The Problem with Anecdotal Evidence

It's been interesting to watch and to listen to the latest debate in Washington DC over the extension of the so-called "Bush tax cuts" and unemployment benefits. What I have been cogitating on the past few days is how often anecdotal evidence is employed to draw a sweeping conclusion. In fact, the use of anecdotal evidence (utilizing a single or a few incidents) to draw conclusions is quite common, and all of us employ such evidence from time to time. It is not that anecdotal evidence is unimportant, but too often we use it to support or undermine conclusions which, on further and more sophisticated reflection, are obviously strained.

For example, in reference to the recent debate over whether or not extending tax cuts to wealthy Americans is good for the economy-- those who support the extension of such cuts have argued that business owners by and large will put that extra money into their businesses which will result in more jobs and less unemployment. A true story or anecdote will then be told of the small business owner who says he will take that money he will not have to pay in taxes to expand his restaurant, which means he will have to hire more people. This one incident is meant to demonstrate the conclusion that lower taxes for the wealthy is good for the economy. Of course, on the other side, those who oppose extending the tax cuts tell the story of the business owner who says what extra money he does not pay in taxes will either be saved and sit on the sidelines of the economy, or it will be used to take a vacation. Again, the one incident is supposed to demonstrate that such tax cuts are not helpful and therefore should not be extended.

In reference to the extension of unemployment benefits, those who support the extension will appeal to the person who has been out of work for two years and has been hustling the entire time to find work, but cannot. (I know some of them.) The other side will point to those who have decided to wait to find work, living off the government's dime until the last possible minute. (I have spoken to a few local business owners who have told me that they have had more than a few unemployed individuals who come in to apply for a job, but honestly tell them they are not yet looking; they just need to report that they have been. A business owner, who is a friend of mine, has told me that he has offered several jobs to persons who have turned them down because they do not yet want to return to work.) Once again, anecdotal evidence is used both to demonstrate that people need benefits extended and to prove that as long as the government pays unemployment, people will not be forced to seriously look for a job.

Another example of how anecdotal evidence is used to prove a strained point is the recent debate over health care. Those who desire a single-payer system will tell a truly sad and tragic story of someone without health insurance in the U.S. who has gone bankrupt over insurmountable hospital bills. They will also interview someone from Canada or the U.K. who just loves their health care system in order to tout its benefits. Those on the other side of the health care debate who oppose a single-payer system will tell the story of the person in the United States whose life has been prolonged with the latest cancer drug which is not available in other countries. They will also find someone from a "socialized" health care system to tell the story how she came to the United States to get brain surgery that saved her life, while she was getting worse waiting for months in Canada (saw this story just a couple of weeks ago). Of course, both sides have their horror stories they can appeal to in order to make their case.

It is not that any of these stories are false-- in fact, they are true (and perhaps all of them are spun somewhat as well). The problem is that they are utilized to employ conclusions that do not follow without further overall evidence. I have known parishioners who had a bad experience at a certain hospital, and they conclude from their own experience that the entire hospital is incompetent and all the surgeons there are "butchers." But then I know other church folk who had a wonderful experience at the same hospital and cannot say enough good about the place. (By the way, we do this with mundane things as well-- e.g. the one bad meal we had at a restaurant.) We draw conclusions based on a few personal pieces of the puzzle when the picture on the puzzle is not yet clear.

The point here should be obvious-- anecdotal evidence is not irrelevant, but by itself it cannot do what we so often want it to do-- draw general conclusions from individual stories that appear to prove the point. The one problem with this kind of logically fallacious thinking is that the anecdotes that appear to disprove the conclusion are either ignored or, at the very least, minimized.

Without ignoring the stories we also need to remember that often the larger story needs to be supported by larger trends of which those anecdotes may be a significant part. The problem is that we too often assume that our experience is everyone's experience. In addition, many persons tend to spend most of their time with other people who think like they do. Thus it becomes a short step from what you and your six friends think to what the majority believes.

The point here is not to abandon anecdotal evidence-- indeed, it is impossible to do so-- rather it is a plea to keep such evidence in its place and not to ask it do what it possibly cannot. Perhaps, if we do so, our debates will be more substantive and nuanced and we will at least appreciate the views of those who take opposing positions, even if we do not agree-- after all... everyone has their stories to tell.

A Truer Christmas Song Was Never Sung

Well... maybe that's somewhat of an exaggeration... but it is close to the truth.

The Methodist Blogs Weekly Roundup 2010.33.244

Important Note: This will be the last posting of the Methodist Blogs Weekly Roundup for 2010. The MBWR will resume on January 8, 2011. Thanks to all the Methobloggers who make the Methoblogosphere possible.

Any Methoblogger who would like a link posted in the MBDL, email it to mbdailylinks(at)yahoo(dot)com. Your link will be posted within two weekdays. No blog will be listed more than once a week.

If you discover that a link is not correct, please email me at the above address.

*Thanks to everyone for their email submissions.*

The Methodist Blogs Daily Links-- Monday 12.13.10

The Methodist Blogs Daily Links-- Tuesday 12.14.10

The Methodist Blogs Daily Links-- Wednesday 12.15.10

The Methodist Blogs Daily Links-- Thursday 12.16.10

The Methodist Blogs Daily Links-- Friday 12.17.10

This week's Best of the Methoblogosphere:

Andrew Thompson: "How Should We 'Read' John Wesley"

Jay Voorhees: "Vital Churches = Engaged"

Truth Is Stranger than Fiction 2010.22: Kosher Food and Festivus

Inmate seeking kosher meals cites Festivus belief

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From Associated Press

December 13, 2010 5:58 PM EST

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SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — A Festivus for the rest of us? A convicted drug dealer in California thinks so. He cited his adherence to the holiday celebrated on a famous episode of "Seinfeld" to get better meals at the Orange County jail.

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The Orange County Register reported Monday that Malcolm Alarmo King disliked the salami meals served at the jail, so he used his devotion to Festivus as a reason to get kosher meals reserved for inmates with religious needs.

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Keeping kosher is not one of the tenets of Festivus, which was depicted on "Seinfeld" as celebrated with the airing of grievances and the display of an aluminum pole.

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Sheriff's spokesman Ryan Burris says King got salami-free meals for two months before the county got the order thrown out in court.

The Methodist Blogs Daily Links-- Friday 12.17.10

Important Note: This will be the last posting of the Methodist Blogs Daily Links for 2010. The MBDL will resume on January 3, 2011. Thanks to all the Methobloggers who make the MB Daily Links possible.

Any Methoblogger who would like a link posted in the MBDL, email it to mbdailylinks(at)yahoo(dot)com. Your link will be posted within two weekdays. No blog will be listed more than once a week.

Today's reads from the Methoblogosphere:

Bishop Robert Schnase reflects on the poetry of Christmas.

Randy Olds is extending his blog break. Don't extend it too long, Randy.

Greg Hazelrig posts his thought for the day on Luke 1:46-48.

Is it OK to lie about Santa? Richard Hall reflects on the matter.

Lauren Porter counsels, "Yes, Virginia, Jesus is the only way to God."

Fat Prophet ponders if Jesus had been born in black country.

Becca Clark writes on fasting as a means of grace.

Towards healing... reflections from Sally Coleman.

Angela Shier-Jones has a peculiar case of penis envy.

Betty Newman posts on Advent through the eyes of a child.

It's an unusual week for Dave Warnock.

Dave Nichols ponders Christmas wonder.

Andy Stoddard cogitates on the days of trouble.

Ultimate Allegiance is Now Available

The second volume in the Areopagus Critical Christian Issues Series has been published. Ultimate Allegiance: The Subversive Nature of the Lord's Prayer is a book whose substance is worth far more than its price. And while you are purchasing this second volume, you would find it beneficial to buy the first volume in the Areopagus Series as well-- Dave Black's Christian Archy: Exploring the New Testament Meaning of Being Part of the Kingdom of God.

If I may say as well, they make great Christmas gifts.

I am pleased and honored to have my name attached to this series.

The Methodist Blogs Daily Links-- Thursday 12.16.10

**We mourn today with Guy Kent on the passing of his wife, Rita. Guy blogs as Questing Parson in the Methoblogosphere. Parson, we offer our sympathies and our prayers for you and your family in this time of grief. We ask God that you will find comfort in knowing that Ms. Parson has entered the joy of that Great Cloud of Witnesses and she now cheers you on as you continue to tell the Parson's tales.**

Any Methoblogger who would like a link posted in the MBDL, email it to mbdailylinks(at)yahoo(dot)com. Your link will be posted within two weekdays. No blog will be listed more than once a week.

Your Methodist links for today:

John Carney on the nuts and bolts of loss.

Katie Ladd writes on conversations in peace and interfaith Advent gatherings.

Neki Soriano reflects on the fourth Sunday of Advent

The gift-- ponderments from Alan Swartz.

Kim Matthews comments on anticipation.

Is the Bible just Tweets and Facebook status updates? Read Gavin Richardson.

David Miller cogitates on the importance of Mary's virginity.

Scott Endress posts some thoughts on when joy is hard.

Sonja Tobey writes on the craziness of Christmas.

Living in the resurrection bubble according to Andrew Conard.

Greg Milinovich reflects on a place where the ordinary becomes extraordinary.

Robert McDowell posts on how the BCS helps the church celebrate Christmas.

Ephesians: Bringing Theological and Pastoral Concerns Together

One of my colleagues at Ashland Theological Seminary, John Byron, has written a helpful review of Bob Cornwall's new book, Ephesians: A Participatory Study Guide. Here is a portion of that review:

The method used for this study is lectio divina ("holy reading"). This method is steeped in over 1800 years of Christian history and tradition. Using the "four movements" (Reading, Meditating, Praying and Contemplating), Cornwall leads the reader through 8 lessons that cover the Epistle to Ephesians. Each lesson has:

1. An opening prayer
2. A reading from Ephesians
3. The lesson for the section
4. A set of discussion questions
5. An exercise to help reinforce the lesson and the experience
6. A historical/theological reflection
7. A closing prayer

I am impressed with Cornwall's efforts. He has done a fine job bringing in both theological and pastoral concerns (not that they are or should be different than one another). He is also not afraid to shy away from difficult, yet important questions. For instance, in the first lesson he dives right into the debate over whether Paul wrote Ephesians or if someone wrote it in Paul's name. The topic of pseudonymity is not usually on the mind of those not engaged in scholarly debates. But Cornwall does not "protect" the reader, but instead draws the reader in to consider the implications. And as far as I can tell, he does not tell the reader what to think. Rather the reader is engaged further in the discussion questions when he asks them to think about how pseudonymity might or might not effect a reading of Ephesians.

Another strength is the way the reader is introduced to the wider Christian tradition. The opening closing prayers of each lesson are taken from the various hymn and prayers that have been handed down to us across the years. In one lesson the reader begins with a prayer by Reinhold Niebuhr (20th cent) and concludes with one from St Dionysius (3rd cent). In this fashion, the reader interacts with and appreciates the continuum of Christian worship throughout history.

You can read the entire review here.

The book may be purchased from Amazon or directly from the publisher.

The Methodist Blogs Daily Links-- Wednesday 12.15.10

Any Methoblogger who would like a link posted in the MBDL, email it to mbdailylinks(at)yahoo(dot)com. Your link will be posted within two weekdays. No blog will be listed more than once a week.

Today's reads from the Methoblogosphere:

Bishop William Willimon writes on making membership mean something.

Bishop James King asks if we can afford Christmas.

Bishop Mike Lowry reflects on Christmas Eve hospitality.

What God do you worship? Craig L. Adams asks the question.

Dale Tedder is offering a spiritual life checkup.

Tim Good posts an adaptation of the Psalm 80 lament.

Ciona Rouse is ringing the alarm.

Universalism as predestination light-- a post from John Meunier.

Dan Dick ponders the Emma Dilemma.

Richard Heyduck posts on social deviance.

Beth Quick posts her lectionary notes for the fourth Sunday of Advent.

An Advent devotional by Dave Camphouse.

Question of the Day: Is the Religious Environment in the U.S. Morphing into Something New?

That is what the Barna Group has concluded. Six megathemes have emerged from their recent research:

1. The Christian church is becoming less theologically literate.

2. Christians are becoming more ingrown and less outreach-oriented.

3. Growing numbers of people are less interested in spiritual principles and more desirous of learning pragmatic solutions for life.

4. Among Christians, interest in participating in community action is escalating.

5. The postmodern insistence on tolerance is winning over the Christian Church.

6. The influence of Christianity on culture and individual lives is largely invisible.

Further explanation of these six megathemes can be found here.

What do you think? Is there a morphing going on? If so, how can the church respond? After reading the article please feel free to comment below.

The Methodist Blogs Daily Links-- Tuesday 12.14.10

Any Methoblogger who would like a link posted in the MBDL, email it to mbdailylinks(at)yahoo(dot)com. Your link will be posted within two weekdays. No blog will be listed more than once a week.

Posts to ponder from the Methoblogsphere:

Christopher Gudger-Raines posts his current beef with Jesus of Nazareth, Savior of All Creation.

Mike Lindstrom speaks of good news on an ordinary day.

For Will Rice it's a question of commitment.

Laurie Haller sees opportunity in the 12 days before Christmas.

Jim Parsons cogitates on the square peg in the round hole.

Sanctuary sights and senses from Todd A. Stepp.

Some thoughts from Ken Carter on social media and Advent.

Jennifer Smith asks, "Do you have margins?"

Brian Vinson writes that a power outage shouldn't dampen the Spirit.

Mark Conforti reflects on the most wonderful time of the year.

Matthew 11:2-11 according to Kathy Randall.

Theresa Coleman enjoys reading.

Advent Meditation: Joy and Laughter

But there will be no gloom for those who were in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he will make glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness— on them light has shined. You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as people exult when dividing plunder. For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire. For a child has been born for us, a son given to us; authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time onwards and for evermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this. (Isaiah 9:1-7)

The prophet Isaiah envisions a time when sorrow will turn to joy for God's people. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light! Isaiah reminds the people that their darkness, their suffering, has come upon them for two reasons-- some suffering has come upon them through no fault of their own-- they are just victims of circumstances. Other trials and difficulties, however, are the result of their own wrong doing, of choosing their own way in life rather than God's way. But God does not intend to leave them in their misery. In the worst areas of darkness for Israel in that day, the land in the north by the Sea of Galilee, God promises that light will indeed shine. God will bring joy out of despair.

But how will God accomplish this great feat? Through the birth of a child! Out of the disaster God will bring forth a victory through this birth. But who is this child? We can almost imagine Isaiah asking God what the things he has been inspired to say mean. We are told that the Messiah will come as a child. He will come as one unexpected and he will crush evil in unexpected ways, ways not used by the world to combat evil. Isaiah and his original hearers may have been confused in trying to understand who the Messiah was to be and how he was to accomplish his work. But Isaiah was attempting to understand God's words seven hundred years before the birth of Jesus. We who stand on the other side of that birth understand these words clearly. In Jesus, Isaiah's prophecy has come into focus.

Jesus is the one of whom Isaiah speaks. He is the one who shines the light of God bringing joy out of despair. The good news is that Jesus is God with us. And the God who is with us is here to turn our darkness into light and our despair into joy. And if the God of the Bible in all of his love and compassion is truly with us, that is good news for all of eternity! The worst that can happen to us cannot compare with the best that God has already accomplished for us in Jesus Christ!

The child born of Mary is the Son of David, but he is also the Son of God. The bulk of Jesus' ministry was in Galilee, but he was "enthroned" on a cross in Jerusalem. By taking upon himself the sin and oppression, the horror and the tragedy of the world, he was able to impart to us joy where there was only despair, laughter where there was only sorrow.

Lois Morgan of Mocksville, North Carolina wrote the following prayer in the midst of extremely difficult and tragic life circumstances:

Jesus, I believe you laughed as Mary bathed you and Joseph tickled your toes. I believe you giggled as you and other children played your childhood games. And when you went to the Temple and astounded the teachers, I believe you chuckled as all children chuckle when they stump adults. And surely there were moments of merriment as you and your disciples deepen you relationship. And as you and Mary and Martha and Lazarus fellowshiped, mirth must have mirrored your faces.

Jesus, I know you wept and anguished. But I believe you laughed too. Create in me the life of laughter.*

Yes, suffering and despair are to be taken seriously; and that is precisely why the Christian life is a life of joy. In the midst of it all, God has made a way out. In the middle of our lost ways, God has found us. Only God can destroy death and defeat darkness. Only God can turn our despair into joy. Only God can turn sorrow into laughter. Only God can turn cross into resurrection.

The worst that can happen to us cannot compare with the best God has already accomplished for us in Jesus Christ!
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*Cal & Rose Samra, Holy Humor (New York: Mastermedia Limited, 1996).