The Question of Christ in the Earliest Centuries #6

The Arian Controversy: Part 2

Arius was not the first to have difficulty with the notion that Christ was both human and divine. What Arius did was put the question a little differently. The question of the faithful was "How is Jesus Christ related to us?" It was a question of soteriology, that is salvation. Arius raised a second question concerning the divine ontology, that is the very nature of God's existence. Who is Jesus Christ? Is Jesus a creature or is he God?

It is important to state that, as the church struggled over this second question, it exercised great wisdom in knowing that the answer it settled upon would greatly affect the answer to the first question. Questions around the person of Christ (Who is Jesus?) were always placed in the context of the work of Christ (What has Jesus done?) In other words, in the christological debates of the third and fourth centuries, the central question was, "If we say 'this' or 'that' about Jesus, what does it mean for our understanding of salvation?" The theological debate was practically motivated.

The controversy that led directly to the First Council of Nicea (A.D. 325) involved Arius and Alexander, the Bishop of Alexandria. They quarreled over the question, "Is the logos (Greek for "Word;" from John 1:1) co-eternal with the Father?" Alexander argued in favor of the co-eternity of the Word. Arius contended against it.

On This Memorial Day-- The Origin of Taps

Hot Dog Humor

A Prayer for the Sixth Sunday of Easter

Mighty God, in whom we know the power of redemption, you stand among us in the shadows of our time. As we move through every sorrow and trial of this life, uphold us with knowledge of the final morning when, in the glorious presence of your risen Son, we will share in his resurrection, redeemed and restored to the fullness of life and forever freed to be your people. Amen.

The Politics of the Palates: How Liberals and Conservatives Like to Eat

From Bites on Today:
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By Vidya Rao

Forget about getting consensus on health care reform; liberals and conservatives might never even agree on what constitutes the best french fry.

Hunch.com, which culls data from millions of users about their preferences, takes a look at how eating habits differ based on political views. In turn, that data is presented in this fascinating infographic, picked up by Mashable.com.

The big takeaways:

•Conservatives are 38 percent more likely to prefer McDonald’s french fries, and they also opt for thicker steak fries. Liberals, on the other hand, like their pommes frites bistro-style.

•If you walk into a home and get a whiff of home-cooked coconut curry with lamb and rice, you can be pretty darn sure your host is liberal.

•28 percent more liberals enjoy beer, and most drink wine at home. Conservatives, meanwhile, are more likely to drink milk and non-diet soft drinks.

•If you’re trying to woo a conservative, keep it simple: skip the fine dining and fancy pastas and stick to spaghetti at the Olive Garden.

But wait, there's hope! While liberals are more likely to enjoy thin crust pizza (President Obama is an exception -- is that considered reaching across the aisle?), and conservatives are more likely to crave deep dish, they are both equally satisfied by a regular crust. And if you really want to keep the peace, hook everyone up with soft tortillas, which the left and right both pick over crunchy tacos.

What do you think? Does the data match your political leanings?

Some Unsolicited Advice in a Time of Pastoral Transition

When a church experiences a change in leadership, it can be almost an earth-shattering experience for pastor and laity alike. It is important in the midst of such change to emphasize the continuity of ministry that pastors and churches have as disciples of Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, some folks in the pews think only of their church in relationship to certain pastors they liked. In a previous church I served, there was a wall in the main hallway that held photographs of the current and former pastors. I referred to it as the "Wailing Wall" because it was the place where (so I said) parishioners stood and wailed over the former pastors they loved and the current ministers they did not like. Laity can tend to define eras of the church's ministry by the tenures of pastors.

The same thing is also sadly true of some pastors. They come into a new church and see the previous pastor as a threat or as irrelevant to their current ministry. I know some colleagues who have made a habit of running down their predecessors in order to build themselves up in the eyes of their parishioners. Not only is such behavior unprofessional, it does not glorify the God who calls those who precede and follow us in our ministries.

We must never forget that the church of Jesus Christ was around long before we were born and it will be around after we are dead. No pastor and no disciple sitting in the pew are indispensible when it comes to God’s Kingdom work in this world. As important as each of us is to Jesus, each of us can and will be replaced. In every church I have left, someone has come up to me and said, "I do not know how this church will make it after you are gone." Every church I have left is still doing quite well. It’s amazing how that happens!

So, if as a pastor you are preparing to move to a new congregation, or if, as a parishioner, you are preparing to receive a new pastor, allow me to offer some thoughts:

Blogging Here and There

My blogging has not been as regular as it usually is. Last week I was down the entire week with a case of the flu, but for the next six weeks we will be packing and getting ready for our move from Cambridge to Akron. So while I will keep blogging, the current situation of life means that I may not be posting as often until I am settled in at the new place, sometime toward the end of July.

So, I am not disappearing, but for the next few weeks I will be in and out of the blogosphere-- and I will be out more than usual.

The Black Church and the King James Version

An interesting article in this year of the 400th anniversary of the KJV.

From the Christian Century:

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For many blacks, there's only one Bible, and it's the KJV

May 23, 2011 by Adelle M. Banks

(RNS) On Sundays, C. Elizabeth Floyd, shows up for worship at Trinity Baptist Church of Metro Atlanta, with her Bible in hand.

But the large, black leather Bible with dog-eared pages and hand-written notes in the margins isn't just any Bible: It's the King James Version.

And Floyd, like many African-Americans, wouldn't have it any other way. It's more than mere tradition. A civil rights veteran called the KJV's thees and thous "romantic," and a scholar spoke of black churches' "love affair" with the king's English.

"That's the one that the Scriptures are read from and that's the one usually that the pastor will preach from," said Floyd, a retired assistant principal, whose church is affiliated with the historically black Progressive National Baptist Convention.

"It's the predominant version of the Bible that's used at Trinity." More than other Americans, African-Americans have clung to the KJV's 400-year-old elevated prose. According to a recent study by LifeWay Research, only 14 percent of African-Americans have never read the KJV, compared to 27 percent of U.S. adults overall.

God Behaving Badly

What do you think?

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From Scot McKnight:

Sometimes I'm a bit surprised by what people say about God. I know of no humans who don't get irked or who don't get angry in a good sense, though I've seen some who get too angry too easily while others don't get irked easily enough. But for some reason God's getting angry, or expressing wrath, is bad behavior. I do wonder if our anger doesn't correspond in some ways with something inherent to God and that means anger can't simply be assigned to a fallen world.

In a chp called "Angry or Loving?," David Lamb, God Behaving Badly: Is the God of the Old Testament Angry, Sexist and Racist?, asks this very question about the Old Testament. He can't map all the OT texts but he gives a good map to the whole by sampling passages.

The biggest and most common mistake is to say the God of the OT is angry but the God of the NT is loving. The only people who say such things don't read the Bible.

How do you explain the "anger" of God?

The Question of Christ in the Earliest Centuries #5

The Arian Controversy, Part 1

By the early third century, most Christians had come to believe that Christ was both human and divine. While these doctrines were held from the earliest years, they were not always held easily. Then, as now, the assertion that a poor Jewish carpenter, who died upon a cross was, in fact, God, seemed absurd to many. Christianity's background contributed to this uneasiness about such a claim. The monotheism inherited from Judaism made Christians nervous about the profession that Jesus was divine, yet not identical with the Father. Such a notion sounded polytheistic. Some Jewish Christians (Ebionites) taught that Jesus was not divine; he was only human: certainly a prophet, at best an angel.

While, on the one side, there was difficulty in accepting Christ's divinity, Gnostic Christians had concluded that Christ could not be human, since divinity could have no contact with the material world without being corrupted. Therefore, it was reasoned, that Jesus only seemed to be human . This became known as Docetism (from the Greek word, dokeo, which is translated "seem," or "appear").

The general consensus among Christians was to assert that Jesus was both human and divine. Such a position was not a compromise to the extremes. It was the only position the church could take and keep the integrity of the work of Christ intact. This "orthodox position" was not accepted by all. We must be careful not to be too harsh on those Christians who questioned the church's (up to this point) "unofficial" position. They, like their contemporaries, were trying to understand what it meant to claim that Jesus was both Lord and Savior.

It stands to reason that when a claim is made like "the Son is both human and divine," at some point those making the claim will be asked to explain it. Arius, a presbyter in Alexandria, was not the first to raise the question, but he did so in a way that the church had to address it publicly.

Caption Contest 2011.7... And the Winner Is...

John B.: "Pastor Smith is determined to win the worship wars no matter what it takes."

Make Sure You're Ready for the Rapture

HT: John Byron

Caption Contest 2011.7

Mr. Wesley... We Have a Problem

It was a great day yesterday gleaning from the wisdom of Doug Anderson as I sat with other pastors and laity with whom I will be involved in the new West Akron Regional Ministry (W.A.R.M.) come July 1. Anyone who has had the privilege of being in one of Doug's seminars knows how insightful and helpful he is when it comes to the task of fulfilling our mandate to make and mature disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

Among many of the significant quotables we received yesterday, two stuck out in my mind:

1) Ninety percent of all UM congregations in the United States have either plateaued or are in decline, and

2) Since 1968 the population of the U.S. has increased 50%, but the UMC has lost 30% of its membership.

Mr. Wesley, we your people called Methodists in the 21st century have a problem. We have apparently wandered away from our mission of making and maturing disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. We have separated mission from evangelism, thinking we could have one without the other. We have separated discipleship making from our missional mandate.

Father John, we have apparently forgotten your words to Thomas Coke as he set sail for America-- "Offer them Christ."

Yes, Mr. Wesley, we your people called Methodists have a problem.

The Question of Christ in the Earliest Centuries #4

Is Christ Truly Divine?

The humanity of Christ is a given in the Gospels. After all, who would question that this child who was born to Mary, grew up in Nazareth, took up the trade as one who worked with his hands, and died so horribly upon a cross was anything else? The question of Jesus' humanity did not become an issue until his divinity was asserted. Therefore, it is appropriate to discuss his divinity first.

The divinity of Jesus was affirmed very early. The Gospel of John presents the clearest expression of the divine nature of Jesus. The notion of Christ as the logos (Word) of God is of critical importance. Paul speaks much earlier of Christ in divine terms (e.g. Philippians 2:6); and Matthew's Gospel offers the triune formula in the Great Commission (28:19).

The earliest christological confession of the church was "Jesus is Lord." In Jewish context, "Lord" was reserved only for God. The term Lord was used in worship. It appears that almost from the beginning, that Jesus was the object of Christian worship. The hymns of the New Testament are exclusively christological in character. This is quite astounding; for no devout Jew in the first century would worship anyone other than God.

The early Fathers of the church speak of Jesus' divinity in clear terms: "Brothers and sisters, we ought so to think of Jesus Christ as of God, as the Judge of the living and the dead" (2 Clement, circa. 90-140 A.D.). Ignatius spoke of both the true deity and true humanity of Christ which led him to speak of the "blood of God."

But controversy was just around the corner...

Please note my new web address: http://www.allanbevere.com/

Go West, Old Man

Genesis 12:1-9

Abraham is enjoying retirement. Of course, retirement as we know it is a modern phenomenon; but still, at seventy-five years of age, Abraham was enjoying the fruits of many years of labor. He was also quite wealthy (Genesis 13:1) and he was living out his later years in the land of his birth. Is it possible for us to imagine how unsettling it must have been to be told to go west to an unknown land while living in retirement in the land of one's birth, and having no personal need to settle anywhere else?

Every individual called by God in the Bible is not expecting to be called, and neither is he or she anticipating where God will lead and what will need to be done. The call is always a surprise, whether it is Abraham going to a strange land, or a young man named Saul hiding in order not to be anointed king of Israel, or whether it is another man named Saul centuries later being told on the Damascus Road that he is about to become part of the very people he is persecuting. The call of God is never anticipated.

How difficult this is for us to embrace. If we are honest with ourselves, we will admit that we like life to be predictable. We enjoy the routine, and we do not want anything or anyone getting in the way of what we have planned. When the call of God comes into our lives, we discover that the world is not fixed, that at a moment's notice life takes a turn in a different direction.

What Makes for Gratitude?

When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive—to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love. –Marcus Aurelius

I have this quote on a card in my office at home where I can see it from my desk. It is one of my favorites.

Why is it that some people live their lives in gratitude and generosity, while others are seemingly ungrateful and stingy? I think the critical element is to be found in this quote from Marcus Aurelius.

Grateful people know that life is not something they deserve. Every new day is received not as payment on a debt owed, but as a gift given for no other reason than the One who gives it wants to do so. Even each breath is taken not as something only understood physiologically, but as a reminder that the One who gives each day is also present in each moment. Grateful people are astonished by the blessings they have received because they know that such joys are not deserved. Thus, persons who live their lives in gratitude focus on what they have been given, not on what has been denied.

Athanasius, Incarnation, and Dying Dogs

From Jeffrey E. Ford, First Things:

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We recently put our dog to sleep. Born an excitable and aggressive animal with chronic diarrhea and an unstable temperament, we poured far more money into Chloe (as she was named) than we could afford, and would have spent even more to save her: if her salvation had been possible. It was not.

In the final week of her life, Chloe's hair fell out, her appetite and strength faded, her hips stiffened, and her behavior grew erratic and violent toward our children. Twice she attacked our oldest son (whom she loved) and we were fortunate that the boy was strong and quick. For the safety of our children, we put her down, albeit with great sorrow and sadness.

Unfortunately for Chloe, we were able to guess at the cause of her sickness only after she was euthanized. A month after her death, we encountered a German Shepherd whose ill-health so perfectly resembled hers as to make it plain that Chloe likely became aggressive because she was crazed from starvation due to an acute enzyme deficiency. It was heartbreaking to realize a bit of powder mixed with her food might have saved Chloe—if diagnosed before she was too far gone into dangerous aggression. Only God knows for certain.

I wonder whether we might have saved her if one of us could have become a dog for a week. We could have run with Chloe to identify the causes of her pain and better understood nearly imperceptible tippers for her aggression. Every person in the family would have volunteered to become true dog—man incarnate as dog—to save Chloe. We would not have scorned the shame. Why? Because all of us loved that German Shepherd puppy.

How does the death of a dog in the 21st century relate to St. Athanasius, a fourth century bishop who refuted the idea that Christ was not really God? Here’s how. Athanasius’ treatise On the Incarnation refuted Jewish denials that Jesus was the expected Messiah and Greek philosophical doubts that divine being could in any way became a human person.

Why Am I Not Surprised

I'm transferring my blog to a new domain name and in the process I have lost both of my blogrolls. It will be a few days before I can completely reconstruct them. I will do it as I have the time.

I apologize for the inconvenience.

Here's the new domain: http://www.allanbevere.com/. The old domain: arbevere.blogspot.com will remain active for a while.

Secularism as a College Major

From The New York Times:
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Pitzer College in California Adds Major in Secularism

By LAURIE GOODSTEIN

Published: May 7, 2011

Starting this fall, Pitzer College, a small liberal arts institution in Southern California, will inaugurate a department of secular studies. Professors from other departments, including history, philosophy, religion, science and sociology, will teach courses like "God, Darwin and Design in America," "Anxiety in the Age of Reason" and "Bible as Literature."

The department was proposed by Phil Zuckerman, a sociologist of religion, who describes himself as "culturally Jewish, but agnostic-atheist on questions of deep mystery." Over the years he grew increasingly intrigued by the growth of secularism in the United States and around the world. He studied and taught in Denmark, one of the world's most secular countries, and has written several books about atheism.

Studying nonbelief is as valid as studying belief, Mr. Zuckerman said, and the new major will make that very clear.

"It's not about arguing 'Is there a God or not?'" Mr. Zuckerman said. "There are hundreds of millions of people who are nonreligious. I want to know who they are, what they believe, why they are nonreligious. You have some countries where huge percentages of people — Czechs, Scandinavians — now call themselves atheists. Canada is experiencing a huge wave of secularization. This is happening very rapidly."

"It has not been studied," he added.

The percentage of American adults who say they have no religion has doubled in 20 years, to 15 percent, according to the American Religious Identification Survey, released in 2008. The survey was conducted by researchers at Trinity College in Hartford, which houses the Institute for the Study of Secularism, Society and Culture but does not have a distinct major in secular studies.

Barry A. Kosmin, the director of the institute, said Pitzer College would be the first to have such a major. The institute hosted a conference for academics in California a few years ago on how to develop courses on secularism, which Mr. Zuckerman attended.

Initially, Mr. Zuckerman said he found some skepticism on campus about a secular studies major.

"I had to convince them that this is not an antireligion degree, any more than a religion department exists to bash nonbelievers," he said.

Pitzer, founded in 1963, is known as a liberal college that emphasizes community service and environmentalism, and its students receive an inordinate number of Fulbright fellowships for study abroad. It is one of the seven Claremont Colleges, neighboring campuses where students may take courses at institutions other than their own.

On April 28, Pitzer faculty members on the College Council voted unanimously to approve the secular studies major, subject to review in four years.

Laura Skandera Trombley, the president of Pitzer, said in an interview, "It's a serious area of scholarly endeavor, and Pitzer College has a tradition of doing really exciting, cutting-edge intellectual work, so this really fits into the ethos of the college."

Mr. Zuckerman said he immediately heard from three students interested in the major. One of them was Kiley Lawrence, a freshman from Mission Hills, Kan., and a pre-med student at Scripps College, one of the seven Claremont Colleges.

Ms. Lawrence attended an Episcopal school through eighth grade and was well versed in the Bible, but she said she became a skeptic early on. Now she plans to declare a double major in biophysics and secular studies, because, she said, “each enhances the other.”

Ms. Lawrence, 19, said, "I feel as though I'm being included in something really exciting and innovative, and perhaps even historic."

The Question of Christ in the Earliest Centuries #3

The Two Estates

Implicit in the classical christological method is a descending and ascending order (the two estates). The Son descended from an exalted state and, after accomplishing his work, ascended to return to exaltation (Philippians 2: 1-11). This descending and ascending order forms the basic outline of the early christological narrative. Notice the contrast:

Descending order:

He must come

He is sent from the Father

The Son who descends

Humiliation

From incarnation to death

Katabasis (descent)

Ascending order:

He must go

He returns to the Father

The Son who ascends

Exaltation

From resurrection to judgment

anabasis (ascent)

Corresponding to this are the three office of Christ: prophet, priest, and king. The three offices correspond to the two estates. Christ was humbled to undertake his early prophetic ministry which ends in his priestly ministry on the cross. He is exalted to complete his ministry as king in his resurrection and ascension.

What Love Wins Tells Us About Christians

From Scot McKnight:

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Everyone knew in advance that Rob Bell's next book, Love Wins, would surely raise eyebrows and create some debate. But no one, including the author and his agent, expected what did happen. From the moment Justin Taylor uttered that opening warning and John Piper tweeted "Farewell Rob Bell" until many of us had a week or two to read it, Rob Bell's book was at the forefront of American Christianity's sensational tabloids. I've never seen anything like it, and it may well be a one of a kind brouhaha for the next generation or two.

But what can we learn from what happened? I want to suggest we can learn ten lessons.

First, social media is where controversial ideas will be both explored and judged. We no longer read books patiently, type out letters to denominational offices, find common agreements and then summon the Christian leader behind closed doors to ask questions and sort out concerns. It's all public, it's all immediate and everyone weighs in because social media is about as radical a form of democracy as exists.

Second, megachurch pastors are being watched closely. "Who says what" has always mattered. But because of social media, the who-says-what takes on new significance: megachurch pastors—and this applies to Bill Hybels, Rick Warren, John Piper, Mark Driscoll, Andy Stanley and Rob Bell—are being watched and their critics only need one off-line comment to stir into action.

Third, tribalism pervades the American religious scene. On my blog we went through Love Wins patiently chapter by chapter, and daily I observed both in the comments and in private e-mails exchanges (and telephone interviews) that some thought everything Bell said was wrong while others wouldn't admit he had said one thing worth worrying over. Call it groupthink or call it tribalism but such divisions will emerge especially over controversial ideas said by well-known leaders. Tribalism produces imbalanced and fuzzy thinking.

A Prayer for Mother's Day

Loving God, as a mother gives life and nourishment to her children, so you watch over your Church. Bless these women, that they may be strengthened as Christian mothers. Let the example of their faith and love shine forth. Grant that we, their sons and daughters, may honor them always with a spirit of profound respect. Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing!

I think Charles would like it!

The Methodist Blogs Weekly Links of Note

This week's five noteworthy posts from the Methoblogosphere:

Kevin Watson: On Perfection

Craig L. Adams: Hopeful Inclusivism

Andrew Thompson: Eat Mor Chikin (except on Sundays)

Andy Stoddard: Humility

Matt Lipan: The Disease of the UMC

What Happened to the Methodist Impulse for Mission?

From Steve Manskar:

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I attended the Exponential Conference that was held at First Baptist Church in Orlando, Florida April 26-29. I went for two reasons: I wanted to hang out with missional-minded people and I wanted to meet Alan Hirsch and Kim Hammond from ForgeAmerica. I accomplished both goals.

Exponential is the largest annual gathering of church planters in North America. Over 4000 people attended this year’s conference. The theme of the event was "On the Verge", which also happens to be the title of a new book by Alan Hirsch and Dave Ferguson. Hirsch is the founder and director of ForgeAmerica. He is also the author of several books, including The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church. Ferguson is lead pastor of Community Christian Church in Chicago. Many of the leading voices in the missional/incarnational church movement were speakers and workshop leaders at Exponential.

The one big take away from this event for me was the fact that none of the speakers identify themselves as United Methodists or Methodists. All of them identified John Wesley and the early Methodist movement as source and inspiration for their practice of missional/incarnational leadership and ecclesiology. In other words they are employing many of the same practices of early Methodism in growing, vital missional churches/communities. Practices that were jettisoned by American Methodism over 100 years ago are helping independent evangelical and Sothern Baptist church planters start and grow vital churches.

Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction 2011.8: Hello... I'd Like to Report a Crime

Cellphone 'pocket dials' 911, NY suspects caught

From Associated Press

May 04, 2011 2:15 PM EDT

CLAY, N.Y. (AP) — An ill-timed, inadvertent 911 call led police to three larceny suspects overheard planning break-ins in upstate New York.

Onondaga County Sheriff Kevin Walsh says police already looking for a suspicious person got the unlikely assist when one of the men "pocket dialed" his cellphone's emergency number while driving near the scene of an earlier heist.

As a dispatcher relayed the conversation to deputies, the men discussed their plans, described their surroundings and even commented, "there go the cops now."

Walsh says that was enough for a deputy to turn around and stop the Kia Sportage full of tools stolen from a business in the Syracuse suburb of Clay. The dispatcher then heard the driver being asked for his license and registration.

The men arrested April 26 face grand larceny and stolen property charges.

Richard Hays on N.T. Wright and Karl Barth

What Is It With Conspiracy Theorists?

After 9/11 we had the Truthers who believed that President George W. Bush knew about the attacks on the World Trade Center and other targets beforehand and did nothing. Not surprisingly, the highest percentage of Truthers were persons who did not share the forty-third president's politics. A Rasmussen poll taken in May of 2007 revealed that 61% of Democrats either believed in or were unsure of GWB's complicity in 9/11. Less than 15% of Republicans believed such.

Then we had the Birthers who believed that President Barack Obama was not an American citizen. Not surprisingly, the highest percentage of Birthers did not share the president's politics. In July of 2009 Politico reported that 58% of Republicans either believed or were not sure that BHO was a citizen of the U.S. while only 7% of Democrats believed such.

Now we are going to have to endure the Deathers who are already weaving conspiracies against all reality that Osama bin Laden is not really dead. How these conspirators will shake out in reference to political loyalties is not yet certain, but I am sure they are some of the same people who think the CIA shot J.F.K. and that the world is actually being controlled by the Trilateral Commission and that the Masons run Washington D.C. and that the Knights Templar have hidden the Holy Grail.

A Christian Response to the Death of Osama bin Laden

What do you think?

From United Methodist pastor, Mike Slaughter:

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I discovered the news of bin Laden's death early Monday morning. Carolyn and I had the weekend away by ourselves with limited media access, and I had missed the President's announcement Sunday evening and had not yet seen the jubilant celebrations of American crowds that had gathered at various venues around the country. The headline appeared on my computer screen, "Osama bin Laden is dead!" As an American I felt a sense of resolution that bin Laden's taunting reign of terror had finally come to an end and his cowardly corpse disposed of in the depths of the sea. In no way can his death make up for the thousands of individual lives and the families impacted by his demonic actions that created the devastation of 9/11. But in some sense justice has been served. We are all responsible for our actions and if one is not committed to live by grace then he or she must eventually experience the consequences of God's law.

To be perfectly honest, I am glad that Osama bin Laden's personal voice for the mandate of hate has been silenced, but I am also reminded of the biblical mandate for our attitude of response: "Do not gloat when your enemies fall; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice" (Proverbs 24:17). As Jesus followers we are called to demonstrate a peculiar way, a radical way that runs counter to our instinctive demand for an "eye for an eye." Jesus said that the children of his Kingdom would be living representatives of a higher moral law. "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in Heaven. He causes his sun to rise on evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous" (Matthew 5:43-45).

It is rather ironic that the Pontiff of peace, Pope John Paul II, was beatified on the same day that Osama bin Laden was killed. The Vatican's statement released on Monday represents the Christian spirit in which John Paul II acted as Christ's ambassador during his tenure as Pope:

"Osama bin Laden, as we all know, bore the most serious responsibility for spreading divisions and hatred among populations, causing the deaths of innumerable people, and manipulating religions for this purpose. In the face of a man's death, a Christian never rejoices, but reflects on the serious responsibilities of each person before God and before men, and hopes and works so that every event may be the occasion for the further growth of peace and not of hatred."

I am thankful that Osama bin Laden is gone and can no longer be an inciting voice of evil. But as a Christian, I align my heart with the heart of Father God who mourns over a wayward son. Pray and work for peace!

The Question of Christ in the Earliest Centuries #2

The Theandric Union

In order to set the context for the question of Christ in the early centuries, a discussion of the theandric union in necessary.

The Christian doctrine of the person of Christ focuses upon three questions: 1) Is the Son truly divine? 2) Is the Son truly human? 3) If 1 and 2 are true, how can both affirmations be made together?

In a monotheistic faith, such as Judaism, this kind of confession caused great difficulty. Those first Christians, in keeping with their Jewish faith, believed in one God alone. Yet, their experience of Jesus told them that he was more than a mere human being. The trinitarian controversies developed in an attempt to understand the person of Jesus in relation to God.

Is Tolerance Sufficient?

What do you think?

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By J. E. Dyer, May 01, 2011

Tolerance is a result and not a cause of character -- and tolerance is not enough.

A string of recent crimes in southern California appear to be united by the theme of anti-Semitism. I say that they "appear" this way because only one of the incidents was a clear-cut case of anti-Semitism. A young Jewish man was savagely attacked in a public park in Orange County by thugs who made anti-Semitic remarks to him and painted a swastika on the sidewalk near the scene.

Two of the incidents (here and here) involved strange attacks on Jewish religious facilities. It is not clear that there was an overtly anti-Semitic motive in either case. In two others, high schools were vandalized with swastikas and other graffiti. At one of the high schools, the vandals painted the words "white power" along with the swastikas, but no explicitly anti-Semitic comments were reported. In the other incident, which took place in the upscale community of Calabasas on the Saturday before Easter, the school was covered with swastikas and slogans, both racist and anti-Semitic. In that case, however, the perpetrators convinced sheriff's investigators last week that they were retaliating, in the most offensive way they could think of, for perceived "mistreatment" from specific teachers and students.

A poignant aspect of this flurry of crimes is the hope for "tolerance" repeated over and over like a mantra by public officials. In response to the vandalism case in Calabasas, sheriff's deputies have been mobilized to "educate students on the dangers of hate and intolerance." Whether the deputies' warnings will sink in better than the ones students receive about drugs and unprotected sex is a good question. But it's the incessant invocation of "tolerance" that merits closer inspection. In the face of the seemingly ineradicable evil of Nazi-like anti-Semitism and racism, tolerance is a terribly inadequate word.

To begin with, nothing about being Jewish (or a member of a non-Caucasian race) is properly a matter for tolerance per se. Tolerance is a fine quality: an attitude of openness, patience, and a willingness to delay or suspend judgment. It has many valuable uses. But when we consent to leave unmolested our fellow men of other races or religions, we are not exercising tolerance; we are obeying an irreducible moral imperative. Tolerance is something we give at our discretion as a gift, whereas accepting the equal moral standing of other humans is a binding obligation. We cannot congratulate ourselves on meeting it. We must rather be ashamed if we do not.

As a society, we teach fewer and fewer things in the terms of rights, wrongs, obligations, and moral accountability. Instead of establishing a basis for conscience to govern us, we encourage the adoption of ill-defined, all-purpose attitudes, and issue warnings about "dangers," apparently in the hope that the fear of those dangers will induce us to make "positive" choices.

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God Is In All Our Time

In another month the days of summer will officially be upon us. In some respects, the "summer slump" in church attendance is understandable: people take much needed vacations, there are the family reunions, and other such events of summer, that take us out of town for two to three weeks from June through August. We need such time and space.

But there are those who, for various reasons, choose to take the summer as time away from worship, Sunday School, and the corporate disciplines so necessary for discipleship. Faith becomes a nine month contract that is suspended during nice weather.

I believe it was Len Sweet who said that Christians need to realize that our task as disciples is not to make time for God, but to realize that God is in all our time. It does not matter where we are or what we are doing, our lives are centered on God, who is our focus at work and at play, in the routine of the day and in the midst of the unexpected. If it is indeed the case that God is in all our time, then we need to... we must... take the necessary time for worship and discipleship all year around, simply because that is who we are as followers of Jesus Christ.

As God is in all our time, so we find we make and take the time to be in fellowship with God and with one another, not because we feel we have a duty to do so, but because we desire to fulfill the purpose for which we were created.

Caption Contest 2011.6... And the Winner Is...

Fat Pastor: "The newest item on the dollar menu: The McBaby Meal."

Jesus Lives Or Christianity Dies

An oldie but a goodie from Tom Wright:

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If Jesus' bodily remains were found, then Christianity as it began and continued was based on a mistake, or (more strongly) a lie.

Bodily resurrection is what you get at the intersection point between the lines of God as the good and wise creator and God as the judge who will set everything right at last.

Give up either, or both, and what you're left with isn't Christianity.

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Read the entire post here.

The Question of Christ in the Earliest Centuries #1

Introduction

Today I begin a discussion on the major question that occupied the church in the second and third centuries and beyond-- Who is Jesus? Christology is the doctrine concerned with God's revelation in Jesus Christ. Traditionally, christology has been expressed in the doctrine of the Incarnation, the theology of the union of the divine and human natures in the one person of Jesus Christ. Technically, christology is distinguished from soteriology. Christology is concerned with the person of Christ. Soteriology focuses on the saving work of Christ.

But, as Tom Oden points out in his Systematic Theology, it would be improper to make the separation between christology and soteriology too wide. One makes no sense without the other. If the line between the two doctrines is drawn too sharply, the death of Jesus on the cross has no meaning beyond any other crucifixion (thousands were crucified by the Romans). Moreover, the person of Christ as God incarnate is meaningless if his work is not significant.

At the same time, however, recognizing the difference between christology (person) and soteriology (work), there is a proper order in which to discuss these doctrines in classical theology: First, Christ's person is discussed and second, his work.

A Prayer for the Second Sunday of Easter

Jesus, forgive us our sins. We are quick to forget about your death and resurrection. You fill our lives with Resurrection Moments that we overlook or downplay, and then we complain about your absence. We see doubt as a faith-obstacle instead of as a means to greater faith. We think that the discord around us is greater than the peace that you offer us. When hardship befalls us, we are quick to shrug you away.

Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on us sinners. Forgive us. Amen.