William Wilberforce as Evangelical Leftist?
March 24, 2007
Folks on the Religious Right continue to sputter in outrage as evangelicals get involved in HIV/AIDS work in Africa (and at home), as evangelical leaders warn against global climate change as a moral issue, and recently as evangelicals have spoken out against the use of torture.
Whatever happened to proper evangelical social concerns: abortion, promiscuity, euthanasia, homosexuality? You know: beginning of life, end of life, and sex in between?
Well, those concerns haven’t disappeared, of course. And they remain important for evangelicals, as they do for many other Christians and, indeed, for many other people of various outlooks. It’s just that they are not the only concerns, and not even the ones currently getting the most attention.
But is this a betrayal of evangelical priorities? Not according to the career of every evangelical’s favourite political hero, William Wilberforce–whose film biography is currently in theatres as “Amazing Grace.”
Faith and Magic
March 18, 2007
A correspondent recently posed a series of good, tough questions about the nature of faith. One of them had to do with just how a Christian definition of faith differs from that of magic: “Some Christians pray as though they can compel God to do their will. I would argue that doing so is very much like or identical to doing magic.”
For the record, however, Jesus does seem to sound to some ears as if he is recommending a kind of magic: “Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, `Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Mark 11:22-24)
Health-and-wealth “prosperity” preaching loves this passage. So do certain sorts of faith-healers. “Name it and claim it,” they say.
So, is faith just a combination of wishful thinking and incantation?
Seminary: Who Needs It?
March 8, 2007
If you survey leaders of megachurches in the United States…if you consider most leaders of the burgeoning house church movement in China…if you examine the leadership of exploding congregations in Africa…you notice one striking commonality: Most of them have little or no formal theological education.
A North American correspondent writes:
“Is theological education necessary for people engaged in occupational ministry? If so, is the contemporary seminary scene the best form for education to occur in the future?
“I have been wrestling a bit with this regarding the emerging church, rising student debt, and the complexity of the postmodern world. I think we live in difficult ministry times that demand excellent formation and education, but it seems the pragmatic opportunities for such education is being limited by ‘market realities.’”
Getting Things Done: A Cult You Should Join
March 4, 2007
This is a blog about religion, spirituality, theology, and such like. Well, you need to hear about the cult I joined a few years ago and that I advocate–in good proselytizer fashion–to anyone who will listen to me.
It’s the cult built around, yes, a sacred text: Getting Things Done (Penguin, 2002), authored by the (unlikely-looking) guru David Allen. Yep, there’s a book title and author’s name guaranteed to disappear from your memory as soon as you read them! Nonetheless, Allen’s book has changed my life–given me clearer, more focused concentration, made me more attentive to my loved ones, eased my mind of anxiety, and increased my productivity. You can understand, therefore, my enthusiasm! You should join up, and join now!!!
