I started a new job working as a high school humanities teacher for a public charter school the second week of July. As one of many new teachers coming into the charter school network, I have spent the last two weeks sitting through orientation lectures and training seminars. Between sessions on “Student Engagement” and “Discussion for Your Classroom” I’ve had the pleasure of meeting other new teachers. I’ve spent the last ten years of my...
I love thinking about friendship. Even more, I love having friends. In my most recent reading of Augustine’s Confessions, I couldn’t help but notice the respectable bishop seemed to share some of my feelings of longing and affection when it comes to possessing and enjoying the good of friendship. Though Augustine never wrote a treatise on friendship, scholars generally consider Augustine as the first to seriously consider the role of friendship in the Christian life....
I’ve recently watched a documentary show and some movies about the rise (and in some cases, the demise) of famous late 20th century CE hip-hop artists. Conflicts between American East-coast and West-coast artists and their supporters contributed in many ways to the popularity, but also to the controversy and eventual ruin of some rappers. For example, the ‘beef’ between West-coast rapper Tupac Shakur and East-coast rapper Notorious B.I.G. may have contributed to both of their...
In the Gospel of St. John, Jesus warns his disciples that those who persecute him will likewise persecute those who believe in him (Jn. 15.20). The encouragement and consolation penned to the recipients of 1 Peter deem these prophetic words true. While the details of their adversity are unclear, 1 Peter addresses the Christian communities throughout Asia Minor suffering local abuse and revilement on account of Christ. The first few chapters of letter simply gush...
Christmas and the days leading up to it, otherwise known as advent, have profound implications for our everyday experience. The incarnation infuses meaning into a humanity lost in a void of meaninglessness. It has certain clear ethical implications, as well as direction for reflections on place and vocation. Lastly, it musters up an incarnational ideology where ideological darkness–the darkness that obscures true and therapeutic ideology–finds itself under threat of extinguishment via the light that was...
Last Spring I attended an academic study trip to Northern Greece with some of my colleagues, faculty and postgraduate research students from two other universities (Liverpool Hope and KU Leuven), and some independent researchers. We visited Thessaloniki, Philippi, Kavala (Neapolis), Amphipolis, Thasos, Pella, Veria (Berea), Vergina, and Dion. We had the wonderful opportunity to visit archaeological sites, old ruins, ancient churches, and loads of museums. The trip afforded us personal exposure and teachings in situ....
Readings of Paul influenced by the work of Karl Barth – or, at least, supposedly Barthian readings of Paul – have recently been taken up by a number of interpreters. One recurring characteristic of such self-proclaimed Barthian readings is to construe Paul’s gospel as radically, purely, and thoroughgoingly objective: completely undetermined, unaffected, and untouched by human processes or actions. In this interpretation, the objective character of the gospel hangs on the exclusion of subjective realities...
Studying theology and method has never been morally difficult to me, but the person behind the method has haunted me in certain cases. Most recently, I was blindsided by the scandalous affair surrounding Barth’s legacy. This from one of the most Christocentric theologians I had ever read had struck a rather sour chord with me, leaving me to wonder: What makes a theologian’s words worth heeding? Are theology and methods analyzed in a vacuum, or...
Martin Luther was a racist against Jews. Karl Barth had a long-term affair with his writing assistant. A.W. Tozer was emotionally absent from his wife and family. I’ve recently been reading many blog posts about the sins and failures of these theologians, and it saddens me to hear about the reality of their lives, especially since their writings and teachings have been foundational for so many people. It also reminds me that even the greatest theologians...
How’s your relationship with God? It’s a question many Christians and religious people ask of each other. When I answer this question over the years, I typically work my way through the same cluster of questions—am I praying and spending private time with God, am I avoiding certain sins, am I maturing in my likeness to Jesus? However, there is something crucial I often miss in my reflection—the unavoidably social, communal dimension of fellowship with God....
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