By: Michael Badriaki on February 6, 2015
In Bevans’ introduction to his book Contextual theology, the author starts with a story about his time in Roman as a theology student in the late 1960. Consistent with his discussion of contextualization, Bevans shares about a past experience which involved the preparations for the liturgy of the Advent. Bevans writes: The central idea of…
By: Travis Biglow on February 6, 2015
Observations of Theology Only February 5, 15 I really don’ t need to start with any order in the books I have read but clearly the lady from London in Spirit in the Cities really got my attention. She observes culture in a way to me that is demeaning and uppity. I lived in the…
By: Brian Yost on February 5, 2015
As I try to synthesize the readings from the books Models of Contextual Theology, Spirit in the Cities: Searching for Soul in the Urban Landscape, and The Bible, Justice, and Public Theology, the word that keeps coming to mind is “relevance”. Spirit in the Cities paints a landscape of urban life that is often missed…
By: Phillip Struckmeyer on February 5, 2015
I received a text message two weeks ago from my sister’s sister-in-law, Jane, asking me if I would “do her wedding.” While this sounds like a reasonable request that would be a note that plays rather readily in the song of my mind and life, it actually has become something sounding like a high pitch…
By: Liz Linssen on February 5, 2015
“Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Jeremiah 29:7 In this bustling, dynamic, Asian city, the central water landscape passes through the city of 10 million inhabitants, with a further 10…
By: Ashley Goad on February 5, 2015
Though I never would have expected it, the triple play of books this week sent me on a journey down memory lane, and I was left with days of smiling. Context theology! Public theology! Practical theology! Oh My! If you’ll allow me (as if you had a choice), I would like to share my memories…
By: Deve Persad on February 5, 2015
“Who would want to live in that place?” or “Why would he give up all that he has for that place in that part of the city?” or “God would want you to have something left, to be comfortable with, wouldn’t He?” Those are questions that I imagine the people in a community might ask…
By: Mary Pandiani on February 5, 2015
Pastor Ron was a Lutheran pastor in the Salishan/Eastside area of Tacoma, known for its gang affiliation, poverty, and high crime rate. He saw himself more of a parish priest who emphasized the strengths and assets of a community when they rallied together over yet another gang shooting. He ministered all over the city from…
By: Jon Spellman on February 5, 2015
Public Theology So, what did the disciples hear Jesus say? While we have a written record of many things spoken by him,what they heard him say was undoubtedly different than what was recorded and preserved in the biblical texts. Without being present with them, smelling the air, tasting the tastes, feeling the textures of the…
By: Nick Martineau on February 5, 2015
Stephen Bevans, Models of Contextual Theology, David Neville’s, The Bible, Justice and Public Theology, and Kathryn Tanner’s, Spirit in the Cities have given me plenty to think about and in a good uncomfortable way they have reminded me that thinking/talking about these things just aren’t enough. I first read Bevans and was drawn in by…
By: Dave Young on February 4, 2015
The list of terms seems endless—contextual theology, public theology, practical theology, pastoral theology—how can we make sense of it all? The three books under discussion (Models of Contextual Theology; The Bible, Justice and Public Theology; and Spirit in the Cities) clearly claimed that theology isn’t just for the Academy or for dusty libraries. It must…
By: Miriam Mendez on February 3, 2015
As I read “The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind” I could not stop thinking of the following sentence: “If we want critical societies we must create them.”[1] Do you remember this sentence? It is the last sentence found in our first reading assignment, “The Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking Concepts and Tools.” This short but…
By: Clint Baldwin on February 2, 2015
Noll’s 1994 Scandal of the Evangelical Mind and his subsequent 2011 Jesus Christ and the Life of the Mind are a bit akin to a longitudinal qualitative study or two peas in a pod. Personally, I prefer folksier image (that’s the second one, in case you weren’t sure). Noll, now famously, starts off his earlier…
By: Julie Dodge on February 1, 2015
That little quote has always driven me nuts. It’s not that it isn’t necessarily true. It is the false attribution by far too many Christ followers about what God really said. All too often, we attribute our interpretation of what God said to be the actual fact without leaving any room for debate. Evangelical Christian…
By: Travis Biglow on February 1, 2015
The Economic Evolution January 31st 2015 While at time the details in The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of our Time got a little cumbersome it was interesting to read how economical institutions flourished and survived. Looking at the way power and countries came together and how society internationally bonded was interesting. While…
By: Bill Dobrenen on January 31, 2015
I will never forget a talk I heard while at a summer camp when I was in junior high. The speaker’s name was Ron; I don’t remember his last name. He was teaching about who Jesus Christ was. “Jesus was God in a Bod.” Although I had heard that before in different terms, being raised…
By: Richard Volzke on January 31, 2015
Noll in his book, Jesus Christ And The Life Of The Mind, states that, “For Christian believers who pursue an academic vocation, Paul’s letter to the Colossians should be a central text, especially for how it expands upon the Christ-centered creation of the world.” [1] From this Scripture, we can model Paul’s example as one…
By: Dawnel Volzke on January 30, 2015
The economic historian, Karl Polanyi, in his book The Great Transformation, looked at the world’s economy from the days of agriculture to the market based system that we have today. His book provides great insight into the impact that the market based economy has had and could have on nations. “It is indispensable for understanding…
By: Mitch Arbelaez on January 30, 2015
Wisdom is the principal thing; Therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting, get understanding. Though Noll wrote the book The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind regarding the neglect of Evangelicals to intellectual discipline, I have lived it. Sitting around the table hearing statements that I knew were not logically, historically, or possibly not even scripturally sound. I…
By: John Woodward on January 30, 2015
The Church has always struggled with what question of how to be in the world but not of the world. The question might better be asked: How engaged should a Christian be in the things of this world? Throughout history, numerous responses have been given to this question, from one of extreme of total withdraw…
