By: Greg McMullen on October 6, 2023
What Is Postmodernism? The terms “postmodern,” “postmodernism,” and “postmodernist” are associated with literary criticism, architecture, painting, and philosophy and have come into use at different times and for different purposes. Postmodernism, is best described as an historical period stretching from the 1960s to the present. Simplifying Hick’s Book The six chapters that make up Explaining…
By: Jana Dluehosh on October 6, 2023
While perusing David Bebbington’s Evangelicalism in Modern Britain, I went not much further than his first chapter called, “Preaching the Gospel; The Nature of Evangelical Religion”. In my experience, this makes so much sense to start by addressing the essence and birth of a movement. What I’ve come to ponder is that the nature of…
By: Daron George on October 6, 2023
Francis Fukuyama’s “Identity” is a thought-provoking exploration of the complex concept of identity and its profound impact on contemporary society and politics. It is very interesting to look at the book in light of everything that has taken place to shape our identities since the pandemic in 2020. “The modern concept of identity unites three…
By: Jenny Steinbrenner Hale on October 5, 2023
Our pastor mentioned this week in her sermon entitled “Visible Words” that, according to a national survey some years ago, when people were asked, “What words do you most want to hear said to you?” the three phrases at the top of the list were, in order of popularity: “I love you.” “I forgive you.”…
By: Shonell Dillon on October 5, 2023
Where is your dignity Black Woman? Politics and Dignity being mentioned in the same title seemed interesting to me. I found that I enjoyed reading what the author had to say about it. I especially paid lots of attention to his mentions of the treatment of women in the workplace. I also thought that the…
By: Sara Taylor Lattimore on October 5, 2023
My Identity I am an only child who was adopted. I have had a wide range of life experiences. I double majored in political science and sociology in undergrad. I worked for the state of Texas as a legal caseworker for Child Protective Services. I have worked in church ministry and gotten a Masters of…
By: Russell Chun on October 5, 2023
Highlights Part 1: Bebbington Part 2: Clark Chapter 2, a bridge between Bebbington and Weber Part 3: Summary and a world note Part 1: Bebbington David W. Bebbington’s Evangelicalism in Modern Britain: A History from the 1730s to The 1980s[1], Is more than a walk-through history. During a peer group meeting, Jenny Dooley shared…
By: Kristy Newport on October 4, 2023
Francis Fukuyama articulates the roots of political tension in his book Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment. He gives a raw analysis as he states, “Resentment over lost dignity or invisibility often has economic roots, but fights over identity often distract us from focusing on policies that could concretely remedy those…
By: David Beavis on October 4, 2023
As a pastor, I have the privilege of weekly opening up the Scriptures and teaching a congregation about the present reality of the Kingdom of God and the implications the Kingdom has for us right here, right now. These duties of pastoring – “preaching and peopling” as I heard it once described – fill me…
By: Pam Lau on October 3, 2023
In Luke’s Gospel, a story is told that marks a turning point in the account of Jesus’ ministry. Up to this point, Jesus has dealt exclusively with the Jews. In chapter 7, when Jesus returns to Capernaum, he begins to include the Gentiles. You may recall the story of a Roman officer (also called a…
By: Tim Clark on October 2, 2023
While in Oxford we heard Dr. Martyn Percy give a lecture that included calling into question the use of the word discipleship. This word, he pointed out, is not in the Bible, and furthermore, he stated the definition of a disciple was not, as many in today’s church believe, synonymous with a follower, but that…
By: Jennifer Vernam on October 2, 2023
In Oxford, I heard the phrase “a fish doesn’t know it’s in water” referenced at least twice, and it came to mind again as I was reading our assignment for this week. Attributed to Chinese philosophy, this idea of a creature being unaware of their surroundings and somewhat oblivious to its idiosyncrasies strikes a chord…
By: Kally Elliott on October 2, 2023
In reading Jason Clark’s Evangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship, I was immediately taken back to September 11, 2001 when after the shock of the terrorist attacks I found myself sitting in a seminary class taught by Dr. Walter Brueggemann. While he frequently ranted about the woes of a…
By: Travis Vaughn on October 2, 2023
It can be hard to critique one’s own (Evangelical) religion from the inside – out. So…approaching a subject like Evangelicalism, as much as I’d like to say I can approach it with the observant, dispassionate style of an enneagram 5, I’d say I’m closer to a fish trying to analyze the subject of water. I’m…
By: Kim Sanford on October 2, 2023
I first heard of Bebbington at a ministry conference just a few months ago. Usha Reifsnider, who serves the Lausanne Movement as Co-Regional Director for Europe, gave the plenary address about the changing face of Evangelicalism. She shared Bebbington’s quadrilateral to define Evangelicalism and I thought, “I need to know about this guy.” Fast forward…
By: Kim Sanford on October 2, 2023
Type A Personality. Enneagram 7. Myers-Briggs ESFJ. The temptation when reading a book like Simon Walker’s Leading with Nothing to Lose is to understand it almost like a personality test. Where do I see myself in his descriptions? What’s my natural style? Is there an online quiz I can take to determine my leadership type?…
By: Esther Edwards on October 2, 2023
As I write this blog, I am sitting in a little room in Oxford, England. This has been a monumental week as 60 of us have come to spend a week together for our annual Portland Seminary Oxford Advance. As I walked the historical streets, entered bookshop after book shop, and toured the Bodleian Library,…
By: Caleb Lu on September 30, 2023
In college my grades were directly dependent on how I performed relative to my peers. There were classes where I would routinely score in the 50s out of 100 and end up with the same “B” letter grade as a class where I scored 96 out of 100. And in some ways, it made sense.…
By: Chad McSwain on September 30, 2023
“Demand for recognition of one’s identity is a master concept that unifies much of what is going on in the world of politics today”[1]. This is the thesis of Francis Fukuyama’s book, Identity: The Demand for Dignity and the Politics of Resentment. Fukuyama brings his Hegelian perspective of history[2] to offer an explanation for the…
By: Jean de Dieu Ndahiriwe on September 29, 2023
Introduction The weekend before Oxford, I facilitated a music concert inside the prison for a volunteer organization. The team wore t-shirts with “Orange Lives Matter,” Referring to the Inmates’ orange uniforms. Inmates were so excited by the gesture that they also matter and deserve dignity. In “The Demand for Dignity and the Politics…
