By: Stu Cocanougher on November 10, 2016
Grenz, Stanley J., and Roger E. Olson. Who Needs Theology?: An Invitation to the Study of God. Downers Grove, IL, USA: InterVarsity Press, 1996. When I was 22 years old, I remember meeting with the pastor of my home church, First Baptist Church of Mt. Juliet, Tennessee. Rev. Billie Friel, or “Brother Billie” as I…
By: Katy Drage Lines on November 10, 2016
I’m holding my copy of Who Needs Theology? in one hand and my newspaper in my other hand today [yes, I’m part of the proud few who still subscribe to a hard copy newspaper], and I’m flummoxed over what to say, how to respond to our country’s choice of president. Clearly, we who have critically…
By: Jim Sabella on November 10, 2016
Throughout the year I am in many churches. In recent years I’ve noticed a bit of an emerging theme within the churches I’ve visited. I’ve heard it say that everyone is a pastor; everyone is a minister; everyone is a leader; everyone is a MISSIONARY; everyone is a deacon; everyone is an evangelist; everyone is an…
By: Jennifer Dean-Hill on November 9, 2016
Sorrow was the primary emotion I felt when my daughter, McKenna, a freshman at George Fox University, called me to discuss the reactions of her classmates to the new presidency. The folk theology that entered their evening discussion was: “God allowed Trump to win the presidency because men are the ones who are supposed to…
By: Lynda Gittens on November 9, 2016
God, the One we have been taught to trust and believe. We have been preached to for numerous years to ask in Jesus name, and you shall receive, be obedient, and God will bless you. November 8th for many believers in America were left wondering why their prayers were unanswered, but there some who believe…
By: Chip Stapleton on November 9, 2016
In the wake of the US presidential election yesterday, I have found it incredibly hard to untangle my thoughts – let alone my emotions – about theology, it’s purpose and usefulness in our lives and our world. [Warning: political opinion] One of the questions that I have been wrestling with is: how in the world…
By: Christal Jenkins Tanks on November 9, 2016
There is no denying that fact that today Americans woke up with many feelings, emotions, questions, etc. For some, the president-elect is seen as a revolutionary political messiah. A person who vows to protect the racist, bias, sexist, religious, and misogynistic ideals of America while reassuring them that their superiority is restored leaving the marginalized in…
By: Mary Walker on November 9, 2016
Who Needs Theology? By Stanly J. Grenz and Roger E. Olson “Taking faith into life means looking at the society in which we live through theological eyes.” (p. 127) “We invite you to set out on a journey toward becoming a reflective lay Christian theologian anyway.” (p. 135) “Perhaps the largest hurdle or greatest chasm…
By: Geoff Lee on November 9, 2016
One of the leading theologians of the denomination to which I belong reflected that our movement has traditionally preferred exclamation marks to question marks. This has certainly been my experience. I feel like I have grown up in a church full of exclamation marks, that has focused very much on experience and the heart,…
By: Kristin Hamilton on November 3, 2016
“So, who is your favorite social theorist?” This isn’t really the kind of question that comes up at dinner parties, sporting events, or (let’s be honest) in seminary hallways. Even now, after reading Contemporary Social Theory by Anthony Elliott, I couldn’t begin to answer that question. I can tell you that social theorists…
By: Chip Stapleton on November 3, 2016
As I worked through this interesting and engaging – but dense and challenging work, Contemporary Social Theory: An Introduction by Anthony Elliot, my mind was racing with many questions (quite possibly to try and distract me from the hard work of processing all that I was reading). One of the questions that kept coming back to me…
By: Jim Sabella on November 3, 2016
I just came from a strategy meeting. The topic of the meeting was the ways in which we as a mission can reach the secular peoples of Europe by building bridges. It was more a symposium than it was a meeting, in that various people presented papers followed by discussions. One discussion centered on the…
By: Geoff Lee on November 3, 2016
An introduction to contemporary social theory by Anthony Elliott In their book, Untamed, Alan and Debra Hirsch ask the question: “In our day, one is left wondering if it us who are actually being “evangelised” by the prevailing mass culture rather than the other way around.” Their argument is that “the church has…
By: Stu Cocanougher on November 3, 2016
The Faces of 2016 Contemporary Social Theory, In Introduction, Anthony Elliott (2009) This book began by telling a story of a young, ethnically Chinese woman who was an American citizen, yet lived in England, worked and France, and had a boyfriend in Finland. This story set the tone for the rest of the…
By: Jennifer Dean-Hill on November 2, 2016
Frankly, I thought pursuing a Doctor of Ministry degree meant I never had to read about social theories and theorists, or Freud’s weird fascination with sex and the male anatomy again. But amazingly, Freud continued to pop up like a bad dream throughout many of the theories in this book. Despite my previous studies, I…
By: Lynda Gittens on November 2, 2016
Elliott, the author and sociology professor, confessed in the beginning that this book represents his argument supporting a contemporary social theory. He proposed social theory was “a resourceful, high-powered and interdisciplinary project of the social sciences and humanities, on the one hand, and an urgent critique of ideological thought and the discourses of reason, freedom,…
By: Katy Drage Lines on November 2, 2016
As an undergrad anthropology student many moons ago, I was introduced to Durkheim, Weber, and Marx. And while scholars such as Durkheim and Levi-Strauss straddle the disciplines of anthropology and sociology, I find more affinity with the anthropology field. Whereas anthropology seeks to understand and describe contexts, social theory inclines more towards projecting, predicting, and…
By: Mary Walker on November 2, 2016
Contemporary Social Theory: An Introduction, by Anthony Elliott “… our capacity to imagine social things competently is an essential part of our practical sociologies. To see the world sociologically is to see it in the light of its organizing structures and orderings of power. This means seeing it also in the shadow of its own…
By: Christal Jenkins Tanks on November 1, 2016
“Why do I care?” When The Theoretical Meets The Practical Anthony Elliot discusses various social theories in his book Contemporary Social Theory. When thinking about social theories one could ask the question”Why do I care?”. Elliott provides a simple answer “The present for us is always filtered through certain social-theoretical assumptions, precepts and ideas—however basic…
By: Kristin Hamilton on October 27, 2016
“I’ve got some good news and some not so good news.” This is way my director approached me as a young manager many years ago. “I’m going to increase your staff,” she said. “You get an additional person to help with the workload.” That seemed like good news, so what could be bad. “The staff…
