{"id":505,"date":"2013-12-02T21:47:00","date_gmt":"2013-12-02T21:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beta.dminlgp.com\/?p=505"},"modified":"2014-08-13T21:04:13","modified_gmt":"2014-08-13T21:04:13","slug":"respectful-conversations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/respectful-conversations\/","title":{"rendered":"Respectful Conversations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 33%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style>\n\t\t<div id='gallery-1' class='gallery galleryid-505 gallery-columns-3 gallery-size-thumbnail'><dl class='gallery-item'>\n\t\t\t<dt class='gallery-icon portrait'>\n\t\t\t\t<a href='https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/respectful-conversations\/attachment\/506\/'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/tumblr_mx78jaNLTh1rcndfjo1_12801-150x150.jpg\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/dt><\/dl>\n\t\t\t<br style='clear: both' \/>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n<p>As I read the variety of articles in Robert Heie\u2019s blog project \u201cRespectful Conversation\u201d a theme threaded its way throughout the writings.\u00a0 The theme was \u201cHow?\u201d\u00a0 How do we approach these topics from an Evangelical Christian perspective?\u00a0 It seems there is the knowledge within Evangelicalism that topics such as science, politics, education, and morality need to be addressed from an Evangelical Christian perspective but there are different opinions about how to address these.\u00a0 Some of the writers used personal stories, one in particular of how he tried to teach and write in a Christian educational context but was silenced by the administration who feared losing support. Harold Heie calls this the \u201celephant in the room.\u201d Others wrote about these topics using scriptural references.\u00a0\u00a0 One contributor, John Wilson, asks, \u201cI just don\u2019t know what our conversation is really about. I\u2019ve read all the responses regarding \u201cevangelicalism and morality\u201d at least once; most of them I\u2019ve read more than once; some I\u2019ve read several times. I\u2019m still baffled.\u201d The articles on \u201cexclusivist claims\u201d were anything but, with fragmented views on just about every topic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">The danger, in my opinion, of shotgun opinions and exclusivist claims with no sincere questions is the loss of deep Christ-giving discussions.\u00a0 And with this loss is the mass confusion and exodus of young Christian adults from any type of Christianity.\u00a0 It is time for Evangelical Christians, who tend to be the voice in mass media, mega-churches, and many educational institutions to begin fresh humble conversations with leaders in science, technology, politics, education, medicine, etc. in order to stay relevant and knowledgeable.\u00a0 This weekend I tweeted, \u201cIn their atheism they crave science.\u201d There isn\u2019t a lack of hunger for wisdom and spirituality.\u00a0 But because of the unwillingness or perhaps ignorance of some to be honest, young believers, and want-to-be believers cannot find a place to land and therefore fly to other worlds full of magic and mythology.\u00a0 It is amazing to me how many of my students this semester have interest in Norse mythology.\u00a0 Perhaps this is due to recent movies or comic books; but evidently they are also finding some basic principles there that make sense to them.\u00a0 Something that intrigues their curiosity and gives some meaning to life.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">I don\u2019t think the us\/them mentality that has developed between some Evangelical Christians and educators in different fields is helpful.\u00a0 Most of us are doing our best to understand the Universe and our place in it with the stories and technology that we currently have.\u00a0 Most likely there will be advanced tools invented which will help us examine new scientific ideas; a stronger telescope or microscope, for example, which will give us new scientific clues and stories of our origins.\u00a0 Perhaps there will be an archaeological dig that will uncover writings by Jesus or maybe even texts that describe his life during the \u201csilent years\u201d somewhere between ages 12 and 30.\u00a0 One of the contributors shared a balanced approach I think to the conversation.\u00a0 Amos Yong states, \u201cThose who are led by the Spirit can therefore pursue the life of the mind, even the scientific vocation, and in this way also bring their own questions, perspectives, and curiosities to their scientific endeavors.\u2026 [P]ursuit of the Spirit-filled life can be part and parcel of the modern scientific task.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">My final question\u2026Can we be curious and humble enough to ask questions and sift through the variety of opinions to find truth that we can live?<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.respectfulconversation.net\/\">http:\/\/www.respectfulconversation.net\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As I read the variety of articles in Robert Heie\u2019s blog project \u201cRespectful Conversation\u201d a theme threaded its way throughout the writings.\u00a0 The theme was \u201cHow?\u201d\u00a0 How do we approach these topics from an Evangelical Christian perspective?\u00a0 It seems there is the knowledge within Evangelicalism that topics such as science, politics, education, and morality need [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2,214],"class_list":["post-505","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dminlgp","tag-respectfulconversations","post_format-post-format-gallery","cohort-lgp3"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=505"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1841,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505\/revisions\/1841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=505"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=505"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=505"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}