Whatever happened to the Holy Spirit?

I have recently been thinking about the area of doctrine known as Pneumatology, otherwise known as the doctrine of the Holy Spirit.  I have found it to be a pretty underdeveloped area of my theological studies, and am hoping to rectify that. 

So i’m wondering, what are some good books i can read on the subject?  Any suggestions?

I’m Back!

Well, i just finished up my first camp as a Jr. High Director.  We ended up taking over a hundred Jr High students, and combined with High School and sponsors we pushed about 220 people.  Needless to say, most of the week i was putting out relational and logistical fires!  I am quite tired.  In fact, i just woke up from sleeping ten hours straight and still feel gassed.  Oh well, recovery will come. 

Despite the tiredness and difficulty, it was a great trip.  Several of our students came to know the Lord, and nearly all were drawn nearer to Him.  Add that to only a few minor injuries, and i would say that camp was a success! 

One more thing to add: if you haven’t been to Colorado and the Rockies, you must.  It is absolutely beautiful out there.  I was taken aback by the sheer size of the mountains.  They were amazing.  I think that i would like to retire there. 

I’ll Be Offline

Although July has been a very light blogging month for me, it will get even lighter, since i’m leaving for camp with my youth ministry until next friday.  It should be a good time. 

Until next time . . .

An Irish Prayer*

“May those that love us, love us; And those that don’t love us-May God turn their hearts.  And if He doesn’t turn their hearts, May he turn their ankles, so we’ll know them by their limping.”

*The views of God and Irish people expressed in this prayer do not represent the views of the owner of this blog, or anyone affiliated with him.  The blogger found a small card with this prayer on it , and found it humorous.  Enjoy.

Articles by My Professor

I decided to add a couple of papers my professor has written to my sideblog.  Both deal with his concept of the “Vicarious Humanity of Christ” which he learned under the great Scottish theologian T.F. Torrance.  One relates the doctrine to culture and globalization, and one deals with how his view of Christ deals with issues like providence and particularly theodicy.  Just look for “Vicarious Humanity” in the title of the papers (one is a PDF) to find the right papers.

After reading, one will perceive that Kettler’s christology has far reaching implications for every other doctrine of the Christian faith.  Is such a christocentric focus healthy or dangerous theologically, and is his view of the significance of Christ’s life correct?

The Return of Toys!

Awhile back, i started goofing with some new widgets wordpress began to offer, and although i liked them, i didn’t like the  way they looked on my blog.  So after getting frustrated at my lack of technological savvy and yanking them off my blog, i have finally got them looking better.  

The 1st addition is what i have called a “sideblog.”  It doesn’t function like one completely, but as i update the content, which will consist of my academic pursuits, scholarly interviews and papers, book reviews, and other “quality stuff” i will make a note in a regular post to check out the new material.  I am hopeful that the comments section of the post dialogue can occur over the material.  My hope is that this can be another way to foster dialogue on ATP. 

The initial papers are three articles, one an interview, of Alvin Plantinga’s Epistemology.  The other paper is one i wrote regarding the relationship between faith, reason and authority in the medieval church.  I would especially love to hear everyone’s thoughts on my paper.

UPDATE: I will be putting all videos on my vodpod player near the bottom on the sidebar.  I hope that this will let my love for music come out, while at the same time serve the same purpose as the sideblog.

A Meditation for Intellectuals

We cannot have a relationship with our christology-we can have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Our soteriology cannot save us from our sins-our Savior can.

Our ecclesiology does not make us one-the Lord of the Church does.

Our eschatology will not transform this flawed universe-Jesus the King of kings and Prince of Peace will do that.

And no matter how much we love theology-it will never love us back.

[Mark Allan Powell, quoted in the Jesus Creed, pages 190-191]

Contemporary European views of God (2): Paul Tillich on Theological Method

As Veli-Matti Karkkainen (hereafter VMK) has pointed out, Tillich and Karl Barth have at least one thing in common.  They were both trained in the classical, Harnackian liberal school of theology.  However, from their similar backgrounds come very different understandings of God and how to do theology.  While Barth viewed God as the “wholly other,” the God who stands in radical transcendence over and against culture, Tillich worked for “correlation, if not synthesis,” between the modern world and Christian Theology (130).

Before we begin to delve into Tillich’s Doctrine of God, it will be beneficial to look a bit at his unique methodology.  There are two main assumptions that undergird Tillich’s work:

1.  There is some common ground between the Christian message and the modern world.  To quote Tillich “Philosophy formulates the questions implied in human existence, and theology formulates the answers implied in divine self-manifestation under the guidance of the questions implied in human existence (130-131).”  VMK sums up Tillich’s view of faith and reason by stating that for Tillich “reason does not resist revelation but rather asks for it; revelation entails the reintegration of reason (131).

2.  Tillich subscribes to the view that sees ontology as the gateway to the notion of God.  Continuing the long tradition that includes Augustine, Anselm, and Descartes, Tillich sees the question of being and its counter part “non-being” as the question for the modern person (131)  Finally, it should be noted that Tillich didn’t believe such a focus would provide the final answers to the modern man’s questions.  Despite that belief, Tillich still valued ontology, and philosophy in general, because of the questions it poses for Christian theology (131). 

These two assumptions end up playing out in how Tillich forms his theology in the following ways:

1.  According to Tillich, theology should be apologetic.  Tillich isn’t referring to proofs for God existence or objective values, but rather that the Christian faith should be presented in a way that modern people can understand it and find it helpful for their needs.  This more “user-friendly’ approach would have been scandalous to someone like Karl Barth, but for Tillich this is a simply a natural outgrowth of his belief that the Gospel and modern culture aren’t mutually exclusive systems or categories.  For Tillich the gap between Christian faith and modern reason isn’t very far at all.  In fact, Tillich would argue that setting the two in opposition to each other is detrimental to the theological task.  Point #2 below describes his view of how faith and reason work together.

2.  Tillich sought to bring together (“Correlate”) theological truth with contemporary philosophical or cultural questions.*  Tillich’s conviction regarding modern culture’s compatibility with theological truth is what drove him to focus on ontology.  This was because, as stated earlier, that Tillich viewed being and the threat of non-being, and a way to overcome non-being, as the central concerns for modern man.  Modern secular men and women, according to Tillich, are constantly filled with anxiety over the prospect of non-being, and are hoping to find a way to overcome it.  To put the matter succinctly, people are afraid of dying, and answering how such fears of the reality of death can be overcome is the central question theology is to be occupied by (Wikipedia, Tillich, VMK 131).

With this foundation in place, we are ready to explore Tillich’s distinct views regarding God.    Clear as mud?

*From Pocket Dictionary of Theology