Must-Read Post

Hello fellow bloggers.  Normally my posts are more than merely a link to another blogger’s post, but this one is fantastic.  If you are interested in ethics, or Bonhoeffer, you must read this.  For many it will make you see ethics in an-all new (and probably uncomfortable) way.  I think that for myself, i’m headed in this general direction.

Barthian Joke

Here is a new joke from Kim Fabricius over at F&T:

A Barthian is standing on the top of a cliff with a liberal and a member of the Religious Right. Whom does he push off first?

Answer: the liberal. Business before pleasure.

Language of the Divine “Attributes”

In Colin Gunton’s last work, Act and Being, he points out many problems that occur when trying to articulate what God’s attributes are.  One such problem is the use of the actual term “attribute.”  One can attribute a characteristic or a quality to someone b/c either that person really has that characteristic, or it is either merely believed and/or wished that it is true.  

The obvious danger is that if we attribute a quality to God in one of the latter senses, then we have taken an improper approach.  While it is doubtful that most are consciously looking to play this sort of semantic game to manipulate the uninitiated, nonetheless we as theologians must be careful, following Barth, to not attribute something to God, as much as focus on what exactly has He revealed Himself to be.  Framing the issue in this way keeps us normed in the Biblical witness, and keeps us from letting our philosophical abstractions come to dominate our understanding of God.

New Videos to Check Out

I’ve found my new guitar hero, and his name is Andy McKee.  He, like another artist i’ve recently recommended, makes his musical living by using a style of playing called “finger-tapping.”  If you watch a couple of his videos, you’ll quickly figure out why it is called that.  I highly recommend “Drifting,” “For My Father,” and “Tight Trite Night.”  You can see nearly all his stuff on my vod-pod (it is in the bottom left corner of my blog), or click on his picture to go to his record label.  Enjoy!

Update:  For those of you who don’t care for finger-tapping or are simply ready for a change of pace, check out the Lindsey Buckingham video “Big Love” i uploaded.  If you are more a traditional finger-pickin’ kind of guy or gal, you’ll love this. 

Pop Quiz: Which famous band did (does?) he play for?

Closing Time

Today my wife and i buy our 1st home.  It is pretty exciting.  We’ve been wanting to do this for quite a while now, and it looks like all the pieces have fallen in place this time.  My wife is very pumped that this day is finally here.  She has been such a trooper this past year and a half, living in a small, cramped apartment that was cheap enough for us to get our feet under us.  I am very thankful for her patience; she is awesome.

Hopefully you all out in the blogosphere can come visit us!  If you cannot visit us, simply send “us” a “literary house-warming gift.”

Good Advice for the Book Collector

This is an inscription made by Karl Barth inside of someone’s book.  It is good advice for the book worm/collector (like me):

For those who don’t read “scribble”:

Meaning of Life?

Collecting Books?  No, read them!

Reading books? No, think about!

Thinking about? No, do something for God and for your neighbor!

Karl Barth, Basel, 2-11-1954

(HT: F&T)

Evangelicalism, Inerrancy, and the Genre of the Gospels

 

During class tonight, my professor dealt with the role of genre in biblical interpretation.  While such topics are always intresting (at least to me), two discussions stuck out in particular.

One topic was over the genre of the gospels.  My professor noted how there is much debate regarding how to classify the gospels.  Much ink had been used, but in my professor’s view much of this was unnecessary.  For him the obvious answer is that they are narratives.  Nothing more, nothing less.

As i have reflected on this, it seems clear to me that he is right.  The reason why evangelicals have such a problem with this is due not to the uniqueness in form, but rather with their understanding of inspiration. 

For evangelicals the bible is without error, or inerrant.  However, the problem is that frequently evangelicals have done an inadequate job in attending to genre and literary conventions in the ancient world.  Instead evangelicals have simply allowed a modern view of historicity to infiltrate their exegetical practices and views of the bible.  This has led evangelicals to miss the gospels for what they really are; particular stories of the life of Jesus Christ, arranged and told in such a way as to highlight certain aspects of Jesus’ life and mission and its consequences for the church.  For evangelicals, the standard for inerrancy is the historical method of the enlightenment.

This doesn’t mean that the events recounted aren’t historical.  However, we must remember that aside from the last two hundred years no one has had such stringent standards on what is and isn’t historical.  Since the author’s intent isn’t merely to recount an unbiased, “objective” account of the gospels, it does violence to the text to subject them to such an approach.  In all actuality, such a method is by and large vacuous.   We can bypass desperate and strained attempts at harmonization if we allow the gospels to be what they were intended.

The Sad Truth

Here is my score of a quiz asking “how addicted to blogging are you.”  Here is the sad truth:

68%How Addicted to Blogging Are You?

Well, it looks like i have a problem.  The last question of this quiz in particular made me wince.

HT: [Fernando's Desk]