Everybody's got a hungry heart -- so says Bruce Springsteen and Greg Boyd, in his newest book, The Myth of a Christian Religion: Losing Your Religion for the Beauty of a RevolutionAdvertisement
Everybody's got a hungry heart -- so says Bruce Springsteen and Greg Boyd, in his newest book, The Myth of a Christian Religion: Losing Your Religion for the Beauty of a RevolutionScot McKnight is a widely-recognized authority on the New Testament, early Christianity, and the historical Jesus. He is the Karl A. Olsson Professor in Religious Studies at North Park University (Chicago, Illinois). A popular and witty speaker, Dr. McKnight has given interviews on radios across the nation, has appeared on television, and is regularly asked to speak in local churches and educational events. Dr. McKnight obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Nottingham (1986). Click to continue reading Scot McKnight's Bio...
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I have not read Boyd's book - so may speak from ignorance, but I don't think that Life and Love are big enough to describe the mission of Jesus. Certainly they are a large piece of the pie but still only a piece. For starters - Jesus' kingdom life does more than revolt against the idols and is more than an embodiment of life and love.
There is an culminated action - not well described by "revolt" or "embody". We need power words as well "victory" "defeat" "inaugurate." We have victory of God, defeat of evil and death, inauguration of the kingdom. God did for us...
I'm not sure that Love and Life aren't the biggest words in the universe, and also the most underrated. They inevitable result in a defeat of death and the victory of his people an the inauguration of God's kingdom with Christ as lord and king. But these things are the thunder that follows from the lightning of God's character (Love & Life).
Love is God's creative & redemptive impulse; Life is the masterwork of his love. In this respect I don't think it was an overstatement when St John wrote that "God is love."
I think we need to think bigger about love and life as the organizing dynamics of the gospel and the life it calls us to.
Thanks Jesus Creed. You've made it possible to quit reading books altogether. I just hit your blog and read some comments. Saves me a fortune and lots of shelf-space! Good stuff.
Scot,
When we lift Jesus' mission up into concepts like uncontextualized "love" and "life," what do we do with the historical realities that are so fundamental in the biblical Story? It seems that all the earthiness of Jesus is simply a disposable wrapper around the candy bar of "love" and "life." It feels like another reduction to me. I could be wrong.
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