Jesus Creed

Jesus Creed

Religion or Revolution? 4

posted by Scot McKnight | 12:03am Tuesday November 10, 2009

Boyd.jpgEverybody’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 Revolution  quotes the Boss to make an important part.

We all have a hunger to feel alive, to find security, to sense significance, and to feel a fullness of worth. It’s what Boyd means by “Life.” John 10:10 stuff.
How do you define idolatry? What do you think of Boyd’s idea that the revolution Jesus came to ignite is one shaped by Life and Love? Are those terms big enough to describe the mission of Jesus?
Only God can satisfy this hunger for Life, because only God is Life. God is Love so he made humans that crave God’s Love.
But God does not coerce; humans seeks for Love and Life through their freedom. Sometimes in all the wrong places. The Bible calls this Idolatry. To find life and love in less than Love and Life is idolatrous. Sex, wealth and power will come up empty eventually.
This Life and Love are embodied and seen in Jesus, who frees us from the idols. Jesus’ kingdom Life revolts against the idols.


Previous Posts

This blog is no longer active
This blog is no longer being actively updated. Please feel free to browse the archives or: Read our most popular inspiration blog See our most popular inspirational video Take our most popular quiz

posted 3:10:39pm Aug. 31, 2010 | read full post »

Our Common Prayerbook 30 - 3
Psalm 30 thanks God (vv. 1-3, 11-12) and exhorts others to thank God (vv. 4-5). Both emerge from the concrete reality of David's own experience. Here is what that experience looks like:Step one: David was set on high and was flourishing at the hand of God's bounty (v. 7a).Step two: David became too

posted 12:15:30pm Aug. 31, 2010 | read full post »

Theology After Darwin 1 (RJS)
One of the more important and more difficult pieces of the puzzle as we feel our way forward at the interface of science and faith is the theological implications of discoveries in modern science. A comment on my post Evolution in the Key of D: Deity or Deism noted: ...this reminds me of why I get a

posted 6:01:52am Aug. 31, 2010 | read full post »

Almost Christian 4
Who does well when it comes to passing on the faith to the youth? Studies show two groups do really well: conservative Protestants and Mormons; two groups that don't do well are mainline Protestants and Roman Catholics. Kenda Dean's new book is called Almost Christian: What the Faith of Ou

posted 12:01:53am Aug. 31, 2010 | read full post »

Let's Get Neanderthal!
The Cave Man Diet, or Paleo Diet, is getting attention. (Nothing is said about Culver's at all.) The big omission, I have to admit, is that those folks were hunters -- using spears or smacking some rabbit upside the conk or grabbing a fish or two with their hands ... but that's what makes this diet

posted 2:05:48pm Aug. 30, 2010 | read full post »

Advertisement
Comments read comments(3)
post a comment
RJS

posted November 10, 2009 at 7:51 am


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…



report abuse
 

Joe B

posted November 10, 2009 at 8:24 am


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.



report abuse
 

John W Frye

posted November 10, 2009 at 9:55 am


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.



report abuse
 

Post a Comment

By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.

Share this story


About Beliefnet

Our mission is to help people like you find, and walk, a spiritual path that will bring comfort, hope, clarity, strength, and happiness. More about Beliefnet.

Help

Media Kit

Subscribe

Legal

Copyright © Beliefnet, Inc. and/or its licensors. All rights reserved. Use of this site is subject to Terms of Service and to our Privacy Policy. Constructed by Beliefnet.

Advertisement

Report as Inappropriate

You are reporting this content because it violates the Terms of Service.

All reported content is logged for investigation.