Scot McKnight: August 2009 Archives

I don't know about you, but I like to study in my own library, which happens to be in the basement. Here is Kris working on the computer in my library ... books galore and quiet in abundance and homemade bookshelves and books in the order I need them.

Where do you prefer to study or read or write?

We turn now to Acts 4 in our quest to read the Book of Acts together as we probe the missional theology of this early Christian witness to what God was doing -- through the apostles -- and through the community -- to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to the entire world. As we read the Book of Acts in search of missional theology, we are reading The Acts of the Apostles (Abingdon New Testament Commentaries) as our guide.

One key word in missional theology is witness. Peter was a "witness" to the gospel, and how Peter understands the substance or content of his gospel is so important. Here are the first 12 verses of Acts 4:

The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.

 The next day the rulers, elders and teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and the other men of the high priest's family. They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: "By what power or what name did you do this?"

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: "Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed,then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He is
   " 'the stone you builders rejected,
      which has become the capstone. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

Leszek Kolakowski, a Polish philosopher who weakened Marxism's grip on Eastern Europe, recently died. Few, I suspect, knew who he was. I consider myself fortunate to have read some of Kolakowski, one book being his scintillating sketch of the history of ideas by probing the central idea of twenty-three thinkers. That book is called Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?: 23 Questions from Great Philosophers . My own reading of that book impressed me again with the connection of philosophers with their world. From Socrates to Kierkegaard, philosophers are products of their day.

So are we.

Which raises the profound problem of blinders when it comes to perceiving what is influencing us, and which raises the other profound problem of needing to understand our cultural blinders in order to break through them with the light of the gospel. Kolakowski's chapters are short, and everything short when it comes to the history of ideas risks simplicities that mask nuance. I risk the same in what I am about to suggest: that the current generation emerges out of a toxic combination of modernity and postmodernity.

In John Walton's (professor at Wheaton) new book, The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate, we have yet another proposition to discuss:

The difference between origin accounts in science and Scripture is metaphysical in nature.

Many folks, Walton argues, think of the "origins" question as a pie: some pieces are "natural" and some pieces are "supernatural." The more we learn, one needs to observe, the fewer are the number of supernatural pieces. The problem: the ancients did not distinguish between primary causes and secondary causes, between God at work and between nature at work.

Instead of pie, we need to see it all as a cake with layers. Lower layer: science. Top layer: God. The lower layer then represents secondary natural causation and the top divine causation. Science cannot explain the top layer.

Ultimate causes cannot be determined by science. "Empirical science is not designed to to be able to define or detect a purpose, though it may ... theoretically ... deduce ... that purpose" (116). And "biological evolution can acknowledge no purpose" but neither can it contend that there is no purpose.

Genesis is a top layer account, concerned with teleology (purpose), yet open to all kinds of explanations of the bottom layer.  In Walton's view, what is the teleology of Genesis 1?

But this is like a fish saying there is only water and that there is no such thing as mountains or air or trees. There is a difference between naturalism (natural explanation) and materialism (that only the material exists).

We are concerned about 20somethings, or iGens, and this blog is devoted to discussions that can help with ministry to 20somethings. I am excited about two recent books I've read. So, in about a week we will begin discussions about how ancient saints can help postmoderns and then another discussion about the Third Way (beyond emerging and traditional). To aid us in these conversations, we will be reading:

Chris R. Armstrong, Patron Saints for Postmoderns: Ten from the Past Who Speak to Our Future .

Jim Belcher, Deep Church: A Third Way Beyond Emerging and Traditional .

Here's Aksel inside watching the grass being mown ... I was told he was much more interested in the lawn mower than the one pushing the lawn mower. The mower was his grandpa....

Lord of all power and might, the author and giver of all good things: Graft in our hearts the love of your Name; increase in us true religion; nourish us with all goodness; and bring forth in us the fruit...

The Origins Project update: Festival in July 2010 and our Listening Tour.The lesson here is that you've got to make your order very clear before you get in the chair.The lesson here is don't believe in that view of the...

The new Mac OS X version 10.6 Snow Leopard is now available.What do you think of Snow Leopard?We'll be getting a few of these for the family....

I've been reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer's magisterial, moving Life Together and Prayerbook of the Bible (Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works). It is, so I think, his best book. No need, however, to debate what is neither provable nor non-falsifiable. What is worth discussing...

We are in a conversation and discussion about John Walton's (professor at Wheaton) new book, The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate. We have been waiting for this day, or at least some of...

Commentaries on James are now available from a variety of angles, and the book is no longer dominated by how and why or why not the letter comports with the theology of grace in Paul. Instead, there is a powerful...

The Book of Acts records the missional work of God in various cities in the Roman Empire. Acts 3 is the story of a healing, the people praising God, and Peter's clarification of what God is doing. As we...

David Bentley Hart, a historian of ideas, Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies , puts the New Atheists -- Dawkins, Hitchens, Harris -- to the test in the theories that are at work to prop up...

SanFrancisco has a public health care plan that will surely come to play in the current health care debates and proposals. Here is a clip of the beginning of the Op-Ed piece in the NYTimes:TWO burning questions are at the...

The Book of Acts records the missional work of God in various cities in the Roman Empire. Acts 3 is the story of a healing, the people praising God, and Peter's clarification of what God is doing. As we...

Skye Jethani, at Leadership magazine and Out of Ur blog, has created a bit of a dust-up about "consumerist" Christianity with his new, very good book: The Divine Commodity: Discovering a Faith Beyond Consumer Christianity . His book does three...

We are in a conversation and discussion about John Walton's (professor at Wheaton) new book, The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate.Proposition 11: "Functional cosmic temple" offers face-value exegesis.In John Walton's view, his reading...

The little flap this weekend about the VA and its bonuses got Kris and me to thinking about bonuses. I once got 50 dollars, if my memory serves me right. Kris once got a turkey for a bonus. Obviously, we've...

The Book of Acts records the missional work of God in various cities in the Roman Empire. Acts 3 is the story of a healing, the people praising God, and Peter's clarification of what God is doing. As we...

David Bentley Hart, a historian of ideas, Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies , examines how "faith and reason" were related in the Medieval Age in order to provide historical context for what has happened with...

I've gotten enough pushback on using "Obamacare" for the health care proposals that I'm changing this to the more cumbersome "health care reform," but for me "Obamacare" is not about a top-down heavy-handed left-wing attempt to socialize our country, but...

The Beloit College Mindset List for the Class of 2013.Most students entering college for the first time this fall were born in 1991. For these students, Martha Graham, Pan American Airways, Michael Landon, Dr. Seuss, Miles Davis, The Dallas Times Herald, Gene...

The Book of Acts records the missional work of God in various cities in the Roman Empire. Acts 2 reveals that the missional work of God begins when God's Spirit swoops down, gives voice to the first followers of Jesus,...

We are in a conversation and discussion about John Walton's (professor at Wheaton) new book, The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate.Proposition 10: The seven days of Genesis 1 do not concern material origins....

I was talking to another staff member's wife and they had only been in ministry a few months. They were exhausted. Spent. She said to me: I remember your husband saying something to mine about how we need to...

Lots of folks write to me about the use of liturgical prayer, and my book on prayer (Praying with the Church: Following Jesus Daily, Hourly, Today ) has been of help to some. But many want more than just to...

Kris and I have an Apple Air Port as our form of a wifi network at home, but we're noticing these days that we often have to unplug the thing and then plug it back in to get it going...

Grant, O merciful God, that your Church, being gathered together in unity by your Holy Spirit, may show forth your power among all peoples, to the glory of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with...

I'm sorry, but many Americans simply do not trust the Federal use of funds. I have clipped a few lines from the CNN.com report about the fiasco with funds -- bonuses -- at the VA and this report is tapping...

Kris and I have never intentionally gone to the City to see the Air and Water Show, but we've been there four times when it was happening. Cool stuff.Dave Diller, at Renovate, is doing a series on Philemon (1, 2,...

Just in case you didn't see this CNN.com piece, Mitt Romney (R), as governor of the Democratic State of Massachusetts, designed a mandatory insurance for all folks in Massachusetts. I hear about 97% are insured etc. (Just in case you...

We are in a conversation and discussion about John Walton's (professor at Wheaton) new book, The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate.Proposition 9 is another big one:The seven days of Genesis 1 relate to...

Scot, Most days, as I leave my job at the community college, these people are standing at the intersection holding up very large posters of aborted fetuses. Yesterday, there was only one poster holder, but several students were holding up...

John Piper has connected the Minneapolis tornado to God's judgment on the Evangelical Lutheran Church's very public debate about homosexuality. I have clipped some of his post which you can read at the link at his name in the previous...

Here's my question for you, and I ask you to look inside and tell us what you think really do think:Do you think every American citizen is entitled to basic health care as a human rights issue? If not, why?...

What happens when Pentecost happens? That's our week's question. What happens is that community happens? That's our week's answer. How does community happen? We'll look at a fourth characteristic today. Again, the passage:They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching...

David Bentley Hart, a historian of ideas, Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies , examines "faith and reason" to provide historical context for what has happened with New Atheists. The New Atheists, he contends, propagate a...

Let's say the analysis is accurate: that insurance premiums are too high, that drug prices are too high, that medical expenses in general are too high. Let's also agree that these costs are hurting our country's health care plans and...

What happens when Pentecost happens? That's our week's question. What happens is that community happens? That's our week's answer. How does community happen? We'll look at a third characteristic today. Again, the passage:They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching...

The recent inflagration in rhetoric, comparing Obama to socialism or Hitler and the like, is a lazy, morally inexcusable way of getting an emotional response and often carried off in the absence of concrete evidence or knowledge of actual policy.But...

We are in a conversation and discussion about John Walton's (professor at Wheaton) new book, The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate.Proposition 8 of Walton's book, and one that can reorient everything one sees...

This from this morning's NY Times by Paul Krugman. Are these the big options for Obamacare?Let's talk about health care around the advanced world.Every wealthy country other than the United States guarantees essential care to all its citizens. There are,...

This study guide, as noted at the bottom of the study, is from Barb Murphy, and I'm grateful for her efforts. Maybe this can be of use to you in using The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible...

What happens when Pentecost happens? That's our week's question. What happens is that community happens? That's our week's answer. How does community happen? We'll begin to look at that today. Again, the passage:They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and...

David Bentley Hart, a historian of ideas, Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies , examines "faith and reason" to provide historical context for what has happened with New Atheists.Did history move from the Age of Faith...

Did you see this piece on CNN.com? There's a movement to end Saturday mail. But, would you miss it? On this sultry weekend in the middle of August, take a look at what's on your kitchen counter.Or maybe you've left...

What happens when Pentecost happens? Let us take Pentecost as a paradigm of what happens when the Spirit comes down, when God's Spirit sways God's People to be and do as they are supposed to, and I can't see that...

Let's do what not all of the Town Hall meetings are not accomplishing. Let's discuss with civility Obamacare, by which I mean President Obama's very serious proposals for health care reform, and let's discuss today this question:What are the problems...

We are in a conversation and discussion about John Walton's (professor at Wheaton) new book, The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate.Each chp in Walton's book is a "proposition" and today we look at...

President Obama's Op-Ed piece on his heath care reforms. Here's an excerpt:There are four main ways the reform we're proposing will provide more stability and security to every American. First, if you don't have health insurance, you will have a...

Almighty God, you have given your only Son to be for us a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life: Give us grace to receive thankfully the fruits of his redeeming work, and to follow daily in...

Just saw this... What's the best crazy deal you've ever found? (You can read the rest of the article at the link, which generates another story: Ever seen that much integrity?)ROME -- You had to be quick, but what a...

Steve McCoy, pastor at Doxa Fellowship, is also a great photographer -- and this one of summer lightning is amazing:This NYTimes article, which I missed when it came out, really helped me understand the pragmatics of Obamacare. (HT: K)LaVonne Neff's...

Beginning Monday we will begin a series on President Barack Obama's health care proposals (Obamacare). We want to exhibit to the American public that a civil conversation can happen, that it can happen over serious issues, and that it can...

We are in a conversation and discussion about John Walton's (professor at Wheaton) new book, The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate.Proposition 6: Days 4 to 6 install functionaries."... in most cases the functionaries...

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education.   He argued, 'What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was...

Sleep, O sleep in the calm of each calm. Sleep, O sleep in the guidance of all guidance. Sleep, O sleep in the love of all loves. Sleep, O beloved, in the Lord of life. Sleep, O beloved, in the...

We're wondering who has seen the new Meryl Streep movie, Julia and Julia? Any recommendations, etc? What did you think? Come to think of it, I think the last movie we saw was with Meryl Streep in Mama Mia!...

Wow, the lavishly illustrated The Inklings of Oxford: C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Their Friends has occupied too much of my time. I couldn't put the thing down. What this book is a sumptuous, color collection of...

Peter's sermon moves from Jesus' miracles to Jesus' death to Jesus' resurrection. This is where many of us stop -- in fact, many of us stop with the death and don't include God's raising Jesus in our gospeling. But for...

David Bentley Hart, a historian of ideas, Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies , examines "faith and reason" to provide historical context for what has happened with New Atheists.Hart begins by quoting the famous medievalist, Jacques...

the furthest from a Major League (Baseball) stadium? Before you click, can you guess approximately or at least get the State?...

Peter's "sermon" -- which is more interpretation of event than anything else -- explains that the tongue-speaking community, of which he is a part, is not some lunatic fringe but the very embodiment of God's promises through the prophet Joel.But...

We are in a conversation and discussion about John Walton's (professor at Wheaton) new book, The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate.What about Day 1 to Day 3 in Genesis 1? Is this about...

Here is a fascinating new Barna study.How true is this to your experience? (Any suggestions about how to measure "orthodox biblical response"?)"On all 9 of the belief statements tested, attenders of large churches were more likely than those engaged in...

In a year or two Kris and I will be purchasing a car, and this new Chevy Volt, which is now rated at 230 MPG (!), might just be the ticket. Anyone know anything about it? What do you think?...

We don't know who wrote Hebrews, but it surely wasn't Paul even though some still contend he did. Anyway, no major commentary today argues that Paul wrote it, and these are the major ones I turn to ... and, once...

The earliest followers of Jesus are empowered by God's Spirit -- we dare not forget that "Pentecost" is an act of God -- to declare the wonders of God in languages they did not know (Acts 2:1-13). Event is followed...

David Bentley Hart, a historian of ideas, Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies , examines the foundation upon which the new atheism rests its case. In a word, new atheism stands on modernity.Hart throws sharp punches:...

Yet one more witty definition from Adrian Plass, Bacon Sandwiches and Salvation: A Humorous Antidote for the Pharisee in All of Us :King James Version: form in which the Bible was originally written in seventeenth-century English. Later translated into Hebrew...

My morning routine on days we are home: wake up around 5:30am, shower etc, stroll into the kitchen, turn on the coffee machine and put coffee in the portafilter, put some yogurt and oats in a small bowl, pick up...

In our first post of the day I mentioned a few of Adrian Plass's funny definitions in Bacon Sandwiches and Salvation: A Humorous Antidote for the Pharisee in All of Us and here's another:My Bible says ... : oddly possessive...

We are looking at the Book of Acts, and we are looking at Acts through the lens of "mission," and we are looking at the Book of Acts with the help of Beverly Gaventa's commentary on Acts (The Acts...

We are in a conversation and discussion about John Walton's (professor at Wheaton) new book, The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate.One reason why this book will be read, digested, and influential is because Walton...

Adrian Plass, the book cover says, is a "bemused Anglican." I can't imagine any other kind today, except for the fuming sort who toss down their BCP and say, "I've had enough." Anyway, Adrian's not that second kind, as can...

Tiger Woods wins again, his 70th career victory. Astonishing accomplishment. I have to admit I felt bad for Padraig Harrington, who was winning until one hole -- and one bad shot just sunk his chances. We'll be in Ireland next...

One can't do much better than studying with Larry Hurtado in New Testament. Edinburgh, New College, is a good place to study. This is a wonderful video about the doctoral program(me) in Bible and Theology. Who has some stories...

Thanks to Andrew Rogers, here's a video review of The Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible ....

Grant to us, Lord, we pray, the spirit to think and do always those things that are right, that we, who cannot exist without you, may by you be enabled to live according to your will; through Jesus Christ our...

Our book, The Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others , is getting a new cover. What do you think?...

What is the best Christian, theological analysis of President Obama's new health care proposals and plan?...

Buckingham Fountain, Chicago!!!! Good one from Mrs. Neff.The future car is an iCar!Lots of future education in the church will be from sites like this -- and the series by Hurtado looks incredibly interesting to me.Do you believe in hell?...

Have fun with this one.... ...

We are in a conversation and discussion about John Walton's (professor at Wheaton) new book, The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate.(By the way, if you'd like a wonderful and God-shaped exposition of Genesis...

A huge issue has arisen amongst evangelicals: social justice and social action have become front, left and center -- in shaping our behaviors and in understanding the gospel ... and Patrick Mitchel, from Ireland, we get a pushback that can...

Wow, did you see this piece in CT? It's by Mark Regnerus.Indeed, over 90 percent of American adults experience sexual intercourse before marrying. The percentage of evangelicals who do so is not much lower. In a nationally representative study of...

I had a riot reading Ammon Shea's Reading the OED: One Man, One Year, 21,730 Pages . There are two parts to this book -- there is the personal story of the experience of reading 8-10 hours a day, holed...

This is the most important "mission" text in the history of the Church:When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled...

Twitter was down this morning for quite awhile. (I just saw this on the news.) Did it impact you at all? Has Twitter become part of your job or your connections so that it an outage like this disrupts you?...

Strident critics of "religion" today would like us to imagine a society without religion and to begin constructing a society without religion.  David Bentley Hart, in chapter one of his new book, Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable...

I recently published an essay inspired by JRR Tolkien's marvelous short story called "Leaf by Niggle." I hope you can read it ... and you can comment here....

How do you know if your car counts as a clunker?...

The word "apostle," by and large, isn't all that important to low church evangelicals. It is far more important to the liturgical and creedal traditions, and it was very important to the earliest Christians. So important that Judas' falling out...

We are in a conversation and discussion about John Walton's (professor at Wheaton) new book, The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate.What does it mean when we say "create"? John Walton argues that the...

I've seen a phenomenon in the church. I think it happens often enough to just about anyone in the church, not just pastor's spouses. What happens to our unity in Christ when politics are inserted into the relationship?Scenario 1: Two...

From Time.com....Think you should haggle only when buying a car or shopping in the streets of Morocco? In this recession, if you're not bargaining for everything everywhere, you're needlessly draining your wallet. According to the consulting firm America's Research Group,...

That opening sketch in Acts (1:1-11) is wide-ranging and cosmic in its theology. We return to earth with the next scene: the earliest followers of Jesus are gathered for prayer (1:12-14): Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill...

The worst society I can imagine is one where Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Sam Harris get to determine what is good and what is bad and where they get to determine who is good and who is bad. They...

We begin our series today on the book of Acts, a march right through this book from 1:1 to 28:31, and I anticipate it will take us months. As we march through this book, our emphasis will be on the...

We at the Jesus Creed blog, both Scot and RJS, have already invited one and all to enter into a conversation and discussion about John Walton's (professor at Wheaton) new book, The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology...

Two years ago I posted this letter about some pesky Calvinists but for some reason it has drawn a new series of responses on the blog so I'm reposting it. The question this letter raises is pastoral: How are...

When Martin Luther King dreamed of the day when our children would not be known by the color of their skin but by the content of their character, he was re-expressing the brilliant but unrealized dreams of Genesis 1 --...

Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without your help, protect and govern it always by your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you...

Kris and I got iPhones and now are wondering if you folks have suggestions for us for "Apps." What are your suggestions and why?...

Kris found this B&B on a hill overlooking Siena. It is called Castello della Quattro Torra, and our bedroom -- no kidding -- was the front left tower (very top).. There will be a conference on the Church and Mission...