Recently in Church Category

I've taken some heat in the comment section for using yesterday's post on "unbiblical" and a "higher view of scripture" as a thin foil for my own disregard of biblical standards. To the contrary, I was pointing to the use of the word unbiblical as a stand-in for a particularly thin hermeneutic. There are, of course, things that are unbiblical: child pornography and shampoo, for instance. Both are technically unbiblical since they are never mentioned; further, the first is morally at odds with the biblical narrative, while the second is not.

So, to repeat, "unbiblical" is not a euphemism on its face; it is a euphemism when used as a stand in for a hermeneutical argument.

Today, I thought we'd poke at the liberals a bit, since the conservatives around here seem to be on the defensive. The euphemism of today is,

fundamentalist.

Again, I'm not implying that fundamentalists do not exist. They do. But liberals and progressives often use "fundamentalist" as a cheap and easy stand-in for someone who has a more conservative biblical hermeneutic.

In our attempt to exterminate Christian euphemisms from our vocabulary, Nathan nominated thusly:

"Unbiblical" when what the situation really is is "I really, really DON'T like that" OR "I disagree" OR "Your words challenge my deepest held idolatries posing as genuine Christian faith."

This euphemism seems to be more prevalent today than I remember it -- or maybe I just ran into it less in the past. Of course, what it implies is that there is a consistent, reliable, and mutually agreed upon hermeneutic for a particular passage, or for the entire narrative arc of the Bible.

I ran into this at the Cornerstone Festival this summer, while on a panel discussing gays in the church. The two anti-gay members of the panel, both "ex-gays" who were affiliated with Exodus International, repeatedly stated that theirs was the "biblical" position, and that opposing views were "unbiblical." They said this with no anger, and really no passion. It was said matter-of-factly, and simply, as though no counter-argument could possibly be summoned.

I received loads of great comments about what Christian euphemisms we should drag, kicking and screaming, into the light of day in an attempt to euthanize them. I won't be able to tackle them all, but I'll highlight some of my favorites this week.

Chris Enstad nominated this beauty:

"The Lord laid it on my heart..."

Which is a euphemism for: This is something I want to do.

I grew up in a home in which, while faithful and Christian, we didn't talk a ton about faith. In fact, most Christian euphemisms were new to me when I went to college and got involved in an evangelical ministry. It seems to me that liberal Protestants have far fewer insider euphemisms -- that's probably because we're more "worldly" and "secular" (read, not residing in a Christian ghetto).

Thanks to Don Heatley

Due to snow in the Twin Cities, several C21 participants got held over for another night here, allowing us to revel in the glories of the gathering for another day.  But today holds a couple more airport runs, some packing, and beginning to decide what's next for JoPa. 

At Jay Bakker's request, I will be posting about the event, at length, in the next couple days.  Until then, enjoy the images of Courtney Perry:

I'm busy the next couple days, co-producing Christianity21 -- a gathering that promises to be unique on the Christian event landscape.  Here's the Twitter feed for the event, a great way to listen in on what we're doing: <a href="http://twubs.com/c21">#c21</a>...

We're currently battling Christian euphemisms here on the blog.Here's a passage from my book, The New Christians, about my experience with one Christian euphemism while in college: Back on campus, I chafed under some of the policies of Campus Crusade....

According to Wikipedia,A euphemism is a substitution of an agreeable or less offensive expression in place of one that may offend or suggest something unpleasant to the listener, or in the case of Doublespeak, to make it less troublesome for...

Scot asked a good question last week: How come people who are clearly not evangelical keep getting upset about what evangelicals do? He asks this in response to the semi-furor around Rob Bell's (seemingly off-handed) remark to a newspaper reporter...

I was having a conversation with a friend about the evangelical interest in Jim Belcher's book, Deep Church.  Jim's written a good book, and I was happy to endorse it -- albeit with the caveat that he and I disagree...

Normal 0 0 1 514 2934 JoPa Productions, LLC 24 5 3603 10.260 0 0 0 Christianity21_MediaRelease.pdfEvent's Line-Up Challenges Perceptions of Church Conferences JoPa Productions presents an event featuring more than 20 women speaking into the state of Christianity...

It seems to me that the same people who take the stance that the Bible has a plain meaning in all cases also seem to assume that human sexuality is a pretty simple manner.  There are men and there are...

I introduced Flory and Miller's book,  Finding Faith: The Spiritual Quest of the Post-Boomer Generation, earlier this week.  As sociologists, Flory and Miller have no axe to grind, thus I find their taxonomy of the emerging movement inherently more honest...

I've been generally unhappy with the existing taxonomies of the emerging/-ent church movement that are out there.  The most well known, I suppose, is Ed Stetzer's triptych:Relevants: "They are simply trying to explain the message of Christ in a way...

Well, if you register for Christianity21 by midnight (CDT) on Friday, you'll be entered to win a private lunch with her....

"It's a clean sweep for the liberal agenda in the Episcopal Church," said David Virtue, editor of VirtueOnline.org, a conservative Web site. "The orthodox are finished."So begins the NYTimes article on the annual cluster meeting known as the Episcopal Church...

More good comments under the second lectionary post (and here's the first). So here are my concluding thoughts (for now).When I began working as a pastor at Colonial Church in 1997, David Fisher had just introduced the Revised Common Lectionary...

It may seem a parochial concern, but the comments on the Revised Common Lectionary post last week have been very intriguing. I've been pleasantly surprised by the comments of two members of the Consultation on Common Texts, especially. That's the...

In The New Christians, I wrote a section chastising liberals for censoring the Bible in the Revised Common Lectionary. Although liberals often criticize conservatives for cherrypicking Bible verses, liberals do just the same thing when they leave verses out of...

www.christianity21.com...

Next fall, Doug and I are hosting a learning party in the Twin Cities for people who love Christ, love Christianity, and are interested in the future. The two of us have been given the microphone a lot in the...

I'm going to close out this week's topic by looking back to the history of the church -- the very early church -- to gain a bit more perspective on ordination.I'm currently writing a little book reflecting on the Didache...

I've faithfully read your comments, and John's post, and here are my rejoinders-by-bullet-point:Ontological Shibboleth: I've been accused of creating a straw man in suggesting that denominational ordination tends to grant ontological superiority to those in the clergy caste. I agree...

In light of the recent ordination discussion here, I'm reposting an ordination sermon that I preached for a friend in 2005. Looking forward to your comments.Last weekend, I preached at the ordination service of a friend. I thought it was...

John,Here's the continuation of my response to your blog post and my petition asking Adam to consider withdrawing from the ordination process in the PC(USA).5) You write,What historians know but Tony doesn't seem to understand is that he is following...

I've got a bunch of people upset at me for encouraging my friend, Adam Walker-Cleaveland, to forsake the ordination process of the Presbyterian Church (USA) denomination. I even went so far as to post an online petition to attempt to...

Over at Internet Monk, Michael Bell has run the latest Pew data through his Batcomputer, and it spit out a very cool graph, showing where people switch when they switch.Money quote from Michael's analysis:Evangelicals are at best currently treading water....

My friend, Adam Walker-Cleaveland, has once again been thwarted in his attempt to be ordained as a "minister of word and sacrament" in the Presbyterian Church (USA). First it was because his presbytery in Idaho objected that he asked his...

In Phyllis Tickle's latest book, The Great Emergence: How Christianity Is Changing and Why, she writes of the "centering" of Christianity. In her famous quadrilateral diagram, she demonstrates how liturgicals, social justicers, pente-charistmatics, and doctrinal evangelicals are all swirling toward...

Yesterday, Pew released a follow-up to their much ballyhooed religion survey that showed a 10 percent rise in a decade in the number of Americans that, when asked their religious affiliation, declared, "None." The original press reports declared, and the...

A couple weeks ago, I hypothesized that Rod's disdain for SSM has something to do with his conversion to Orthodoxy -- actually, to the kind of personality that would convert to Orthodoxy. In response to that post, I was contacted...

Last week, Doug Kmiec went on Colbert and became the next in a long line of people: Those who've gone on Colbert and said what I want to say on Colbert. Kmiec said what more and more of us are...

D.Min. Students Take Note:Both of the events listed below are being offered for credit at Fuller Theological Seminary. Fuller is offering 4 credits for each event, and Tony Jones will be the professor of record. The course will consist...

I ran my book, The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontier though Wordle. It's 87.790 words, and this is what I got:...

I'll be interviewing Bart Ehrman tomorrow for Bnet regarding his latest book, Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don't Know about Them).If you've got a question you think I should ask, leave a comment....

Then consider DART Stations of the Cross."Holy Railin'" in the Oak Cliff Advocate....

I'll be on Think with Krys Boyd on KERA in Dallas, and available online.  You can call in with questions, too.1pm: How is religion changing in America and how does the new Christian practice differ from the traditional church? We'll...

Claudia, AKA Ragamuffin Diva, read my post in which I proposed that Rod's opposition to SSM is related to his conversion to Orthodoxy -- actually, that certain persons are attracted to EO...  Here's what she wrote:Dear Tony,I was interested to...

It just turns out that he won't debate it with me.Last fall, Rod and I agreed, at the behest of our then-editor, Patton Dodd, to hold a friendly "blogalogue" on same sex marriage.  It was in the aftermath of California's...

Christianity21 is an event that JoPa Productions is producing next October 9-11.  And it's the first event of its kind -- historic, you might say.You see, we have invited 21 of the most compelling voices we can find to...

I think that Rick Bennett is one of the most under-appreciated emergbloggers around.  Today he's decided to dole out some advice to pastors.  He and his family have been looking for a church, so he knows of what he speaks. ...

So, if theologians squared off on a reality show, would a brawl endue, like on America's Next Top Model?  Probably not. But Jonathan L. Walton (who, I must say, was very impressive at Claremont last week) takes up the challenges...

Phillip Clayton and I sat down on Friday night for a conversation about emergence science and emergent church.  Here's part one of the video:Thanks to videographer Ryan Parker....

Well, my time here at Claremont is just about up. I'm sitting in Mudd Auditorium, listening to the second of two public panels.  Here are my reflections, looking back on the last three days.First, I have to note that...

Starting Day 3 here at Claremont School of Theology, we're having panels about whether progressive theology can transform society.9:26am - Jack Fitzmier, who leads the American Academy of Religion, is intense and challenging.  He says that the right people...

I'm at the inaugural Transforming Theology gathering: Rekindling Theological Imagination: Transformative Thought for Progressive Action.  Today we're talking about the church.9:16am - Harvey Cox, of Harvard, is giving his 5-minute statement.  He thinks there is an epochal shift coming in...

Later this week, I'll be in Southern California at the Transforming Theology for the Church consultation.  A couple of the events are public, so I encourage you to come if you live in SoCal.  But if not, there are lots...

The Original Sin SeriesIntro-Intuition-Definition-Genesis-Jesus-Paul-Augustine-Calvin-ConclusionWhen we last heard from our intrepid doctrine, Augustine had taken Paul's interpretation of Genesis 2-3 in Romans 5 and taken that to mean that Adam's sin conferred not only death on the entire human race, but...

In the Washington Times, Julia Duin ponders that question in her article, "Evangelicals ponder Dobson's successor: New generation looks for leader." It has been interesting watching the shift in power: Franklin Graham is no Billy Graham; the Coral Ridge Hour...

The right-wing Christian Post picked up on the Dallas youth pastor fight club silliness, and did a follow-up interview with the Keysi Fighting Method instructor, Jeff McKissack.  CP picks up on my blog post,* then gets this odd defense from...

Drew Tatusko drops a very thoughtful comment Re: Mark Driscoll.Postmodern and post-structuralism aside (since this will sound to some like that but is not), gender is different than sex due to its psycho-social construction. Since it is this, anyone can...

In Dallas, youth pastors are being trained in street fighting techniques in order to, um, "take care of their flock."  Jeff McKissack is spreading the Batman gospel to youth pastors in Dallas and across the country. He hopes to convert...

Brian has a warning for Mark Driscoll and other expanding evangelical ministries:Thanks for this post. This is depressing news. I don't mean any disrespect to these folks personally. I know they can be very kind, good people in person. So...

Mark Driscoll watchdog, Bob Hyatt, has some concerns about a possible Mars Hill franchise coming to Portland.Please understand- If you want to listen to Mark's podcast/watch his vodcast, I think you should go for it- I subscribe to his podcast...

If you haven't been following along there's a great comment string under Monday's post, Is Virtual Community True Community?, then you're missing out.Particularly interesting, IMHO, are the comments from stay-at-home-moms Julie and Kristi about the great value of virtual community...

That's the dream of none other than esteemed Catholic theologian, Hans Kung.  At Religion Dispatches, Rosemary Ganley reports,To get right to the point, Kung in his article on February 3, wished Barack Obama were Pope. "The mood in the church...

Help add to Brandon's list of crazy stuff you've heard around church.  My faves:1. Your message was good. You didn't blaspheme the Holy Spirit or anything.2. What is the deal with your weight?9. Don't you think your secretary is too...

Yes. Theologian-Scientist-Believer Philip Clayton answers that question, and has some hard words for pastors.  He and I tend to agree that theology is latent in all human endeavors (see chapter 4, "The Theology, Stupid!")....

Tripp Fuller and I are recruiting YOU to ask your biggest question about God via YouTube to some of the top theologians in the world. See the list of theologians who will attempt to answer your questions.BAM!...

Jenell Paris has continues her provocative series.6. Evangelicalism Likes Prioritizing the Superiority of Its Point of ViewI wrote about a man who moves from Christian faith to atheism, and evangelicalism worried that I was showing more credence for his point...

Jason Byassee, late of the Christian Century, is now at the helm of a new online offering from Duke Divinity School: Faith & Leadership: Where Christian Leaders Reflect, Connect, and Learn.  It's a good looking site, and it should have...

Is Ted Haggard gay or straight?  Neither.  Few of us are.  Most of us, instead, are on a spectrum between the two, as Becky knight explains.  Money Quote:What was missing from the conversation was the awareness that sexual orientation exists...

Last night, I watched the HBO documentary, The Trials of Ted Haggard, and then caught the second half of Ted and Gayle Haggard's appearance on Larry King Live.I went in quite skeptically.  I know a couple persons who knew/know Ted,...

My friend, Patton Dodd, has a piece up on Slate in advance of Alexandra Pelosi's HBO documentary, The Trials of Ted Haggard, premiering tonight.  Patton used to work for Haggard and New Life Church, primarily as a writer and editor,...

Scott M points out some of the most significant intellectual problems with the doctrine of Original Sin:There are many ways in which this peculiarly Western variation of Christian belief distorts the faith. I mentioned one, the fate of infants who...

In a move that I bet the Vatican wanted to happen with no media attention, Benedict  XVI un-excommunicated four ultra-conservative bishops over the weekend.  But it turns out that one of the bishops had recently gone on a radio program...

I'm a regular commentator on Doug Pagitt's daily radio show, The Question. (Yes, I believe that is a velour shirt.) His show runs from 10-11am Central Time on Blogtalkradio, and I join him most Tuesdays from 10:30-11:00 to talk about...

Well, there's a lot to choose from this weekend.  Several of the Methodist ministers who were at the contentious conference last week weighed in on What Happened in Missouri. Of course, it's disheartening to read on Susan Cox-Johnson's blog that...

Back when Patton Dodd asked initially asked me to consider blogging for Bnet, he wanted to play on the "Dispatches" subtitle of my book.  That is, he wanted to take advantage of my frequent travels to write about how the...

Yesterday I posted about the optionality of the Trinity.  A good debate ensued, which is exactly what I hoped.  And that brings me to my thought for the day: I think those of us committed to the social web will...

I'm fairly certain that most of what we attempt in the way of spiritual formation for children gets in the way of what God is doing in the way of spiritual formation for children. Thank you all for your thoughtful...

"Find God in all things" - Saint Ignatius of Loyola "the blues is an impulse to keep the painful details and episodes of a brutal experience alive in one's aching consciousness, to finger its jagged grain, and to transcend it,...

The AP's fine religion reporter, Erik Gorski, this weekend dropped a story about the re-emergence of Ted Haggard, once-powerful president of the National Association of Evangelicals, now struggling insurance salesman.  Much to the chagrin of his former church, Haggard, his...

From the poem, "Advent, 1955" by John Betjamen:The world seems traveling into space, And traveling at a faster pace Than in the leisured summer weather When we and it sit out together, For now we feel the world spin round...

There's a bit of an in-house dust-up here at Bnet over Steve Waldman's extensive interview with Rick Warren (VIDEO / TRANSCRIPT). Steve's posted on it a few times, as have others around the blogosphere.But here in the friendly confines of...

File this in the "could've seen this coming" file.I remember watching the Hour of Power on TV in January, 2006, and seeing, amid great pomp and ceremony, Robert Schuller pass on the gold medal (?!?) that signifies leadership of the...

Rowan Willams has the honor of leading us in an Advent meditation:...

On Fresh Air with Terry Gross, National Association of Evangelicals vice president of governmental affairs Rich Cizik admitted that his views on same sex unions are shifting.  While he made it clear that he does not favor same sex marriage,...

When I was a youth pastor, my church occasionally hosted an "ecumenical" worship service that moved around the Twin Cities in an attempt to unite Christians in worship.  (Truth be told, the monthly service was dominated by Pentecostals who danced,...

Many seem to think so, especially in light of works of compassion in Africa, but Andrew is not falling for it.  It seems that Rick went on Fox News and agreed with Sean Hannity that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad should...

Here are the assembled Tweets from The Great Emergence National Event:...

On the eve of our Great Emergence National Event in Memphis comes news of a new denomination of breakaway Episcopal dioceses.  While this is no surprise, it is unfortunate, methinks.  It's also a sign of the death of denominations, which...

Over at Presbymergent, Leon Bloder has posted an open letter to his congregation, First Presbyterian of Eustis, Florida.  In it, he urges calm among congregants who are either ecstatic or in despair over BO's election victory.  Money quote:As the Church,...

As those of us who are Western Christians begin Advent, I want to encourage you and your church to consider joining the Advent Conspiracy: [UPDATE: Leadership Network has a nice history of the Advent Conspiracy. HT: Emergent Village.]...

My soon-to-be-blogalogue partner, Rod Dreher, has today questioned Barack Obama's profession of Christian faith based on a snippet of a 2004 interview in which BO refers to Jesus as a "bridge between God and man."  Of course, BO is not...

If you don't know it, getting "dooced," means getting fired for blogging something that your employer finds odious.  It's a term coined by Heather Armstrong, who now blogs full time at dooce.com.  Today, Scot McKnight blogs an email from a...

That's the best phrase I can come up with to describe Trinity Church, the folks with whom I spent the last three days.  Trinity is a funny place -- I should say, they are an unlikely church in a strange...

I'm in Greenwich, Connecticut for the next few days, speaking at various events at Trinity Church.  Trinity is an exceptional church -- emergent by any measure -- in an area not exactly known for innovative churches.  I've known a couple...