postmodernbible

evangelism and arts week

I'm off to London this weekend with 30 students to explore the subject of evangelism and the arts.  We are following a programme of lectures in the morning and then outings in the afternoon.  We're taking in Tate Britain, Tate Modern, National Gallery, Political Cartoon Gallery, Tate Late, Hillsongs at the Dominion,  Premier Radio, hopefully Heart Radio station, and a Speak rally in Westminster.  We're having a meeting post Tate Late next Friday when we are going to explore Spirituality in the City...at the moment I am not sure what this means - it might be us having a prayer meeting in Trafalgar Square or drinking in the vibe of China Town or having coffee in Covent Garden...

There are also lectures at the Lantern Arts Centre in Wimbledon in the mornings and workshops on creative arts and a theatre trip as well.

The main aim is to explore what God is up to in the arts - to see what God's story is, how he is telling it outside the church, and to encourage our students to think a bit more widely about God and the arts in general...

Last year, this was the highlight of my time with the students and a high point for many of the students too.  I hope with more students and a less cosy atmosphere, this year will still be just as good.

I have to say I am pretty excited by the whole thing...it's time to play!  I think I am going to stir things up a bit by taking the students to Westminster Abbey and then Hillsongs on Sunday Night and ask them which is the further from/closes to a true expression of mission-shaped church...and then dump them outside waterloo station and tell them to get to the convent where we are staying under their own steam...too cruel?...OK, I promise not to dump them!

Pete

Emerging Church Conversations

Thanks to James for highlighting Denny Burk's comments on Scot McKnight's article...favourable and congratulatory...

And I also saw this cri de coeur from Andrew Jones AKA TallSkinnyKiwi!  It's quite a blast!  He thinks Scot McKnight has hit the nail on the head too!

Pete

deinde :: Discussion and news for biblical scholars

On the link below, Paul Nikkel at Deinde shows one of the recently released pictures of the situation in Abu Graib.  He adds the line "Yes we are more civilized because we know a joke when we see it."  I hope Paul is demonstrating some form of Canadian humour/sarcasm here.  I can see no joke involved in any of this sordid affair.  Humanity is just not civilised sometimes.

Pete

Link: deinde :: Discussion and news for biblical scholars.

Tom Wright Podcast...

I had a listen to this in the car on the way down to Gorsley at the weekend.  I thought it was an interesting experience.  The guy doing the interview clearly wanted to show his Greek credentials and Tom Wright clearly wanted to sound human and normal.  Overall, the usual suggestion from Tom now about Paul's anti-imperial stance and the explanation of KURIOS as an imperial epithet. 

I am not yet as convinced as Tom Wright is...

Here's the link to the podcast site...

What I did enjoy was the contrast between Jerry Bower's American drawl and Tom Wright's Refined Episcopal English!

Pete

Link: NT Gateway Weblog.

Emerging Church Article

Scot McKnight's JesusCreed blog has a link to his recent article on emerging church: The Future or Fad.

You can get hold of the article here or here: Download 0602FutureorFad.pdf

As I said to my students when I sent them the link:

…by Scot McKnight…might be interesting to some…but it is from an American perspective and you will all know already of the differences/issues relating to emerging and emergent…if you don’t, you need to!

Pete

James to Pete to James on the Cartoons

James has responded to my response...you can see the ongoing conversation here

It's a pity that I cannot express myself clearly enough.  Don't you find that frustrating?  I wasn't trying to set a quarrel or to oppose what James was saying - I was just trying to come into the conversation and suggest that we need to take the broader picture James was suggesting.  I guess I chose the wrong words to do that.

James asks two questions at the end of his post.

Is Christianity therefore inherently better than Islam?

and

If so what were all those centuries of burnings and heretics?

and

Would it not be better to start thinking more in broader socio-historical terms than history of ideas?

Well, my answers would be pretty straightforward - Yes, I know, Yes!

I do think Christianity is inherently better than Islam - that's why I am a Christian and not a Muslim.  I am convinced that Christianity provides a coherent, liberative and healthy way to be fully a human being (I am only defending my interpretation of Christianity - there are plenty of interpretations which I agree are not coherent, not liberative and not healthy!  Having said that I think my interpretation fits into an orthodox, historical interpretative tradition).  Answering this question with any other answer would be daft for me - it would suggest that I follow a religion which I think provides an untimately incorrect response to the human condition.  If I was a Muslim, I would, of course, answer No!

However, I do not think that (historical and contemporary) Christendom has been a particulartly good advocate of Christianity - and I can hear the argument that (historical and contemporary) Islam (i.e.whatever the proper word for Islamdom would be - certainly not Mohammedom!) has not been a good advocate of Islam.   I'd be happy with that argument...although ultimately I would not concur with a universalist  response to the differences between the major world religions.  I think they are actually answering different questions about the human condition and in such instances comparisons are pretty well flawed.

I think James has got it right to think in socio-historical terms.  I think that the history of Christendom and the history of Islam reflects specific socio-historical realities.  e.g. The political realities have always tended to override/manipulate and deflect the main history of ideas within each religion - although I think the kaliphate concept within the Quran is a more militaristic concept than Jesus' Kingdom of God - but that would be up for debate.  What has happened is that political leaders have made use of both concepts to dominate their enemies and to spread their own, and their adopted religion's, hegemony.  That's bad.

How does all this relate to the cartoons.  Well, it probably doesn't by now. 

As I said to James in my last response, what niggles away at me is the difference between what we do with the Bible/Jesus/Christian tradition and what we are allowed to do with the Quran/Mohammed/Islamic tradition.   

But I hold my hands up and admit that I am prone to generalisation on this topic and it is perhaps better to just shut up and leave the discussion to others who know what they are talking about!

Pete

Emerging Church Research

At the Fresh Expressions days the other week (see below), I had a conversation with Ian Mobsby from Moot about his MA research which he was about to submit and get published.  I am impressed with Ian's ability to get the dissertation published so quickly.  The report sounds more exciting than the title (which makes it sound too Anglican!) but it seems to explore the various dimensions of the emerging church/fresh expressions debate.  Certainly, when it's available, I am going to have to get hold of a copy.

Here is the abstract:

Download Mobsbyabstract.doc

Pete

Gorsley Chapel

I had a wonderful day yesterday at Gorsley.  The church is doing some great work down in rural Herefordshire/Gloucestershire.  It was a privilege to be asked to preach there...I spoke from Mark on the calling of the disciples and Levi - mostly on the need to mix attractional and proximity evangelism, or centripetal and centrifugal mission, or in-drag vs. outreach.

Good friends, good worship, good day.

Pete

ILink: Gorsley Chapel.

Cartoons...

James Crossley has written a piece on this now and given some links to two articles in books he has recently co-edited...

He suggests his comments are not personal.  This of course raises huge issues about what is personal and what is not - almost reminded me of the Dan-Brownian manoeuvre to create fact out of fiction...

Islam is not open to free speech.  I know that is a generalisation.  There are indeed Muslims open to free speech - many of them.  But institutionally and politically this is a true generalisation.  Go to Saudi and try and print the cartoons - even the most inoffensive of them and you will realise how Islamic politics is not the same as Western politics.

I've added a comment to James site that goes like this...

I am amazed that you suggest that what you say is not a personal comment. What is it then? Are you suggesting that what you say has greater factual congency than someone else's opinion? Your comments are based on hypothecations - let's say 500,000 - and on one reading of Islam. The fact remains that there is a massive difference between critical openness within NT Studies which allows you the freedom to say what you want in your research and the closed nature of research parameters within Islamic studies - or at least in majority Islamic studies. You will know how difficult it is to create a text critical edition of the Quran or to provide historical critical analyses of the various sayings...

No-one, surely, with a right mind is saying that Western imperialism is right but nor is it factual to simply say that Islam is as open to freedom of speech as the West is...

Of course, I am not giving a value judgement here.  James says he is an advocate of free speech.  I am not so convinced that the rights agenda of the late twentieth century and twenty first century is going to be as helpful to human society as we think...I think it is another corollary to late capitalism that may well yet destroy the foundations of what we call civilization.

I bought that book by Diamond, by the way, about the fall and rise of civilizations - so I might get apocalyptic!

Pete

Bible and Mission

Spent a pleasurable day today with a group of SU workers (Scripture Union) up north in Bedale - at an informal training session they have called Regenerate.  Good to see some friends there including the guy organising it - Piers Lane - regional worker for SU in Yorkshire.  We spent the day exploring the role of the Bible and the importance of mission - usual mixture of video clips, teaching, bible, prayer...

Lots of discussion of Breuggeman, Hauerwas, Bilezikian and, of course, Richard Bauckham.

I will attach the powerpoint if anyone fancies being put to sleep!  The names of the four (small) books are listed.  I was very interested to hear from someone who had just completed an MA at Durham which apparently had been saying much the same as I was trying to say today.

Download regenerate_session_1.ppt

Pete