As many of us know, Changing Lanes is a story of the collision of two lives: Dolye (Samuel L. Jackson), a recovering alcoholic, and Gavin (Ben Affleck), a devious lawyer. It is a great movie that should be watched during Lent (b/c it all happens on Good Friday, a bystander let us know right at […]
This a great album and a searing social critique of conservative, evangelical christianity and its militant patriotism and consumer. Its brutal and beautiful. Here are the lyrics to the second track: I would offer commentary, but does it really need any? A New Law (vs. 1) don’t teach me about politics and governmentjust tell me […]
Gordon Hackman pointed me in the direction of c.s. lewis’ on science fiction in On Stories. There Lewis offers a taxonomy of sorts concerning science fiction. 1) science fiction by displace authors. This is when an other tells adventure/love/mystery stories in the context of the future, but is only doing it b/c it is a […]
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Close to the Concrete
I love being a pastor, because it keeps me connected to the concrete, linked to the practical, daily aspects of life. And even if there is some sort of academic future in/beyond a Ph.d., I hope to always continue in a pastoral role. I’ve read two pieces recently that reminded me again hope important concrete […]
Chapter III: Embrace “The central thesis of the chapter is that God’s reception of hostile humanity into divine communion is a model for how human beings should relate to the other.” (p. 100.) The Ambiguities of Liberation Some claim that dignity and justice are based in freedom, the freedom to choose one’s own life. When […]
Science Fiction vs. Sci-Fi: What is the difference between Science Fiction and Sci-Fi? (I’m basically using a distinction my cousin, Kevin Reed, proposed to me.) Science Fiction: A form of social critique or investigation set in the future (distant or near), or set in the present amid highly anomalous circumstances. Science Fiction is what you […]
Chapter II Exclusion The Dubious Triumph of Inclusion The Western story of progress/civilization is told as one of continual inclusion. “The history of modern democracies is about progressive and ever expanding inclusion, about “taking in rather than… keeping out”. By contrast, stories of ethnic cleansing are about the most brutal forms of exclusion, about driving […]
Here are my notes on Exclusion and Embrace which I’m reading again in light of the Emergent Theological Conversation with Miroslav Volf in a couple of weeks. —IntroductionThe Cross at the Centerp.22 For Moltmann, God’s solidarity is revealed through his suffering on the Cross. God is for the weak and the oppressed. But what about […]
Here are a couple of interesting reviews of Hardt/Negri’s Multitude. The first is over at Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory and is a fair summary of the book concluding with a mild questioning of the ontology of the multitude based in a “strong event.” Great introduction if you haven’t and/or won’t ever read the […]
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Introduction to Speech and Theology
From the first chapter of Speech and Theology. Here are a sting of quotes with my comments interspersed as a summary of the Introductory chapter of Speech and Theology, a great book I’m reading through (James K. A. Smith is a Reformed Evangelical writing in the Radical Orthodoxy series). (If you are the type of […]