The Integration of Faith and Learning: A Dialogue

In a fascinating little volume by Mark Noll and James Turner, with a helpful introductory chapter by Thomas Howard (the editor), two scholars discuss the future of Christian Learning. This evangelical and Catholic dialogue is filled with honesty and perceptive insights. Mark Noll’s definition of Christian learning confirmed the direction of my own thinking in recent years:

“Christian learning worthy of the name must be as genuinely Christian as genuinely learned. Here I take “real Christianity’ to mean a trinitarian understanding of God, and also fo the world as fully understandable only in relation to the Trinity. Real Christianity, in these terms, acknowledges God as creator and providential sustainer of all that exists; it looks upon Christ as the only effective agent for the salvation of humankind, which has denied its own creaturely status by turning away from God; and it regards the Holy Spirit as the active presence of God in the world whose task, in the words of John’s Gospel, is to ‘convince the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment’ (16:8).” [p. 28]

“Who Can Understand It?”

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9

The line between good and evil runs straight through every human heart. On the one side is the imago Dei which reflects all that is true, and good, and beautiful; on the other is the darkness of human and demonic depravity. To underestimate this is to live in a fatal dream. Whether we are Muslim, Jew, or Christian (or one of the many “others:), whether we are anti-Christian, anti-semitic, or Islamophobic, we should see clearly the divide in our own hearts between good and evil. The only sure sign that the kingdom of God is among us is the spread like a virus of repentance. [My own deep sadness was provoked by this post at MEMRI.org, whether or not one agrees completely with the perspective].

Again, while one might quibble about the details and the precise perspective here and there, a quick read through the just released Amnesty International Human Rights Report for 2008 exposes the global dark side of the human heart. When we read it in sorrow, it points however faintly to our better side, our true home.  But the journey across the dividing line is often long…and cruciform.

Creation

Theology at the movies takes a significant step forward with this important work by Ben Stein: Expelled. Take a few moments to watch the trailer. May the conversation flourish.

Toward a “Robust” Theology

The Christian Vision Project focused in 2006 on culture and in 2007 on mission; this year the theme revolves around the simple question: “Is our gospel too small?” This month Scot McKnight has contributed a refreshing article entitled, “The 8 Marks of a Robust Gospel: Reviving forgotten chapters in the history of redemption.” Each of Scot’s points merit attention and conversation. For one who always enjoys the challenge of trying to express the Christian world view in 100 words or less, I noted Scot’s version in just over  50 words:

“The gospel is the story of the work of the triune God (Father, Son, and Spirit) to completely restore broken image-bearers (Gen. 1:26–27) in the context of the community of faith (Israel, Kingdom, and Church) through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the gift of the Pentecostal Spirit, to union with God and communion with others for the good of the world.”

The eight marks are as follows:

1. The robust gospel is a story. (biblical narrative)

2. The robust gospel places transactions in the context of persons. (relational)

3. The robust gospel deals with a robust problem. (sin)

4. A robust gospel has a grand vision. (new society & new creation)

5. A robust gospel includes the life of Jesus as well as his resurrection, and the gift of the Spirit alongside Good Friday. (Christ-centered)

6. A robust gospel demands not only faith but everything. (discipleship)

7. A robust gospel includes the robust Spirit of God. (experiential)

8. A robust gospel emerges from and leads others to the church. (missional)

Rediscovering the Trinity: Wheaton Theology Conference

Wheaton’s graduate school will host this important conference, April 10-12, 2008. Speakers will include Volf, Vanhoozer, and Franke, among others. Past conferences (e.g., 2004) have lead to important publications, such as The Community of the Word.

The Mission of God

Chris Wright has written a magisterial work on biblical theology – and from a missional perspective.  His full title is:  The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative. Any danger that a Christ Centered Trinitarian theology might fade into a reductionistic christomonism is warded off by a faithfully Trinitarian focus, and the organic way in which God’s mission in Christ becomes the focus of YHWH’s redemptive self-revelation.  Such a balance is enriched by this thoroughly canonical and missional treatment of biblical theology. 

Christian theology is at its core both mission and ethics.  Along the way Wright wisely treats the ethical nature of God’s mission (see his earlier work on OT ethics).  Surely this book will become a mainstay in missional theology. 

The Drama

Kevin Vanhoozer’s 2005 work The Drama of Doctrine is worth a long slow thoughtful read, preferably with a doctrinally competent study group.  The following summary of Part 1 reveals some of the its richness:

“The gospel is ‘theo-dramatic’ — a series of divine entrances and exits, especially as these pertain to what God has done in Jesus Christ.  The gospel — both the Christ event and the canon that communicates it — thus appears as the climatic moment in the Trinitarian economy of divine self-communicative action (chap. 1).  Theology responds and corresponds to God’s prior word and deed; accordingly, theology itself is part of the theo-dramatic action.  The mission of theology involves human speech and action, but what ultimately gives these significance is their role in the Trinitarian missions (chap. 2).  This insight leads to a first statement of the directive theory of doctrine that lies at the heart of the present work.  If theology is about the speech and action of the triune God and the church’s response in word and deed, then doctrine is best viewed as direction for the church’s fitting participation in the drama of redemption (chap. 3)” (31).