The Theological Mosaic

At the end of the term...

2011-04-14T12:01:00.000-07:00

It is the end of the Spring term, and I have been thinking about my blogging life, such as it is. I created this blog to add some extra content and/or questions and/or play to the content of the Theological Mosaic class. This term I also started to blog on a different site and realize that I need to give a little more 'face' time to that endeavor.

All this to say, I think that I am going to retire this blog and consolidate my two class blogs at the 'Artistic Impulse' blog site. So, if you want to keep reading/following my random abstract thoughts about life, art and theology, please visit my other two blogs. As for the Theological Mosaic, it will be missed, but all good things much come to an end eventually... or find a life elsewhere, as the case may be.

Here are the links. Enjoy!

The Artistic Impulse (short thoughts on what I am reading, watching, hearing and experiencing in my theology and the arts life... oh and occasional thoughts and announcements for my classes...)

Evangelical Crossroads (A group blog with the authors of Routes and Radishes. In my posts I will focus on my continued exploration of and search for a Christian aesthetic...)

Oh, and I should add one last sarcastic video for the road.... hope you like the video, it is meant to make you laugh, not cry...

A Few Thoughts on Rob Bell

2011-04-07T16:08:00.000-07:00

I thought I would send a few links for recent thoughts on Rob Bell's new book. I appreciate Peterson's willingness to listen both critically and respectfully. And I appreciate Jeff Cook's thoughtful interaction with Lewis and Bell (although I don't think that Lewis is a Universalist...). Enjoy!

Eugene Peterson on Rob Bell

C. S. Lewis and Rob Bell

A Little Inspiration

2011-04-05T16:36:00.000-07:00

A little inspiration for you from Henri Nouwen's Theological Ideas in Education:

Most students...feel that they must first have something to say before they can put it down on paper. For them writing is little more than recording a preexistent thought. But...writing is a process in which we discover what lives in us. The writing itself reveals what is alive.

In another place he writes:

The deepest satisfaction of writing is precisely that it opens up new spaces within us of which we were not aware before we started to write. To write is to embark on a journey whose final destination we do not know....Writing is like giving away the few loaves and fishes one has, in trust that they will multiply in the giving. Once we dare to "give away" on paper the few thoughts that come to us, we start discovering how much is hidden underneath...and gradually come in touch with our own riches.

So, as you write, I pray that you will "come in touch with" your "own riches."

"The Bad Vicar"

2011-03-07T17:56:00.000-08:00

OK, I promised that I would put up a couple of funny (read sarcastic) videos about the Church over the next week. We do need an outlet for some of our more cynical feelings about the Church. About this video, all I'll say is that I really hope that this has not ever been your experience of Church... if it has, I am extremely sorry...

This from the British TV show, "That Mitchell and Webb Look":

Music and Freedom: Wisdom from Jeremy Begbie

2011-03-04T13:33:00.000-08:00

I feel like I have returned over and over again this term to the concept of freedom. Freedom and Kenosis. Freedom and Improvisation. Improvisation and the life of the Church... We keep coming back to the questions: "How do we define freedom? What does it mean for us to live fully before God and one another? What does it mean that 'where the Spirit is, there is freedom'? Are we in competition with God?" And many more questions. These are what I think of as 'driving questions.' They keep us exploring, wondering about our faith or the lack of it.

To aid in our explorations, I thought that I would share a couple of videos with you all. This is Jeremy Begbie speaking at the Veritas Forum a few years back. If it sounds a little familiar, it is true that I have stolen all of my best material on music and freedom from Dr. Begbie! My favorite phrase in the videos (although I really like everything that he has to say!) is, "God is about 're-humanizing' us, not 'de-humanizing' us." Good stuff!

Let me know what you think...

Speaking of Vulnerability

2011-02-19T13:18:00.000-08:00

Just in case any of you are interested... Here is the my quintet playing Brahms a few weekends ago. This is the first time that we have played together, and the first time we have performed together. The Brahms quintet in F minor is an amazing piece (we are playing just the first movement). I think that we did fairly well for just a short amount of practice time. (Keep in mind that we are just amateurs--people who simply play for the love of the music... we are not the Emerson String Quartet--that is my tender vulnerability coming out...)

As you are watching, notice how we play off of one another. Try to trace how the melody moves from instrument to instrument. How does the piano interact with the string quartet? How do the string players interact with the piano and with one another? Sometimes we literally pass the tune on to the next player. Sometimes we are all playing the tune together. Other times we support another player, helping them to soar beautifully. In a few sections we are all playing at different times, playing just two or three notes of the tune, playing off of one another to make a unified melody. I hope you enjoy!

Regardless, you just gotta love Brahms...

Vulnerability and the Improvisational Life

2011-02-17T12:09:00.000-08:00

Yesterday in class we were talking about the church and improvisation. One concept that really stood out to me was the question of whether or not we will accept or block the 'offer' to come play. Will we say 'Yes' or will we say 'No'. Sam Wells argues that those who say 'No' think that what is being offered is either "improbable, improper or dangerous" or really all of the above. It is much safer not to take the risk.

I believe that risk (vulnerability), freedom and contingency (that anything can happen) all go together. The other side of the coin is trust (whether in ourselves or others--including God), structure (some kind of ordered way of being and doing) and constraint (some kind of canvas on which to paint our lives). There has to be structure if we are to practice and live into freedom and contingency.

When I put that together with Sarah Coakley's ideas that the kenosis of Jesus Christ (that mysterious way of talking about Christ's self-emptying or his pouring out of himself) as 'vulnerability-in-power' I realize that vulnerability, especially a healthy understanding of vulnerability, is at the heart of the gospel. It is the way of Jesus Christ. It is who we are empowered to be through the Holy Spirit. This is not some 'touchy-feely' way of thinking about who we are as humans, much less the people of God. We are called to be persons before one another, before God and before the whole of the created order. Our freedom as persons (not individuals) is bound up in and even vested in our interplay with others. There is no freedom without vulnerability. Freedom is mediated to us through other people. This is the call of the Christian life. This the core of the Jesus way.

And so I wonder about the Church. Could we do work in this class that actually moves us to a less cynical place about the Church? About God? About one another? Is there a constructive way to imagine what it means to come together? What role does worship play in your life? What desires do you have? Can worship awaken your desire for God? For healthy relationship? For wholeness? Or is vulnerability, freedom, wholeness, desire, etc. antithetical to what Church is? What are you questions? How can you aks these questions? Are you asking these questions?

I think this could be a very powerful integrative space in this class. Anyone up for the challenge? Say 'Yes' to vulnerability, even if it involves the imperfect group of persons (even individuals) that make up the Church...

Here is video by Dr. Brene Brown on vulnerability. I think she gets to the heart of the matter. Let me know what you think:

J. Kameron Carter On Jazz...

2011-02-15T17:21:00.000-08:00

I am really enjoying blogging about 'making space'. I think I will keep going over the next few weeks. But today I want to invite another voice into the conversation, although he is talking more in terms of freedom and tradition.

Here is our guest blogger for the day: J. Kameron Carter on Esperanza Spalding. Theology and jazz. See, I'm not the only one thinking about this topic...

A Little Romance for You...

2011-02-14T17:23:00.000-08:00

Here is a version of "My One and Only Love" by two Jazz greats, John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman. The way they play off of one another is like butter. I'm goin' all melty inside...

Sam Wells and Improvisation

2011-02-13T11:59:00.000-08:00

Molly reminded me of the importance of Sam Wells's book, Improvisation. In this book, Wells talks about improvisation as a model for church. In essence, it is about how we are with one another and in the world. He was a pastor for years and applied these principles in his church and community. His church dying and was in a section of England defined by poverty and cynicism. He wondered how it was possible to revive a church in such circumstances, but it did work. He went on from there to work with Stanley Hauerwas, and is now the Dean of the Chapel at Duke Divinity.

I think I'll talk about this in class... I'll practice improvisation in my teaching life...

Molly sent me a link to an interview in The Other Journal with Scott Bader-Saye, where he talks a bit about Wells's understanding of improvisation. Check it out.

The Other Journal & Dr. Scott Bader-Saye

Joshua Redman...what more do you need?

2011-02-12T19:29:00.000-08:00

It is a truth known to jazz players that technique is the gatekeeper. You cannot make space for others if you do not have space for yourself. After you can play you are able to make space for others, you are ready to play the game. But first, you have to go to the woodshed. You have to play by yourself if you are going to immerse yourself in the game. Jazz is pure playing toward others...

This is the essence of how I understand jazz improvisation, and one of my favs is Joshua Redman. He is such an amazing player and his ensembles are solid. I love to hear him play. We saw him live about 10 years ago (we need to see him again!) and I was hooked. The whole band grooved and moved together. Making space for one another indeed. Here is Redman live:

Bach's Art of the Fugue

2011-02-11T12:07:00.000-08:00

We can't have a series on 'making room for the other' without including J.S. Bach's art of the fugue. Here are a couple of videos of the Emerson String quartet (one of my favorite quartets) playing this monumental work (at least bits and bobs of it). The first video has a short explanation of the work, the second one of the 'Contrapunti'. In essence, this is a series of different fugues (Contrapunti) based upon the same theme (or subject, although the subject varies from variation to variation). The variety of the work spins out into eternity and ends mid-sentence because Bach died before he complete the work. I wonder if he would have just kept composing in endless improvisation on this theme into eternity... It seems as if that is exactly what he did.

Watch and listen for the independence of the different voice intertwined with how they interact. This is play in motion...

[N.B. The Oxford American Dictionary defines 'fugue' in the following manner: "Music a contrapuntal composition in which a short melody or phrase (the subject) is introduced by one part and successfully taken up by others and developed by interweaving the parts."]

Talking of Michael Jackson...

2011-02-11T11:39:00.000-08:00

So, one more adaptation that is amazingly cool (in my geeky string player mind). Here is version of Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" played by two cellists. I love how they play off of each other. A great example of making room for one another, even if they seem to be dueling it out!

And one more...

2011-02-10T23:31:00.000-08:00

OK, one of my favorite adaptations is Eva Cassidy's version of Sting's "Fields of Gold." I always loved Sting's song, but I think that Eva takes it to another level. I also love her version of "Time after Time" in case you are interested...

I'm not sure what I think about the nature shots in the video, but whoever put it together started in Scotland, which makes me want to go back. The fields of the Kingdom of Fife are truly the fields of gold... the light had that certain glowing quality when the canola fields were in bloom... Oh and there are some shots of the Orkney Islands as well... beautiful. I love standing stones!

Another Adaptation...

2011-02-10T23:12:00.000-08:00

Jonathan sent in a different adaption. This time, instead of Queen on the ukelele (by the way, thank you to Emily for sending me that video), it is the Jackson 5's hit, "I want you back" by The Civil Wars. So I thought I would repost his link and also include the original with a Jackson 5 video. Love those moves! If you don't get up and dance I'm not sure if I want to talk to ever again... no really, I wish I could move like that. Michael, you inspired us all.

"I want you back" by The Civil Wars

Making Space for the Other...

2011-02-10T16:12:00.000-08:00

Every day this week it is my goal to post a different example of 'making space' through some kind of imaginative improvisatory and/or creative activity. One form of creative improvisation is taking a song from one genre and adapting it to another genre or instrumentation. This is a significant way of articulating this concept of 'making room for the other' within musical space. Adaptation helps you hear the song differently and gives honor to the integrity and power of the original song. (It also shows off the virtuosity of the player...)

Performance is an important way of learning to hear other voices, and in this video we have a very cool example of an unexpected song on an unexpected instrument. My guess is that after this performance, you will never hear Queen or the ukelele in the same way again.

Enjoy!

Calvinism vs. Arminianism

2011-02-08T14:38:00.000-08:00

OK, for those of you who are interested, here is a good and concise website about the key stances and difference between Calvinism and Arminianism.

Comparison of Calvinism and Arminianism

Enjoy!
Chelle

Chance for Extra Credit

2011-02-07T17:31:00.001-08:00

This week there is a chance for you to get extra credit for the theology class. (Up to 2 points.) All you need to do is attend Jon Stanley's Wednesday night lecture, "God is Dead and I don't Feel So Good Myself," and then write a 2-page report about the content of the lecture and the evening. Here are the details:

Jon Stanley is a graduate of Mars Hill Graduate School and is currently working on his Ph.D. in philosophical theology with the Institute for Christian Studies in Toronto (yes, in Canada).

What: Alumni Speaker Series (co-sponsored with The Other Journal and The Parish Collective)

Where: Mars Hill Graduate School

When: 7PM on Wednesday February 9th, 2011

Anne Lamott at Seattle Uni's Book Festival

2011-02-04T23:56:00.000-08:00

Check out Seattle University's Search For Meaning Book Festival this Saturday, February 5th. It looks like Anne Lamott is speaking at 10:15. Let me know if you go!

Go Knox and the Union Gospel Mission!

2011-02-01T20:47:00.000-08:00

Hey, I was just looking at the Seattle Times and the lead story was about art at the Union Gospel Mission. And, there was Knox on the front page...

So, check out art at the Union Gospel Mission this week! Gallery open from 6PM to 8PM this Thursday, February 3rd.

Tierra Nueva Mural Artist: Troy Terpstra

2011-02-01T15:46:00.000-08:00

In class this week, I will refer to the mural found at central building for Bob Ekblad's ministry, Tierra Nueva, up in Burlington, WA. Here is the link: Troy Terpstra Mural.

This is truly a prophetic and theological work of art. I hear and see many of the images and metaphors that we will discuss in class this week in this painting.

Here is an explanation of the piece in Troy's words. It is from the Tierra Nueva e-testimony blog:

"At the center of the mural is Christ. He will be tattooed, appearing to be an ex-con. Jesus is an ex-con of sorts, but the idea is inspired by drawings done by prisoners and given to the staff here at Tierra Nueva. Many prisoners feel a deep sense of shame and inadequacy when invited to know a God they have always perceived as judgmental and harsh. This portrayal of Christ as a modern day convict aims to contextualize the Gospel into our present culture. Jesus of the ghetto, Jesus of the barrio, is the Jesus of Nazareth. We want the men in the Skagit Valley Jail to know the Jesus who rolled with his society's misfits and outcasts, and who longs to be with them today. On the left, the character of Jesus embraces a young prisoner in a county jail uniform. The jail chaplaincy has been an amazingly fruitful ministry, and I am continually amazed at the stories of healing and renewal that come out of the jail every week.

On the right, Jesus has his arm around a campesina (female farm worker) who stands in the strawberry fields. She is weary and a palette of harvested fruit rests on her hips. Much of Tierra Nueva's ministry is to farm workers, who continuously move to follow the seasonal work, uprooting their families and working sun-up to sun-down for less than minimum wage. Our Family Support Center assists these people in finding housing, obtaining legal help, and in many other basic needs. I want to honestly portray the labor endured by migrant farm workers, as well as the closeness to the heart of Christ they have.

At the top of the wall, the Hands of our Abba pour out the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which is made of water and takes the shape of a dove. The waters pass through a gaping wound in the torso of the living Christ, the self-giving sacrifice of love which conquers death. Many characters, addicted, accused and accusing, rich and poor, liberated and bound up, undergo the baptismal outpouring. Chains, addiction, resentment, guilt, and death itself drown under the waters.

Coming up from the waters (the wings of the dove) two joyful worshippers emerge, a woman pounding the drums of mercy and a man blowing the horn of justice, crashing through the oppressive orderliness of the vertical prison bars and the horizontal field rows. I love the idea of the Holy Spirit breaking into prison. The prison cells sit under the night sky of a city contrasted with the field under the full sun of a summer day.

I have taken over a year to settle on the design, and I don't think I quite understood the process of mural making when I began this project, so the slowness has been very educational. I have drawn and redrawn this design several times, and God willing I am nearing the day when I will begin to paint it.

Bruce Cockburn has a line in his song 'Mystery' that goes "come all you stumblers who believe love rules – stand up and let shine." I like to think that this e-testimony is addressed to the 'stumblers who believe love rules.' Come by and check out the mural if you are in the neighborhood."

Different Theologians on the Holy Spirit

2011-01-21T13:31:00.000-08:00

Here are some theologians and some "pithy" statements describing their pneumatology.

Enjoy!

Chelle

1. Augustine: The Spirit is the bond of Love between the Father and the Son.

2. Irenaeus: The Son and the Spirit are the two hands of God.

3. St. Basil: The Spirit is the perfecting cause.

4. Richard of St. Victor: The Holy Spirit is the motor outward of God.

5. Wolfhart Pannenberg: The Spirit is a force field. (NOT like on Star Trek!)

6. Jurgen Moltmann: "wherever there is a passion for life, there the Spirit of God is operating" (Karkkainen, Pneumatology, 126)

7. Karl Barth: the Spirit is always in relation to Christ, mediating Christ (the Word of Christ) to people's hearts

8. Clark Pinnock: The Flame of Love OR The sex dude...

9. John Zizioulas: Eastern Orthodox. The Trinity as an Ontology of Communion. The Spirit and the Son work in parallel: "The work of the Spirit is not the subordinate to the work of the Son, nor is Pentecost a continuation of the incarnation but rather its sequel, its result." (Karkkainen, Pneumatology, 109)

10. Elizabeth Johnson: The Holy Spirit as Sophia, or wisdom.

11. Karl Rahner: The Spirit has a universal orientation. He talks about 'anonymous Christians', as people who are Christians but just don't know it yet. In other words, the Spirit is at work in them.

12. Robert Jenson: Lutheran theologian who believes that the Spirit is moving Christianity back to being one Holy catholic/Catholic Church.

13. Stan Grenz: We are made in the image of God, therefore we have been created for community. The Spirit constitutes and dwells in the Community of God.

14. Elizabeth Schussler-Fiorenza: scholar who rigorously and passionately argues for the recognition of women in the establishing and forming of the Christian tradition. The Holy Spirit moved women into prominent positions in ministry back then, why not today?

15. Mark I. Wallace: Green or Ecological Pneumatology.

16. Karen Baker-Fletcher: The Spirit is at work today in our lives and is the resurrection (as in the resurrection of Jesus) and the resurrecting power (as in for us) of God, even in the darkest places of evil and oppression.

Gordon Fee: Gender and Translation

2011-01-20T14:10:00.000-08:00

As I was poking around the web for a picture of Gordon Fee, I found this article on Gender and Translation. This is a co-authored piece with Mark Strauss. I thought that some of you might be interested in this discussion. Enjoy!

"Gender and Translation" by Gordon Fee and Mark Strauss

Gordon Fee

2011-01-20T14:01:00.000-08:00

A few people asked if I would put the Fee quotes from this week's lecture on Kenosis up on the class blog. Since I'm not sure which quotes or ideas provoked further contemplation, I'll just put up my lecture and notes. If there were other quotes or ideas that you were interested in exploring, just let me know. Don't forget that all of my lectures and slides are posted in the class folder.

Gordon Fee: Defining Kenosis

Biblical theologian, Gordon Fee, can help us establish a different understanding of kenosis.[1] In his commentary on Philippians, Fee points out that the phrases ‘did not consider equality with God something to be grasped’ and ‘made himself nothing’ function together in the poetic form of the hymn. These two ideas play off each other, saying something similar.

Unfortunately, this pairing of phrases has often been translated or understood to mean that Jesus gave up or emptied out his divinity or something vital to his being. As if Jesus, in the incarnation, was like a bag that could only carry so much stuff and had to be emptied out in order to enable the incarnation. All the God-stuff had to be taken out of the bag.[2] Fee argues that the first phrase ‘did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,’ points to the reality of Jesus, that he truly was God. This identity as God was not something that he desired; it was always his from eternity.[3] He also notes that some commentators translate ‘to grasp’ [harpagmos] in a manner more unto being. That being God, Jesus did not grasp or seize, because that is not the way God is. Power, leadership, kingship is about service not about the grasping of power.[4] Fee seems to agree with this idea that the life of Christ reveals what God-likeness is. “Rather, his ‘equality with God’ found its truest expression when ‘he emptied himself’.”[5]

Fee asserts that the primary theological mistake in this passage has hinged on the assumption that if Jesus emptied himself [ekenosen] he emptied himself of something, rather than it being a statement of identity. This person, Jesus Christ, did not grasp at equality with God (he was God) and the one who didn’t grasp poured himself out by taking the form of a slave.[6] “God is not an acquisitive being, grasping and seizing, but self-giving for the sake of other.”[7] Thus this passage is talking more about the nature of who Jesus is rather than what was given up.[8]

Fee’s argument reminds me of the concept of perichoresis, as a gifting and giving of being from the Father, Son and the Spirit. This self-giving is the way of God. Thus, Christ’s self-giving and emptying is an eternal a continuous way of being. This is not given up in the incarnation—this can be seen in how he relates to the Father and the Spirit throughout his ministry. Jesus is given from the Father the renewed gift of the Holy Spirit at his baptism. This is the inauguration of his ministry. It is interesting that in the synoptic Gospels, immediately after his baptism, Jesus is lead by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by Satan. It is here that he truly does not grasp after power and authority. He takes no privileges—because the rule of the world was his by right—and remains a servant. He does not take the easy way toward Lordship that is offered to him. And, as the Christ hymns proclaims, it is in this way of not grasping and of pouring himself out as a servant for the sake of others that Jesus is exalted as Lord over all of creation.

[1] Gordon Fee, Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, 191-214, esp. 210-214.
[2] Though this is not really Kathryn Tanner’s articulation, I got this idea from her. Check out her discussion of the Chalcedonian definition in Tanner, Jesus, Humanity and the Trinity.
[3] Fee, 208.
[4] Cf. Fee, 206 for the discussion of harpagmos, which seems even more difficult to translate than kenosis.
[5] Fee, 208.
[6] Fee, 210.
[7] Fee, 211.
[8] Here is how Fee sums up his argument: “In Christ Jesus God has thus shown his true nature; this is what it means for Christ to be ‘equal with God’—to pour himself out for the sake of others and to do so by taking the role of a slave. Hereby he not only reveals the character of God, but from the perspective of the present context also reveals what it means for us to be created in God’s image, to bear his likeness and have his ‘mindset.’ It means taking the role of the slave for the sake of others…” (Fee, 214.)

C. S. Lewis

2011-01-20T13:44:00.000-08:00

   This past summer I taught a class on C. S. Lewis. A graduating student had seen this class listed in the academic catalogue and asked me if I would teach it. I said yes with a little reluctance. Though I had read all of Lewis' fiction before, I had rarely read with much attention or care his non-fiction works.

   I have to admit that I have been suspicious of how people (evangelicals in particular) say the name of Lewis with such reverence. "Well, as C. S. Lewis once said..." He is the 'thinking Christian's' patron saint and the champion of wisdom over knowledge. Oh, and everyone likes to read about talking animals.

   Regardless of my previous prejudices, Lewis completely won me over. He is remarkably insightful and wisely subversive. When I say subversive I mean that he sees into the culture (both Christian and secular) and knows how to subtly deconstruct previous ways of understanding and then reframe the conversation with wit and depth.

   What also surprised me was the relevancy of his voice. Even though he died in 1963, he addresses the same issues as students today wrestle to understand. I think part of this is because he lived in a culture (20th century war-torn Britain--Lewis fought in WWI and lost his best friend) that struggled with the relevancy of faith. Where was God in the midst of such evil and destruction? Or even, why believe in God when science and philosophy have shown the sheer ridiculousness of Christianity?

   Despite all of this, Lewis--with the help of such friends as J. R. R. Tolkien and Charles Williams--moved through his own atheism and then deism back to Christianity. This formed his thought and his pursuit for God. He speaks to the sincere yet cynical soul who is not sure if the God of their youth is really viable anymore. How do we pursuit God in an age of cynicism? Lewis seems to know how to lead the way...

   In class I read the very beginning of Lewis' famous sermon, "The Weight of Glory." In this sermon he talks about 'desire.' This is a very important theme for Lewis in his writings. He believed that the telling of stories had the power to awaken desire in the human heart. More specifically he talked about desire as Sehnsucht, that desire and longing for God's presence; a heart sickness for home. For example, Reepicheep, the chief of the mice in The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, had a Sehnsucht for Aslan's country. As a theology teacher, I often wonder what it means to awaken desire for God. Again, Lewis is able to lead the way...

“If you asked twenty good men to-day what they thought the highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness. But if you asked almost any of the great Christians of old he would have replied, Love. You see what has happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive, and this is of more than philological importance. The negative ideal of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not their happiness was the important point. I do not think this is the Christian virtue of Love. The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself. We are told to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses in order that we may follow Christ; and nearly every description of what we shall ultimately find if we do so contains an appeal to desire. If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing, I submit that this notion has crept in from Kant and the Stoics and is no part of the Christian faith. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires, not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.” ("The Weight of Glory")

That Quote I Read in Class Today

2010-12-01T17:01:00.000-08:00

The glory of provocative quotes is that they stick in your mind. And maybe because I read it, it has stayed with me for the rest of the day. Here is the quote:

“A psychotherapy which suggested that the knowledge that we gain of ourselves in the psychotherapeutic relationship is itself what makes us whole human beings would perhaps be a genuine Gnosticism in a contemporary form. It would have substituted self-knowledge for God’s redemptive initiative in Christ.” (Bergquist in Heresies and How to Avoid Them, 111-112)

Here is what I think... I think that the evangelical or even just the Western Church in general has gnostic tendencies especially in the latter half of the 20th century (as we were all growing up in the church--or in the culture at large). This has resulted in a church culture that undervalues the psychological health (and even, at times, the physical health) of its members to such a degree that to appear 'spiritual' is to trump any kind of psychological maturity. Another way to say this is that psychological health--and along with that relational health, etc.--has often been thought to be a 'spiritual' weakness or even disease. Spirituality has often been separated from relation maturity, relational honesty and relational accountability, thus make our discipleship models very gnostic.

If you pray this prayer, you sins will be forgiven and forgotten (rather than forgiven and then redeemed through maturity). If you just memorize these verses, you will become spiritually mature (rather than dealing with the crap as you memorize those verses).

What I am trying to say is that it can happen that the material reality of our lives can be undermined and separated from our 'spiritual lives' as if the whole of our everyday existence is not a part of our spiritual life. That, in my estimation, is gnostic.

All in all, we need a balanced model. And that is why you are in this class and at this school. What is your model of the spiritual life and how does it incorporate psychological and relational health?

Peace,

Chelle

Pub Quiz on December 1st

2010-11-21T15:00:00.000-08:00

I sent out an email earlier today, but I wanted to put up this announcement in several places. Hopefully you will all get this message.

I have changed the reading for the pub quiz. More specifically, I have cut three chapters from from the required reading. The quiz will cover: the prologue and chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 10 and 12.

Happy Thanksgiving!
-Chelle

A Poem about Mary

2010-11-10T07:36:00.000-08:00

MARY OF NAZARETH

by Patrica Clemens Repikoff

I am mystery,

rebel,

mother,

refugee,

a voice crying out compassion

in the face of cruelty,

human misery.

I am Mary of Nazareth,

I sing my reckless trust,

my ache,

confusion.

Mine are the dirges any mother sings

whose child is cut

down too young.

I sing

of dashed dreams

that turned to diamonds.

I was young and hopeful,

the future danced in my eyes!

I always had a wild streak

(some said

I was a rebel),

My head uncovered,

my hair flying,

I ran

through the streets

with friends.

My voice carried

loudest

they said.

I did not always

heed the Law,

or my parents,

or anyone else.

I sometimes spoke

out.

I asked the why of things.

I was silenced.,

but never

for long,

because

a restlessness ran through me.

It seemed I wanted more from life

than most.

The longing wouldn’t go away.

They hoped that Joseph would

tame my restless spirit

with domestic dreams, a family future

I accepted,

but secretly,

I tucked away

my restlessness

in the corner of my heart

far from

the eyes of anyone.

Yet, God spied my hidden treasure, and smiling,

asked if I’d dare bring

that MORE in me to life,

new life,

for all like me

who dream for more than Law.

I swallowed hard, but

said

YES!

I surrendered to birth

a bigger dream

than hearts could capture then.

I said YES

to birthing MYSTERY

midst the darkness.

My YES blasted walls

of Law and custom.

It brought talk,

sniping,

pointing fingers,

stones,

as I walked

pregnant with MYSTERY,

God’s dream.

I remember…

that dark night,

NO’S

slamming in my face,

locked doors,

far from family,

my body bursting

I gave birth

to MYSTERY shining

on a bed of straw

midst blood and tears,

beggar’s breath,

shepherd’s sighs.

Yes, I remember…

hot sand, night chills,

running, foreign lands,

fleeing, strange streets,

fugitives, Herod’s cold cruelty.

But, I do remember warmer days,

watching my boy grow.

I saw myself in him.

I wondered who he might become.

I loved his fire,

his integrity, his joy.

And as he grew, I saw

his YES,

His YES to God and

no one else!

I was afraid.

Mother love could not last longer.

He was a young man

with the future in his eyes, and

compassion in his arms!

I let him go.

I let him go into his YES,

into streets,

salons,

and synagogues,

open arms of prostitutes and beggars, and

Into the slippery hands of hypocrites!

I am a martyr’s mother.

I let him go into his YES.

I let him go into God’s arms.

GOD’S ARMS BECAME A CROSS!

And my YES

hung limp

on the tree—

a last

lifeless

leaf.

I cried all martyrs’ mothers’ tears.

I wailed the death of dreams and hoping.

I moaned my flesh and blood

martyr-child snatched

too young

from the nest!

WHERE ARE YOU NOW GOD?

WHO ARE YOU

TO LET GO OF

YOUR PEARL

SO EASILY?

WHAT KIND OF CRUEL GOD

ARE YOU

THAT SNUFFS OUT

YOUR OWN DREAM?

HE GAVE YOU EVERYTHING,

YOU GAVE HIM DEATH!

SCORPIONS!

SNAKES!

YOU GAVE US STONES, NOT BREAD!

But, I remember…

how there was new

breath

and wind

and blessing.

how God

breathed

into our empty.

Death couldn’t hide,

Death couldn’t hold our YES!

YES! there was breath

and bread

and blessing!

YES! An empty tomb! YES!

bread broken and blessed on a road! YES!

ARMS OPENED

AND HEARTS BURNING

WITHIN US! YES!

There is breath

and wind

and blessing! YES!

He lives!

among us!

I birthed a bigger dream

more than our hearts

could contain,

more truth than death’s arms could bear!

Dreams lie waiting hidden

in you hearts to be born again

carried to all who long like us for MORE.

My sisters, my brothers,

carry them, bear them.

Bring them to YES!

Bring them to birth

midst the darkness!

By Patricia Clemens Repikoff

From DASHED DREAMS AND DIAMOND

Guest Speaker in Class: Dr. Andy McCoy

2010-10-31T13:03:00.000-07:00

This week in class we will have a guest speaker. His lecture will be the first of three lectures that he will give at the school this week on text.soul.culture.

Andy is a graduate of mhgs, with a MACP. He then went on to do a Ph.D. in Theology at the University of St. Andrews, where I did my post-graduate work. We overlapped a year in that little town on the shores of the North Sea. I look forward to hearing Andy this week. I hope you will enjoy his take on the integration of theology and psychology. He is the first of our alumni lectures series speakers. Very exciting!

Description of Lecture:

MHGS believes that Christian faith is a call to transforming worship of God amidst the interplay of text, soul and culture. But what does it truly mean to worship God in a suffering world and how does that affect the work of all who would be activists for the Gospel of Christ? This lecture series will offer theological reflection on each of the three MHGS themes in light of biblical lament as both a human response to suffering and a human response of worship. I will propose that lament shapes our relationship with God and others by bringing honest expression of pain into the context of our expectations about God's redemption of creation through Christ.

A Great Quote from LaCugna

2010-10-28T10:47:00.000-07:00

Here is an important quote from Cathrine LaCugna's book, God For Us. (Did you know that she was a graduate of Seattle University?) I have mentioned this quote a number of times in class but I have never had it in front of me. I recently found it again, so here it is. In this passage, LaCugna is looking at the doctrine of the Trinity from an Eastern Orthodox position. She points out that Orthodox theologians emphasize that the Trinity is a communion of equals with no subordination, yet maintaining a relational structure. As she is highlighting the benefits of this understanding of equality in relationality, she simultaneously critiques the lack of ethical follow-up within the Orthodox tradition.

"Orthodox theolgoians seem entirely unaware of the ideological abuses of personhood with respect to women, or the poor, or other marginalized groups. There is no critique of heirarchical social or ecclesial structures. Much feminist literature has been devoted to exposing the oppressive 'doublespeak' contained in the reasoning that 'men and women are equal but different; God has endowed them with different places in the economy of redemption; every household needs a head and this role properly belongs to the man; this does not make the woman inferior.'"

And here is the key sentence:

"The strongest possible defense against sexism is indeed to argue ontologically, as feminist and liberation theologians have done, that the being of God is utterly antithetical to every kind of subordination and subservience." (God For Us, 287)

She continues by saying that eschatological hope and transformation are no excuse for allowing injustice to remain, because their theology calls for a different ordered structure for the church and society: that their trinitarian theology "calls for the transformation of persons and institutions in the present, precisely because unjust structures or practices obstruct grace and delay the reign of God." (288)

And here we see the heart of LaCugna's theological vision, that God's very being calls for justice, mercy and equality on every level of society, family and culture.

Unfortunately, LaCugna died of cancer at a fairly young age. We will never know the theology of her mature years, and for that we are theologically impoverished.

Peace,
Chelle

My New Book, Or Shameless Self Promotion

2010-10-27T08:53:00.000-07:00

I have a book. Well, I am one of 5 authors. We are a diverse crowd: gender, race, theological passion, denomination, doctrine, etc. What unifies us is a love for the church and a love/hate relationship with the movement called E/evangelicalism.

Most of the authors met at the Lausanne Conference in Malaysia. (I'm the only one that didn't go...) On the way home from the conference a few of them asked the question, "Do I want to be an evangelical?" Out of this came a set of articles in The Other Journal dedicated to this question: Earth to Christians. Mark Russell, one of the original crowd, thought that this conversation would be a good book, so voila! here is the fruit of this original question.

I guess we all want to remain evangelical, in one way or another, because we spent the time writing this book. We even got together for a writing a few summers ago in order to all talk face to face about our chapters and our visions for the future of evangelicalism. It was a good time, though very tiring. We laughed a lot, cried a bit and, from time to time, fought passionately about our ideas. We, for the most part, agreed about the need for more conversation and flexibility within the tradition. We also agreed that the church needs a more robust understanding of God as Trinity and we need to live in the world in an attitude of humility and love of neighbor. What we disagreed about were the specifics of how this happens within the community of the people of God. But conversation is a very good place to start. Conversation about our passions, our difference and our commonalities (especially our love for God and God's love for us) is a vital key for creating community. If evangelicalism it going to not only survive but also thrive and flourish, then broader and more open conversation is needed to establish trust in the ranks. I tend to think that God is really the answer to all the questions but we are a diverse and creative people. Because of this, we are all called to take part in the formation of the church, the 'how' of this call on our lives to be the people of God.

The authors are Allen Yeh (he teaches at Biola), Michelle Sanchez (she is a pastor in Boston), Mark Russell (a missiologist, who writes and teaches about micro-finance in the two-thirds world and how business and missions can work together to help two-thirds world economies), our own Dwight Friesen (who teaches here at Mars Hill Graduate School) and me, Chelle.

What did I write about in my two chapters? Worship and the Holy Spirit. Ahhh, for a really robust doctrine of the Holy Spirit within our understanding of the workings of the church!

So, look out for Routes and Radishes: and other things to talk about at the evangelical crossroads, Zondervan, 2010.

I for one benefited from conversing with this small group of theologians and pastors. Who are you talking to about these issues?

Peace,
Chelle

Christopher Hitchens

2010-10-22T10:03:00.000-07:00

Since we watched a video last week with Richard Dawkins, I thought (via Sonny M.) that you might be interested in hearing from the author of God is Not Great, Christopher Hitchens. He has some interesting things to say.

Christopher Hitchens interview with Charlie Rose

Let me know what you think!

-Chelle

PS Thanks Sonny for the link.

Citation Information and An Inspirational Quote

2010-10-21T13:49:00.000-07:00

It has been brought to my attention that there is not adequate information given for two lectures in the 'suggested readings' folder. As some of you are using the Jensen lectures (by the way, his last name is Jenson, not Jensen...sorry about that. Not sure how that happened.), here is how you should cite the lectures:

Matt Jenson, "Humanity" or "Sin", Unpublished lecture delivered at MHGS on October 18th, 2008.

If you liked his lectures, check out his book, The Gravity of Sin. There is a copy in the library.

Now, a little inspiration for all you writers, from Henri Nouwen's Theological Ideas in Education:

Most students...feel that they must first have something to say before they can put it down on paper. For them writing is little more than recording a preexistent thought. But...writing is a process in which we discover what lives in us. The writing itself reveals what is alive.

In another place he writes:

The deepest satisfaction of writing is precisely that it opens up new spaces within us of which we were not aware before we started to write. To write is to embark on a journey whose final destination we do not know....Writing is like giving away the few loaves and fishes one has, in trust that they will multiply in the giving. Once we dare to "give away" on paper the few thoughts that come to us, we start discovering how much is hidden underneath...and gradually come in touch with our own riches.

Hope your writing is going well! And may you indeed come in touch with your own riches!!

-Chelle

Due Dates

2010-10-13T17:06:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder that Research Papers (and Creative Papers/Projects) are due on Monday November 29th by 4:30PM.

If you want to do a presentation of your creative project, you will need to come and talk with me. You may need to turn it in a week earlier...

Alvin Plantinga

2010-10-12T17:37:00.000-07:00

While I was attending the University of St. Andrews, Alvin Plantinga came to deliver the Gifford lectures. The Gifford lectures are meant to explore issues around science, faith and natural theology.

In his lectures, Plantinga argued that evolution and Christianity are not necessarily contradictory. Instead, it is natural philosophy that is antithetical to the Christian narrative of creation. Natural philosophy, or evolutionary naturalism, holds that there is nothing 'supernatural' because there is only the material world, nothing else exists.

His central argument was about how naturalism's statement of evolution actually undermines itself. Evolution, in Plantinga's logic, is an 'epistemic defeater' for naturalism. Naturalism holds that our basic tendency as developing animals is geared toward survival ('feeding, fleeing, fighting and reproducing'). Our human faculties are part of this development. If we really are surviving animals rather than believing or truth seeking animals, then, he argues, that those same faculties cannot be relied upon for any kind of truth claim, including naturalism or evolution. To believe in the reliability of our faculties would be a 'metaphysical add-on' to the evolutionary naturalism position. On the other hand, if we are creatures created by God (in God's image), even if by an evolutionary process, we would have warrant to trust our faculties with regard to belief in God and other broader truth claims (even those of science).

Since I am not a philosopher of religion, I will not explain this further, if I have really explained Plantinga's arguments with any clarity at all! I just wanted you to know that people of faith are thinking about these things, even if we intellectual peons do not really understand it all...

Cosmologies and Creation

2010-10-05T13:51:00.000-07:00

I want to take a moment to articulate a few various worldviews or cosmologies:

First we will look to Plato. Plato assumed three eternal categories. The first is ‘form’, or the ‘model’. This category is typically referred to as ‘the forms’ or the ‘ideas’. Plato’s second eternal category is the ‘receptacle’, or unformed, shapeless and chaotic ‘matter’. The third category is the demiurge or the divinity “who does not create but shapes that which is of equal eternity with him.”[1] Thus, in the platonic worldview, the demiurge takes the shapeless and chaotic matter and creates the world according to the eternal forms. Everything is eternal. Creation (or the world we live in) is a reproduction or a representation of the eternal forms or ideas. Everything around us, including ourselves, is categorically lower or even denigrated in comparison with the eternal forms. All we have to do is think about his allegory of the cave to understand this separation of ourselves from the forms. (We can only see the shadows, not the forms/ideas themselves.) From this comes a dualism that prioritizes the non-material (or ‘spiritual’) over the material.

In a Christian worldview, God alone is eternal: always was and always will be. God creates ex nihilo (i.e., out of nothing). There is nothing co-existent with God and creation comes about from nothing outside of God’s abundant and loving creative activity. The duality set up in this worldview is that of Creator and created. There are no beings that mediate between the Creator God and the created order. As Basil puts it, there is an ontological homogeneity of the creation, for all things are, on an equal footing, created by God. There is distinction and variety of being rather than a hierarchy of being in this way of thinking. There is God’s reality and there is created reality; and these exist simultaneously without competition.

There is one more worldview that should be mentioned in this context, that of Plotinus or neoplatonism. In this worldview, there is one eternal category: the One, which is the source of all being. From the One flows all life, much like a fountain overflowing downwards. The farther “up” the fountain one was in this flow of being, the more divine, the farther down, the less divine. A number of heretical formulations of Christology, such as Gnosticism and Arianism, are really just variations of this hierarchical worldview. Gunton asserts that

Neoplatonism…held that reality formed a hierarchy or ladder, by climbing which it was possible to ascend to divinity. Thus one ascends through matter via higher forms of being like mind to the divine. This doctrine presupposed a fundamental dualism between the material or sensible and the spiritual or intellectual. It also presupposed the inferiority of matter to mind.[2]

This way of thinking has a huge impact on the Christian doctrine of the incarnation. How can God really come into space and time if the material world is inherently worthless or even evil? As Gunton argues:

If God in his Son takes to himself the reality of human flesh, then nothing created, and certainly nothing material, can be downgraded to unreality, semi-reality or treated as fundamentally evil.[3]

Also, how we construe the reality of the world around us shapes, in significant ways, our philosophy of the material of the world. If matter is necessarily imperfect or evil, why should we invest our lives and talents in the material world? Why should we work for peace or the good of all? If ‘spirit’, the ‘intellect’ or the ‘mind’ are really more ‘divine’, then, we can assume, we should spend our energies developing those human characteristics. Or, if this life and its materiality are really inherently flawed, then we should spend our energies evangelizing so that we can have a good afterlife somewhere else (i.e., heaven).

Instead, we are searching for a worldview that upholds the goodness of creation. God makes good. God declared the material order ‘good’. Thus, we are brought back to a more helpful duality that we want to develop: that of Creator and created. And, we want to somehow leave behind a hierarchical construal of reality; although this duality lies heavily within our language.

[1] Gunton, Triune Creator [TC], 3 & 31. See Plato’s Timaeus.
[2] Obviously, this is a much more complicated concept. I am thinking about musical space here as a model for distinct yet simultaneous space. The triune Creator is not in competition with the creation. God is in relation, and does not have to be either completely immersed within the created order (immanentism; pantheism; panentheism) or absolutely other (deism). It is very difficult to hold together the concepts of particularity and oneness (unity); or of individuation and universality. Unity and diversity are concepts that are often construed as mutually exclusive rather than as mutually constitutive.
[3] Gunton, TC, 71.
[4] Gunton, TC, 52.

Sex and the Church

2010-09-29T16:34:00.000-07:00

Many of you have indicated an interest in thinking theologically about sex and the body, so I thought that I would share a recent article by the Anglican theologian, Sarah Coakley. She is currently working on a new book (the first of her systematic theology!) entitled, God, Sexuality and the Self: an essay on the Trinity. I bet you would read a theology book with that title!

"Rethinking the Sex Crises in Catholic and Anglican Churches," by Sarah Coakley

If you read the article, let me know what you think.

Peace,
Chelle

Mary Daly

2010-09-29T07:20:00.000-07:00

Here is Mary Daly. I wish I knew the story behind this picture! It cracks me up.

Today in class, we are going to talk briefly about Mary Daly. She was always a controversial character, as she challenged the misogyny of the Catholic Church from the halls of a Catholic institution, Boston College.

As I was researching today, I found out that she had died earlier this year. Regardless of your thoughts about her as a feminist, or her claim that she was 'post-Christian', she remains an important voice to read and consider. She came to speak at my college when I was taking feminist theology. I disagreed with so much of what she said, but she motivated me to think and study.

Professor Daly, great spinster of theology and philosophy. Thank you for stirring us up and inspiring us to re-imagine a non-misogynistic world.

The Filioque

2010-09-25T14:28:00.000-07:00

Toby Guise Protesting in London

So, what is the big deal about the filioque? What is the filioque? Well, it is the phrase that was added to the Nicene/Constantinople Creed at the third Council of Toledo (589). Originally it was stated that the Spirit proceeded from the Father. At Toledo the phrase "and the son" was added to this. In this way, the doctrine of the Spirit was changed. The Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.

Why is this important? Well, it split the church from East and West in the 11th century. The Eastern Orthodox Church only says "from the Father" while the Roman (Western) Church says "from the Father and the Son".

The Pope was recently in Britain. The picture above is of one lone protester. (Here is a link to the story.) His hope was not for controversy but instead for conversation and unity. We should be talking about these doctrinal differences instead of always being divided over them. Let's have another ecumenical council. It has been over a 1,000 years!

I don't know, somehow this make me smile!

What We Listened to in Class: Thomas Tallis

2010-09-22T15:21:00.000-07:00

A few of you have asked about the choral piece that I played at the end of class on Wednesday. It is "Spem in Alium" by Thomas Tallis (c. 1570). Here is what Jeremy Begbie has to say about this piece: "Here forty different voices weave their way in and through each other…. Despite the sonic profusion, it never sounds ‘jammed’ or crowed. There is multiplicity without dissipation, togetherness without mutual overwhelming, each voice being enabled to become more fully itself: ‘As though being ourselves we’re more capacious.’" (Jeremy Begbie, "Through Music: Sound Mix," in Beholding the Glory, InterVarsity Press, 2000, 152.) Thanks, Jeremy. Great description!

Here is what they are singing:
I have never put my hope in another
except in you, God of Israel,
who will be angry yet become gracious.
And all the sins of man
in suffering you forgive.
Lord God, creator of heaven and earth:
look on our humility.

Here is a link to the King Singers singing Tallis's Spem in Alium. It is fun because you can see the vocalists in the eight different choirs, singing all 40 parts. Well, you'll see...

For All Those Football Fans

2010-09-20T09:25:00.000-07:00

Here's a little shout out to all those football fans at the beginning of the season. Who says theology doesn't apply to just about any area of life!?! How would you articulate your theology of football?

Enjoy!

Early Trinitarian Sources

2010-09-16T10:09:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the earliest references to the Trinity:

Theophilus of Antioch (180 AD), in his To Autolycus, discusses the shape of God's creative activity as Father, Logos and Sophia. Here is a quote:

"He is God, who heals and gives life through Logos and Sophia. God made everything through Logos and Sophia, but by his Logos the heavens were made firm and by his Spirit all their power [Ps 32:6]." Theolophilus of Antioch, Ad Autolycum, tr. by Robert M. Grant, Oxford: Claredon Press, 1970, I.7.

In another place, he says:

"the three days prior to the luminaries are types of the triad of God and his Logos and his Sophia. In the forth place is man, who is in need of light--so that there might be God, Logos, Sophia, Man." (the footnote to this: "This 'triad' is not precisely the Trinity, since in Theolophilus' mind man can be added to it.") Theolophilus of Antioch, Ad Autolycum, tr. by Robert M. Grant, Oxford: Claredon Press, 1970, II.15.

Though this is not a perfect articulation of trinitarian theology, you can see how Theolophilus is attempting to put words and concepts to something that was already believed in early Christendom.

Another source of early trinitarian thought is Irenaeus of Lyon (125-203). He also talks about God creating through the Logos and Wisdom (Sophia), but more specifically talks about the Son and the Holy Spirit as the two hands of the Father:

"It was not angels...who made us, nor who formed us, neither had angels power to make an image of God, nor any one else, except the Word of the Lord, nor any Power remotely distant from the Father of all things. For God did not stand in need of these [beings], in order to the accomplishing of what He had Himself determined with Himself beforehand should be done, as if He did not possess His own hands. For with Him were always present the Word and Wisdom, the Son and the Spirit, by whom and in whom, freely and spontaneously, He made all things..." Ireneaus, "Against Heresies," in Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, Edinburgh: T&T Clark; Eerdmans, 1996, Book IV: chapter XX.1.

I hope this helps. If anyone wants to pursue other sources, let me know.

Peace,
Chelle

How Do We Listen?

2010-09-10T10:37:00.000-07:00

Many of you have expressed an interest to learn more about contextual theology. My interest in this kind of contextual or critical theology stems from a desire to learn to listen. Often this means that I have to set aside my preconceived ideas (as much as I can at any given moment) and learn to hear what others have to say or to offer. Sometimes I feel threatened, sometimes I simply disagree. The challenge is to hear what others are actually saying, not to project onto others what I think they are saying from my preconceived ways of knowing.

This is a dangerous proposition. Who knows what will happen? How will we change? Perhaps we will learn to hear differently? We might even be significantly transformed in the process?

All of this sounds very mysterious or even frightening, but I would like to offer a bit of inspiration to you for this pursuit of listening well--not only to "the other" but also to ourselves. (Aren't we all in this together?) To help us understand this from a different perspective I will turn to music, my old friend. The following video is a TED talk by Evelyn Glennie, one of the world's foremost percussionists. She is an amazing performer, as you will hear. She is also profoundly deaf. Every time I hear her talk about music, performance and the art of hearing/listening I am deeply moved. She teaches me about myself as she tells me about her own experience in the world. If you want to hear more from Glennie, check out the documentary, "Touch the Sound." (There is a copy in the library.)

So, how do you hear/listen?

Enjoy!
Chelle

Author of The Shack in Town Friday

2010-09-09T10:04:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to let you know that Paul Young, the author of The Shack (which we are reading for class) will be in town Friday (tomorrow) September 10th. Here are the details:

Paul Young will be at First United Methodist Church near downtown Seattle at 1PM on Friday September 10th. This is a free event. Here is the link for more info.

If you go, let me know what you think.

-Chelle

John Cage's "Rules for Students and Teachers"

2010-09-06T13:06:00.000-07:00

John Cage performing 4'33'' at a toy piano

John Cage was a composer whose life spanned most of the 20th century (1912-1992). He was influenced by composers such as Schoenberg, Messiaen and Boulez. He believed in creating compositional space in which musicians and audiences alike could participate in the creation of the music. Cage's style can be thought of as controlled chaos or chance music. For example, he was known to make decisions while he was composing by rolling dice. His most famous piece is 4'33'', which involves a performer with his or her instrument sitting silently for 4 minutes and 33 seconds. The purpose of this composition is to explore the sound in the room, the "what might happen" in any given period of time and space. It is about chance in the moment. (A friend of mine performed this piece in a recital. A few of us knew about the piece beforehand, so we brought stuff to throw at him. It was a bit cheeky of us!)

"Fontana Mix" a composition by Cage

Cage is also known for redefining notation, the visual language of music. You can see here an example of his charting of improvisation and preparation--controlled chaos. This can also be called 'aleatoric' music. Often performers are given suggested notes for a given amount of time and they then have to improvise with the material offered. Thus, the performance is just as much determined by the performer as it is by the composer.

Click here to read about a recent dance concert inspired by Cage, performed in a rock quarry. The stage was set up in the round with the dancers in the center and the 150 musicians seated around the outside. The craziest part was that each of the musicians had their own part to play, and each was improvising with a given set of musical ideas. The concert sounds like it was amazing. I wish I could have been there.

Here is John Cage performing one of his pieces, "Water Walk", on a 50's TV show. Fascinating!

As you can see, his music requires a lot of participation and engagement by musicians and audiences alike. It is not just a matter of just learning notes, or listening to notes and sounds for that matter. Cage's music gives space for listening to others and responding to the whole, or simply for the chance of the moment (e.g., the laughter of a TV audience). Whether or not you like his music, that is a totally different conversation. Mostly, I like the concepts that he is promoting as an example of engagement and participation, even if his music is not really my (or your) cup of tea.

With this in mind, here are the rules of engagement that I talked about in class. May we learn to play together this year!

John Cage's "Rules for Students and Teachers"

Find a place you trust, and then try trusting it for awhile.
General duties of a student—pull everything out of your teacher; pull everything out of your fellow students.
General duties of a teacher—pull everything out of your students.
Consider everything an experiment.
Be self-disciplined—this means finding someone wise or smart and choosing to follow them. To be disciplined is to follow in a good way. To be self-disciplined is to follow in a better way.
Nothing is a mistake. There's no win and no fail, there's only make.
The only rule is work. If you work it will lead to something. It's the people who do all of the work all of the time who eventually catch on to things.
Don't try to create and analyze at the same time. They're different processes.
Be happy whenever you can manage it. Enjoy yourself. It's lighter than you think.
Break rules. Even your own rules. Leave plenty of room for X quantities.

"Mozart Mix" by John Cage

Welcome to Fall 2010!

2010-08-24T15:13:00.000-07:00

Welcome to another year of Constructing the Theological Mosaic. I thought that I would start off the class blog with a few thoughts on why we should do theology:

I believe that when we, as embodied human beings, experience the world around us, we tend to make certain assumptions about the world and begin to ask big questions. A few classic questions are: “Why is there something rather than nothing?” “What is the meaning of life?” or another way to ask this is “What brings meaning to life?” “Who are these people around me and what is my relationship to them?” “What is the definition of family in such a fragmented and alienated culture?”

These questions are inherently theological because they ask how we are in the world in relation to that which is not ourselves. In other words, is there anything beyond and/or outside of the individual self? And, if so, what is it?

We all ask these questions. The problem is, if we don’t take the time to explore and examine our presuppositions, then we are left with half articulated beliefs that seem proper or correct in the moment but don't have real substance for the long haul called life. So, when life happens and we come to the end of our understanding, we tend to either turn to anger and frustration or to simply reject faith all together; especially faith represented by the established church. I think that this is amazingly characteristic of our contemporary culture. How do we respond to this within our culture? Or, more honestly, how do we respond to this within ourselves?

Again, we can ask the question, "Why do theology?" Well, you are here at this graduate school doing a degree at this particular time and place. I assume that you are interested in theological questions or you would not be here because you would have gone to a different school. However, you are diverse in your goals. Some of you are counseling students, some are training to be pastors and some of you are not sure why you are here . (There is nothing wrong with not really knowing why you are doing a degree. That was me when I went to do my master's degree and now I'm teaching at a seminary. You never know where you'll end up!) In that context, the challenge of this class (which is my task as much as it is your task) is to learn to connect our/your individual questions about life, the universe and everything to the discipline and tradition of Christian theology.

I would like to challenge you, to charge you with this task: work hard in this class to push your own questions outward in order to connect those personal questions to the wider tradition of theology. In the midst of this, it is OK to disagree with me, with one another and even yourself. (I saw a bumper sticker once that said: “Don’t believe everything you think.” It is a good philosophy when approaching theology!!)

I believe that theology should be transformative and even life-giving. But, in my own story, it wasn’t until theology was connected to my own questions that I could even understand the broader theological questions. In fact, it wasn’t until I connected theology and music that I became a theologian. Throughout my theological journey, I have worked to connect my questions and my ways of thinking with the traditional questions. It was hard work. I’m still working hard, and that is why I am here at Mars Hill Graduate School teaching. I want to understand how theology connects with life, with us as individuals and how the hard work of individual exploration can connect us back to a wider community that transcends time and space: throughout the world and throughout history. When we sing, when we proclaim and profess, when we preach and when we laugh and cry with one another as brothers and sisters in Christ, we do so with Christians throughout the ages and the world. We sing “Holy, holy, holy,” together in the broadest sense of that word.

Therefore, as we start this class, we need to acknowledge that we are not the first people to ask the ultimate questions. We are also not the first ones to offer answers. It is the height of arrogance to say that we understand the relationship between God and the world better than those believers that lived 50, 150 or 1500 years ago. However, we do understand the world differently. We have a different context and a different Zeitgeist. But to answer these questions in isolation, ignoring the tradition, is naive at best. Despite our attempts to answer these questions in isolation, we should acknowledge that we all have inherited many assumptions and beliefs, often unexamined. In this class, with respect I hope, we will work to question, critique, explore and sometimes even answer these inherited presuppositions.

So, why do theology? Because it hits us in the intimate places where we live. It shapes the way we are in the world with ourselves and with one another.

To the Task!

Chelle

Reading Report

2010-04-12T18:06:00.001-07:00

Here is the link for the READING REPORT, which is due this week.

Peace,
Chelle

Video and an Interesting Article

2010-03-17T15:34:00.000-07:00

Here is a link to the video that we watched in class today. This really is the "anti-Church" experience, so please find humor, not instruction, in its contents. ;) The skit is from a show called "That Mitchell and Webb Look."

On a different note, Nicholas Kristof of the NY Times recently wrote an article about the Christian contribution to world aid, especially World Vision. Provocative reading. Here is the link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/28/opinion/28kristof.html

Enjoy!
Chelle

Assignments Due

2010-03-15T14:35:00.000-07:00

Hello to you all!

As dates, classes and assignments have gotten a bit turned around in the past few weeks, I thought that I would just post the remain assignments and due dates for the remainder of the class. Here you go:

March 17th: Reading Summary, The Church
March 24th: Reading Summary, Eschatology
March 31st: Pub Quiz on Millenarianism (based on Stan Grenz's book, The Millennial Maze, chapts 3-6, pgs. 65-173)
April 7th: Research Papers/Creative Projects
April 14th: Journals

Keep in mind that the reading summaries should be short, they don't have to be a comprehensive overview. The upcoming Pub Quiz will be taken in teams of not more than 5 people (please don't be late!). Let's have a breakfast potluck on that day as well. So think about what you can bring.

Also, if you want to present anything to the class, just let me know. This can be your creative project, a short overview of your research paper, or even "what you learned this year" in your theologian/reading groups. I would like to give space to student sharing!

If you need help on anything, just come talk to either Jordan or myself.

Cheerio!
Chelle

Dr. Serene Jones

2010-03-08T16:37:00.000-08:00

I was driving in my car yesterday and was listening to the Tavis Smiley Show. He was interviewing a number of sucessful women in honor of Women's History Month. Included in the list of women was Dr. Serene Jones, President of Union Theological Seminary in New York City. She was talking about her new book Trauma and Grace. I recently purchased this book, so was excited to here her talk about it. This book sounds very good, and I think that at least one student needs to write their research paper on it.

In essence, the book talks about God's grace in the midst of trauma (hence the title, Trauma and Grace!). This sounds like a very integrative book. Jones develops a theology that takes very seriously the trauma that humans experience in life. So, check it out!

Peace,
Chelle

An Interesting Article

2010-03-01T17:37:00.000-08:00

Here is an interesting article for all of you. It is about Evangelicals and their propensity to give. Specifically it is about World Vision. Something to make you think about the role of faith-based organizations in the bringing about of social justice.

Enjoy!
Chelle

Fasting During Lent

2010-02-18T11:26:00.000-08:00

In class I mentioned that Lent is traditionally a time to fast. We fast to prepare for Easter. We also fast so that we might give. It is simple, really. Choose one thing from which to fast (e.g., coffee, soda, chocolate, movies, etc.) and save the money you would have spent on that thing. Then, at the end of Lent, give that money to a specific charity or NGO. Here are a few ideas. If you have others that you would like to share, please let me know and I will post them.

Blood:Water Mission (clean water in Africa)

Friends of the Orphans (Haiti--Cheryl Goodwin's daughter works for this organization)

Haiti Partners (A friend of mine, Peter Heltzel, recommends this group)

If you want something closer to home, you could support the cafe that Ron Ruthruff's wife, Linda, started: Street Bean Espresso. Or New Horizons Ministries, which is across the street from the Cafe. (They work with at risk youth on the streets of Seattle. Dan's wife volunteers there.)

Obviously, there are many more organizations out there that you could donate to, but you get the idea. There is a lot of need out in the world, and this is a great way to participate in that work.

Peace,
Chelle

Funny

2010-02-12T11:17:00.001-08:00

So, I don't know if this is for real or not, but it is amusing. (I don't think this is real archival footage, I think it is a spoof... but it does make me laugh!)

Changes in Syllabus

2010-02-12T10:32:00.000-08:00

Hello to you all,

I just wanted to remind you that the doctrinal position paper on the Eucharist is not due until March 3rd (the week after reading week). Also, Tim Conder is now coming to speak in our class on March 10 and Dr. Dwight Friesen will be speaking on March 17th (everyone wear green!).

Have a great weekend! May you get all of your work finished... I know that you are all working very hard right now.

Peace,
Chelle

Worship...Uh, who are we worshiping?

2010-02-09T22:45:00.000-08:00

A little funny for you all. I have to admit that this made me laugh at first, now it makes me think, a lot. I wonder: what and who we are worshiping in our services...

Enjoy!

On Election

2010-02-02T17:16:00.000-08:00

For all of you working on your election papers (and not obsessive watching Lost...), here is an online resource that might be of help to you. This is a concise comparison of Arminianism and Calvinism on election. A great and quick overview!

Enjoy!
Chelle

On Scripture

2010-02-02T16:38:00.000-08:00

For anyone in the class that is looking for a different take on a pneumatology of scripture, here is a link to a lecture outline I wrote for a different class. This is Stan Grenz's approach to a pneumatology of scripture.

If you read this and then want to come and talk with me, please feel free.

Peace,
Chelle

Power Point Slides and Lectures

2010-01-26T17:04:00.000-08:00

From now on, look for powerpoint slides and lecture notes on the our.MHGS site for this class. I'll post other sorts of interesting things upon this site, so take a look from time to time.

Also, I will try to get the slides up before class so that anyone who is interested can take notes on the slides. Hopefully that will happen consistently.

Peace,
Chelle

Tierra Nueva Mural Artist: Troy Terpstra

2010-01-23T12:40:00.000-08:00

In class last week, a few people referred to the mural found at central ministry building for Tierra Nueva, up in Burlington, WA. Here is the link: Troy Terpstra Mural.

Rachel Beatty also sent this helpful explanation. Rachel, thanks for sending the link and the words from the artist! This is truly a prophetic and theological work of art. I hear and see many of the images and metaphors that we discussed in class this last week in this painting. Enjoy:

Here is an explanation of the piece from Troy before the mural was completed, that speaks of the water as baptismal. It is from the Tierra Nueva e-testimony blog:

"At the center of the mural is Christ. He will be tattooed, appearing to be an ex-con. Jesus is an ex-con of sorts, but the idea is inspired by drawings done by prisoners and given to the staff here at Tierra Nueva. Many prisoners feel a deep sense of shame and inadequacy when invited to know a God they have always perceived as judgmental and harsh. This portrayal of Christ as a modern day convict aims to contextualize the Gospel into our present culture. Jesus of the ghetto, Jesus of the barrio, is the Jesus of Nazareth. We want the men in the Skagit Valley Jail to know the Jesus who rolled with his society's misfits and outcasts, and who longs to be with them today. On the left, the character of Jesus embraces a young prisoner in a county jail uniform. The jail chaplaincy has been an amazingly fruitful ministry, and I am continually amazed at the stories of healing and renewal that come out of the jail every week.

On the right, Jesus has his arm around a campesina (female farm worker) who stands in the strawberry fields. She is weary and a palette of harvested fruit rests on her hips. Much of Tierra Nueva's ministry is to farm workers, who continuously move to follow the seasonal work, uprooting their families and working sun-up to sun-down for less than minimum wage. Our Family Support Center assists these people in finding housing, obtaining legal help, and in many other basic needs. I want to honestly portray the labor endured by migrant farm workers, as well as the closeness to the heart of Christ they have.

At the top of the wall, the Hands of our Abba pour out the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which is made of water and takes the shape of a dove. The waters pass through a gaping wound in the torso of the living Christ, the self-giving sacrifice of love which conquers death. Many characters, addicted, accused and accusing, rich and poor, liberated and bound up, undergo the baptismal outpouring. Chains, addiction, resentment, guilt, and death itself drown under the waters.

Coming up from the waters (the wings of the dove) two joyful worshippers emerge, a woman pounding the drums of mercy and a man blowing the horn of justice, crashing through the oppressive orderliness of the vertical prison bars and the horizontal field rows. I love the idea of the Holy Spirit breaking into prison. The prison cells sit under the night sky of a city contrasted with the field under the full sun of a summer day.

I have taken over a year to settle on the design, and I don't think I quite understood the process of mural making when I began this project, so the slowness has been very educational. I have drawn and redrawn this design several times, and God willing I am nearing the day when I will begin to paint it.

Bruce Cockburn has a line in his song 'Mystery' that goes "come all you stumblers who believe love rules – stand up and let shine." I like to think that this e-testimony is addressed to the 'stumblers who believe love rules.' Come by and check out the mural if you are in the neighborhood."

Webster--"Revelation, Sanctification and Inspiration"

2010-01-23T12:12:00.000-08:00

I hear that there is some frustration with the Webster article. Here is a short summary for you, I hope it helps:

Webster's "Revelation, Sanctification and Inspiration"

OK. Here is a short summary of John Webster’s essay, “Revelation, Sanctification and Inspiration,” from his book Holy Scripture. In this essay, Webster identifies a key problem with how Scripture has been handled and understood within recent history (say the past 200 years or so). He believes that the idea of what Scripture is has been isolated from the Doctrine of God. In consequence, Scripture has been subjected to unnecessary qualifications to prove that it is indeed a text given to the church by God. The central issue, as he states it, is how to prove or even talk about how a human document can contain divine wisdom and self-disclosure with surety and integrity. What is at stake is how we live with Scripture as a trustworthy and authoritative text within the community of God.

The solution to this problem, according to Webster, is to locate our thinking about Scripture within a dynamic trinitarian doctrine of God. He does this through the interrelating of three concepts: 1) revelation, 2) sanctification and 3) inspiration. The most important of all of these concepts, if there is to be a kind of prioritizing, is sanctification because it is through the agency of the Holy Spirit that God has consistently communicated himself to humanity. This self-communication of God includes both the writing of the words of Scripture as well as the interpretation of those words within the community of God. Thus, what is most important for Webster to set out in his doctrine of Scripture is not the veracity or the reliability of the words themselves (such as the concept of ‘inerrancy’) but, instead, the very presence of God with us.

As you read through this article (I did warn you that it was difficult) focus on the definitions of the three main terms: 1) revelation, 2) sanctification and 3) inspiration. Sanctification is the most important of the terms. You may not understand the entire article. If you only come out with his definition of the sanctification of scripture, then you will be in good standing.

Peace,
Chelle

January 20, 2010: Notes, etc. for Class

2010-01-20T13:07:00.000-08:00

Hello All,

Here are the lecture notes and the power point slides from today.

I'll do another entry for the artist from Tierra Nueva.

Thanks for diving into the projects today. I love the posters!!

Peace,
Chelle

Reading for the Pub Quiz

2010-01-19T16:38:00.000-08:00

OK, for all you folks who like to read ahead, I have finally figured out the page numbers for the Pub Quiz based on Stan Grenz's The Millennial Maze. Read chapters 3 through 6, pages 65 through 173. In essence, you are reading for the descriptions of the four major millennial views.

Happy Reading!
Chelle

Otiose

2010-01-14T12:09:00.000-08:00

I was reading Sarah Coakley's article: "'Femininity' and the Holy Spirit?" (found in the "Feminist Theology" folder on our.MHGS) and came across an unfamiliar word: 'otiose.' According to Webster's, otiose means: "producing no useful results."

What a useful and descriptive term! It is an important theological task to discern between ways of thinking that we disagree with and other ways of thinking that are truly otiose, really do not produce any useful results. One is a difference of opinion while the other identifies a way of thinking that should be discarded.

January 13, 2010--Lecture and Power Point Slides

2010-01-13T11:55:00.000-08:00

Here are the links to the lecture and the ppts from today's class.

Peace,
Chelle

Thinking about the Holy Spirit

2010-01-13T07:24:00.000-08:00

Here are some theologians and some "pithy" statements describing their pneumatology.

Enjoy!
Chelle

1. Augustine: The Spirit is the bond of Love between the Father and the Son.

2. Irenaeus: The Son and the Spirit are the two hands of God.

3. St. Basil: The Spirit is the perfecting cause.

4. Richard of St. Victor: The Holy Spirit is the motor outward of God.

5. Wolfhart Pannenberg: The Spirit is a force field. (NOT like on Star Trek!)

6. Jurgen Moltmann: "wherever there is a passion for life, there the Spirit of God is operating" (Karkkainen, Pneumatology, 126)

7. Karl Barth: the Spirit is always in relation to Christ, mediating Christ (the Word of Christ) to people's hearts OR the dude I wish had a more robust pneumatology...

8. Clark Pinnock: The Flame of Love OR The sex dude... (the definition from the group!)

9. John Zizioulas: Eastern Orthodox. The Trinity as an Ontology of Communion. The Spirit and the Son work in parallel: "The work of the Spirit is not the subordinate to the work of the Son, nor is Pentecost a continuation of the incarnation but rather its sequel, its result." (Karkkainen, Pneumatology, 109)

10. Elizabeth Johnson: The Holy Spirit as Sophia, or wisdom.

11. Karl Rahner: The Spirit has a universal orientation. He talks about 'anonymous Christians', as people who are Christians but just don't know it yet. In other words, the Spirit is at work in them.

12. Robert Jenson: Lutheran theologian who believes that the Spirit is moving Christianity back to being one Holy catholic/Catholic Church.

13. Stan Grenz: We are made in the image of God, therefore we have been created for community. The Spirit constitutes and dwells in the Community of God.

14. Elizabeth Schussler-Fiorenza: Feminist theologian/biblical scholar who rigorously and passionately argues for the recognition of women in the establishing and forming of the Christian tradition. The Holy Spirit moved women into prominent positions in ministry back then, why not today?

15. Mark I. Wallace: Green or Ecological Pneumatology.

Doctrinal Position Papers

2010-01-06T09:31:00.000-08:00

Three necessary components to a Doctrinal Position Paper:

Formal Structure: Introductory paragraph that includes a thesis statement, a body, and a conclusion.
Engagement with the assigned readings.
A thoughtful attempt at an articulation of the doctrine you are addressing.

An exceptional paper will integrate your engagement with the assigned readings and your own articulation of the doctrine.

You only have two pages so it is imperative that you are brief and to the point. Personal reflection is not a necessary component to this paper and if used excessively will hurt your paper.

You may feel that are not in a place to articulate a doctrine - my encouragement to you is that risk taking will be rewarded. Take a chance - put your thoughts down.

Welcome and Reading Lists

2010-01-04T11:54:00.000-08:00

Hello to you all. Welcome to Theology II, the study of the Holy Spirit, the Church and the Last Things.

I wanted to make available the reading lists for the different "Theologian Groups," so here they are. We will discuss these the first day of class, so you will be able to sign for a group then:

African American Liberation Theology
Ana-Baptist Theology: Thomas Finger
Baptist Theology: Stan Grenz
Beginning Theology: Mike Higton
Church Fathers: Christopher Hall
Eastern Orthodox Theology
Feminist Theology
South and Central American Liberation Theology
Reform Theology: Jurgen Moltmann

See y'all on Wednesday Morning at 9:30AM.

Peace,
Chelle

Wendell Berry

2009-12-09T16:30:00.000-08:00

After class a student shared a great poem with me, so I thought that I would share it with you all. It captures a lot of what we talked about today in class. Oh to feel resurrection in our bones...

Sabbaths (IV)

The woods and pastures are joyous
in their abundance now
in a season of warmth and much rain.
We walk amidst foliage, amidst
song. The sheep and cattle graze
like souls in bliss (except for flies)
and lie down satisfied. Who now
can believe in winter? In winter
who could have hoped for this?

by Wendell Berry from Given (2005)

Thank you to all that shared today. I've really enjoyed this class. See most of you next term!

Peace,
Chelle

Atonement Slides and The Reading Report!

2009-12-02T17:04:00.000-08:00

Hello to you all,

Perhaps this is the first time that you knew that this class had a blog, but here you are now!

First, here is the link to the power point slides for today's discussion on Atonement.

Second, here is the link to the Reading Report that is due in class next Wednesday.

Oh, and I heard a very disturbing thing today. Bacon fat may actually be beneficial to your health! Boy, that really messes with my brussel sprout/bacon atonement theory...

Great class today!!

Happy Advent!
Chelle

Luci Shaw at Elliot Bay Books

2009-11-30T15:01:00.000-08:00

A few of you asked for details of Luci Shaw's book reading/signing on December 8th. Looks like she will be at Elliot Bay Book Company at 7PM on December 8th. This is for the launch of Image Magazine's Bearing the Mystery (A "best writing of the past twenty years" book).

Should be a very interesting evening!

-Chelle

Creative Project Rubric

2009-11-19T17:47:00.000-08:00

Here is the link to the Creative Project Rubric. Keep in mind the language is around the MDiv Integrative project (integrating "text.soul.culture"). Your goal is to communicate a theological idea or question, so read the rubric in that light.

Blessings as you work,
Chelle

Research Papers

2009-11-15T21:48:00.000-08:00

Hello All,

I just thought that I would give some thoughts on your process of writing.

First, the research papers are due no later than 4:30 on Monday November 23rd. This due date includes the papers for the creative projects. I will be in my office most of that day, so you can give them to me or to Molly at the front desk. If you are mailing in your projects, please talk to Jordan about where you should mail your papers. Officially, the creative portions are due the following Monday, the 30th, though you can turn your creative projects into me on Monday the 23rd.

Now, a little inspiration for all you writers, from Henri Nouwen's Theological Ideas in Education:

Most students...feel that they must first have something to say before they can put it down on paper. For them writing is little more than recording a preexistent thought. But...writing is a process in which we discover what lives in us. The writing itself reveals what is alive.

In another place he writes:

The deepest satisfaction of writing is precisely that it opens up new spaces within us of which we were not aware before we started to write. To write is to embark on a journey whose final destination we do not know....Writing is like giving away the few loaves and fishes one has, in trust that they will multiply in the giving. Once we dare to "give away" on paper the few thoughts that come to us, we start discovering how much is hidden underneath...and gradually come in touch with our own riches.

So, as you write, I pray that you will "come in touch with" your "own riches."

Grace and peace in the hard task of writing and analyzing crazy theology!!

Peace,
Chelle

Luci Shaw

2009-11-14T13:57:00.000-08:00

This next Wednesday, November 18th, Luci Shaw, Christian poet and personal hero, will be honoring us with her presence. She will be talking about the Incarnation/Advent and reading some of her poems. She came to Theology I last year and everyone was drawn in by her soft-spoken wisdom. We are in for an amazing treat!

See you next Wednesday!

Chelle

"Like all art, poems are only hints and guesses
that draw our attention to something larger."

Luci Shaw

Pub Quiz!!

2009-11-10T17:01:00.000-08:00

I hope you are all ready for the Pub Quiz tomorrow morning: "Name that Heresy!!"

(Oh no! Look out!! It is Arius over there. What's he doing here? I wonder if he'll show up on the quiz?)

Come prepared to share some food, work together, have some fun and maybe even learn something.

Peace,
Chelle

Thesis Generator and Radom Thoughts about the Short Papers

2009-11-05T08:50:00.000-08:00

Here is a link to the Thesis Generator that Alex mentioned in class.

Also, here is a link to a guide to writing short papers that I wrote a number of years ago. It is a bit goofy, but it may help to focus your writing a bit.

One more thought about these short papers. Keep in mind, even if you are doing a more creative "conversation in a cafe" approach, that you need three specific things in these papers.

A clear statement at the beginning and end of your paper about your argument. This helps with the readability of your short paper. (Always think about ease of reading!)
An articulation of the assigned and suggested readings from the class. This doesn't have to be lengthy, but it should show that you have listened well to the opinions of others. In other words, have you read enough so that you understand some of the key issues surrounding this doctrine? If not, perhaps you should read another article, or go and talk with friends about the subject.
Some kind of statement about your own understanding of the doctrine. Hopefully your reading will help you land somewhere. You may be stuck between opinions but that is OK as long as you articulate that.

Remember, clear writing covers a multitude of sins. Read back through your paper. Are you convinced? Or do you just sound confused? Ease of reading and flow of argument in your writing are transferable skills! They are not just useful in theology. ;)

Peace,
Chelle

Lecture Today: November 4, 2009

2009-11-04T17:37:00.000-08:00

Here is the link to today's material:

Lecture
Power Points ~ Part I & Part II

Peace,
Chelle

Power Point Slides, October 28th, 2009

2009-10-30T17:05:00.001-07:00

Here is a link to the Power Point slides on Sin. Enjoy!

-Chelle

Earlier Lectures

2009-10-09T11:41:00.000-07:00

There has been a request to post some of my earlier lectures, so here are links to my first two lectures:

These are both a bit outlinish, but have footnotes, etc.

Hope this helps.

-Chelle

October 7th: Thomas Tallis's "Spem in alium"

2009-10-08T12:58:00.000-07:00

First off, here are the links to my lecture on Biblical Personhood and the power points from Wednesday's Class. There are some great quotes from Bruggemann that we didn't really get to in class, check it out! “

A few of you have asked about the choral piece that I played at the end of class on Wednesday. It is "Spem in Alium" by Thomas Tallis (c. 1570). Here is what Jeremy Begbie has to say about this piece: "Here forty different voices weave their way in and through each other…. Despite the sonic profusion, it never sounds ‘jammed’ or crowed. There is multiplicity without dissipation, togetherness without mutual overwhelming, each voice being enabled to become more fully itself: ‘As though being ourselves we’re more capacious.’" (Jeremy Begbie, "Through Music: Sound Mix," in Beholding the Glory, InterVarsity Press, 2000, 152.) Thanks, Jeremy. Great description!

Here is what they are singing:
I have never put my hope in another
except in you, God of Israel,
who will be angry yet become gracious.
And all the sins of man
in suffering you forgive.
Lord God, creator of heaven and earth:
look on our humility.

Here are a few videos of this piece from youtube.

Here is one that shows part of the score, with the Tallis Scholars singing:

Here is one with a slide show with images from all over Britain:

Here is one with the King Singers. The group sings each of the eight choir parts (40 voices in all). The video shows a bit of the complexity and breadth of this wonderful work:

Enjoy!
Chelle

God Maps/Self Maps

2009-10-02T13:08:00.000-07:00

There seems to be quite a bit of anxiety over the God/Self Maps, so I thought that I would offer a small bit of advice.

Remember, this is just an exploration. As you are all working on this project, begin with your own questions and even your doubts. Perhaps you will only have questions and no answers. That is OK. This is your project. Don't try to please me. This about your thoughts regarding God and yourself. There are no right answers. The only wrong path would be to not bring yourself to the project.

So, explore with peace and freedom.

-Chelle

September 30th, Power Points and Lecture

2009-09-29T21:21:00.000-07:00

Today we will be talking about about the relationship between God and humanity (and the whole of the created order). I know, it keeps you up at nights.

Soooo here it is... a rare occurrence these days, but here is the link to the lecture and the power points for Wednesday's class:

Peace,
Chelle

Lecture Today: September 23rd, 2009

2009-09-24T14:03:00.000-07:00

Here is a link to today's lecture.

This lecture is not as polished in written form, but has all of the essentials of what we talked about in class. If you more details about anything in this lecture, let me know. I have written about most of this in one form of another in other places.

Peace,
Chelle

Sept 23rd Power Points

2009-09-23T08:22:00.000-07:00

Here is the link to the Power Points for today.

Lecture Today: September 16th, 2009

2009-09-16T16:11:00.000-07:00

Here is a link my lecture from today: Trinitarian Creation. The first half is what we talked about today, and the rest I'll talk about next week; although I will most likely change some of it. So read as much as you want. If this is helpful to post my written lectures as well as the power points, let me know and I can do it whenever I have a written lecture.

Peace,
Chelle

Power Point Slides September 16th, 2009

2009-09-16T11:32:00.000-07:00

Here is the link to the power point slides.

-Chelle

Early Sources for Trinitarian Language

2009-09-14T13:55:00.000-07:00

I was looking back over some of my notes and found the first use of the concept of "triad".

Theophilus of Antioch (180 AD), in his To Autolycus, discusses the shape of God's creative activity as Father, Logos and Sophia. Here is a quote:

"He is God, who heals and gives life through Logos and Sophia. God made everything through Logos and Sophia, but by his Logos the heavens were made firm and by his Spirit all their power [Ps 32:6]." Theolophilus of Antioch, Ad Autolycum, tr. by Robert M. Grant, Oxford: Claredon Press, 1970, I.7.

In another place, he says:

"the three days prior to the luminaries are types of the triad of God and his Logos and his Sophia. In the forth place is man, who is in need of light--so that there might be God, Logos, Sophia, Man." (the footnote to this: "This 'triad' is not precisely the Trinity, since in Theolophilus' mind man can be added to it.") Theolophilus of Antioch, Ad Autolycum, tr. by Robert M. Grant, Oxford: Claredon Press, 1970, II.15.

Though this is not a perfect articulation of trinitarian theology, you can see how Theolophilus is attempting to put words and concepts to something that was already actively believed in early Christendom.

Another source of early trinitarian thought is Irenaeus of Lyon (125-203). He also talks about God creating through the Logos and Wisdom (Sophia), but more specifically talks about the Son and the Holy Spirit as the two hands of the Father:

"It was not angels...who made us, nor who formed us, neither had angels power to make an image of God, nor any one else, except the Word of the Lord, nor any Power remotely distant from the Father of all things. For God did not stand in need of these [beings], in order to the accomplishing of what He had Himself determined with Himself beforehand should be done, as if He did not possess His own hands. For with Him were always present the Word and Wisdom, the Son and the Spirit, by whom and in whom, freely and spontaneously, He made all things..." Ireneaus, "Against Heresies," in Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, Edinburgh: T&T Clark; Eerdmans, 1996, Book IV: chapter XX.1.

Well, I hope that gets you thinking about early sources of trinitarian language and theology. I find it interesting that the activity of creation is trinitarian in shape and motion for these early theologians of the Church.

Peace,
Chelle

Power Points for Sept 9th, 2009

2009-09-08T17:03:00.000-07:00

Here are the ppts for last week (intro to theology lecture continued today).

Here are the ppts for this week's lecture on the Trinity.

-Chelle

Why Do Theology?

2009-09-08T16:15:00.000-07:00

When we, as embodied human beings, experience the world around us, we tend to make certain assumptions or begin to ask questions. A few classic questions are: “Why is there something rather than nothing?” “What is the meaning of life?” or another way to ask this is “What brings meaning to life?” “Who are these people around me and what is my relationship to them?” “What is the definition of family in such a fragmented and alienated culture?”

We all ask these questions. The problem is, if we don’t take the time to explore and examine our presuppositions, then we are left with half articulated beliefs that seem proper or correct in the moment but doesn't have real substance for the long haul called life. So, when life happens and we come to the end of our understanding, we tend to either turn to anger and frustration or to simply reject faith all together; especially faith represented by the established church. I think that this is amazingly characteristic of our contemporary culture. How do we respond to this within our culture? Or, more honestly, how do we respond to this within ourselves?

Again, we ask the question, why do theology? Well, you are here at this graduate school doing a degree at this particular time and place. I assume that you are interested in theological questions or you would not be here because you would have gone to a different school. However, you are diverse in your goals. Some of you are counseling students, some are training to be pastors and some of you are not sure why you are here . (There is nothing wrong with not really knowing why you are doing a degree. That was me when I went to do my master's degree and now I'm teaching at a seminary. You never know where you'll end up!) In that context, the challenge of this class (which is my task as much as it is your task) is to learn to connect our individual questions about life, the universe and everything to the discipline and tradition of Christian theology. I will be honest. I don’t really know how to do that in a classroom, and I don’t know how to do that for each of you.

So, I would like to challenge you, to charge you with this task: work hard in this class to push your own questions outward in order to connect those personal questions to the wider tradition of theology. In the midst of this, it is OK to disagree with me, with one another and even yourself. (I saw a bumper sticker once that said: “Don’t believe everything you think.” It is a good philosophy when approaching theology!!)

Therefore, as we start this class, we need to acknowledge that we are not the first people to ask the ultimate questions. We are also not the first ones to offer answers. It is the height of arrogance to say that we understand the relationship between God and the world better than those believers that lived 50, 150 or 1500 years ago. However, we do understand the world differently. We have a different context and a different Zeitgeist. But to answer these questions in isolation, ignoring the tradition, is naïve at best. Despite our attempts to answer these questions in isolation, we should acknowledge that we all have inherited many assumptions and beliefs, often unexamined. In this class, with respect I hope, we will work to question, critique, explore and sometimes even answer these inherited presuppositions.

So, why do theology? Because it hits us in the intimate places where we live. It shapes the way we are in the world.

To the Task!

Chelle

Vocab Quiz, Missing Words...

2009-09-06T12:38:00.000-07:00

I have heard that there are a few words missing out of the Pocket Dictionary. Let me define them for you here:

Doctrine of God: The area of systematic theology that focuses on the study of God's being; e.g., God as Trinity or God as Creator.

Theological Anthropology: The area of systematic theology that focuses on the human person, in other words, in the light of who God is, who and what is humanity.

Dual Natures Doctrine: This doctrine articulates the paradox that Jesus Christ is both fully human and fully divine; i.e., one person but two natures.

ex nihilo: literally, "out of nothing". This doctrine holds that God created the world out of nothing rather than out of some kind of pre-existent chaos or formless matter.

Heterodoxy: Other or different belief.

Transgression: Sin.

Hope that helps!

-Chelle

Reading Pods!!

2009-09-02T15:37:00.000-07:00

OK. So...this was a little more confusing that I was hoping. Here are links to the readings for each group. If you are not sure which group you are in, email Jordan.

African-American Liberation Theology
Anabaptist Theology: Thomas Finger
Baptist: Stan Grenz
Baptist: Roger Olson
Mike Higton
Church Fathers
Eastern Orthodox Theology
Feminist Theology
South and Central American Theology
Jurgen Moltmann
Kathryn Tanner

Here is the the final syllabus (without proper formatting): Constructing the Theological Mosaic. There is an up-to-date syllabus in the Theology I folder found at our.MHGS. That copy has better formatting, etc.

Let me know if you have any problems opening any of these documents.

Peace,
Chelle

A New Year!

2009-08-27T10:01:00.001-07:00

Welcome to Constructing the Theological Mosaic!

You may be wondering, or not, why the term 'mosaic' is used in the title of this class. Why not just call it 'Systematic Theology' or 'Theology Survey' or some other such exciting name? To be honest, I don't really know. However, I can take a fairly educated guess.

This class was developed by the late theologian, Stan Grenz and he was good friends with Roger Olson, who wrote The Mosaic of Christian Belief. It seems that both of these theologians longed for a broader theological method that took seriously the theological tradition as well as current thinking about God and culture. Olson, in the intro to his book, talks about the need for a "both/and theology." What he wants is a theology that can hold an orthodox understanding of God while simultaneously holding our current questions about God, the universe and everything. In addition, if we are willing to look and explore, many of the questions that we ask today have been asked before, so we also look to the tradition to help us in our questioning and theologizing. Thus, our first week's reading turns to Olson to help us understand how we might begin the theological task together.

I believe that this background is an invitation to wander and wonder about God. We should all bring our questions to the table. Just like a pictorial mosaic, each of our offerings becomes a small tile as we work together to understand the God who is revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. We will also read and read in this class, attempting to understand the questions of the tradition so that we might ask better questions.

To help broaden and deepen our discussions, the class will be divided into different reading groups. My hope in diversifying our readings is to create a different sort of mosaic, diverse views of God, Trinity, creation, humanity and the person and work of Jesus Christ. You will all be given an opportunity to bring this diversity to our class discussions. The goal is to search out the "least inadequate language" through which to talk about God, as theologian Colin Gunton puts it.

So, I invite you to bring yourselves, bring your questions and bring your minds to the theological mosaic. We will read, sort, discuss and listen to a variety of voices. Come and help create the theological mosaic with me and all your classmates.

See you next Wednesday at 9:30AM (yes, that is 9:30AM).

Peace,
Chelle (a.k.a. Dr. Stearns)

Final Schedule For April 17th, 2009

2009-04-16T17:04:00.001-07:00

Here is the official schedule for our Theological Mosaic Extravaganza!

Time	Name	What	Media Needs
10:00	Kerry & friends	Liturgy	Mics, Projector
10:30	Ed & Chelle	Announcements
10:45	Chelle	Lecture-ish
11:20	Break
11:30	Heather Smith	Performance Piece	Total Darkness
12:00-12:45	Parallel Tracks: Choose One	Large Classroom: Ali Bradford Sara Vander Woude Ben Olson & Steph Shaffer
		M3: Barbara Tantrum, Shannon Stauffer & Friends (God as Mother) Elise Cadwell
		Small Classroom: Informal Sharing of Paper Topics
1:00-2:00	Lunch	Downstairs	look at art, etc.
2:00	Alison & Amy	Songs, presentation	4 mics, mic stands & doc projector
2:30	Poetry Slam!!	Andrew Bauman Abigail Jimenez Campbell White	mics
3:00	Small Group Share Time	Papers? Thoughts from the Class? Wander Freely and Look at the Art?
3:30	Chris Fine	Song
	Brent Brownlee	Song and Video
	Damon Vrabel	Song
4:15	Austin & Kevin	Movie	Darkness, Projector
4:30	Chelle	wrap-up or down	Clarity

Schedule For April 17th (Tentative)

2009-04-13T17:13:00.000-07:00

Here is a first go at a schedule for this Friday's Class. If you are not on this schedule and would like to be, please let me know right away!!!

Time	Name	What	Media Needs
10:00	Kerry & friends	Liturgy	Mics, Projector
10:30	Ed & Chelle	Announcements
10:45	Chelle	Lecture-ish
11:20	Break
11:30	Heather Smith	Performance Piece	Total Darkness
12:00-12:45	Parallel Tracks	Large Classroom: Ali Bradford Elise Cadwell Sara Vander Woude
		M3: Paper Presentations Barbara Tantrum, Shannon Stauffer & Friends (God as Mother) Other creative presentations?
		Small Classroom: Informal Sharing of Paper Topics
12:45-2	Lunch	Downstairs	look at art, etc.
2:00	Alison & Amy	Songs, presentation	4 mics, mic stands & doc projector
2:30	Poetry Slam!!	Abigail Jimenez Campbell White Andrew Bauman	mics
3:00	Small Group Share Time	Papers? Thoughts from the Class?
3:30	Chris Fine	Song
	Brent Brownlee	Song and Video
	Damon Vrabel	Song
4:15	Austin & Kevin	Movie	Darkness, Projector
4:30	Chelle	wrap-up or down	Clarity, Brevity, Levity?

Creative Project Rubric

2009-04-13T15:56:00.001-07:00

Here is a link to the Creative Project Rubri c.

-chelle

Reading Report Link

2009-04-10T17:00:00.000-07:00

Exactly. Here is the reading report link, one more time so that it is obvious where it is.

Cheerio!
Chelle

Papers Due

2009-04-10T16:52:00.000-07:00

Just to let you all know, from this point on the paper due date of Monday, April 20th is firmly set. If papers are turned in late, they will be automatically docked 1/3 of a grade. No paper turned in after the morning of April 24th will be accepted without an approved incomplete for the class. (No graduating students can apply for an incomplete without it affecting their status as a graduate of MHGS.)

(If you have already spoken to me about a different due date, then that is OK for you, so don't worry.)

If you have questions, please ask either Ed or myself.

Thanks!
Chelle

Turning in Journals this Wednesday

2009-04-10T16:48:00.000-07:00

Hello All,

Journals are due this coming Wednesday. Please turn in all materials to the front desk. (I'll warn Molly.) I'm around all day, so I'll go down periodically to pick up your work.

If you really want to hand your stuff in directly to my greedy, wee hands, I'll be in my office from about 1PM on. I'll be with students. Just knock and the door will be opened for you. (You know, that sounds vaguely familiar...)

Peace,
Chelle

Things coming up!

2009-04-07T15:22:00.000-07:00

OK. Y'all have a couple of assignments are due over the next week or so.

One of them is the reading report or bibliography. Here is a LINK to a document that lists all of the assigned readings for the term. That is due on Monday, April 20th.

Here are the dates due for the other assignments:

Journal (both options): Wednesday, April 15th

Creative Project: Wednesday, April 15th (Your projects can be brought to school on the 15th or the 16th. We'll be hanging up art projects on the Thursday. Any volunteers to work on displaying projects, etc.? If you are playing music or performing something on April 17th, your performance is your 'turning in.')

Research Paper: Monday, April 20th

If you have questions, let me know!!

Peace,
Chelle

Classic Religious Sectarian Joke

2009-04-04T11:32:00.000-07:00

OK, here is a little random, cynical religious humor for y'all:

I was walking across a bridge one day, and I saw a man standing on the edge, about to jump. I ran over and said: “Stop. Don’t do it.”

“Why shouldn’t I?” he asked.

“Well, there’s so much to live for!”

“Like what?”

“Are you religious?”

He said: “Yes.”

I said: “Me too. Are you Christian or Buddhist?”

“Christian.”

“Me too. Are you Catholic or Protestant?”

“Protestant.”

“Me too. Are you Episcopalian or Baptist?”

“Baptist.”

“Wow. Me too. Are you Baptist Church of God or Baptist Church of the Lord?”

“Baptist Church of God.”

“Me too. Are you original Baptist Church of God, or are you Reformed Baptist Church of God?”

“Reformed Baptist Church of God.”

“Me too. Are you Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1879, or Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915?”

He said: “Reformed Baptist Church of God, Reformation of 1915.”

I said: “Die, heretic scum,” and pushed him off.

(Hey, I did say that it was a cynical joke!!)

Writer on Psychology and Spirituality

2009-03-30T13:37:00.001-07:00

Here are a few writers that have done integrative work in Psychology and Spirituality.

L. Gregory Jones
F. LeRon Shults and Steven Standage
Mark McMinn

Peace,
Chelle

The Theological Mosaic

At the end of the term...

A Few Thoughts on Rob Bell

A Little Inspiration

"The Bad Vicar"

Music and Freedom: Wisdom from Jeremy Begbie

Speaking of Vulnerability

Vulnerability and the Improvisational Life

J. Kameron Carter On Jazz...

A Little Romance for You...

Sam Wells and Improvisation

Joshua Redman...what more do you need?

Bach's Art of the Fugue

Talking of Michael Jackson...

And one more...

Another Adaptation...

Making Space for the Other...

Calvinism vs. Arminianism

Chance for Extra Credit

Anne Lamott at Seattle Uni's Book Festival

Go Knox and the Union Gospel Mission!

Tierra Nueva Mural Artist: Troy Terpstra

Different Theologians on the Holy Spirit

Gordon Fee: Gender and Translation

Gordon Fee

Gordon Fee: Defining Kenosis

C. S. Lewis

That Quote I Read in Class Today

Pub Quiz on December 1st

A Poem about Mary

Guest Speaker in Class: Dr. Andy McCoy

A Great Quote from LaCugna

My New Book, Or Shameless Self Promotion

Christopher Hitchens

Citation Information and An Inspirational Quote

Due Dates

Alvin Plantinga

Cosmologies and Creation

Sex and the Church

Mary Daly

The Filioque

What We Listened to in Class: Thomas Tallis

For All Those Football Fans

Early Trinitarian Sources

How Do We Listen?

Author of *The Shack* in Town Friday

John Cage's "Rules for Students and Teachers"

Welcome to Fall 2010!

Reading Report

Video and an Interesting Article

Assignments Due

Dr. Serene Jones

An Interesting Article

Fasting During Lent

Funny

Changes in Syllabus

Worship...Uh, who are we worshiping?

On Election

On Scripture

Power Point Slides and Lectures

Tierra Nueva Mural Artist: Troy Terpstra

Webster--"Revelation, Sanctification and Inspiration"

January 20, 2010: Notes, etc. for Class

Reading for the Pub Quiz

Otiose

January 13, 2010--Lecture and Power Point Slides

Thinking about the Holy Spirit

Doctrinal Position Papers

Welcome and Reading Lists

Wendell Berry

Atonement Slides and The Reading Report!

Luci Shaw at Elliot Bay Books

Creative Project Rubric

Research Papers

Luci Shaw

Pub Quiz!!

Thesis Generator and Radom Thoughts about the Short Papers

Lecture Today: November 4, 2009

Power Point Slides, October 28th, 2009

Earlier Lectures

Author of The Shack in Town Friday