Grenz: Humanity, Community & Reconciliation

“Christian anthropology sets forth the glorious truth that humans are created in the divine image, a concept best understood in a corporate or community sense.  Although created for community, because of the fall humans are estranged from themselves, from each other, from their environment, and –most tragically of all – from God.  Yet the Christian story does not end on the negative note.  Humans are also the objects of God’s reconciling work….God is at work effecting our reconciliation and thereby completing the divine goal of creation, the establishment of the eschatological community.”

–Stanley J. Grenz, Theology for the Community of God, 244.

Erasmus: Polemics

“Althought every man holds his own reputation dear, I am more pained (so love me God) because such virulent polemics destroy both the fruit of scholarship and the tranquility of Christian life.”

 –Desiderius Eramsus, Collected Works of Erasmus, 3.

Communicating the Gospel

I have recently watched some interesting talks on the TED Website.  In one talk I heard an interesting quote:

19th Century culture was defined by the novel, 20th Century culture by cinema, the culture of the 21st century will be defined by the interface.

This really got met thinking about, “What does this mean for communicating the Gospel and preaching in the 21st Century?”  What would this look like in small group discussions? classrooms? Mid-week or even Sunday sermons?

It appears that books themselves are going to be interactive in the future, so how will this cultural shift impact our communication as teachers and preachers?

Please post a comment below!

Grenz: The Trinity & Community

“The Christian understanding of God as the Trinity sets forth God as the foundation for establishing the eschatological community.  God is throughout eternity the community of the Father, Son, and Spirit.  In history, therefore, the triune God is at work seeking to bring creation into participation in this eternal fellowship.”

–Stanley J. Grenz, Theology for the Community of God, 243.

Athanasius: The God Who Suffers

“For he [the Son] suffered to prepare freedom from suffering for those who suffer in him.  He descended that he might raise us up, he went down to corruption, that corruption might put on immortality, he became weak for us, that we might rise with power, he descended to death, that he might bestow on us immortality, and give life to the dead.  Finally, he became man, that we who die as men might live again, and that death should no more reign over us.”

–Athanasius, Festal Letter, 10.8

Torrance: Faith, Worship & the Grammar of Christian Theology

“The doctrine of the Holy Trinity had the effect of grounding the doctrine of the incarnation in the very centre of faith in God in such a way as to establish the absolute centrality of Jesus Christ the one Mediator between God and man in the triune movement of God’s self-revelation, from the Father through the Son in the Spirit, and correspondingly in the trinitarian movement of faith and devotion in the Church, in the Spirit through the Son to the Father. It is thus that trinitarian thinking enters into the inner fabric of all our Christian worship and knowledge of the one God, and the doctrine of the Trinity is recognized to constitute the fundamental grammar of Christian dogmatic theology.”

–T. F. Torrance, The Christian Doctrine of God, 82.

Dallas Willard & Pure Awesomeness!

John Ortberg is interviewing Dallas Willard at Catalyst West 2010.

Part 1: The Gospel, the Church, and the Kingdom of God

Part 2: Christian Spirituality and Spiritual Disciplines

Amos Yong: Paul’s Theology of Disability

The Assemblies of God Theological Seminary (AGTS) hosted a public lecture with Dr. Amos Yong, Thursday, December 2, 1:15-2:30 p.m. in the Seymour Chapel at AGTS.

The lecture, “One Body, Many Members: St Paul’s Charismatic Ecclesiology and the Renewal of Dis/ability,” will focused on answering the questions: “Was St. Paul the first disabled theologian?” and “Was he also the first charismatic theologian of disability?” An examination of the Galatian and Corinthian letters is suggestive of a positive response to these questions, particularly in light of the charismatic ecclesiology of one body and many Spirit-filled members. Click below to listen: