DET

…or, Something to keep you busy over the weekend… …or, The Past Fortnight in the Theoblogosphere. So, I'm stuck in NJ while the wife and kids have flown to MO. Why, you may ask? Because the company I reserved a moving truck with a month ago was unable to provide the equipment. Suffice it to say that I may well provide a post in the future about which rental company NOT to use - that depends on whether they make it worth my while not to. Cross your fingers. In any case, this leaves me with time to write a link round-up. Here you go, in no particular order: "The real impasse in the debate over Rob Bell" - David Congdon weighs in, highlighting the way these debates are artificially framed in terms of calvinism and arminianism. "Doodlings Redivivus" - Kim Fabricius is back at it: "Is it surprising that so many American Christians are obsessed with hell when mass incarceration and capital punishment are the way the nation does justice?" "No ...

DET is 5 years old today, and we're hovering right around 600 posts. Wow. I'm not going to reflect on this any further because I suspect that such reflections could quickly turn demoralizing. Working on my dissertation will be a far better use of my time...I hope. ==================================

My apologies for the way in which DET has basically fallen silent. I had a nice 6 post/2 week rotation going there for a while. As an excuse for this lamentable state of affairs, I cite my family's impending move to Missouri (we'll be in transit in less than a week) and my mad dash attempt to complete a draft of my final dissertation chapter before leaving. If I pull it off (and if you follow me on Twitter , you know that I I'm hopeful at the moment based on a couple extraordinary days), I'll have a full draft, sans only silly little things like an introduction, conclusion, abstract, acknowledgments, etc. You know, the sort of stuff you can bang out over coffee the day before the defense...or not... Seriously, though, all my energy has been going into these two things (and the odd book review posting ), leaving no time left over for theo-blog-ish ruminations. To keep yourself busy in the meantime, I suggest looking at my recent post, "What is Theology?" , o...

Derek Alan Woodard-Lehman reviews Gerald McKenny, "The Analogy of Grace: Karl Barth’s Moral Theology" (Oxford, 2010) . Derek is a friend of the blog, contributing to the most recent Karl Barth Blog Conference (KBBC on the top menu). Be sure to check it out ! ==================================

…or, Something to keep you busy over the weekend… …or, The Past Fortnight in the Theoblogosphere. I’m running a bit behind on getting this post done. Oh well. Somehow the earth will keep revolving and rotating. We hope. In any case, that I’m running behind means that I don’t have time to put these links into convenient categories. Here they are thrown together in no particular order (as far as I know): John Drury gives us an assorted collection of quotations from Barth concerning Hegel. The Women In Theology blog reflects on the dynamics surrounding women in ministry and, particularly, female academics in theology and/or religion departments. Roger Olson provides more reflection on neo-fundamentalism , especially the way in which folks from this camp tend to take up a primarily defensive theological posture, rather than a creative or reconstitutive one. Wow. I knew this project was around the theo-blogosphere, but I never stumbled upon the “hive,” as it were. In any case, th...

Eberhard Busch, The Great Passion: An Introduction to Karl Barth’s Theology (Eerdmans). Christians do not do anything that is alien either to their faith in the God who graciously commands or to those who are responsible in the secular polis , when they too participate in this political service of God. They should not try to evade this duty on the grounds that it would involve digression from their “proper” task. If they do not want to deny their freedom in the world, they should never restrict their obedience to the command of God to an inner sphere, in order to subject themselves externally to the laws of some other authority. Just as the kingdom of God is hidden in the polis but still present, Christians, even when acting “anonymously” in the polis , may not suspend the one standard of the command of the God who reigns both here and there (172). Christians must act to resist the power exercised by humans over humans that robs them of freedom and pushes them onto the margin of soci...

I’ve had occasion to think lately about how theology relates – or ought to relate – to Scripture. The issue shows up here and there in my dissertation. In any case, I thought that I would share with you all seven points that Barth makes about this topic. Karl Barth, Evangelical Theology: An Introduction (Grover Foley, trans.; Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1963): 30-5. “[T]heology shares with the biblical prophecy and apostolate a common concern for human response to the divine Word.” “All the same…theology is neither prophecy nor apostolate. Its relationship to God’s Word cannot be compared to the position of the biblical witnesses because it can know the Word of God only at second hand, only in the mirror and echo of the biblical witness.” “The position of theology…can in no wise be exalted above that of the biblical witnesses…[The biblical witnesses have] thought, spoken, and written about the revelatory Word and act in direct confrontation with ...

Malachi 1.2-6 [2] “I have loved you,” says the LORD. “But you ask, ‘How have you loved us?’ Was not Esau Jacob’s brother?” declares the LORD. “Yet I have loved Jacob, [3] but Esau I have hated, and I have turned his hill country into a wasteland and left his inheritance to the desert jackals.” [4] Edom may say, “Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins.” But this is what the LORD Almighty says: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the LORD. [5] You will see it with your own eyes and say, ‘Great is the LORD – even beyond the borders of Israel!’ [6] A son honors his father, and slaves honor their master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the LORD Almighty. ========================== COMMENTARY: This lecture is concerned with the doctrine of election, as Calvin promised it would be in the last lecture. He struggles to stic...

[Dedicated readers may recall my attempt to help spread the word about a gathering of graduate students of theology (broadly conceived) organized by the Harvard Theology Salon back in February. While I could not attend, I sent the following as a contribution to their study document, Theological Times , which they formatted as an e-zine (not made public, at least as yet).] By Tkgd2007 [ CC-BY-SA-3.0 ], via Wikimedia Commons I want to express my gratitude to the organizers of this gathering, some of whom have gone out of their way to encourage myself and my colleagues at Princeton Theological Seminary to attend. Unfortunately, a scheduling conflict prevents my presence, and I do not know whether any of my colleagues will be able to participate. Given these circumstances, and the organizers’ desire for the presence of a Princeton Seminary voice, I offer the following reflections. In what follows, I provide brief answers to the What? Who? and Why? questions posed by the gathering’s ...

…or, Something to keep you busy over the weekend… …or, The Past Fortnight in the Theoblogosphere. It’s been a busy couple of weeks since the last link round-up here at DET. First, the most local news: Reading Scripture with John Calvin: Malachi 1.1-6 - I’ve resurrected this old series, and will try to make it something of a fixture moving forward. It has always been one of my favorite serial blog undertakings and I’m glad to be back to it (check the serials page for the backlog, which covers all of 1 Peter). Coincidently, however, it seems to be a traffic killer – shame on you all, surfing over when I post on something sexy like Barth and ecumenism , but staying away when I discuss apparently less exciting things like Calvin and Scripture. Tsk, tsk, tsk. There was also that Barth Conference here at PTS recently. I have three posts on the subject , the last of which contains links to posts from other bloggers. But other bloggers have kept blogging about the conference (even ...