DET

I haven’t been reading as much as I used to, what with this administrative appointment, but I’m still reading and I still want to share something about what I’m reading with you all, gentle readers. However, I don’t have time to write up a proper review that could go into the “What Am I Reading?” series, so I’ve decided to write up a few shorter “Brief Book Notes.” Here’s the first one. (And yes, some of my students may have got me going with bitmojis...) James H. Cone, Martin & Malcolm & America: A Dream or a Nightmare (Orbis, 2012). Sadly, my education was incredibly light on the African American experience, much less black theology, so I knew very little about Malcolm X and not much more about Martin Luther King, Jr. before I read this book. I did know, however, that James Cone (now, sadly, of blessed memory ) would steer me right, having read a number of his books previously to my great benefit. And he didn’t disappoint. In addition to simply learning a great deal ...

I’ve been long overdue posting about this. Many of you have, perhaps, already picked up on this news by seeing the odd tweet here or there, listening to my most recent appearance on the Homebrewed Christianity podcast , or – maybe it’s a bit old fashioned at this point - by browsing the relevant website . But here it is in plain English: I’m going to camp: Homebrewed Christianity’s Theology Beer Camp! I’m super excited to join Tripp Fuller , Robyn Henderson-Espinoza , and others at the camp to enjoy good brews, conversation, and theology nerd fun. I know Tripp’s angling to get me to sing karaoke, but I’m not making any promises… Tripp also assures me that there will be excellent custom brews to enjoy. I’m much more of a whiskey man than a beer man, myself, but Tripp has promised to put together a tasting menu for me to induct me into his world of hoppy delight. What’s that? What will I be talking about at Homebrewed Christianity’s Theology Beer Camp? I’m glad you asked! I ...

Some folks around Twitter have noticed that the most recent issue of the Karl Barth Society of North America newsletter contains extensive notes from my presentation to the society at the meeting of the American Academy of Religion in Boston in 2017. I’ve been sitting on video of that presentation since then, but didn’t want to publish it until the notes appeared in the KBSNA newsletter. But now you can view the video and hear me present the paper as if you were in the room (which a number of Tweeps were), growly voice and all. ================================== Follow @WTravisMcMaken Subscribe to Die Evangelischen Theologen

Just because DET has been unnaturally quiet for a while doesn’t mean that I haven’t been up to other of my usual tricks or that there hasn’t been stuff happening. Quite the contrary, in fact. And this post will get you back up to speed on my book, Our God Loves Justice: An Introduction to Helmut Golwitzer . I present the following in no particular order: One: I appeared on Liam Miller’s podcast – “Love, Rinse, Repeat” – to talk about Gollwitzer, and the true socialism of the kingdom of God. Two: I joined Dean Dettloff and Matt Bernico on The Magnificast. Click here to listen! Three: I returned for another appearance on the Homebrewed Christianity podcast. Click here to listen! See you at theology beer camp? Four: #OGLJ was “briefly noted” by The Presbyterian Outlook . Five: Stephen Waldron reviewed #OGLJ for Reading Religion , an online publication from the AAR. Six: David Roberts included #OGLJ in his list of “things I’ve read recently that you should read to...

…or, Something to keep you busy over the weekend… …or, The Past Fortnight in the Theoblogosphere. *chuckles* More like “The Past Five Months in the Theoblogosphere.” What happened? I couldn’t even tell you at this point. My intrepid associate editor, Scott Jackson, and I simply ran out of steam. Or hit a brick wall of other work. Or whatever mental picture you prefer. At this point I’m trying to come to grips with the reality that it’s unlikely we’ll be able to mount a regular posting schedule again, perhaps ever. Time will tell. So DET is not over, but it has become and will continue to be more of an ad hoc thing. That said, I still have a bunch of links to share. But before the links I want to highlight one of the highlights of my activities on the interwebs during the aforementioned five months – namely, Juan Torres ’s interview of David Congdon and me. I commend it to you, if you haven’t seen it yet, as an excellent place to begin if you want to get a peek behind the ...

Many thanks to David Hunsicker, whom I have known low these many years, for his recent blog review of my book on Helmut Gollwitzer: Our God Loves Justice: An Introduction to Helmut Gollwitzer . Hunsicker spends a great deal of time laying out the shape of the book, so be sure to head on over if you’re looking for a precis of the work that will whet your appetite and drive you to your favorite bookseller in search of a copy. I would like to respond briefly to two of Hunsicker’s three concluding thoughts. (Folks are, of course, welcome to make connections between Golli and Yoder – it’s just that I’m not particularly interested in that conversation.) Hunsicker’s second and third points derive from a fundamental failure to grasp the dialectical theological concept of paradoxical identity, which I have written about at some length in various places. TL:DR = the divine is wholly other than the human (paradox), but they are nonobjectifiably identical in – and only in – the event of enc...