"Conservative theology and conservative politics"

Cranach intends to blog this week about the relationship between conservative theology and conservative politics. My own political conservatism was heavily influenced by an anti-utopian skepticism which seemed to me an inevitable inference from the Christian doctrine of original sin. This should be interesting:

Commenters DavidinNorCal and tODD keep asking why so many conservative Christians think they have to be conservative in politics as well. That's a fair question, a good question. ...[Once] evangelicals were rather more likely to be Democrats. I used to be on the liberal side politically. But after the liberals championed abortion, I stopped believing all of their rhetoric about helping the little guy, wanting peace, crusading for social justice. Abortion is such a monumental injustice, such monstrous violence, such cruelty to little guys, that leftwing social self-righteousness became repellant to me.

Another factor in my becoming a political conservative was my time in Estonia, when it was still under the Soviet Union, and I saw the folly of a state-controlled economy and the oppressiveness of an all-powerful state.

Democrats used to be pro-life, as was just about everybody. If conservative Christians, who once had a home in that party, have been gravitating to the Republicans, it is just as big a question why the militant secularists have gravitated to the Democrats. In fact, I would wager that the latter have far more influence with the Democrats than Christians do with the Republicans. ...

Source: Conservative theology and Conservative politics

A wordless God?

The Constructive Curmudgeon provides a full copy of a letter to Christianity Today by Dr. Gordon Lewis responding to an article about the "emerging church" by Scott McKnight:

Commendably, Scot McKnight seeks to practice the way of Jesus; sadly, he fails to follow Jesus' way with words. Does not McKnight's assertion that "no language is capable of capturing absolute truth" contradict what Jesus said to his heavenly Father? "I gave them the words you gave me" (John 17:8). "I have given them your word" (v.14) and "your word is truth" (v.17).

Apparently McKnight's wordless god is not the God who has spoken in human languages. "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son" (Heb 1:1-2).

Like the mystics of the world's religions, as well as Kierkegaard and Barth, McKnight presupposes that God's thoughts are infinitely different in every quality from any concepts expressed in human language. So what God reveals is himself, not information about himself. Apparently McKnight overlooks the fact that God created men and women in his image and that the image includes a mental capacity for receiving revealed information. A believer's new nature is "renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator" (Col 3:10). [the rest]

Source: The Constructive Curmudgeon: Letter to Christianity Today from Dr. Gordon Lewis

"Like a mighty wind"

In the Claremont Review of Books, Christopher Levenick assesses five tomes from the Religious Left. Books by former President Carter, Jim Wallis and others are reviewed and found wanting.

Three of the five are familiar names in the highest echelons of Washington politics. Altogether, they have published over 50 volumes. For all their work in the world of words, however, these authors are uniformly terrible writers, with prose that ranges from tedious to tendentious. But they are united by more than the mere absence of style. Their projects draw upon a common set of assumptions, employ similar methods, and arrive at the same conclusions. [the review]

Link to The Claremont Institute » Like a Mighty Wind

"Delight is to him..."

From the New Yorker, via World Magazine:

"For the past few months, on Saturday nights inside the chapel in Green-Wood Cemetery, the actor Richard Kirkwood has been treating present-day New Yorkers to a resounding rendition of the sermon." The sermon in question is Father Mapple's from Moby Dick.

In the sermon Mapple preaches from Jonah. From the sermon, at the end:

"But oh! shipmates! on the starboard hand of every woe, there is a sure delight; and higher the top of that delight, than the bottom of the woe is deep. Is not the main-truck higher than the kelson is low? Delight is to him - a far, far upward, and inward delight - who against the proud gods and commodores of this earth, ever stands forth his own inexorable self. Delight is to him whose strong arms yet support him, when the ship of this base treacherous world has gone down beneath him. Delight is to him, who gives no quarter in the truth, and kills, burns, and destroys all sin though he pluck it out from under the robes of Senators and Judges. Delight,- top-gallant delight is to him, who acknowledges no law or lord, but the Lord his God, and is only a patriot to heaven. Delight is to him, whom all the waves of the billows of the seas of the boisterous mob can never shake from this sure Keel of the Ages. And eternal delight and deliciousness will be his, who coming to lay him down, can say with his final breath- 'O Father!- chiefly known to me by Thy rod - mortal or immortal, here I die. I have striven to be Thine, more than to be this world's, or mine own. Yet this is nothing: I leave eternity to Thee; for what is man that he should live out the lifetime of his God?'"

World Magazine Blog, University of Virginia Library: Moby Dick

Picking a Bible

Withering Fig has advice about "5 Keys to Picking the Best Bible Translation for You." His headings, along with an excerpt that reinforces my own bias:

1. Readability
2. Word-for-Word is a Must (Paraphrase and Perish)

   ...When we're talking about God's Word, why would you want it paraphrased? Wouldn't you want to get the best idea possible of exactly what he is saying? ... Paraphrase translations, like Eugene Peterson's The Message can be interesting reads. However, I have trouble calling it the Bible. ... A word-for-word translation allows us the best access to the original without knowledge of the languages involved.

3. Who's Translating This Thing?
4. How is the Text Presented?
5. Play the Field

Source: 5 Keys to Picking the Best Bible Translation For You | Withering Fig

How not to defend the faith

The Withering Fig recommends a post at Skeptical Christian:

The Skeptical Christian has posted a very interesting article about flawed arguments that are commonly used by Christians. Here is a list of the arguments that the Skeptical Christian lays out...:

• Pascal's Wager
• "Hitler/Stalin was an atheist"
• "Everyone believes that God exists"
• "You can't know that God doesn't exist unless you're omniscient"
• "You just have to have faith"
• "Atheists have no morals"
• "Turn or BURN!"
• "(Insert famous person) believed in God"

Source: Withering Fig

Narnia

Narniaweb.com republishes parts of an interview about plans for several films produced by Walden Media including Amazing Grace and the next three of the Narnia series.

Infuze Magazine has interviewed Walden Media’s Bob Beltz about filming Prince Caspian and the subsequent Narnia films....

Can you let us in on what’s happening with Prince Caspian. Is the script completely finished? And is it sticking closely to the book?
It’s pretty close. Andrew Adamson is gonna direct again. Most of the same crew is working on this one. Mark Johnson will produce again. A lot of the cast and crew will be the same. Now, I don’t think that will be the case for all seven. I don’t think Andrew Adamson wants to spend the rest of his life on this one series.

But the script...let me put it this way: All of the elements from the book are present. It’s not as easy of a book to adapt as The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe was simply because it has a little bit of a different structure and Andrew wanted to rearrange some of the elements for dramatic effect. But everything that is in the book will be in the film....

And you’ve already greenlit the next one?
Yes. The next book after that will be The Voyage of the Dawn Treader and we’re going to try and film the next two in a way that it won’t have to be two and a half years between them. We’ll be able to bring them out sequentially a year apart....

So you will begin shooting Dawn Treader right after Caspian wraps?
Yeah, the way I understand it is that it takes six months to do the live photography on Caspian and then a full year of post-production with all of the effects and computer generated things that have to get done. In theory, what we’ll do is as soon as they are done filming Caspian and into post-production, then we’ll have a new crew to do the filming part of Dawn Treader. Then when that one goes into post-production, we’re hoping to go into The Silver Chair, which would be the next book into production.

 Infuse Magazine

Focused on feelings

Joel Osborn at SDB Forums brought this post by Bob Kauflin to my attention. "Should worship be fun?"

More than once I've heard Christians claim that worship should be fun, or act like they had a responsibility to prove that Christians knew how to "party" in church. I've always been uncomfortable with that connection, so I started thinking about the place of "fun" in worship, if one even exists. ....

...[W]hen defined as enjoyment and not seen as the only aspect of worship, worshipping God can be very "fun." People shouldn't find our meetings dull or dour. Smiles and even laughter should abound as we consider how kind, merciful, and gracious God has been to us (Ps. 126:2)!

In the comments section, one of the responses put the issue into the right perspective:

.... Enjoying God is inherently enjoyable, but to center on that enjoyment spoils the entire experience because we lose sight of the (infinitely worthy) object of enjoyment by focusing on the feeling of enjoyment instead. We are called to delight in God, not delight in delighting in God. The former is righteous and proper, the second is idolatry. And I think that is a helpful word to keep in mind when discussing this topic. [my emphasis]

Source: Worship Matters: Should Worship Be Fun?

From the Westminster Catechism:

What is the chief end of man?

Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

"From girly-worship to macho-worship"

The problem is real, but the solution described the Times article is absurd [or worse]. One of the leaders at the conference actually says "Thank you, Lord, for our testosterone!" From Cranach:

...[A] new discontent is growing within contemporary Christianity: Churches are too feminized. All of those touchy-feely Bible studies, the sentimental emotional mush of the sermons, the romantic ballads to Jesus - these make men squirm. In fact, 60% of the adults in church on a given Sunday are women, and more and more men are staying home. The Los Angeles Times has an article about a group called GodMen that is trying to bring testosterone back into Christianity:

Hold hands with strangers? Sing love songs to Jesus? No wonder pews across America hold far more women than men, [leader Brad] Stine says. Factor in the pressure to be a "Christian nice guy" - no cussing, no confrontation, in tune with the wife's emotions - and it's amazing men keep the faith at all. ....

Good points, but the solutions described here are ridiculous, going to the other extreme of having a macho-church service, with cussing, violent movie clips, and attempting to create the atmosphere of a tailgate party.

Try TRADITIONAL WORSHIP. Especially liturgical worship. It works for both men and women. And the focus is on the true God-Man, not you in all of your pathetic gender confusions.

Source: From girly-worship to macho-worship

Freedom from a demanding faith

The Pope, at the time Cardinal Ratzinger, in his Introduction to Christianity, described how the gradual and often unnoticed discarding of orthodox doctrine, leads to something entirely different - and entirely worthless. People of every theological tradition need to beware. [via First Things]

Anyone who has watched the theological movement of the last decade and who is not one of those thoughtless people who always uncritically accept what is new as necessarily better might well feel reminded of the old story of Clever Hans. The lump of gold that was too heavy and troublesome for him he exchanged successively, so as to be more comfortable, for a horse, a cow, a pig, a goose, and a whetstone, which he finally threw in the water, still without losing much; on the contrary, what he now gained in exchange, so he thought, was the precious gift of complete freedom....

The worried Christian of today is often bothered by questions like these: Has our theology in the last few years not taken in many ways a similar path? Has it not gradually watered down the demands of faith, which had been found all too demanding, always only so little that nothing important seemed to be lost, yet always so much that it was soon possible to venture on to the next step? And will poor Hans, the Christian who trustingly let himself be led from exchange and exchange, from interpretation to interpretation, not really soon hold in his hand, instead of the gold with which he began, only a whetstone that he can safely be advised to throw away?

Source: FIRST THINGS: On the Square » On Heresy: A Final Word (Until the March Issue of First Things)

"By articulating our differences, we also discover our commonalities."

At Christianity Today's site, J. Todd Billings writes about the modern tendency to de-emphasize doctrinal differences, and what is lost by doing so:

... C. S. Lewis diagnosed the problem of eschewing tradition as "chronological snobbery," "the uncritical acceptance of the intellectual climate common to our own age." In its place, theological traditions open up the wisdom and possibilities of the "cloud of witnesses." Like us, these witnesses faced dire challenges in trying to teach and live out the gospel in an inhospitable world. Many of their challenges are bound to appear again and again: Is Jesus Christ a prophet (like Muhammad) or the eternal Son of God? What is the relationship between Israel and the church?

Not only that, but creeds and traditions can be ways to protect our fidelity to the Bible rather than subvert it. This is how Reformers like Calvin regarded the extrabiblical Trinitarian language in the Nicene Creed.

Obviously, traditions can be misused. Some may use "in essentials, unity" to say you are not a part of the body of Christ unless you share their particular views on speaking in tongues, predestination, or the sacraments. More than once, a fellow Christian has cross-examined me until I could recite the relevant "code words" of his tradition: Did I hold the right views on spiritual gifts, providence, free will, or the millennium?

Yet for many, fear of divisiveness has cut them off from the riches of the church's cloud of witnesses. Rather than providing a path to church unity, avoiding theological distinctives often just leads to superficiality. Voices drawing upon the wisdom of the past help the church bring the gospel into our complex world. If we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, we need to remember that we read the Bible through the illumination of the Spirit who has actively worked in the church for 2,000 years.[the rest of the article]

2/7 At Intellectuelle today Bonnie points out that Billings, in parts of the argument not quoted above, uses "mere Christianity" in a very different way than C.S. Lewis did. Billings argued that "mere Christianity" was substituted for religious faith. She writes:

“Mere Christianity” cannot possibly substitute for the Christian faith; it is essential Christianity, as I understand C. S. Lewis to have intended it. Lewis describes it as a “hall out of which doors open into several rooms.” (Mere Christianity, xi.)

Source: The Problem with Mere Christianity | Christianity Today

"Is talking about God news?"

Is ignoring what is said anti-religious bias?

In predictable fashion, the Indianapolis Colts sloppily walked all over the Chicago Bears last night and Colts head coach Tony Dungy gave God the credit for the win. The big question for us here at GetReligion is ... how and when the media should highlight Dungy's comments.

In the spotlight, before a huge percentage of Americans and thousands of people in the stadium, Dungy said the following, as reported at NFL.com:

"This is a great time for both of us," Dungy said. "I'm so happy Lovie got to the Super Bowl because he does things the right way. He's gotten there with a lot of class, no intimidation, just helping his guys play the best they can. That's the way I try to do it and I think it's great we've been able to show the world that not only can African-American coaches do it, but Christian coaches can do it in a way that you know we can still win."

This next piece by Associated Press football writer Barry Wilner excludes any and all reference to Dungy's religious comments, which has some readers of this blog, namely this one, not so happy...

Source: Is talking about God news? » GetReligion

Screwtape on film

Luther at the Movies reports the following:

First it was The Chronicles of Narnia. Now The Screwtape Letters: C.S. Lewis' often-imitated but never equaled epistolary masterpiece, coming to a theater near you at some point in the not-too-distant future, God willing.

....I am happy to know that Douglas Gresham, C.S. Lewis' stepson, will be one of the producers of the film, and hopefully will keep the production true to the vision of the finest Christian apologist of the twentieth century....

Luther at the Movies: Screwtape Hits the Big Screen!

Cranach adds:

[T]he portents are very promising: Walden media (the pro-family media group with big pockets that is funding the Narnia movies) is putting up the money; Lewis's stepson Douglas Gresham (who ensured the fidelity of the Narnia movies) is involved; and Ralph Winter (the promising Christian director who made it big in the mainstream with movies like "Fantastic Four") is producing.

Luther at the Movies: Screwtape Hits the Big Screen!

William Wilberforce

More about William Wilberforce from Marvin Olasky at World Magazine:

You'll probably hear something about William Wilberforce this month, because an important 200th anniversary is coming. On Feb. 23, 1807, the double-decade determination of Member of Parliament Wilberforce finally brought results when the House of Commons voted to abolish the British slave trade. Year after year, voted down, he had not responded bitterly, and this time the other MPs stood and gave three hurrahs as Wilberforce bowed his head and wept at the culmination of his long battle.

Others are cheering in 2007. ... A major film biography of Wilberforce, Amazing Grace, is scheduled to hit theaters across the United States on the bicentennial, Feb. 23. A documentary, The Better Hour: William Wilberforce, A Man of Character Who Changed The World, is scheduled for television broadcast this fall in the United States and the United Kingdom. Members of the state legislature in Alaska have a Clapham Fellowship, named after the British group Wilberforce headed....

Source: WORLD Magazine | Weekly News, Christian Views

A link to a brief biography of Wilberforce can be found here.

Paradox and ambiguity

There are real contradictions and contradictions that are only apparent. The latter are probably inevitable when believers attempt to reconcile the revelations of the God who exists, since our understanding is limited to our experience. Is it possible that many of the theological controversies that engage us will turn out to have been based on only apparent contradictions? Some doctrinal issues are vitally important and central to the Faith - others can wait until we can see more clearly.

S.M. Hutchens:

I gave the last word in my dissertation to G.K. Chesterton. Part of the borrowed inscription was: "The ordinary man...has always cared more for truth than for consistency. If he saw two truths that seemed to contradict each other, he would take the two truths and the contradiction along with them." I have always believed this; one cannot believe the Bible otherwise, nor can he be a Christian, for our faith is built upon the ultimate contradiction: the God-Man, and many others besides. But churches and theological schools, as John Williamson Nevin observed long ago, are not founded or maintained by ordinary men, but by Great Ones, who make their ways and their names in the world by emphasizing one truth at the expense of others, enthralling lesser men by giving them many infallible proofs that the truth upon which they stand apart from others is indubitably true.

.... How many oceans of ink have been spilled, how many shelves have been filled, how many sects and parties have taken their rise, how many reputations for deep scholarship and wisdom have been made among the intelligent and ambitious, because they have taken extra-ordinary measures to avoid taking two truths from the Holy Tradition that seem to contradict each other, and the contradiction along with them - avoiding the Mystery, the doxology, and most particularly, the fear of God that comes when we step into the realm where we no longer have the mastery of him?

Source: Touchstone Magazine - Mere Comments

Mysteries

For those of us who enjoy the mystery genre, from the Wall Street Journal:

The four finest mystery anthologies, and one vital guide.

I've had the Barzun and Taylor book, A Catalogue of Crime/Being a Reader's Guide to the Literature of Mystery, Detection, and Related Genres, since it was published in 1971 and I will soon order the Hillerman, A New Omnibus of Crime, which sounds like a worthy successor to the Dorothy Sayers anthology.

Source: OpinionJournal - Five Best

"Stranger in a strange land"

GetReligion reports on a story in the Denver Post:

....Mike Jones, the former prostitute whose allegations about having sex and taking drugs with Haggard broke wide on the eve of the 2006 elections, went to worship on Sunday. Although Jones didn't notify the media in advance, he did tell church leadership he might be there. Eric Gorski of the Denver Post had the story:

As soon as the visitor from Denver walked through the church doors Sunday morning, heads turned. Word spread quickly: He was here.

Just about every person who offered him a handshake said the same thing: Welcome, thank you and God bless.

....associate pastor Rob Brendle ... explain[ed] why he thinks the church was so receptive to Jones — who had been invited to attend more than a few times:

Brendle characterized Jones’ presence as a reminder of both grief and God’s faithfulness. “I told Mike, ‘I don’t want to impose my religious beliefs on you, but I believe God used you to correct us, and I appreciate that,”’ Brendle said. ....

Source: Stranger in a strange land » GetReligion

Films

Christianity Today lists the "10 Most Redeeming Films of 2006."

Link to The 10 Most Redeeming Films of 2006

Mixing religion and politics

A study of campaign appearances in religious venues during the 2004 Presidential race reveals a rather different picture than the stereotype. By Sean Everton in Books & Culture:

.... To track where the candidates visited from March 3, 2004 (the day when John Kerry effectively wrapped up the Democratic nomination) through November 2, 2004 (the day of the 2004 Presidential election) I gathered data from numerous sources. ....

.... Less than 2 percent of the combined campaign appearances of all four candidates occurred at houses of worship, and less than 5 percent could be interpreted as faith-related in any way. .... Senators Kerry and Edwards visited and spoke at far more churches than did President Bush and Vice-President Cheney. The former appeared and spoke at nineteen churches while the latter spoke at only one. ....

...George Bush met with religious leaders, addressed faith-based conventions and conferences, and even spoke at a church-related university. However, so did John Kerry and John Edwards. ... while Bush and Cheney made 18 non-church faith-based campaign appearances, Kerry and Edwards made twenty-five.

Source: Whose Faith-Based Initiative? - Books & Culture

"Was Israel a Mistake?"

Books and Culture publishes a review of three books about the existence of the State of Israel, one good and two that are not, including former President Carter's, and an apparently very bad effort from the usually reliable publisher, InterVarsity Press.

Was Israel a Mistake? - Books & Culture