Glocal Christianity

Christian Art - the book of Genesis

For those of you with artistic interests, you may be interested in my latest project which is to pull together art from around the world for different books of the Bible.

My intension here is to more directly link art with story, and teaching with the sacred use of the imagination.

Naturally enough I'm beginning with Genesis.

So, what happens for you as you view these images from Genesis? What emotions and thoughts do they stir up, positive and negative? Are there other Genesis artworks you've seen elsewhere that you would like to draw people's attention to?

Speciation and Spirituality

This week I read an interesting article in New Scientist highlighting new research which is suggesting that "adaptation follows as a consequence of speciation, rather than contributing as a cause" and that "it isn't the accumulation of events that causes a speciation, it's single rare events falling out of the sky, so to speak."

What does this mean in laymans terms? Simply this: that species diversification is a far more likely to be triggered by reproductive isolation following climate change or some other arbitary external cause than by natural selective pressures in and of themselves, and, that species tend to be "pushed" into diversification by emerging barriers rather than "pulled" into diversification by niche opportunities.

However, despite the obvious implications for the creation debate, my interest actually has nothing to do with that. In fact, it actually has far more to do with the implications for the evolution of culture and religion. How, for instance, is unequal access to web conversations effecting the reproduction of ideas within the Christian movement? Most people tend to think of the web as something that pulls us together, but because it does so at different rates it also has the potential to pull us apart, to trigger divergence.

Many, for instance, have noticed that generational gaps are sometimes more important than geographical gaps. Some have suggested the broader picture is one of time differentials becoming more important than space differentials in hyper-modern cultures. But if this is true other factors effecting speed of technological uptake and availability for connection are worth considering, these being educational level, personality type, geographical time zones, shift work, bandwidth access and differing web censorship laws. Where those factors come together we should be expecting to see web Balkanization ... and we do. Time constraints and adoption speeds matter. We can expect more and more cultural gaps to emerge between slow communities and fast communities the faster this world gets. Think about how this could effect you locally.

More Scientology accusations in Australia. Now what?

Scientology is in the spotlight again this week with a Four Corners exposé on the L R Hubbard inspired movement:

"The allegations in tonight’s program include first hand accounts that some women have been coerced into having abortions because the Sea Org does not allow its members to have children while they work in the organisation; that children as young as 15 are interrogated about their sex lives, asked to work excessive hours, and punished severely if they fail to meet targets for recruiting members of the public; and that ‘public’ Scientologists – Scientologists who live and work in the broader community – are pressured over long periods of time into donating their life savings to the church."

Now, what's an authentic and appropriate Christian response do you think? Should the church chase this false church through the state? Or are there other alternatives?

Is contextualization just glorified approval seeking?

Commenting on the decline of the mainline, Kevin DeYoung suggests it their “Oh, please, approve of me” message, which makes a poor substitute for the gospel. 

I tend to agree. You can't make a difference in the world if you're no different from the world. But the obvious question is, "Well, what then do we make of missional contextualization?" Is it just glorified approval seeking?

I say no, but I would support that by arguing that there are two sides to missional contextualization: that of being in the world, but not of the world. The “Oh, please, approve of me” message is what happens when you only take notice of the first half of that Jesus equation and forget the second. What mainline churches are doing when they chase after approval for approval's sake is not genuine contextualization.

Just do it

"Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed." (Psalm 82:3)

Boycott. Just do it.

John Howard Yoder talks about the limitations of democracy

John Howard Yoder, a deep Christian thinker, here talks about the limitations of democracy.

And here are some articles by John Howard Yoder, care of Jesus Radicals:

“The Christian Declaration of Independence.” Christian Living (July 1955): 27.

“Nonconformity and the Nation.” Christian Living (Feb. 1955): 8–9, 25, 33.

“Things That Are Caesar’s: Part 1.” Christian Living (July 1960): 4–5.

“Things That Are Caesar’s: Part 2.” Christian Living (Aug. 1960): 14–17, 39.

“Things That Are Caesar’s: Part 2.” Christian Living (Sept. 1960): 16–18.

“Why I Don’t Pay All My Income Tax.” Gospel Herald (Jan. 22, 1963): 81, 92.

“The Biblical Mandate.” Post American 3, no. 3 (April 1974): 21–25.

“The National Ritual: Biblical Realism and the Elections.” Sojourners 5, no. 8 (Oct. 1976): 29–30.

“The Limits of Obedience to Caesar.” Unpublished document from General Conference Mennonite Commission on Home Ministries study on whether denominational agencies should support their employees’ tax objection, June 1978.

“Can There Be a Just War?” Radix 13, no. 2 (Sept.–Oct. 1981): 3–9.

“Cleansing the Temple.” Epiphany: A Journal of Faith and Insight 4 (Spring 1984): 16–18.

“Peacemaking Amid Political Revolution” (Unpublished paper, available at Associate Mennonite Biblical Seminary)

Hope in Adversity

Endure hardship as discipline (Hebrews 12:7)

Hat tip to Andrew Park for the vid

How is Calvinist Christianity and Anabaptist Christianity different?

What follows is my hesitant attempt at distilling some of the core differences between Calvinist Christianity and Anabaptist Christianity, at least as I see it, into a simple to digest form.

Take this as a conversation starter, not a comprehensive statement. You'll note that I have divided this up into four areas of message, teaching, practice and experience. It could be said that this is a very Anabaptist way of seeing things, given we emphasize orthopraxy as much as orthodoxy. For this I make no apologies. But I am open to dialoguing about it.

The differences I am highlighting here are more a matter of emphasis than fundamental difference, but it's the nuances that give the different paths their different flavours. In essence, I see Calvinism as more abstract and objectivist and Anabaptism as more concrete and subjectivist. Does any of this ring true for you?

Atheist Meta-Ethics: Neo-Nihilism

"Atheism prides itself on truth and rationality. This video seeks to prove that neo-nihilism is the correct stance for we atheists to adopt regarding ethics. Attacked, therefore, are the ethics of cultural relativism, utilitarianism, social contract theory, evolutionary psychology's general stance on ethics, and humanism. Morality, like religion, is an illusion; though feelings are not."

What's grabbed my interest this week

Here's a few articles that grabbed my interest during the week:

As a movie buff and culture watcher I liked this thoughtful article from Christianity Today on Box Office Pantheism. Prinicipally because it reflects my own views, but it's encouraging to see some balanced thinking emerging in evangeliland.

And as a blogger, The Tyranny of the SEO Church, Revisited from Hacking Christianity has got me reflecting once again on the pros and cons of search engine optimization. For instance, there is a bit of a "damned if you do write, damned if you don't write" thing about the homosexuality and abortion debates, irrespective of what your theological leanings are.

And how could I surf past this quote via Alchemystix: "The message that will change the world is only as strong as the transformation that has first taken place within believers. “Glocal” churches create disciples who, transformed by the Holy Spirit, are infiltrating today’s culture on a global and local scale with the undeniable message of a changed life"

Finally, for those interested in all things missional, Brother Maynard's prologue to missional discussions is a conversation you may want to join in.