Unsettled Christianity

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February 22nd, 2012 by Joel

Justification: Five Views – The New Perspective (Joel) @ivpacademic

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I’m going to be honest. My predilection lies with the New Perspective, but I was hoping for something more than what Dunn presented. Perhaps, this only solidifies the assertion that not all NPP theologians arrive at the same conclusions and helps me to understand why I prefer Tom Wright’s results, shaded differently, than others in the NPP (and why it seems that Horton spoke forcefully against Wright, who is not included in the book, but remains an ever present shadow). One of the most palatable things about Dunn’s essay is his admission that while there are indeed sticking points, the NPP remains open to revision. It’s not forever settled, but picks up where the Reformation left off – reformed, and ever reforming. He notes this on page 200 in discussing some of Paul’s “warts.” Further, Dunn allows for tensions within Paul and the New Testament, something that appeals to me in that Paul was himself continuing to explore and to be led by the Spirit in articulating the new life in Christ Jesus. Further, he calls for acceptance of these warts, tensions, and difficult parts in a way befitting a theologian and a scholar.

His view is simple, really, that Paul tensely showed that works must be manifested for the life in Christ. Further, he dismisses the notion that Paul was completely set against the Judaism of his day, but allows that Paul saw the Law as something to be done away with. His pays attention to Paul’s historical context, which surprisingly, was not post-Middle Ages Europe with a real forensic justice philosophy developing not just in theology, but in the political realm as well. The focus is still on faith, heating the argument over whether or not it is faith in or the faith of. I tend to stick with the latter. Frankly, I do not know how the Reformed get around the idea of total participation if they continue to rely on the faith in translation, but that is neither here nor there.

Oddly enough, Horton (first responder to Dunn) is barely 200 words in before he brings up Wright and then talks about avoiding caricature. Horton’s response is more of the same, “It’s not Reformed Reformed!” He moves from there to speak more to Sanders than Dunn, but this time, engages scholarship from Weinfeld to Levenson. With this, however, I must say that as of yet, this is the best from Horton in this volume. He expresses his agreements and disagreements, but not too polemical. He engages scholarship and Second Temple Judaism more than he does Calvin and Luther. In reading Bird’s response to Dunn, I am becoming more convinced of his point of view, which does in fact worry me. He takes on Dunn, not in opposition, but building agreement upon agreement and then allowing that Dunn hasn’t pressed far enough. His essay is concise and to the point, offering more support for the Progressive Reformed position than I had previously considered. Karkkainen’s response is rather short and almost apologetic for Dunn’s position. O’Collins provides a positive essay which helps me from going to far into Bird’s camp. We’ll see.

Justification: Five Views (zwingliusredivivus.wordpress.com)

Tags: james d.g. dunn, justification, new perspective on paul
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February 22nd, 2012 by Leslie

Blogging Through “Justification: Five Views” The New Perspective @ivpacademic

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I have a theory that if not for what is called the “New Perspectives on Paul” (NPP), there may never have been a book called Justification: Five Views. Sure, justification would still be discussed in theological circles, but it would probably just be a category under the heading of “atonement theology.” I suspect that it’s only the evangelical dust-up over the (perceived) problems with the way N.T. Wright (and to a lesser extent, James Dunn) have framed justification that a separate book on the topic was even necessary.

I say this because by the time I got to the end of the responses to Dunn’s essay, I got the distinct feeling that the contributors were running out of things to disagree about.

Dunn’s defense of the New Perspective View of justification begins by making it crystal clear that the “new” and “old” perspectives are not mutually exclusive alternatives. The new perspective,” writes Dunn, “does not pretend or think or want to replace all elements of the old perspective…It asks simply whether the ways in which the doctrine of justification has traditionally been expounded have taken full enough account of Paul’s theology at this point.”

I have to wonder how anyone, even someone predisposed to thinking of NPP as the greatest threat to orthodoxy since “Jesus Christ Superstar,” could chafe at such a statement.

Dunn proceeds to work through the foundational aspects of NPP, beginning with the assertion that—contrary to what the Reformer’s believed and taught—Judaism was not the works-based, legalistic religion that we’ve all been taught that it was. Instead, E.P. Sander’s groundbreaking 1977 book Paul and Palestinian Judaism asserted that Israel thought of itself as being chosen by God based on His grace and initiative alone. Keeping the Law, according to Sanders, was Israel’s grateful response to God’s grace, not a way of earning justification.

Later in his essay, after a very persuasive argument suggesting that Paul’s view of justification “grew out of the context” of his mission to unite Jews and Gentiles under the gospel, Dunn explains the central dilemma of the New Perspective. “If Paul was not objecting to, but rather drawing on, Israel’s understanding of God’s saving righteousness,” Dunn wonders “then what was he objecting to when he spoke of ‘works of the law’?”

The answer to this question, according to the author, is “four interlocking points” which basically all boil down to this: When Paul refers to “works of the law,” he is not referring to acts that the Jews performed in order to get them into God’s good graces, but rather to those behaviors that marked them off as God’s people and kept them separate and distinct from the Gentiles. According to Dunn, these Christ-following Jews are not doing the “works of the law” because they think they will be justified by them, but because they think they should remain separate from their Christ-following Gentile brothers and sisters. “For Paul,” writes Dunn “the truth of the gospel was demonstrated by the breaking down of the boundary markers and the wall that divided Jew from Gentile, a conviction that remained the central part of his mission precisely because it was such a fundamental expression of, and test case for, the gospel. This is the missing dimension of Paul’s doctrine of justification that the new perspective has brought back to the center of the stage where Paul himself placed it.”

So the bottom line is that Dunn still agrees that Paul taught “justification through faith alone,” he just disagrees that Paul sees the Jews and the Old Testament Law as the villains in all this. Although I may disagree with a few minor details here and there, I do see Dunn’s point that there’s really nothing in the NPP that contradicts the traditional view of “justification through faith alone.” What Dunn seems to be advocating is just a shift in emphasis regarding what Paul was arguing against.

What I find more interesting than the specifics of NPP itself, is Dunn’s admirable ability to live “in the tension” on other issues. For example, while most scholars will admit that there has always been a little uneasiness between Paul’s teaching on justification by faith alone and his frequent warnings about the consequences of falling away, Dunn is content to say that we need to embrace “all” of Paul’s teaching on this and not try to impose a false consistency on Paul’s thought. And while Dunn refers to the NPP’s renewed emphasis on judgment as “disturbing,” it doesn’t disturb me in the least. I welcome any trend that leads me back to the Bible to double-check my theology.

Horton, predictably, has the most disagreements with Dunn’s view. Oddly though, he spends much of his time arguing not with Dunn, but with E.P.Sanders. Other than the occasional “tweak” to his perspective, the other responders largely agree with Dunn’s views. Bird, in fact, wonders aloud, “If Dunn had written this in 1983 when he published his well-known article “The New Perspective on Paul,” would we have had half of the fuss that we’ve had since then?”

Although there seems to be little substantive disagreement between Dunn and the other contributors, listening in on world-class scholars discussing what can be a confusing (and, let’s face it, really frustrating) theological topic has helped me clarify my own views better. Now, not only can I now join in on the conversation when someone starts talking about “New Perspectives on Paul,” but I am closer and closer to being able to explain to other people why it’s important.

Reading books in which scholars actually agree with each other may not sound particularly exciting, but it can be positively enlightening.

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February 22nd, 2012 by Joel

I will attempt to give up criticism of heretics for #Lent

At the beginning of November, Peter Kirk suggested that I reconsider some of my stances regarding a few people. I had actually been considering changing the category of False Prophets for a few months, but this was sort of the edge I needed. When I started this blog, it was about conquering the heretical world and destroy the devil, so then, everyone was a false prophet. Everyone. EVERYONE. I’ve changed, I think. I do think that many of those on the list are teaching a heretical doctrine, but in my humility, I know where I sit now, and where I sat then, and how I what I would have said then about me now. (Huh?)

Yes, Joel Osteen is still not a preacher of the Gospel

Yes, Kenneth Copeland is still a prosperity pimp who has no place preaching at a seminary.

Yes, Todd Bentley is still a Charlatan

But, I don’t want to focus on them. Negativity brings out the worse in people, I think. I know it does for me. That’s why I hate the political season. That which I hate, I do.

So, I previously changed the False Prophets category to Controversial.

Today, after a night of thinking about it, I removed all sub-categories, which were the names of those I had previously labeled False Prophets and then controversial and made them tags. Then, I moved Controversial from a category to a sub-category under Religious News.

So, there you go.

Posted in Blogging | 7 Comments »

February 22nd, 2012 by Joel

Everyone Who Reads This Post Gets Something Free for #Lent

If you promise not to tell anyone, I will let you in on a little secret. As many of you may know, Amazon has a little toy called the Kindle. Well, for those of us who cannot convince our significant others to let us put almost $300.oo down for one, Amazon has a free software for the PC.

~~That would be your first free gift.~~

For your ~~second~~ free gift, Tyndale who has produced a magnificent resource in the Mosaic, has a set of devotionals for Lent (which begins on Wednesday – and, no, it’s not just for Catholics). Well, they are offering it for free. And, if you get to looking, there are a lot of free books for Kindle. Older, but ‘gooder’.

~~Oh, and guess what?~~

~~Now, if you don’t mind, leave a comment and tell me if I should or shouldn’t get a Kindle!~~

Tags: kindle, lent
Posted in Devotional | 9 Comments »

February 22nd, 2012 by Joel

Martin Luther on #Lent

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This just goes to show you how much better Luther was than his lackeys, you know, Calvin and that Zwinugil Zinger Zwinger Zapper, no, Zwingli feller. Some of the Reformers threw out the baby with the bathwater:

Sermon for the First Sunday in Lent; Matthew 4:1-11
A sermon by Martin Luther from his Church Postil.

The Fast and the Temptation of Christ

I. THE FASTING OF CHRIST.

I. This Gospel is read today at the beginning of Lent in order to picture before Christians the example of Christ, that they may rightly observe Lent, which has become mere mockery: first, because no one can follow this example and fast forty days and nights as Christ did without eating any food. Christ rather followed the example of Moses, who fasted also forty days and nights, when he received the law of God on mount Sinai. Thus Christ also wished to fast when he was about to bring to us, and give expression to, the new law. In the second place, Lent has become mere mockery because our fasting is a perversion and an institution of man. For although Christ did fast forty days, yet there is no word of his that he requires us to do the same and fast as he did. Indeed he did many other things, which he wishes us not to do; but whatever he calls us to do or leave undone, we should see to it that we have his Word to support our actions.

2. But the worst of all is that we have adopted and practiced fasting as a good work: not to bring our flesh into subjection; but, as a meritorious work before God, to atone for our sins and obtain grace. And it is this that has made our fasting a stench and so blasphemous and shameful, so that no drinking and eating, no gluttony and drunkenness, could have been as bad and foul. It would have been better had people been drunk day and night than to fast thus. Moreover, even if all had gone well and right, so that their fasting had been applied to the mortification of the flesh; but since it was not voluntary it was not left to each to do according to their own free will, but was compulsory by virtue of human commandment, and they did it unwillingly, it was all lost and to no purpose. I will not mention the many other evils as the consequences, as that pregnant mothers and their offspring, the sick and the weak, were thereby ruined, so that it might be called a fasting of Satan instead of a fasting unto holiness. Therefore we will carefully consider how this Gospel teaches us by the example of Christ what true fasting is.

3. The Scriptures present to us two kinds of true fasting: one, by which we try to bring the flesh into subjection to the spirit, of which St. Paul speaks in 2 Cor 6,5: “In labors, in watchings, in fastings.” The other is that which we must bear patiently, and yet receive willingly because of our need and poverty, of which St. Paul speaks in 1 Cor 4, 11: “Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst,” and Christ in Mt 9,15: “When the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, then will they fast.” This kind of fasting Christ teaches us here while in the wilderness alone without anything to eat, and while he suffers his penury without murmuring. The first kind of fasting, one can end whenever he wills, and can satisfy it by food; but the other kind we must observe and bear until God himself changes it and satisfies us. Hence it is much more precious than the first, because it moves in greater faith.

And from another sermon:

It is not wrong to fast in honor of the name of an apostle, or to confess during Lent. But neither does he who omits these things commit any evil by this omission. Let him who desires to fast and make confession, do so, but let not one censure, judge, condemn or quarrel with his fellow over the matter. One individual should be like- minded with another–tolerant of what the other does and regarding his action as right because in itself blameless.

I would tend to agree, in part, with Luther that Lent should not be about works or added Grace, but as with a fast, bringing the body under subjection.

‘We have fasted before you!’ they say. ‘Why aren’t you impressed? We have been very hard on ourselves, and you don’t even notice it!’

“I will tell you why!” I respond. “It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves. Even while you fast, you keep oppressing your workers. What good is fasting when you keep on fighting and quarreling? This kind of fasting will never get you anywhere with me. You humble yourselves by going through the motions of penance, bowing your heads like reeds bending in the wind. You dress in burlap and cover yourselves with ashes. Is this what you call fasting? Do you really think this will please the LORD?

“No, this is the kind of fasting I want: Free those who are wrongly imprisoned; lighten the burden of those who work for you. Let the oppressed go free, and remove the chains that bind people. Share your food with the hungry, and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those who need them, and do not hide from relatives who need your help.

“Then your salvation will come like the dawn, and your wounds will quickly heal. Your godliness will lead you forward, and the glory of the LORD will protect you from behind. Then when you call, the LORD will answer. ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply. “Remove the heavy yoke of oppression. Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors! Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.

The LORD will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring. Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities. Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls and a restorer of homes.

“Keep the Sabbath day holy. Don’t pursue your own interests on that day, but enjoy the Sabbath and speak of it with delight as the LORD’s holy day. Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day, and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly. Then the LORD will be your delight. I will give you great honor and satisfy you with the inheritance I promised to your ancestor Jacob. I, the LORD, have spoken!” (Isa 58:3-14 NLT)

Tags: fasting, lent, martin luther
Posted in Reformation | 8 Comments »

February 22nd, 2012 by Joel

Peter Chrysologus – The Lenten Journey #Lent

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If your Lenten journey doesn’t last the year through, I think it is a waste.
Saint Peter Chrysologus (c.406-450), Bishop of Ravenna, Doctor of the Church
Sermon 8 ; CCL 24, 59 ; PL 52, 208

Exercises for Lent: almsgiving, prayer, fasting

My dear brethren, today we set out on the great Lenten journey. So let us take our food and drink along in our boat, putting onto the chest the abundant mercy we shall need. For our fasting is a hungry one, our fasting is a thirsty one if it isn’t sustained by goodness and refreshed by mercy. Our fasting will be cold, our fasting will flag if the fleece of almsgiving doesn’t clothe it, if the garment of compassion does not wrap it around.

Brethren, what spring is for the land, mercy is for fasting: the soft, spring winds cause all the buds on the plains to flower; the mercy of our fast causes all our seeds to grow until they blossom and bear fruit for the heavenly harvest. What oil is to the lamp, goodness is to our fast. As the oily fat sets the lamp alight and, in spite of so little to feed it, keeps it burning to our comfort all night long, so goodness makes our fasting shine: it casts its beams until it reaches the full brightness of self-restraint. What the sun is to the day, almsgiving is to our fast: the sun’s splendor increases the light of day, breaking through the dullness of the clouds; almsgiving together with fasting sanctifies its holiness and, thanks to the light of goodness, dispels from our desires anything that could petrify. In short, what the body is for the soul, generosity acts similarly for the fast: when the soul leaves the body it brings about death; if generosity abandons the fast, it is its death.

Tags: Ash Wednesday, lent, Peter Chrysologus
Posted in Church History | No Comments »

February 22nd, 2012 by Joel

Wednesday’s with Wesley – #Lent

“I believe there is no liturgy in the world, either in ancient or modern language, which breaths more a solid, scriptural, rational piety, than the Common Prayer of the Church of England.” - John Wesley

While not exactly a Lenten prayer, it is in the Lenten spirit,

O JESUS, POOR AND ABJECT, UNKNOWN AND DESPISED,
have mercy upon me, and let me not be ashamed to follow Thee.

O JESUS, HATED, CALUMNIATED, AND PERSECUTED,
have mercy upon me, and let me not be ashamed to come after Thee.

O JESUS, BETRAYED AND SOLD AT A VILE PRICE,
have mercy upon me, and make me content to be as my Master.

O JESUS, BLASPHEMED, ACCUSED AND WRONGFULLY CONDEMNED,
have mercy upon me, and teach me to endure the contradiction of sinners.

O JESUS, CLOTHED WITH A HABIT OF REPROACH AND SHAME,
have mercy upon me, and let me not seek my own glory.

O JESUS, INSULTED, MOCKED, AND SPIT UPON,
have mercy upon me, and let me run with patience the race set before me.

O JESUS, DRAGGED TO THE PILLAR, SCOURGED, AND BATHED IN BLOOD,
have mercy upon me, and let me not faint in the fiery trial.

O JESUS, CROWNED WITH THORNS, AND HAILED IN DERISION;

O JESUS, BURDENED WITH OUR SINS, AND THE CURSES OF THE PEOPLE;

O JESUS, AFFRONTED, OUTRAGED, BUFFETED, OVERWHELMED WITH INJURIES, GRIEFS, AND HUMILIATIONS;

O JESUS, HANGING ON THE ACCURSED TREE, BOWING THE HEAD, GIVING UP THE GHOST,
Have mercy upon me, and confirm my whole soul to Thy holy, humble, suffering Spirit.

O Thou who for the love of me hast undergone such an infinity of sufferings and humiliations, let me be wholly “emptied of myself,” that I may rejoice to take up my cross daily and follow Thee.

Enable me, too, to endure the pain and despise the shame; and, if it be Thy will, to resist even unto blood!

– REV. JOHN WESLEY (at age 20). Friday morning prayers – “A Collection of Forms of Prayer for Every Day in the Week”, 1733.

Further, Wesley observed Lent (and the Stations of the Cross)

Tags: Ash Wednesday, John Wesley, lent
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February 22nd, 2012 by Joel

No, being Evangelical Is Not Enough #lent

I discovered that the ancient Church teaches just what the New Testament teaches on the point, namely, that fasting is a salutary thing for us to undertake. Jesus fasted and assumed that His followers would. “When ye fast,” He said, not “if.” Saint Paul both practiced it and taught it. It seems to constitute a reminder to u that our appetites are not all and that man shall not live by bread alone. Furthermore, if we may believe the universal testimony of Christians who do practice it, it also clarifies our spiritual vision somehow. Lastly, it is a token of the Christian’s renunciation of the world. There is no thing that a Christian will insist he must have at all costs. Fasting supplies an elementary lesson here.

via Great Lent | Thomas Howard | From “Evangelical Is Not Enough: Worship of God In Liturgy and Sacrament” | Ignatius Insight.

I’m going to have to get that book…

Tags: lent, Thomas Howard
Posted in Devotional | 2 Comments »

February 22nd, 2012 by Joel

Thomas Merton on Ash Wednesday #lent

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“Ash Wednesday is for people who know that it means for their soul to be logged with these icy waters: all of us are such people, if only we can realize it.

There is confidence everywhere in Ash Wednesday, yet that does not mean unmixed and untroubled security. The confidence of the Christian is always a confidence in spite of darkness and risk, in the presence of peril, with every evidence of possible disaster…

Once again, Lent is not just a time for squaring conscious accounts: but for realizing what we had perhaps not seen before. The light of Lent is given us to help us with this realization.

Nevertheless, the liturgy of Ash Wednesday is not focussed on the sinfulness of the penitent but on the mercy of God. The question of sinfulness is raised precisely because this is a day of mercy, and the just do not need a savior.” – Thomas Merton HT.

Tags: Ash Wednesday, lent, Thomas Merton
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February 22nd, 2012 by Gez

Baking cakes to support abortion clinics

In opposition to pro-life protesters who are conducting a 40 Days for Life vigil outside the Preterm Abortion Clinic in inner-city Sydney, website Mamamia, which is owned by journalist Mia Freedman, is arranging to deliver home baked cakes to the clinic to support the women who work there and the women using the clinic’s services.

This is a not a post about the right to life – or even the right to choose. It’s about finding a unique way to show love and support for women who are already going through a difficult time.

Just like the women in the UK, Mamamia’s Publisher Mia Freedman, Managing Editor Lana Hirschowitz and I are going to bake cakes (Chocolate? Vanilla? We’re open to suggestions) and take them down to the clinic in Sydney where the vigils are taking place.

Do you want to get involved? You can. You don’t have to be a master baker. (I’m definitely not.) Packet cakes are fine. Ditto packets of lollies, biscuits, boxes of chocolates or bunches of bananas. Or flowers.

It’s the thought that counts – the smallest act of kindness can make a difference.

http://www.mamamia.com.au/health-wellbeing/they-want-to-ban-abortion-we-want-to-bake-cake/comment-page-2/#comment-672969