Andy Rowell | Church Leadership Conversations

Thoughts and resources on the future of theological education

A student sent me an email asking for my input. His email message is in bold and I intersperse comments.

It seems that a noticeable segment of the evangelical church is heading to what many call a "post-congregational" expression of Christian community. 

I probably wouldn’t say that but maybe you are referring to George Barna’s book Revolution where he suggests more groups are meeting in homes and workplaces instead of traditional churches—that may be true. I also think of nontraditional churches like Scum of the Earth Church or Church under the Bridge.

In light of this ecclesial structure shift, I'm wondering about the future of pastoral training and scholarship

I wonder if my paper on a theology of pastoral ministry might help here. 

Will the M.Div. remain?

Yes, as far as theological, biblical, practical training so that major heresies and errors of the past are avoided.

Will seminaries adjust?

There are some quite innovative seminaries out there. There are reports on the Association for Theological Schools website about other initiatives to tweak/transform theological education—see for example the latest issue of Theological Education. Consider too The Urban Ministry Institute (TUMI) of World Impact which is offering low cost quality theological education to indigenous (local) future pastors in urban environments. You might also be interested in Overseas Council which helps seminaries around the world with theological education. Leadership Network which is interested in innovative church ministry—primarily megachurch, multi-site, and church planting—has some articles on theological education.

Will seminaries adjust to a generation that isn't gathering on Sundays the way that past generations did?

People will still gather in communities (Heb 10:25 “not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing”) for conflict resolution (Matt 18:15f), sitting around the Scriptures (Acts 2:42f, 1 Cor 14), edifying one another with different gifts (1 Cor 12), baptism, Lord’s Supper, and prayer; but boundaries will be porous so outsiders can observe the church’s life together (1 Cor 14:24-25). You may appreciate John Howard Yoder’s Body Politics. 

The "missional community" movement seems to be largely uninterested in trained clergy (not that trained clergy are absent from the movement), so I wonder if you have any thoughts about this.

I don’t think I know this “missional community” group. The missional church people (Darrell Guder, Craig Van Gelder, George Hunsberger) are hugely into education. Regent College where I did my MDiv has some anti-clergy, anti-ordination tendencies because of their rootage in the Plymouth Brethren movement which saw clergy as denigrating the gifts of lay people and using the power to administrate the Lord’s Supper as means to control people. Regent College professor Paul Stevens’s work such as The Equipping Pastor focuses on how pastors can equip laity for the work of ministry. Gordon Fee treats the Pauline material regarding leadership in the church in Listening to the Spirit in the Text. I think these Regent College professors are right to critique the idea of the pastor as the one leader/preacher of the church. John Howard Yoder would be close to that view as well—see his book The Fullness of Christ: Paul's Revolutionary Vision of Universal Ministry. The Urban Ministry Institute does good theological education with people who may not even have a high school diploma—attempting to avoid an overemphasis on academic credentials but also providing good training for urban pastors.

How are tech-savvy Christian academics using the internet in 2012?

I received this question on email and thought I would post here the reply I sent:

How are tech-savvy Christian academics using the internet in 2012?

Because of the explosion of the internet in terms of so much information, there is a need for ways to filter through that information.

First, I see Christian academics who are tech-savvy reading the blogs of a few people in their specific field that they are really interested in. This supplements and highlights what to read in the journals in the field and highlights real world examples. Hopefully, many of the journal articles are now accessible online through library subscription services so can be read easily online.

Second, they read other websites and magazines such as Christianity Today and Books & Culture and Christian Century and Scot McKnight's Jesus Creed blog that point to interesting and solid articles of wider interest.

Third, they keep in touch informally and playfully (as they used to do with email lists) on Twitter. Some also use Facebook for academic banter but that has for many of us a more personal dimension (family, friends rather than intellectual colleagues).

See also:

• Duke New Testament professor Mark Goodacre has chronicled these changes in a few presentations at Society of Biblical Literature. He himself started out with email lists, then blogs, then New Testament Gateway, then Facebook, Twitter, and podcasts.
• Alan Jacobs of Wheaton College is a wonderful cultural critic and resource on these issues and is a heavy user of Twitter. Many are talking about his new book: Jacobs, Alan. The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.
• For a compilation of articles on the subject more broadly, see: Bauerlein, Mark. The Digital Divide : Arguments for and against Facebook, Google, Texting, and the Age of Social Networking. New York Jeremy P. Tarcher, 2011.

Tweets from May 2011 to November 2011 on writing, Karl Barth, John Howard Yoder, and random musings

I have posted my latest batch of tweets from Twitter for the last six months below.  I have tweeted about once every other day: 180 days / 100 tweets.  This 100 includes "Retweets" which are tweets by other people that I thought were worth passing along.  I have been doing most of my “blogging” on Twitter the last couple of years.  I basically try to share quality insights so I think the tweets may have some enduring value but I also post them here for myself because saving my tweets on the blog helps me to access them easily through search--Google searches the blog but not Twitter. 

You can "follow" me by setting up a Twitter account.  You yourself need not actually post any tweets, you can just follow people. 

Or, you can subscribe to my tweets by RSS feed such as Google Reader which I am using with Feedly.com these days.  

Or you can just click on my Twitter page and scroll through my posts.

For more tweets see my Twitter category on the blog.

So, here are my tweets from June 2, 2011 when I last pasted my tweets into my blog and today November 16, 2011. 

Warm greetings to any readers.  

Andy

 

Goannatree Anna Blanch

what PhD stands for - newton.kias.re.kr/~choims/Fun/Ph…

17 hours ago Favorite Undo Retweet Reply

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AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Writing tip: Include the alternative word you were considering [debating with yourself about] using in brackets and keep writing [going].

11 Nov

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

RT: Thanks for a Great Three Years: On Vanhoozer’s Departure from Wheaton College by @JeremyTreat5 @WheatonBlog wheatonblog.wordpress.com/2011/11/10/tha…

11 Nov

TIU Trinity Int'l Univ.

Welcome Back, Vanhoozer goo.gl/fb/L5F37 #announcements #featured #teds #kevinvanhoozer

9 Nov

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AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Dissertation-persistence means swatting away the common garden-variety demons of procrastination, distraction, and self-doubt. #AcBoWriMo

9 Nov

JosephBottum Joseph Bottum

“The trouble with quotes on the internet is that it’s difficult to determine whether or not they are genuine.” ~Abraham Lincoln

4 Nov

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AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I listed a bunch of Theological and Biblical Audio Resources at my blog: bit.ly/syp7D7

4 Nov

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Audio & video of Eugene Peterson's Oct 2011 lectures at Seattle Pacific University are online for free #SAF11 bit.ly/vUYQNN @SPUnews

4 Nov

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Tip: Coffee grounds made the grass grow on the bare spots in my lawn.

2 Nov

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

"A cup of coffee followed by a 15-minute nap may be more restorative than either one alone." @nytimeswell nyti.ms/smGwgt

1 Nov

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

The kids will enjoy the "Trick or Treat" song by Justin Roberts. myspace.com/justinrobertsm… Roberts is our favorite for kids' music.

31 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Costumes cause children under 4 to cry. Chocolate lessens the crying but the smeared face detracts from the sought-after-cute-photo.

31 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Looking for Karl Barth pumpkin carving patterns. #dissertationprocrastination

29 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

The announcer, "C u tomorrow night for Game 7 of the World Series." Ryan (6) asks, "Can we go, dad?" "No, but that is the right response."

28 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Enjoyed hearing @chapclark @jonestony Sharon Ketcham, Mike Langford, @RootAndrew @JeffKeuss at #ayme2011 (aymeducators.org/?page=Conferen…)

26 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I heard Eugene Peterson speaking tonight at napce.org/conference.html and spu.edu/depts/theology… @napce #SAF11

21 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Eugene Peterson: Find a couple of theologians you trust and read them. We are not paying enough attention to our good scholars.@napce #SAF11

21 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Eugene Peterson: St. Mark teaches us that we get to enter the center of the story but we are not the center. @napce #SAF11

21 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Eugene Peterson: Mark 8--Peter tried to avoid the cross's asceticism. Mark 9-- Peter tried to make the aesthetic functional. @napce #SAF11

21 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Eugene Peterson: The capacity to say no is the key to freedom. I don't have to do what my culture and glands tell me to do. @napce #SAF11

21 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Eugene Peterson: Spirituality is today viewed as a certain insipidity--blurred piety. But in the Bible, it means livingness. @napce #SAF11

21 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Eugene Peterson: Mark 9-16 is dominated by death talk. But Mark is not morbid--Matthew, Luke, and John keep that proportion. @napce #SAF11

21 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Eugene Peterson: Mark 1-8 Jesus is strolling--leisurely meandering, he has time to eat meals with anyone and take boat rides. @napce #SAF11

21 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Amy and I are excited for Sara Groves @grovesroad Greensboro concert tonight. missionals.org/saragroves/ Cf @CTEntertainment: christianitytoday.com/ct/music/revie…

19 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

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@PLeithart I'm enjoying your tweets: biblical, theological, and historical treats. Thanks!

14 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

From now on I will put my tweets on Google+ as well as Twitter. plus.google.com/u/0/1111212355…

12 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Richard Mouw says Mormonism not a cult but not Christian. Jehovah's Witness and Christian Science are cults. bit.ly/qa56RE H/T @ahc

12 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Review by @jasonclark of @DougGay "Remixing The Church...Emerging Ecclesiology" bit.ly/pJoC2H Compare @jonestony "The Church Is Flat"

10 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

An online index of John Howard Yoder's work has begun: yoderindex.com by John Nugent, et al. Cf. N's Y. resources walkandword.com/yoder/

9 Oct

DavidDark David Dark

"I wasn't saved to run." Fred Shuttlesworth on.wsj.com/oQOIvj

6 Oct

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abcreligion ABC Religion

Very exciting piece of news: @WestLondonMan appointed as Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke Div School, replacing #Hauerwas in 2012.

5 Oct

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abcreligion ABC Religion

Leading Christian theologian Stanley #Hauerwas on why greed still deserves its place among the deadliest of sins. bit.ly/o6uaPq

3 Oct

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AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Assemblies of God position paper on "Endtime Revival" (2000) is useful resource regarding charismatic manifestations. ministers.ag.org/resources_ag_d…

5 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

D.H. Williams at Duke. "Never refer to yourself as a 'scholar.' Let others do that. Refer to yourself as a 'student' of this or that area."

5 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

"Theology" is rooted in but reflects on more than Systematic Theology topics (doctrine of God, creation, Christology, eschatology, etc).

5 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

UVa conference topics give glimpse of theology today: Xian reflection on politics, economics, medicine, educ. and race. democraticpiety.wordpress.com/call-for-paper…

5 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

"Complete Your Diss. in 2 Semesters or Less" gives blunt crass advice but "Writing Your Diss. in 15 Min. a Day" is more freeing & healthy.

3 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Get a bunch of award winning books if you are bored reading to your kids: archive.hbook.com/resources/awar… & Read-Aloud Handbook: amzn.to/o2UKkS

2 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

The War by Ken Burns (2007). Good overview of American side of WWII. Get DVDs from library or stream from library, Amazon Prime, or Netflix.

2 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

"Complete Your Dissertation or Thesis in Two Semesters or Less" gives blunt logical directions for getting it done. amzn.to/mQ1fR5

1 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Writing Your Dissertation in Fifteen Minutes a Day is an encouraging writing book--a salve for anxiety. "Write first." amzn.to/rg5IBT

1 Oct

ahc Andy Crouch

Unfortunately, due to my fiduciary responsibilities as a Fuller trustee, I can't tell you what a fantastic time I had at @regentcollege. :)

30 Sep

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AndyRowell Andy Rowell

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@agnologist Barth and Thurneysen secretly visit Brunner's church when he is preaching and then tell him how bad it was afterward. Ouch!

29 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

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@agnologist In John W. Hart's Karl Barth vs. Emil Brunner (Peter Lang, 2001). Brunner does not look too good.

29 Sep

ivpacademic IVP Academic

Registration is open for the 2012 Wheaton Theology Conference, "Bonhoeffer, Christ and Culture" sponsored by @ivpress. http://ow.ly/6Hm2u

28 Sep

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jr_briggs jr_briggs

During a coaching session a pastor told me he just read Nicholas Sparks' book "The Rise of Christianity." I think he means *Rodney Stark*

28 Sep

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JimBelcher Author, Deep Church

Update: Back in Cali after 15 months. Moving to South Florida in one month to be head of practical theology at Knox Seminary. Excited.

26 Sep

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AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Princeton Seminary's Kenda Creasy calls Sustainable Youth Ministry by @markdevriesYMA "the most sane book on youth ministry ever written."

25 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Sustainable Youth Ministry by @markdevriesYMA is a phenomenally wise and readable introduction to church ministry. amzn.to/p66B6k

25 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Registration for Oct 10-11 Pastor's Conference @DukeDivinity with Jeremy Begbie and Marilynne Robinson ends tomorrow. bit.ly/oqNwrZ

22 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

J.I. Packer's church, one of the largest Anglican in Canada, finally got evicted from their building by their Diocese. stjohnsvancouver.org

22 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Practical Ministry faculty opening at Pepperdine but one must be associated with "acapella Churches of Christ." seaver.pepperdine.edu/dean/faculty/

20 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I loved Moneyball the book (way back in 2003)--the only baseball book I recommend (& I played college baseball). The movie comes out Friday.

19 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Erik Larson's NYT best seller "In the Garden of Beasts" is useful background on Bonhoeffer and Barth bit.ly/pgGxRG

15 Sep

ahc Andy Crouch

Some provocative ideas from Skye Jethani (@skye_jethani) on the "recipe" for a better kind of church bit.ly/qwXikj

14 Sep

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ERBks EnglewoodReviewOfBks

Review: John Howard Yoder: Spiritual Writings - su.pr/1NUxfW //"A Xian life marked by both the politics&the spirituality of Jesus"

14 Sep

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AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Roman Catholic Nicholas Healy says in ecclesiology "we need to begin with scripture." bit.ly/pwRcpm

14 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Roger Olsen is quite a blogger: takes on Al Mohler, Rob Bell, evangelicalism, Calvinism, the Masons, and Kierkegaard. patheos.com/blogs/rogereol…

12 Sep

CTmagazine Christianity Today

Report: Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams to quit next yr tgr.ph/pNGz5C An earlier CT piece bit.ly/r2caO2

10 Sep

Retweeted by AndyRowell

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Summary by @PLeithart of Robert Jenson's critical review of Nathan Kerr's Christ, History & Apocalyptic bit.ly/mQj4hM HT: @agnologist

11 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Wendell Dietrich told Hauerwas that Barth said Yoder was his brightest American student.

8 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Yoder gave Barth the pamphlet "Karl Barth and the Problem of War" before his doctoral exams. B. said to Y., "You Mennonites are bellicose."

8 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Pervasive interpretive pluralism is fine! says @dwcongdon on Gundry's @booksandculture review of Christian Smith's book bit.ly/n0eSiM

8 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Hauerwas is impressed with papers for tomorrow's Duke Law event: Theological Argument in Law: Engaging with S. Hauerwas bit.ly/nRbpj9

8 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Twice Hauerwas has read that aloud to me. It summarizes what Protestants need-massive theological reflection--if they aren't to become RC.

8 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

In response to "the ecclesial problem" . . . "Peterson became a Roman Catholic. Barth wrote the Dogmatics." Hauerwas, With the Grain, 178.

8 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Stanley Hauerwas and Curtis Freeman are my co-directors. Allen Verhey and Will Willimon round out my committee. Now, 250 pages to write.

8 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I passed my dissertation proposal defense! The title: "Exemplary Church: John Howard Yoder’s interpretation of Karl Barth’s ecclesiology."

8 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I'm dying to read the brand new "Karl Barth and American Evangelicalism" edited by Bruce McCormack & Clifford Anderson amzn.to/oLMEex

7 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Well-written history is as fun to read as the newspaper and much more useful. I'm reading Evangelicalism & Barth (1995) amzn.to/r5sSKF

7 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I commented on W. Vander Lugt's review of B. Conner's "Practicing Witness: A Missional Vision of Christian Practices" bit.ly/nqem4k

7 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I briefly commented on The Emperor’s New Clothes: A Review of Defending Constantine @theotherjournal re: @PLeithart and Yoder

7 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I commented on Out to Lunch: A Response to Stephen Webb’s “Against the Gourmands” @theotherjournal bit.ly/nMOCUS re: @michaelpollan

7 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I was amused by a school looking for a "Head of User Services" apu.edu/provost/employ… That just sounds funny.

2 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, Novum Testamentum Graece (ed. Nestle-Aland) 27. and Septuagint at academic-bible.com Look out biblegateway

2 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I don't know how long Microsoft Word has had the Table of Contents feature but it is gloriously easier than doing it by hand.

1 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

The title of Karl Barth's major work is not The Church Dogmatics but rather the Church Dogmatics. At my blog: bit.ly/opRykh

30 Aug

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Christian Smith and I commented on Biblicism and Barth at bit.ly/r1WNXM Cf. Smith's comment #46 @scotmcknight ow.ly/6fisW

29 Aug

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I commented on some nonfiction audiobooks from the library I have recently listened to and what's on the docket next bit.ly/nidlWl

27 Aug

ahc Andy Crouch

Why I charge so much, and so little, to speak http://ow.ly/6c1ex

24 Aug

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AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I posted a few reflections about Christian Smith, Biblicism, and Barth at my blog bit.ly/r1WNXM

26 Aug

bhavenconcerts Brookhaven Concerts

Sara Groves announces her Reason to Gather Tour! Our Raleigh house concert is a featured stop. Check it out. bit.ly/nZIm8n

23 Aug

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AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I wrote up a few theological reflections on the pursuit of greatness, excellence, success, and parenting at my blog bit.ly/r0TMel

24 Aug

ivpress InterVarsity Press

"This is a must-read for parents with young children" http://ow.ly/69KRH

22 Aug

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AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I continue to enjoy and recommend ayjay.tumblr.com by Wheaton College English professor @ayjay It is witty, intelligent, and diverse.

20 Aug

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Good piece by @Jasonbyassee "Here's my latest Faith & Leadership essay, worked for months on this one." bit.ly/r9OPZD.

16 Aug

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Good writing advice from 23 authors assembled by @stevesilberman You have to page down to get to the bulleted advice. bit.ly/ig6FBI

13 Aug

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

This summer Amy and I enjoyed listening to and recommend The Omnivore's Dilemma by @michaelpollan CD's from the public library--good stuff!

13 Aug

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I recommend The Genius in All of Us by @dshenk Similar to Outliers. Critically reviewed at bit.ly/fnIROq but most of it stands up.

13 Aug

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

"I will routinely rewrite a sentence, paragraph and/or chapter 20, 30, 40 times." David Shenk, Genius in All of Us. bit.ly/qgbgrI

13 Aug

davidswanson David Swanson

“@ebertchicago: My review of "The Interrupters." There may not be a better documentary this year. bit.ly/nrrCSc” / Seeing it on Sat.

10 Aug

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spulliam Sarah Pulliam Bailey

I feel inspired to write today thanks to Slate. RT @magger I read all the research about how to write faster: slate.me/qliW03

10 Aug

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AndyRowell Andy Rowell

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@agnologist Christian Smith has 2 new books out: The Bible Made Impossible amzn.to/oZknUr & How to Go from Being amzn.to/ojQcrq

5 Aug

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

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@jr_briggs God in Action is a good first exposure to Barth. See my review at amzn.to/mPa6ca See also my advice: bit.ly/bZr0YM

27 Jun

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

If you like Winston Churchill's courage, oratory, humor, wit, and grumpiness (1874-1965), Karl Barth (1886-1968) has all that and more.

27 Jun

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I found a paper my dad wrote for Gordon Fee at @WheatonCollege in 1972 on Raymond Brown on John. I had Fee 30 years later @regentcollege

21 Jun

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

"The average American watched 34 hours 39 minutes of TV per week in Q4 2010." @NielsenWire http://feedly.com/k/jlLRjh

8 Jun

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Another Year (92% positive reviews Rotten Tomatoes; 4 of 4 stars Christianity Today) and True Grit (96%, 3 1/2 stars) DVDs at Redbox today.

7 Jun

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

In his 80's in 1961-1968, Barth refers to Ratzinger now pope 84, Moltmann 85, Küng 83, Pannenberg 82, Eberhard Jüngel 76, & Billy Graham 92.

2 Jun

 

 

 

On using Hitler in Facebook posts

Some of my friends use their Facebook account to express their outrage about things in the news.  Often I "hide" (now more benignly called "Unsubscribe from") these people because I find their opinions either: valueless distraction, poorly researched, or socially inappropriate.  Sometimes a position is called Nazi-like or related to Hitler.

I think this "Analysis of a Typical Facebook Debate" posted by 22 Words is pretty accurate.

I have been reflecting on this and have tried to approach this freshly and even-handedly.  In the end, I think Facebook may be worthwhile for debates if one doesn't not alienate the people you are hoping to engage. Hitler references, while useful for conjuring moral outrage when it is needed, may breed more violence and hate.

Maybe Facebook is a decent place for serious discussion.  Facebook (and other social media) is something of a public square where moral discussion that involves lots of people takes place.  One could argue that it would be better for people to engage in energetic participation in other venues (town halls, magazines, journals, classrooms, churches, guilds) where the level of discussion may be, but is not necessarily, more careful than Facebook.  But in these places, very few can talk and much of it is quasi-anonymous. 

In our highly transitory culture where people go away to college and pursue jobs wherever they may be anywhere in the world, Facebook and other social networking is a means of resisting that damaging social dispersion that makes everyone feel that there are few people who know you because no one around you today knows where you came from and what you have been through.  The people of your past are people who it is worth discussing things with on a moral level.  Hence, Facebook may be an appropriate venue for discussion of religion, money, and politics despite my usual disgust with it.     

I suspect in our relativistic culture that values tolerance above all else,"Hitler" or "Nazi" are among the few words that provoke moral reflection for most people. But they may provoke more ignorant hate and violence. In order for the public to pay attention to any moral argument, one has to tether it to some moral absolute that is quasi-universally accepted. Most people believe Hitler=Bad. So if one can connect what they find morally-problematic to Hitler, they have anchored it somewhere solid.  People in our culture are flailing in a relativistic abyss looking for some handhold. (As someone writing a dissertation, I can't help but footnote.  I'm attempting to follow along the lines of the largely compatible analyses of our culture of moral reasoning depicted by some of our best Christian minds: Alasdair MacIntyre's After Virtue and Three Rival Versions of Moral Inquiry, Charles Taylor's A Secular Age, Lesslie Newbigin's Foolishness to the Greeks, C.S. Lewis's The Abolition of Man, Rowan Williams's Lost Icons).  As Christians, we have the more adequate, interesting and challenging source of moral reflection: listening to the God of Jesus Christ as richly depicted in the Scriptures.

Despite the fact that it might "work" in public discussion to demonstrate the consequences of decisions or ideas, one should bear the following in mind.  Using Hitler is unquestionably a guilt by association ad hominem argument that will destroy the credibility of the user if they cry wolf/Hitler too many times especially because it is often cheap and the analogy tenuous.  Furthermore and worst, associating someone else with a Hitler-like position may incite World War II Allies-like violence against that person.  If you insinuate that someone has Hitler-like intentions, those who are persuaded by you, may attempt to be violent to the person you originally attacked. If that is not your intention, do not make the Hitler comparsion.

Theological and Biblical Audio Resources

Here are a number of good sources for theological and biblical audio.

• Regent College Bookstore: Regent College, where Eugene Peterson taught and where I did my MDiv and had him as a professor, has a superb independent bookstore Regent College Bookstore, that has a wonderful collection of audio (CD's and downloadable audio) by Peterson and other theological and biblical heavyweights including Gordon Fee, John Howard Yoder, J.I. Packer, John Stott, N.T. Wright, Alvin Plantinga, Bruce Waltke, Kevin Vanhoozer, Stanley Grenz, Richard Hays, Albert Borgmann, Walter Brueggemann, Neil Postman, Charles Taylor, Peter Berger, F.F. Bruce, Derek Kidner, Stephen Evans, Alister McGrath, Richard John Neuhaus, etc. for purchase.  Yes you have to pay for them but these are seminary quality professional productions and support a good cause.  Regent audio is money well spent for your soul and mind.  They provide a sample at: http://www.regentradio.net/  
• Wheaton College Theology Conference audio and video: 2011, 2010, 2009.
• Duke Divinity School audio at iTunes U. You just need to have iTunes (a free downloadable program for PC or Mac from Apple) installed on your computer for the links to iTunes U to work.  
• Fuller Theological Seminary audio at iTunes U.
• Eugene Peterson's lectures at Seattle Pacific University are online
• Purchase or listen for free to Karl Barth audio. The ones in English are in Chicago and Princeton.
• John Howard Yoder at Holden Village Audio
• Holy Trinity Brompton bookshop in London, UK had lots of Lesslie Newbigin cassette tapes in 2004 when I visited but they do not list their offerings online.  I know of a couple lectures online:  the first is from 1995 on "Nihilism" from a conference at Holy Trinity Brompton; the second is from a 1991 conference in Toronto and it is called "Christ: Unique and Universal."
• Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary also offers some free audio courses at their Dimensions of the Faith website.
• Covenant Theological Seminary also offers some free audio courses at their Worldwide Classroom.
• ChristianAudio.com has Christian books in high quality audio for purchase.  They also have a free download each month and sometimes it is good.
• Your public library may also allow for free downloadable audio books as my Durham County Library does.  See my recent listens at: Nonfiction Audiobooks from the Library
• Audio Bibles at Biblegateway.com
• The Bible Experience available perhaps at your library.  
• Greek / Latin / Hebrew Bible read aloud or search Google: greek audio bible
• NT Pod by New Testament professor at Duke University Mark Goodacre.  I listened to the first 40 of these while I was preparing for my NT preliminary exams.  They are short (under 15 minutes each) and engaging.  Goodacre teaches NT to Duke Undersity undergrads and graduate students who are of all religious backgrounds (rather than at the Divinity School where the students are all Christians) so he tries to keep his comments historical and objective by the standards of the Society of Biblical Literature guild rather than theological/Christian.  Goodacre is particularly good at teaching about the Synoptic problem and persuasive as well.      
• See also on my blog the Audio category for my past posts about audio including some SBL / AAR recordings.

 

Eugene Peterson's lectures at Seattle Pacific University are online

The audio and video from Eugene Peterson's Scripture as Formation lectures at Seattle Pacific University October 20-21, 2011 (also part of the North American Professors of Christian Education conference) are now available online.

Eugene Peterson Scripture as Formation lectures audio and video iTunes U Seattle Pacific University

You just need to have iTunes (a free downloadable program for PC or Mac from Apple) installed on your computer for the link to work.   

I posted a few paraphrased quotes from his lecture at: Eugene Peterson on Mark's Gospel

If you want to tweet quotes on Twitter, you might want to use the hashtag #SAF11

They are both superbly written lectures.  Peterson maybe talks a little fast in delivering them but they are delightful classic profound Peterson.

For more good audio see my post: Theological and Biblical Audio Resources

Eugene Peterson on Mark's Gospel

Update November 4, 2011:

The lectures and videos for Scripture as Formation are now available through iTunes for free.

Original post:

Seven quotes (paraphrased (!) and reconstructed from my notes) from Eugene Peterson's talk tonight at Seattle Pacific University.

1. Mark 1-8 Jesus is strolling--leisurely meandering, he has time to eat meals with anyone and take boat rides.
2. Mark 9-16 is dominated by death talk. But Mark is not morbid--Matthew, Luke, and John keep that proportion.
3. Spirituality is today viewed as a certain insipidity--blurred piety. But in the Bible, it means livingness.
4. The capacity to say no is the key to freedom. I don't have to do what my culture and glands tell me to do.
5. Mark 8--Peter tried to avoid the cross's asceticism. Mark 9--Peter tried to make the aesthetic functional.
6. St. Mark teaches us that we get to enter the center of the story but we are not the center.
7. Find a couple of theologians you trust and read them. We are not paying enough attention to our good scholars.

He was speaking at http://spu.edu/depts/theology/events/scripture-as-formation/ and http://www.napce.org/conference.html

Larson's In the Garden of Beasts is useful background on Bonhoeffer and Barth

I would recommend Erik Larson's #1 New York Times Best Seller (Hardcover Nonfiction for June 4, 2011) In the Garden of Beasts for those interested in Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Karl Barth.  Below I note a few explicit connections between the events and people named by Larson and Bonhoeffer as well as briefly noting some of the major events in Bonhoeffer and Barth's lives in Germany in 1933 and 1934.

Larson, Erik. In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin. New York: Crown, 2011.

I listened to the audio version through Overdrive downloadable audio through my public library. 

The book is a relatively quick-moving and engaging historical account of the first two years (1933-1934) of William Dodd's tenure as United States ambassador to Germany.  Dodd (1869-1940) moved to Germany soon after Hitler's rise to power in January 1933.  By the end of 1934, Dodd had begun to see the true nature of Hitler's regime.  Dodd's daughter Martha (1908-1990), (two years younger than Bonhoeffer) is also prominently featured in the book because while her father was doing official duties, she was busy sleeping with Nazi officials, a Russian spy, and American cultural elite including Carl Sandburg. 

See also the reviews in the New York Times

Perched in Berlin With Hitler Rising
By JANET MASLIN
Published: May 19, 2011

Sleeping With the Gestapo
By DOROTHY GALLAGHER
Published: June 10, 2011

 

Connections with Dietrich Bonhoeffer in Berlin in 1933

Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) in particular had significant connections in Berlin. 

• His father was the leading psychiatrist at the University of Berlin and evaluated the defendant Marinus van der Lubbe who was accused of starting the Reichstag fire (Bethge 264-265, Schlingensiepen 124-125).  The trial is described in Larson's book.  (In an unimpressive section Metaxas 146-147 restates Bethge's account using many of the same phrases Bethge uses).
• Bonhoeffer also communicated with the American Rabbi Stephen Wise who Bonhoeffer had met in New York in 1930-1931 (Bethge 267; good work here by Metaxas 115-116, 158).  Wise appears a number of times in Larson's account.
• Rudolph Diels, head of the Gestapo, in 1933 who is a significant and partly sympathetic character in Larson's account, also appears even-handed in his interaction with Bonhoeffer--returning some leaflets that his men had confiscated (Bethge 295-296, mentioned barely in Schlingensiepen 133). 

Bonhoeffer was not slow to understand the situation in Germany.  On March 1, 1933 he gave a radio talk against "The Führer Principle;" in April wrote an article "The Church and the Jewish Question;"  in the summer lectured on Christology which would become what was called in English Christ the Center; and in August wrote against "The Aryan Clause in the Church."  "The year 1933 was the most hectic Bonhoeffer ever experienced, either before or afterwards" (Schlingensiepen 114).

He spent much of 1934 in London, England serving as a pastor there. 

References:

Chapter 7 "Berlin 1933" pp. 257-323 of Bethge, Eberhard. Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Theologian, Christian, Man for His Times; a Biography. Rev. ed. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2000.

Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Berlin: 1932-1933. Volume 12 of Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2009.

Metaxas, Eric. Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy: A Righteous Gentile Vs. The Third Reich. Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2010.

Schlingensiepen, Ferdinand. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1906-1945: Martyr, Thinker, Man of Resistance. New York: T&T Clark, 2010.

 

Karl Barth in 1933-1934

Though less connected with Berlin and Larson's narrative, Barth experienced some of the tightening of Hitler's grip on Germany especially in 1934.  

In 1933, Karl Barth (1886-1968) was teaching in Bonn, Germany on subjects such as: Book III of Calvin's Institutes, the material that would become Protestant Theology in the Nineteenth Century, the material that would appear in Homiletics, and the book of John. He also led studies of Luther's Greater Catechism and Emil Brunner's Ethics.    

In March of 1933, he began to address the political situation in his address "The First Commandment as a Theological Axiom" but most directly in Theological Existence Today which appeared in June 1933. On July 1st, he sent Hitler a copy.  A second edition had to be printed July 8, 1933.  It was banned a year later on July 28, 1934.

In May 1934, the Barmen Declaration, drafted by Barth, was a brief moment when there was united opposition to "the German Christians" (those willing to subsume the church under the Nazi regime). 

In 1933-1934, Barth refused to resign from an opposing political party to National Socialism and refused to do the Hitler salute in his classes--both of which drew the attention of Nazi authorities.  

In September and October 1934, Barth composed his Nein! (No!) against Emil Brunner. 

In November 1934, Barth refused to sign the oath of loyalty to Hitler, faced a disciplinary hearing, and was dismissed from his teaching position. In March 1935 he received a total ban from speaking in public in Germany.

See

Busch, Eberhard. Karl Barth: His Life from Letters and Autobiographical Texts. Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1976: 219-262. 

 

See my categories:

Karl Barth

and

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

especially

Reviews of Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas

My new book review of Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas is posted online at Books & Culture

Book review of Karl Barth biography by Eberhard Busch

 

Roman Catholic Nicholas Healy says we need to begin with scripture

Roman Catholic theologian Nicholas Healy on the ecclesiology of Thomas Aquinas:

But while doctrines and practices guide our reading, they cannot issue in a settled interpretation. We must always begin with scripture and must always return to it again as we move along our way . . . Theology, then, is the pursuit of consistency between scripture’s witness to Christ and the lives of Christians, a consistency that must be continually tested and re-established as the church lives in via.

Healy, Nicholas M. "Practices and the New Ecclesiology: Misplaced Concreteness?" International Journal of Systematic Theology 5, no. 3 (2003): 306-307 of pp. 287-308.

Healy is Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at St. John’s University, New York, New York.

I am interacting with Healy's articles on Barth's ecclesiology in my dissertation.  He is a delightful conversation partner. 

Healy, Nicholas M. "The Logic of Karl Barth's Ecclesiology: Analysis, Assessment and Proposed Modifications." Modern Theology 10, no. 3 (1994): 253-270.

Healy, Nicholas M. "Karl Barth's Ecclesiology Reconsidered." Scottish Journal of Theology 57, no. 3 (2004): 287-299.

See also:

Healy, Nicholas M. Thomas Aquinas: Theologian of the Christian Life.  Aldershot; Burlington, Vt: Ashgate, 2003.

and

Healy, Nicholas M. Church, World and the Christian Life: Practical-Prophetic Ecclesiology. New York: Cambridge Univ Pr, 2000.

 

 

Dissertation Proposal Approved

My dissertation proposal was approved today.  The title is "Exemplary Church: John Howard Yoder’s interpretation of Karl Barth’s ecclesiology." Stanley Hauerwas and Curtis Freeman are my co-directors. Allen Verhey and Will Willimon round out my committee. Now, 250 pages to write.  Thanks to many of my blog readers for cheering me on. 

Andy

A few resources on Mormonism

We were talking with friends today about their conversations with their Mormon neighbors about: coffee (best not to repeatedly invite Mormons over for it), premarital sex (Mormons are proud of their strictness on this), Dr. Pepper (the Mormon husband sometimes gives in to temptations), and Monday Family Home Evening (it is best not to ring the doorbell lest you interrupt devotional times). 

 

A few resources I came across:

A Christianity Today article on the state of relations between Christians and Mormons.  This is the place to start:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2009/november/11.23.html

Most Improbable Dialogue

Mormon Tabernacle revival service is latest sign of openness to evangelicals.

Richard N. Ostling | posted 10/30/2009 10:04AM

This 1997 book also looks good and is referred to in the article.  Craig Blomberg is a highly respected New Testament scholar.    

How Wide the Divide?

Craig L. Blomberg,...

Best Price $0.39 
or Buy New $12.28

Richard Mouw (also referred to in the CT article), president of Fuller Seminary, says there is some common ground with Mormons in Jesus Christ but also serious differences, and that Mormons should engage in dialogue more openly.   

http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Christianity/2004/11/We-Have-Sinned-Against-You.aspx
http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Christianity/2008/06/A-New-Opportunity-For-Mormonism.aspx


See also the PBS Frontline documentary:
http://www.pbs.org/mormons/

which I don't think I have seen. 

But I have seen this one which takes on similar issues:

http://www.pbs.org/godinamerica/

Official versions of Hebrew, Greek Bibles and Septuagint now available online for free

From the German Bible Society's http://www.academic-bible.com/ at their page Online Bibles

Our online Bibles are the official Internet editions of individual academic biblical texts. They are always the most up to date versions. This is only possible because the German Bible Society oversees these editions itself as publisher.

The following editions are currently available:

• Hebrew Old Testament following the text of the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia
• Greek New Testament following the text of the Novum Testamentum Graece (ed. Nestle-Aland), 27. Edition
• Greek Old Testament following the text of the Septuagint (ed. Rahlfs/Hanhart)
• Latin Bible following the text of the Vulgate (ed. Weber/Gryson)

This is big news as there have only been the less official versions available online until now or you could buy them with Bible software. 

See other resources at:

http://www.biblegateway.com/

and

Duke professor Mark Goodacre's http://www.ntgateway.com/

The letter from the German Bible Society just came in the mail yesterday announcing this. 

Citing Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics

I am figuring out a few things about citation usage while writing my dissertation including the correct title of Barth's major work and how to abbreviate it.  

First, the title of Karl Barth's four volume magnum opus is not The Church Dogmatics but rather Church Dogmatics.  The work can be referred to as "the Church Dogmatics."  

Second, the way to abbreviate the Church Dogmatics varies. 

Examples:  

• Barth, Church Dogmatics, vol. IV, part 2, p. 676. (Eucharist and Ecumenism's style) 
• CD IV/2, p. 676. (Johnson's and For the Sake of the World's style) 
• CD IV/2, 676. (Flett's style and Critically Realistic Dialectical's style)
• CD IV/2:676. (Orthodox and Modern's style)
• CD IV/2 676. (Busch's style)
• IV/2, 676. (How to Read Karl Barth's style)

References:

John Flett, Karl Barth's Critically Realistic Dialectical Theology by Bruce McCormack, How to Read Karl Barth by George Hunsinger, Eucharist and Ecumenism by George Hunsinger,  Keith Johnson, For the Sake of the World edited by George Hunsinger, Eberhard Busch and Orthodox and Modern by Bruce McCormack,

Basic sequence: Church Dogmatics or abbreviated CD [italics or not], then the volume number, then the slash sign / and then the part volume number, and and then [comma or not] [p. or not] [colon or not] page number.

At this point, I think I will not be using any of the above but rather my own concoction for subsequent footnote references:

• Barth, Church Dogmatics, IV/2, 676. (Turabian-inspired).

First footnote reference: (I think the following is sufficient--I'm still playing with EndNote and Turabian style to note translators, editors, etc.)

For the new "Study Edition":

Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics, 4 vols. (New York: T&T Clark, 2009).

 

For the old version:

Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics, 4 vols. (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1956-1975).

 

Bibliography:

For the new "Study Edition:"

Barth, Karl. Church Dogmatics. 4 vols. New York: T&T Clark, 2009.

 

For the old version:

Barth, Karl. Church Dogmatics. 4 vols. Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1956-1975.

 

See more of my advice about reading Barth at my Karl Barth category--with some practical hints at Advice about exploring Karl Barth's ecclesiology in Church Dogmatics IV/2 67.4 "The Order of the Community”

Nonfiction Audiobooks from the Library

I have listed some audiobooks from the library I have recently listened to, and then some more I have just requested.

In addition to CD's, audiobooks may be available in a downloadable format for 7-14 days through your library through downloadable eBook services like: Recorded Books One-Click Audio, Ingram Digital's MyiLibrary Audio Book Platform, or Audiobooks from Overdrive.

Audiobooks I have recently listened to:

Fascinating and fresh.  Makes you think differently about food--meticulously researched and wonderfully written.  5 out of 5 stars. 

 

 

Brief and engaging story about George Washington's army losing and winning battles at the beginning of the war for independence.  5 out of 5 stars.

 

 

Relatively engaging story of the friendship between Churchill and Roosevelt during World War II and the events they directed.  4 out of 5 stars.

 

 

Engaging argument about talent and most of the research stands up to critical review. Cf. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/beautiful-minds/201104/is-there-really-genius-in-all-us  4 out of 5 stars. See my reflections at: A few theological reflections on the pursuit of greatness, excellence, success, and parenting

 

 

Relatively engaging overview of how Britain outsmarted the Germans before and during the air battle over Britain in World War II.   4 out of 5 stars. 

 

 

 

The fictional characters distract from and muddle the research--I was almost put off enough to quit it--but very interesting factoids and lots of people are talking about this book--e.g. Andy Crouch and James K. A. Smith--so I am sticking with it.  4 out of 5 stars.

 

 

Thought-provoking and fairly brief about a motorcycle mechanic who has a Ph.D. in philosophy and how he thinks about manual work.  4 out of 5 stars. 

 

 

Good portraits of Stalin and Hitler and how they faced off.  4 out of 5 stars. 

 

 

Interesting reflections on poetry, short stories, Shakespeare and more from a Yale professor of English but not something that is easy to finish.  4 out of 5 stars.

 

 

A decent introduction to Shakespeare but moves too slowly for an audiobook.  3 out of 5 stars.

 

 

 

I couldn't make it through the long descriptions but the story about zookeepers in Warsaw, Poland who resist the Nazis is worth telling.  3 out of 5 stars. 

 

 

Audiobooks Requested from the Library:

59 seconds [sound recording] [think a little, change a lot] / Richard Wiseman.

 

 
Aristotle's children [sound recording] : [how Christians, Muslims, and Jews rediscovered wisdom and illuminated the Dark Ages] / by Richard E. Rubenstein.
by Rubenstein, Richard E.

 
       
  
Collapse [sound recording] : [how societies choose to fail or succeed] / Jared Diamond.
by Diamond, Jared M.

 
  
Gandhi & Churchill [sound recording] / by Arthur Herman.
by Herman, Arthur, 1956-

 
      
Green metropolis [sound recording] : [what the city can teach the country about true sustainability] / David Owen.
by Owen, David, 1955-

 

 
Guns, germs, and steel [sound recording] : [the fates of human societies] / Jared Diamond.
by Diamond, Jared M.

       
                      
One L [sound recording] [the turbulent true story of a first year at Harvard Law School] / by Scott Turow ; [with a new introduction by and interview with the author.]
by Turow, Scott.

       
                         
Paris 1919 [sound recording] : [six months that changed the world] / by Margaret MacMillan.
by Macmillan, Margaret Olwen.

       
 
A short history of nearly everything [sound recording] / Bill Bryson.
by Bryson, Bill.

 

A few reflections about Christian Smith, Biblicism, and Barth

I highly recommend engagement with Christian Smith's two books released this summer:

Smith is a theologically-savvy sociologist of religion who teaches at Notre Dame.  He is also a feisty friend of mine who attended my church until he decided to convert to Roman Catholicism and to whom I unsuccessfully tried to defend evangelicalism over many cups of coffee.  Smith is well-worth engaging.  I wish I had more time to write and reflect about this but I need to keep working on my dissertation this year so a little blog post is all I can manage and hopefully the big project will bear fruit in conversations like this one some day. 

I agree with Smith that the people of God gathering to discuss the Scriptures together will indeed produce a variety of interpretations; but contra Smith I am convinced that the Scriptures (read in the Christian community through the Holy Spirit) still chasten and delimit "interpretive pluralism" and "divergent readings" in such a way that another check (such as leaders legitimized by "apostolic succession") is at worst, counter-productive and is at best, a secondary consideration.  

I must also register my objection that Karl Barth is not with Smith on this one but with me despite Smith's comment in his response to Peter Leithart that he is "following Barth" along these lines.  Barth is trying to facilitate in the Church Dogmatics a weighing of divergent readings of Scripture and proffering a fresh coherent synthesis for the Church to weigh and consider.  It is true that Barth could be hard on fundamentalists or biblicists (for taking verses out of context or for trying to prove the Bible is true with secular methods so as to construct an unassailable starting point and foundation) but Barth's vision of the church is largely compatible with the biblicist. Barth writes that the the apostolic Church is the church that is fixated on conforming to what the Scriptures teach.

What we have learned to know as apostolicity and therefore as the mark of the true Church is quite naturally identical in substance with the term which in a very different dogmatic context has been used to describe the authority of the Bible as the source and norm of the existence and doctrine and order of the Church--the "Scripture principle."

Karl Barth, Church Dogmatics, 4 vols. (New York: T&T Clark, 2009), IV/1, 721.

Barth envisions congregations gathered around the Scripture and he is confident that Jesus Christ will be their unity.  This strikes Roman Catholics like Smith as the licensing of appalling disunity.  Smith sees little "interpretive convergence" in biblicist evangelicalism, but rather only a "pervasive interpretive pluralism in biblical interpretation and theology."  I find this inherently subjective and therefore unpersuasive but can grant that there is certainly some biblicist interpretation that becomes heretical and cultish but like Barth I am optimistic that God is at work by his Spirit when people are sincerely gathered around the Scriptures.  In the following (admittedly difficult to understand) quote, Barth acknowledges the ubiquity of bad interpretation of Scripture but still insists that Jesus Christ is present when people gather together around the Scriptures to hear from God by the Spirit. 

Thus in the confession of the community that which is lawful and right takes place, and the community is constituted, even though--and when is this not the case?--it sets itself in the wrong with its human speaking and hearing; even in impotent witness and poor proclaiming and publishing and teaching and preaching. 

Barth, Church Dogmatics, IV/2, 700. 

It is particularly interesting to read the litany of problems Barth is aware of: "impotent and poor . . . publishing and teaching and preaching" yet this in no way eliminates the possibility that God is at work.  

Roman Catholics will regard this approach (relying on the Scripture principle and the common hearing of the Spirit's leading while gathered around the Scriptures) as inadequate and unpersuasive.  Surely there is a need for a more stable hierarchical structure and a system of traditional creedal and episcopal precedents to facilitate unity, they will say.  Barth denies this.  He writes this about denominational structures,

It cannot supply, let alone create, the guarantee of unity, the mutual recognition of the individual communities . . . such an organ or institution is not an integral constituent of the essence of the Church . . . The one Church exists in its totality in each of the individual communities.

Barth, Church Dogmatics, IV/1, 672-773.

If now Smith sees an absence of "fairly convergent readings of the Bible" [emphasis mine--this seems to be an entirely subjective judgment--Do they all acknowledge Jesus as Lord?  If so, that seems to be a pretty important convergence] as theologically indefensible, he also noted a decade ago the missionary power of the flexibility of evangelicalism. 

Of the four theories reviewed [Sheltered Enclave Theory, Status Discontent Theory, Strictness Theory, and Competitive Marketing Theory], Roger Finke, Rodney Starke, and Laurence Iannaccone’s competitive marketing theory seems to us to present the best orienting framework and set of assumptions with which to construct an explanation for evangelicalism’s vitality . . . Contemporary evangelicalism inhabits a pluralistic, competitive religious economy, on which it has very successfully capitalized . . .

Evangelicalism has created a meaningful identity-space on the American religious field that, under one banner, manages to accommodate a remarkable degree of theological and political diversity.  Evangelicalism incorporates Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Pentecostals, Charismatics, Independents, Anabaptists, Restorationists, Congregationalists, Holiness Christians, even Episcopalians.  It also includes right-wing political conservatives, Republicans, moderates, Democrats, liberals, Independents, and political progressives.

Christian Smith, American Evangelicalism: Embattled and Thriving (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998), 86-87.   

What Smith calls here "vitality"--that is, quantitatively verifiable growth documented by the sociologist--is a thin theological approximation of what Barth is aiming at when he repeatedly says the task of the church is to witness to Jesus Christ.  Barth is prepared to tolerate some "plurality" for the sake of freeing up space for witness. “Better something doubtful or over-bold, and therefore in need of correction and forgiveness than nothing at all” (Barth, Church Dogmatics, IV/3.2, 780). He is prepared to listen, study and argue vigorously in the church for what God is saying to the church through the Scriptures knowing that this conversation will be unfinished (like his magnum opus the Church Dogmatics is) and knowing that some "impotent witness and poor proclaiming and publishing and teaching and preaching" will invariably be part of the process; rather than squelching the response to Scripture with the imposition of some drab synthesis that touts itself as apostolic though it has little resemblance to the missionary movement of the original apostles.

The Church is apostolic and therefore the true Church where its external order--what is called Church government--is made so loose by respect for the direction of Scripture that all encroachment on the lordship of the One who is alone the Lord is either avoided or so suppressed and eliminated in practice that there is place for His rule.

Barth, Church Dogmatics, IV/1 p. 723.

In other words, some "interpretive pluralism" is to be contested in the church with better interpretation, but other "interpretive pluralism" may be appropriate expressions of witness to Jesus Christ in the world.  As Leithart suggests, some "biblicist" books may perhaps be "very bad"--at a minimum they may strike readers of Smith as odd.  That oddness may be theological error to which true "biblicists" will presumably be open to "examining the Scriptures . . . to see" if what they had written "was true" (Acts 17:11).  But it may also seem odd merely because the world is a diverse place and faithful witness in the world may strike people in other parts of the world as odd.  Barth writes of the variety of forms that witness will take in the world.    

Intrinsically unholy possibilities in the structuring of man's life in society are sanctified and made serviceable to the gathering and upbuilding of the people of God in the service of its commission and for the purpose of its election and calling. The free God gives to this human people, which still cannot do anything more or different in this respect than what others can also do, the freedom to adopt its own form, i.e., the form corresponding to its calling and commission, in the sphere of general human possibilities.

Barth, Church Dogmatics, IV/3.2 p. 741

Again, it pains me to not engage even more fully on these matters but these are the general lines of reflection I would want to contribute to the conversation surrounding Smith's two new books. 

Update:

See also:
Robert H. Gundry
Smithereens!
Bible-reading and "pervasive interpretive pluralism."
Books & Culture
September/October 2011

and

Justin Taylor also highlights various articles: On Not Evading the Charges of “Bibliclism” and “Pervasive Interpretive Pluralism”

 

A few theological reflections on the pursuit of greatness, excellence, success, and parenting

I would like to write more about this but am in for (the next year) the throes of writing my dissertation so I need to be content to just sketch a few thoughts here. 

Recently I have read three books on "greatness" or performance:

Shenk, David. The Genius in All of Us: Why Everything You've Been Told About Genetics, Talent, and IQ Is Wrong. New York: Doubleday, 2010.

Colvin, Geoffrey. Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else. New York: Portfolio, 2008.

Gladwell, Malcolm. Outliers: The Story of Success. New York: Little, Brown and Co, 2008.

I found all three enormously stimulating for reflection on parenting, ambition, achievement.  Furthermore, there is the ancillary benefit which pastors will appreciate of learning a smattering about a number of different careers and pursuits--valuable for relating to people in one's congregation of diverse backgrounds and interests. 

(Some of these may be available as well through your local public or school library as audio books on CD or downloadable through your library through downloadable eBook services like: Recorded Books One-Click Audio, Ingram Digital's MyiLibrary Audio Book Platform, or Audiobooks from Overdrive).

Each of the three books emphasizes the power of disciplined practice for the achievement of success or "greatness." 

A few theological reflections on the pursuit of greatness, excellence, success, and achievement

1. Jesus' description of the posture that leads to greatness.  Our theological scruples should immediately be piqued when the issues of success and greatness are raised.  How does this idea of greatness mesh with Jesus' insistence that greatness must not be directly pursued?  Our first reaction ought to be to recoil in revulsion as our thoughts converge on the sick pursuit of greatness promulgated and imposed by Hitler qua Nietzsche.  If there is overlap between K. Anders Ericsson's understanding of "deliberate practice" (relied on heavily in all three books above) and Jesus' teaching, it is rich and complex.  For Jesus, greatness is indeed achieved by intentional repeated habitual development as Ericcson recommends, but it is in becoming childlike (Mt 18:4; Lk 9:48) evoked in a very distinctive way by Jesus, and by serving others (Mt 23:11; Lk 22:26)--again illustrated in precise ways.  Similarly, material accomplishments ("all of these things")--one might think of success here--"will be added" after God's kingdom and righteousness are first sought (Mt 6:33).  Again though, righteousness is defined in surprising, peculiar ways in Matthew 5-6.  I say "precise" and "distinctive" to explode any notion that "being childlike" or "serving" or "God's kingdom" or being "righteousness" are obvious and self-evident slogans that can be abstracted and deployed without bringing to bear the larger mosaic of wisdom contained in the Scriptures.  

2. The biblical mandate to put gifts and talents to use.  It is interesting in the literature on talent that the Bible is blamed for the reductive idea that people are inherently talented or gifted or not. The Bible has had a formative influence on Western culture and in particular on the English language with the words "talent" and "gift" being used in the King James Version.  But when the biblical texts are examined more closely, it is impossible to get the sense that "some are gifted and some are talented and if you do not have these gifts or talents, then it is futile to try."  The idea of "talent" or "gifts" in the Scriptures is not wholly about what is innate or imparted by God miraculously (though there is a sense of gratitude that is crucial: "What do you have that you did not receive?" (1 Cor 4:7)); rather the "talent" and "gift" Scriptural texts all emblazon emphasis on making the most of what you have been given (Mt 25:14-30; Luke 19:11-27; Rom 12:6-8; 1 Cor 12:31; 1 Cor 14:1).  This quote should be sufficient to illustrate the point: "You wicked, lazy servant! . . . throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth" (Mt 25:26, 30).

3. Single-minded focus on the kingdom of God.  When one reads about the single-minded focus of Tiger Woods or Mozart on their craft, the obvious reaction is to wonder what area of greatness I or my children should singlemindedly pursue.  If I were not a Christian, I would be deeply disturbed by this.  If one can only achieve greatness by pursuing one thing; then "what is that one thing?" (as Billy Crystal's character put it in the 1991 movie City Slickers).  In response to this, as a Christian, it is enormously comforting not to be "tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people" (Eph 4:14).  We know where joy is found.  It is to be found in attentiveness and obedience to God as described richly in the Scriptures which we pore over and reflect on in communities of Christians. 

4.  Sorting through what it means to develop "greatness" in our children.  So what does this mean for me as a parent of three children (6, 3, and 1 years old)?  The powerful message of these books is that one can develop talent in children in some area--whether it be music, sports, art, languages, math or science.  But the Scriptures teach that these competencies pale in significance in comparison to the deep appropriation of God's wisdom (Prov 3).  Therefore, parents will want to reflect on how to encourage their children to use their time and how as parents to interact with their children.  Compare these five sample ways of thinking to that of parents trying to develop their children into standout artists, musicians, intellectuals, athletes and leaders. 

1. Teaching them to read, write, and speak well through reading aloud, exposure to the best books, as well as engaging mature intentional conversation with adults, that they might grow to be able to verbally witness to and receive God's wisdom. 
   
2. Teaching them to build friendships through intentional social activities with the children of other quality families, together with immersion in church activities, that they might develop an appetite for and facility in participating in rich Christian community. 
   
3. Teaching them to care for creation with respect and compassion by closely supervised care of younger siblings, pets, flowers, and vegetables, that they might develop into soft-hearted parents, care-givers, and stewards. 
   
4. Teaching them the perseverance and joy of loving people who are different whether economically or socially, perhaps through adoption or fostering children, that they might become reflexively inclusive advocates of empathy and justice.
5. Teaching them to love the Scriptures by enlivening the stories and wisdom in a way that delights the child that they might be a person who thinks with and after God.  I wonder too about teaching Koine Greek and Biblical Hebrew (ideally as spoken languages that it might be more joyful than onerous) in order to provoke additional fascination with the Scriptures. 
   

It seems to me that these values and activities (or "virtues" or "practices") described above engaged in with enthusiastic peers ("community"), modeled by parents, and sharpened by expert winsome teachers ("mentors") should supersede in importance a number of other worthwhile but secondary values such as the following. 

• Teaching a love of music through immersion in a musically rich environment, training under wonderful teachers, and the use of age-appropriate techniques that the child might be a contributor to the Christian community with their creative, composing, and performing abilities.  
  
• Teaching courage, hard work, team work, and leadership through team sports and Scouts that the child might be an influencer for good and God now and in the future. 
  
• Teaching math prowess through supplemental tutoring, drills, and games with winsome teachers that the child might become a precise thinker--contributing to the world and church in important ways. 
  
• Teaching a love for science by equipping children with a growing knowledge of knowledge together with exposure to the fascinating areas of physics, chemistry, biology, and geology that the child might be a teacher of stewardship.
  
• Teaching dexterity with language by exposing children to multiple languages in the home and elsewhere that they might be people who transcend language barriers (both literal and figurative) as ambassadors for Christ.  
  
• Teaching art with introduction to basic skills of drawing, sculpture, and paint, along with appreciation for and exposure to superb art, that they might be vibrant witnesses of God's beauty and truth. 
  

6. The sober truth about the parent as example.  Needless to say, what is disturbing is that much of this is "caught rather than taught."  That is to say, children tend to pick up what they observe.  The reaction of the parent should be: "God change me into the person you would want me to be.  Fill me with the fruit of the Spirit.  Friends in Christ, help me to see what is in me that God might not want me to pass on my children."

7.  Keeping ambition in check.  The implications personally for we adults (of this idea of deliberate practice emphasized in the books above) is to consider what we are becoming.  Are there things we are filling our lives with that do not contribute to who we want to become?  I am referring here to the obvious destructive habits.  The complementary constructive action is to pursue those things that form us into who God would want us to be.  Secondarily, as with the children, is there an area of skill or talent that we want to grow in for the next 10 years (or 10,000 hours) that it takes to become particularly adept in some arena?  Again, this seems to be a question that can better be discerned in community with other Christians.  The question to ask is, "I would like to be this. Do you think the pursuit of this can be done without detracting from the more important pursuit of seeking first God's kingdom and his righteousness?"  This pursuit of ability (whether it be a leadership position, a scientific breakthrough, a promotion, achievement, measure of wealth, health goal) must be delimited by the more important pursuit of godliness."For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come" (1 Tim 4:8).

I would recommend the books as fruitful catalysts for reflection.  What I have sketched here are the sorts of reflections that would occur to many Christian readers.  

 

I have not cluttered the above reflections with references but in the background are a number of books which I will paste below.

 

John Howard Yoder, at age 30, on Newbigin and the church as missionary

I thought John Howard Yoder's reference to Lesslie Newbigin was amusing in the quote below. This reference to Newbigin is the only reference to an individual contemporary in the pamphlet.  Yoder (1927-1997) age 30, not only takes a little shot at Newbigin while agreeing with him fundamentally, he misspells both his first and last name.  One book on Yoder is entitled: A Mind Patient and Untamed--untamed indeed.

John Howard Yoder, Ecumenical Movement and the Faithful Church (Scottdale, Pa: Mennonite Pub House, 1958), 32.  "The content of this pamphlet . . . appeared serially in the Gospel Herald during January and February 1957." p. 44

"Alone of all the churches of the Reformation, they [the Anabaptists] insisted that the church is essentially missionary, and that she must be separate from the world, even if that world be Christianized; this is an idea which Leslie [sic. Lesslie] Newbiggin [sic. Newbigin], one of the bishops of the United Church of South India, thinks is a new discovery, and which is gradually becoming one of the accepted principles of ecumenical discussion."

Interesting background:

Both Yoder and Newbigin knew Karl Barth in the 1950's when he was articulating his ecclesiology.   

Newbigin and Barth worked together regularly from 1951-1953 on the "Committee of Twenty-Five" theologians in preparation for the 1954 World Council of Churches conference.  Newbigin (1909-1998) was 48 in 1957 and had published The Household of God--his most systematic book on the church--in 1953.

Yoder took courses with Karl Barth (1886-1968, age 71 in 1957) and others in Basel from 1950-1957. 

Barth wrote his three ecclesiological paragraphs in the 1950's: § 62 The Holy Spirit and the Gathering of the Christian Community in Church Dogmatics volume IV.1 in 1953; § 67 The Holy Spirit and the Upbuilding of the Christian Community in CD IV.2 in 1955; and § 72 The Holy Spirit and the Sending of the Christian Community of the Church Dogmatics in CD IV.2 in 1959. 

See also my:

Celebrating Lesslie Newbigin's 100th Birthday Today with 10 Things You Probably Did Not Know About Him

Advice about exploring Karl Barth's ecclesiology in Church Dogmatics IV.2 67.4 "The Order of the Community”

Tweets from November 2009 to May 2011 mostly on Barth, Bonhoeffer, Newbigin, Yoder, Hauerwas, mission, church and the New Testament

I have been doing most of my “blogging” on Twitter the last year and a half.  I thought I would copy my tweets from my Twitter account to the blog for posterity and searchability (accessibility). 

Why Twitter?  I suppose the reason I have been mostly posting on Twitter is that (a) I tell myself these thoughts are little insights that don't deserve an entire blogpost (but on further reflection I realize most people's blogs are indeed these little thoughts and so perhaps the most basic reason is that) (b) I want to share resources with folks and enjoy the connection with people who appreciate them, but I need to be focusing on my doctoral work at Duke and my family and Twitter is fast and happily limited by 140 characters.      

So, here are my tweets from Nov 9, 2009 when I last pasted my tweets into my blog and today May 16, 2011.  

Warm greetings to any readers.  

Andy 

 

You can follow me by setting up a Twitter account.  You yourself need not actually post any tweets, you can just follow people. 

Or, you can subscribe to my tweets by RSS feed such as Google Reader. 

Or you can just click on my Twitter page and scroll through my posts.

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I am trying and liking Feedly suggested by @baker_steve It syncs w/ Google Reader thus making it easy to use and has some needed features.

20 seconds ago   

 

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Is there a good alternative to Google Reader? I want 1 click unsubscribe and a way to mark 100 posts at a time "read" like in Gmail.

12 hours ago     

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Fun to hear audio of Karl Barth speaking in English on his trip to the United States in 1962. http://karlbarth.unibas.ch/index.php?id=33

12 hours ago

ivpress InterVarsity Press

by AndyRowell

Did you miss the Wheaton Theology Conference this year? Here are all the audio/video recordings of the sessions: http://ow.ly/4IfXt

27 Apr

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I have learned that a baseball cap helps with glare from windows and lights while reading. But eye black is frowned upon at the library.

27 Apr

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Congrats @jonestony on finishing Ph.D. at Princeton Theological Seminary yfrog.com/hsb6xtsj

26 Apr

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I passed my preliminary exams. Next step: dissertation proposal. But lots of grading to do first.

25 Apr

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Mark @goodacre has persuaded me that Mark was written first, then Matthew, then Luke (Farrer Theory). See his free book http://bit.ly/ep34oH

23 Apr

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Sad. Lots of problems with Greg Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea. See 60 Minutes http://bit.ly/gH6ESN and Jon Krakauer http://www.byliner.com/

20 Apr

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

5-year-old Ryan on my career, "You're nothing yet. How should I put it? . . . You're still learning."

9 Apr

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Barth: All creation praises God--"from an eschatological standpoint . . and eschatological means supremely realistic." http://bit.ly/fSBnPf

9 Apr

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Barth: Calvin had a "very aristocratic doctrine of ecclesiastical office"; then again, laity can be stupid. IV.3 33-35 http://bit.ly/fTYOba

9 Apr

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Good parenting songs: the peppy "Setting Up the Pins" by @grovesroad and the mellow "Planting Trees" by @AndrewPeterson http://bit.ly/fky4L1

2 Apr

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I learn from Hans Hoekendijk, Paul Lehmann, and Ernst Käsemann but it would have been maddening to sort through this stuff in the 1960's.

1 Apr

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Ernst Käsemann says Paul's letters "are not very intelligible." http://bit.ly/fHmcKW Hmm . . .then why am I reading his take on them?

1 Apr

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Barth's 5 children: Franziska 1914-1994, Karl "Markus" 1915-1994, Christoph 1917-1986, Robert "Matthias" 1921-1941, Hans Jakob 1925-1984.

28 Mar

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Barth: Religion and God are "like an obstinate child in the arms of its mother." CD I/2 p. 299 (1938). His youngest of 5 children was 13.

28 Mar

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Helen's dad accidentally drowns shortly after arriving in India as missionary. Helen marries Lesslie Newbigin & insists they go to India.

26 Mar

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Newbigin at 1929 college camp: I realized that the cross "was the clue that I must follow if I were to make any kind of sense of the world."

26 Mar

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Barth: At a mature church, people say, "I am needed there" more than "I am going because I need something for myself." http://bit.ly/fWx3BY

22 Mar

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Fuller president @richardmouw writes "Rob Bell’s Love Wins is a fine book and I basically agree with his theology." http://bit.ly/fhso5B

15 Mar

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

A good summary of John Flett's important book Witness of God on the history of the missio Dei and on Barth's missiology http://bit.ly/eDQbCR

15 Mar

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

An interview with Eugene Peterson about his new memoir. http://n.pr/gbm60l H/T @davidswanson & @jr_briggs

7 Mar

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

"Exactly halfway between exegesis and practical theology stands dogmatics." Barth, Dogmatics in Outline 12. So that is how I ended up there.

4 Mar

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Bonhoeffer: "Unfortunately I sense that my productivity has grown dependent on smoking; luckily enough I'm well-supplied." LPP, p. 518.

3 Mar

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Bonhoeffer: So-called mythology (resurrection and so forth) cannot be taken out of Christianity-it is the thing itself. http://bit.ly/glIn3h

3 Mar

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Barth: "H. is supposed to have said some nasty things about me. I have not read it and therefore am quite ready to forgive him everything."

28 Feb

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

On universalism & @realrobbell See blogposts by @spulliam @senseijfk @trevinwax @dreamawakener Tweets @cameronstrang @Scharen @RootAndrew

27 Feb

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I commented on @ZonderAcademic post "Barth on the Word and Scripture" http://bit.ly/fEwL57

27 Feb

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Eberhard Busch "Karl Barth did not espouse a doctrine of universal reconciliation" (i.e. universalism). Karl Barth & the Pietists, p. 305.

26 Feb

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Rob Bell @realRobBell the 8th biggest trend on Twitter because Justin Taylor @between2worlds blogs that he is a universalist. Cf @JohnPiper

26 Feb

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Where do denominations come from? I posted for my Church History students 5 denominational maps on Google Docs. http://bit.ly/eEc2qI

23 Feb

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

English Reformation joke: Why do Roman Catholics always beat Anglicans in chess? They can tell the difference between a bishop and a king.

18 Feb

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Study tricks: 20 min nap, 5 min walk, Beethoven, gum, skinny vanilla latte, green tea, almonds, seat cushion for wooden chair at coffee shop

16 Feb

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

You can now read the introduction to The Pastor: A Memoir by Eugene H. Peterson harpercollins.com/browseinside/i… which will be released Feb 22nd.

16 Feb

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I like Yoder but not his "Jeremian" phrase. See my comment @fitchest "Yoder’s Jeremian ecclesiology as the way forward" http://bit.ly/ecluna

15 Feb

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

John Flett: Barth gets lost in translation. Christians are sent and have a task, commission, and calling from God. http://bit.ly/gWlfJ8

15 Feb

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

George Hunsberger says: Barth's 'election' = Newbigin's 'purpose of God'; Barth's 'calling' = Newbigin's 'election.' http://bit.ly/gcuN2H

15 Feb

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

A sympathetic, warm review of Stanley Hauerwas's memoir Hannah's Child from @scotmcknight http://bit.ly/eVVtwP

13 Feb

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I did some parent blogging: 9 mos Allie photos; parenting tips for Durham NC; What's in the Bible/JellyTelly: http://www.andyrowell.net/kids

13 Feb

booksandculture Books & Culture

by AndyRowell

Fascinating study of the tensions between liberal & evangelical churches in the Pacific Northwest: http://ow.ly/3UF59

11 Feb

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Solid movie recommendations: 2010 Most Redeeming Films http://bit.ly/gg8vPl & Critics' Choice Awards http://bit.ly/hFqJXO from @CTmagazine

11 Feb

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Finally published: John Howard Yoder's critique of Bonhoeffer. “The Christological Presuppositions of Discipleship” in http://amzn.to/gSNtCC

10 Feb

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Here are the links to the 5 major reviews of Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by @ericmetaxas http://bit.ly/gfkxsT in the last year.

8 Feb

Bunyip21 Jurgen Mark Mantzke

by AndyRowell

One last #Exodus joke: #Moses could have told the #Israelites to just protest and riot against the Egyptians, and run Pharaoh out. #Mubarak

3 Feb

Bunyip21 Jurgen Mark Mantzke

by AndyRowell

If #Moses were alive today, he'd tell #Mubarak to let himself go. Keep the people in #Egypt.

3 Feb

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Jeremy Ridenour read all of Barth's Dogmatics last year as well as a whole bunch of other theology. Robots read less. http://bit.ly/hJ9kGo

4 Feb

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

180 papers to grade this semester (30 students) for Church History: Modern European Christianity @DukeDivinity. 9 on Luther. Here we go.

2 Feb

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Fun with theologians: Don't say God & Holy Spirit; instead: "first article" & "third article" (of the Apostles' Creed). http://bit.ly/gBI83T

2 Feb

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

2011 Christianity Today @CTmagazine Book Awards: http://ht.ly/3M7fA include McGrath, Peterson, N.T. Wright, Kenda Dean and @bradley_wright

1 Feb

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Hearts & Minds Bookstore's @byronborger picks the Best Books of 2010 http://bit.ly/fv8nfQ including Metaxas, Fields, Hunter, and Yancey.

1 Feb

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I commented on "Which Missional Church?" post by @jonestony How is the term "missional church" being used recently? http://bit.ly/emfrqz

27 Jan

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Dec 2010 Last Decade Lists: Trends by @ahc, Albums by @joshjackson, Films by @brettmccracken, Books by @mafeinberg http://bit.ly/e2r2Zi

26 Jan

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I found Martin Marty's 2004 biography of Martin Luther readable, quick-paced, thoughtful and brief. Recommended. http://bit.ly/fabdhV

26 Jan

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

John Flett "Elasticity is a hallmark of the concept [the missio Dei], present at its genesis, and a function it continues to fulfill." p.157

25 Jan

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

One of my main advisors, Stanley Hauewas, has written on "Church as Mission." I'm working along similar lines. http://bit.ly/hCS31P

24 Jan

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Two books I have read recently just for fun: The 4-Hour Workweek and Social Intelligence. Neither encourage twittering. http://bit.ly/ided9a

14 Dec

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Wainwright, "Both Barth and Balthasar drew back in the end from universalism as a certainty and I think that is a wise choice."

3 Dec

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Wainwright, "Still, we can hope that all will be saved. That is a quite proper hope."

3 Dec

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Wainwright, "Universalism in the sense of 'all will in the end certainly be saved' is a heresy condemned by the fifth ecumenical council."

3 Dec

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Geoffrey Wainwright at today's last day of Christian Theology course, “I myself have to say I don’t know much about the inner life of God.”

3 Dec

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Ch. 5-7 on distractions in 4-Hour Workweek by @tferriss are thought-provoking. Most pages readable at Google Books: http://bit.ly/gY39mf

29 Nov

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

When I clean, I think of Bruce Cockburn's line "Got to kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight"--probably not what he had in mind.

26 Nov

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

At SBL, @Zondervan sold out of cool "A Reader's Hebrew and Greek Bible" http://amzn.to/eQ6xgo which gives Hebrew/Greek help in footnotes.

23 Nov

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Everyone will finally be able to access a free online solid Greek New Testament. SBLGNT http://www.sblgnt.com/ will be at http://biblia.com/

23 Nov

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Eugene Peterson's "The Pastor: A Memoir" will be released in February 2011. http://amzn.to/aNNoB0

10 Nov

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I posted advice about exploring Karl Barth's ecclesiology in Church Dogmatics IV.2 67.4 "The Order of the Community” http://bit.ly/bYtBFQ

9 Nov

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Occupational hazards. As a pastor, everyone grades you. As a professor, you have to grade everyone's papers. Pick your poison.

7 Nov

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Fall back--time to change your clocks.

6 Nov

edstetzer Ed Stetzer

by AndyRowell

One of the unintended consequences of “church excellence” is it can attract "consumers of excellence." #WFX

3 Nov

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

The list of textbooks for the Spring 2011 courses at @dukedivinity are now online at http://www.divinity.duke.edu/academics/course-schedule

3 Nov

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Brad East gives us some highlights from AAR this weekend. http://bit.ly/bhOZmj

2 Nov

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

@

@sheddenm Yes, "fresh expresssions of church" is Church of England language for church planting. CofE try to do it & minimize divisiveness.

2 Nov

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I'm thinking about how Church of England guidelines for "fresh expressions of church" http://bit.ly/aWLJjD might be adapted for free church.

2 Nov

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Elijah Wade Smith appreciated the rebuke from Hipster Christianity by @brettmccracken See the review at http://ow.ly/19KVNa @Transpositions

2 Nov

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Today the updated translation of the NIV & Translators' Notes are online at http://www.biblegateway.com/ replacing 1984 NIV and 2005 TNIV.

1 Nov

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

"crucial": cross-shaped 18th cent; that decides between rival hypotheses, decisive 19th cent. The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology.

31 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Here is the iTunes link for @dukedivinity Oct 2010 Convocation & Pastors' School with N.T. Wright @realrobbell & @ahc http://bit.ly/bXFDK0

28 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

@

@ericaustinlee @geoffholsclaw Hays had said in Echoes that Paul has "ecclesiocentric hermeneutic" but later says "ecclesiotelic" is better.

28 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I admit it. I have had lots of joy preparing for preliminary exams in theology last Friday and New Testament tomorrow. Heartburn of Lk 24:32

28 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

@

@geoffholsclaw Responding to apocalypticism of Beker, Hays grants "ecclesiocentric" not right--instead "ecclesiotelic": God forms a people.

28 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

@geoffholsclaw asks "ecclesiocentric apocalypticism?" @dwcongdon says no. Richard Hays says "Perhaps 'ecclesiotelic.'" http://bit.ly/bmCoOc

28 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Kavin Rowe's book World Upside Down on the book of Acts is a delight--exegetical, theological, courageous and lots of MacIntyre and Taylor.

27 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I commented on "The Singularity of Jesus & the Mission of the Church: An Interview with Nathan Kerr" http://bit.ly/d7TyTE @theotherjournal

27 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

When carrying out the "carefrontation" process of Mt 18:15-20, it is important that all of Mt 18 (4th discourse) be taken into account.

26 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

My blog comments about Barth:(1) how to read CD http://bit.ly/bgwIoV (2) church/kingdom http://bit.ly/9R2363 (3) church http://bit.ly/drNJEM

26 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

James K.A. Smith sees similarities: "Theology and Race: A 'Duke School?'" http://bit.ly/dqKdnb @DukeDivinity @jkameroncarter @BrianBantum

22 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

"Schools of Thought: Choosing a graduate program in theology" by R.R. Reno in First Things http://bit.ly/bexd9V @rofters

20 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Is Wheaton College the Top School in America? First Things thinks so. http://bit.ly/avVts5 @rofters

20 Oct

roflyer Ry Siggelkow

by AndyRowell

Hijacking Bonhoeffer | The Christian Century - http://goo.gl/Ldx7

19 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I read the quotes that Wheaton College English prof Alan Jacobs @ayjay highlights at http://ayjay.tumblr.com/ more than any other blog.

19 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

The 6 hour documentary from PBS #GodinAmerica can be watched online at http://to.pbs.org/duex30 See Oct 12-13 tweets by @jkameroncarter

18 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Reaction to opening session of Lausanne Congress: @skye_jethani http://bit.ly/9y4h0r & @tallskinnykiwi Andrew Jones http://bit.ly/9FV9xU

18 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Though it is dry, Missional Church (1998) edited by Darrell Guder et al. is still the gold standard textbook introduction to ecclesiology.

16 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I wrote a long comment arguing for the similarity of Hauerwas and Barth on mission, church, formation, and witness. http://bit.ly/9QsJn4

14 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

For evangelicals suspicious of Karl Barth, consider this soaring paragraph from the last pages of his Church Dogmatics. http://bit.ly/bgE3dU

12 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Both "Whoever is not for us is against us" (Luke 11:23)--we are right & "Whoever is not against us is for us" (Luke 9:50)--many on rt track.

10 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Though I have read a lot of stuff since my M.Div. @RegentCollege, I still think it is hard to beat Gordon Fee or Eugene Peterson.

9 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Lots of theological tweets because I have my theology "preliminary" (or "comprehensive" exam) Oct 22 and my New Testament one Oct 29.

9 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Though evangelical biblical scholars assume supersessionism, many do great biblical theology showing continuity btw OT and NT people of God.

9 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Lindbeck says Christians are "honorary Jews"--part of a "Jewish sect." Yoder says of Judaism & Christianity divide "It Did Not Have to Be."

9 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I think most evangelicals are unaware that most postliberals are against supersessionism. Barth, Newbigin, Yoder & Lindbeck use Rom 9-11.

9 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Highly talented people in the church bring great benefits and cause great injuries. C.K. Barrett http://bit.ly/aVLAbt

9 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

A church that rejects the gifts of leadership will greatly impoverish itself but the worldly way destroys. C.K. Barrett http://bit.ly/cLWids

9 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

The Church's shape differs as did Israel in the wilderness, under judges and kings, and in exile. Lindbeck, Church in a Postliberal Age, 157

8 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Good article @CTmagazine on David Crowder's worship conference from my fellow Th.D. student @DukeDivinity David Taylor. http://bit.ly/cVENje

8 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Lindbeck's Nature of Doctrine is similar to Newbigin's Open Secret, MacIntyre's 3 Rival Versions, Hauerwas's With the Grain, & McClendon v3.

7 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Liked George Lindbeck's The Nature of Doctrine (1984) but the genre is odd--meandering theology, sociology, philosophy and world religions.

7 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Deciphering George Lindbeck's “The Story-Shaped Church: Critical Exegesis and Theological Interpretation.” Readable at http://bit.ly/cG5wv3

6 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I have blogged about the brand new D.Min. (Doctor of Ministry) program at @DukeDivinity See http://bit.ly/DukeDMin

6 Oct

DukeDivinity Duke Divinity School

by AndyRowell

Listen to AEHS “Fathoming an Archbishop: What is Rowan Williams Up To?” panel discussion. http://bit.ly/9aVwUR

5 Oct

winncollier winncollier

by AndyRowell

Hauerwas, Vanhoozer, Hunsinger, Yong, Coakley, et. al. give their essential theology books of the past 25 years http://tinyurl.com/2dq99tp

5 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

From whom did Nazi-resister theologian Ernst Käsemann learn the power of the gospel? His youth pastor Wilhelm Weigle. http://bit.ly/depKeH

5 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Only those who are still learning are fit to teach and only those who teach others are fit to learn. Ernst Käsemann http://bit.ly/c5k4iW

5 Oct

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I finally downloaded @Dropbox to backup and access files. 2GB free. It took all of 3 minutes to set up. It is about time I did this.

30 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

My response piece "Barth’s Growing Appreciation for Bonhoeffer" is up at the Karl Barth Blog Conference http://bit.ly/98KtM9

29 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Barth on writing, "begin with a certain audacity to write (without reflection whether what you write is new or good)." http://bit.ly/9Ho3C6

27 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

The 3 week long Karl Barth Blog Conference (KBBC) begins today at http://derevth.blogspot.com/ Look for my piece on Barth & Bonhoeffer.

26 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Barth, "Christians are not naive children led astray by wicked rascals. They themselves are wicked rascals." http://bit.ly/cGjME0

24 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Barth on the Church in the world: "Better something over-bold & therefore in need of forgiveness, than nothing at all!" http://bit.ly/b6Xb19

24 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Barth describes 6 ministries of action: (7) Prayer, (8) Cure of souls, (9) Examples, (10) Diaconate, (11) Prophetic action, (12) Fellowship.

24 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Barth describes 6 ministries of speech:(1) Praise, (2) Preaching, (3) Instruction, (4) Evangelisation, (5) Foreign Missions, (6) Theology.

24 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I'm reading Karl Barth's Church Dogmatics IV.3.2 pp. 865-901. He names 12 forms of ministry: 6 speech. 6 action. http://bit.ly/aVjfCk

24 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

My @booksandculture review of "Christians are Hate Filled Hypocrites . . ." by @bradley_wright just got posted online: http://bit.ly/cNxMDT

23 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

@fitchest Barth:To attest the Gospel by portraying Jesus Christ to people is the task of the church. IV.3.2 p.810 http://bit.ly/9QoaoH

22 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

@

@fitchest I am going over Hauerwas's With the Grain of the Universe for prep for prelims with H. I think H., Yoder & Barth are very close.

22 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

@

@fitchest Barth: "It is impossible to be called to be a Christian and not to be called into the Church." IV.3.2 p. 681 http://bit.ly/9xyNbI

22 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

1301 DMin degrees were completed at ATS schools in 2009. ATS 2009-2010 data tables p.61. http://bit.ly/97TrLu

14 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Assistant Professor average salaries: 4 year Public 59K; 4 year Private 62K; ATS Schools 54K. ATS 2009-2010 data p.82. http://bit.ly/97TrLu

14 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

In the USA in 2009, MDiv degrees were completed by 4,444 men and 2,038 women. ATS 2009-2010 data tables p.62. http://bit.ly/97TrLu

14 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

401 ThD/PhD degrees were completed at ATS schools in 2009. ATS 2009-2010 data tables p.61. http://bit.ly/97TrLu

14 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

In 2009 in USA, there were 20,835 MDiv students at Protestant schools and 2,170 at Roman Catholic schools. ATS p.25, 27 http://bit.ly/97TrLu

14 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

195 schools in the USA offer MDiv. ATS 2009-2010 data tables p.16 http://bit.ly/97TrLu

14 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

The average salary for a full-time faculty member at a seminary in the USA: $62-64,000. ATS 2009-2010 data table p.80. http://bit.ly/97TrLu

14 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Fuller is the largest seminary in North America. Southern Baptist Convention seminaries take 5 of the top 10 spots. http://bit.ly/99zdTf

14 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

My Christianity Today @ctmagazine interview with Stanley Hauerwas @DukeDivinity just got posted. http://bit.ly/HauerwasInterview

9 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I give a big update on what I've been up to: Prelims and Precepting, Barth and Birthday, Friends and Family at my blog http://bit.ly/cI1VOU

5 Sep

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Full churches impress. An empty church is regarded as an indication of the pure Gospel. But neither factor = truth. Barth http://ow.ly/2wX86

30 Aug

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

God's holiness is not given to the Church as an umbrella under which it can rest but as a pillar of cloud and fire. Barth http://ow.ly/2wUkq

30 Aug

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Six Keys to Being Excellent at Anything @HarvardBiz http://s.hbr.org/aFH0tF Do the hardest work first. HT David Taylor http://bit.ly/99DZdA

30 Aug

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I agree with "Reading Is Not a Skill" @chronicle argument that “domain knowledge” is crucial for reading comprehension. http://bit.ly/c527eg

29 Aug

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Dan Meyer: Math class needs a makeover @tedtalks video http://bit.ly/9PJgpX reminds me when teaching theology to ask Q's & be slow to speak.

26 Aug

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Theology professor @JKameron Carter of @DukeDivinity on memoir "Jesus Land" he is using to kick off Christology course http://bit.ly/a2hj2Q

25 Aug

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

The Jesus Creed blog of @scotmcknight is moving websites so update your RSS feeds: http://ow.ly/2uT8q

25 Aug

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

He who takes pleasure in divisions may be a good Roman Catholic, Reformed, Orthodox, or Baptist but not a good Christian. (Barth, IV.1, 676)

25 Aug

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

On church unity: "we must quote word for word Eph 4:1-7 because it says in nuce [in a nutshell] all that has to be said." (Barth, IV.1, 668)

25 Aug

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

"The Church *is* when it takes place that God lets certain men live as His servants, His friends, His children." (Barth, IV.1, 650).

25 Aug

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

On conversion stories: They are undoubtedly the person's insights and decisions, but one should simply be thankful. (Barth, IV.1, 646).

25 Aug

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

The Holy Spirit is the "doctor veritatis [teacher of truth]" (Tertullian), the "digitus Dei [finger of God]" (Augustine) (Barth, IV.1, 645).

25 Aug

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Open Faculty Positions in Christian Theology http://bit.ly/XianTheo and Theological Ethics http://bit.ly/TheoEthics @DukeDivinity

23 Aug

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Great post "32 Christian Twitter Guidelines " last Monday by Stuff Christians Like's @prodigaljohn (Jon Acuff). http://bit.ly/bYoOQY

23 Aug

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Great practical advice for new doctoral students. http://chronicle.com/blogPost/An-Open-Letter-to-New-Graduate/26326/ @chronicle

21 Aug

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

John Wilson's critique of @brettmccracken on @booksandculture website. http://bit.ly/bIklEo @ahc concurs @scotmcknight says too harsh

20 Aug

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Fuller's Daniel Kirk and DTS's Daniel Wallace talking inerrancy at: http://bit.ly/aL9OYX and Truett's Roger Olsen at http://bit.ly/cbUjSu

20 Aug

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Aug cover stories @CTmagazine on Beth Moore: http://bit.ly/bTAP6Y & http://bit.ly/bbBJDM Response by Moore's daughter: http://bit.ly/dk5QHq

18 Aug

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

"Christianity sustained its first fracture when the emperor became a Christian." John Howard Yoder? Nope--Kierkegaard. http://bit.ly/b79Y00

16 Aug

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

@dwcongdon vs.@geoffholsclaw @ericaustinlee @adalehunt similar to Bonhoeffer's fears of Barth's reactionary churchiness http://bit.ly/pangri

16 Aug

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

@dwcongdon plays Bonhoeffer w/ @ericaustinlee @adalehunt as Barth in reenactment of argument over worldliness vs. churchiness (Pangritz 18).

16 Aug

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Revised my post My Favorite Bibles for Kids ages 2-5 http://www.andyrowell.net/kids/2010/04/my-favorite-bibles-for-kids.html

11 Aug

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Jim Collins in HTMF says companies fail more often from overreaching than complacency. Churches too fail when they despise the basics.

11 Aug

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

My post "13 Ecclesiology Conversations: Making sense of the Guilds, Silos and Books" is reposted @scotmcknight blog http://bit.ly/clcXgJ

26 Jul

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Hauerwas, "Much of the child care fell to me. I have never regretted that it did so. Adam was a delight." Hannah's Child, 89.

22 Jul

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Hauerwas: It did not occur to me that I needed blocks to time to write. Give me 30 min. here or there, and I could get something done. HC 86

22 Jul

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Lots of people liked Inception: Baptist pastor @MattChandler74 Duke NT professor @goodacre Nottingham Ph.D. theology student @ericaustinlee

19 Jul

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

@Christianbook has $99 deal for Barth's Church Dogmatics (the old edition) but even better: $349 deal for new edition. http://bit.ly/b0Qrb5

17 Jul

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I commented about choosing a church at a post by @david_a_zimmerm Between Churches: Excursus on Mission http://bit.ly/cMsj15

15 Jul

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Few manage this. W. Travis McMaken. Reflections on Reading Barth's 'Church Dogmatics 4' in its Entirety in 3 wks. http://bit.ly/c9xb4r

14 Jul

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Reviewed Brad Wright's new book (July 1st) Christians Are Hate-Filled Hypocrites http://bit.ly/9YLFCC @scotmcknight @johnortberg @edstetzer

10 Jul

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I am somewhat relational for a theologian-type but John Maxwell' "Everyone Communicates, Few Connect" still convicting. http://bit.ly/bq64Pa

9 Jul

ahc Andy Crouch

by AndyRowell

"Thank you, Mom & Dad, for being brave… because of you I did not get that scholarship." @mbhohorst praises slow parenting http://ow.ly/29bHU

9 Jul

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Reading David H. Kelsey's “On Human Flourishing: A Theocentric Perspective” for Duke's Theology & Ethics Colloquium http://bit.ly/aErLgZ

7 Jul

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

A couple days ago, I commented (#33) on @ScotMcKnight & @fitchest discussion of sociology data about evangelicals. http://bit.ly/atIcxR.

7 Jul

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

A fun post by Tim Keel reporting on N.T. Wright's comments "On PhDs and Myers-Briggs Types." http://bit.ly/9b62Sq / I am more N than S.

7 Jul

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Hauerwas was presented with a festschrift at the Ecclesia Project last night, D. W. Horstkoetter reports. http://bit.ly/9W5dBk

7 Jul

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Compare deep-reading and speed-reading comments by @johnortberg http://bit.ly/arK55D and Andy Crouch @ahc http://bit.ly/cb1gKK

30 Jun

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

James K.A.Smith http://bit.ly/emergentecclesiology & David Fitch @fitchest http://bit.ly/FitchonRollins linking @PeterRollins w/ Prov Theses

28 Jun

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

University of Chicago's Don Browning, author of Fundamental Practical Theology, died June 3. http://bit.ly/doIFMf

25 Jun

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Audio from 2009 @emergentvillage Theological Conversation with Jürgen Moltmann now online. http://www.emergentvillage.com/podcast/

25 Jun

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Gary M. Simpson qualitative research recommendations: Grounded theory by Charmaz, Qualitative Interviewing by Rubin, and Narrative Inquiry.

21 Jun

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

At American Society of Missiology, lots of Ph.D. students from Luther Seminary, Boston University School of Theology, Asbury, and Fuller.

19 Jun

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Sad to miss Barth conference this week http://bit.ly/BarthConf but look forward to reading John Flett's new book. http://amzn.to/Flett

19 Jun

CTmagazine Christianity Today

by AndyRowell

Find out why Frederica Mathewes-Green gives Toy Story 3 five stars http://bit.ly/b099LL

18 Jun

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I have learned at ASM that Paul Hiebert is the consensus choice for introductions to anthropology. http://amzn.to/HiebertBooks

19 Jun

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

My German friend recommends Wilfried Härle's "Dogmatik" and "Wachsen gegen den Trend"; Christoph Schwöbel; and Eberhard Jüngel.

19 Jun

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Another friend recommended UK's Stuart Murray. He has new book: "Planting Churches in the 21st Century" http://amzn.to/plantingchurches

19 Jun

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

My Russian friend recommends Georges Florovsky and Sergei Bulgakov for those interested in 20th century Russian Orthodox theology.

19 Jun

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Regent College grads at ASM: Sam Law (Ph.D. Asbury), David Leong (Ph.D. Fuller; SPU prof); Scott Hagley (Ph.D. Luther), me (Th.D. Duke).

19 Jun

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

The article "Is God Colorblind or Colorful?" by Miriam Adney recommended at ASM. See it at http://www.missionfrontiers.org/latestissue.html

19 Jun

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

George Hunsberger recommended I read "Rooted in Jesus Christ: Towards a Radical Ecclesiology" by Daniel Izuzquiza http://amzn.to/Izuzquiza

18 Jun

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I commented on dueling heady discussions about ecclesiology and mission at http://bit.ly/KerrSiggDoerge and http://bit.ly/LongHolsclawSmith

9 Jun

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Arrived yesterday: a very fine June cover story @CTmagazine by @edstetzer argues for advantages of denominations. Not yet available online.

5 Jun

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

My new book review of Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas is up this morning at @booksandculture online. See http://bit.ly/booksandculturebonhoeffer

4 Jun

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

See my book recommendation: Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas http://bit.ly/BonhoefferMetaxas

20 May

adalehunt Tony Hunt

by AndyRowell

"We have these positions and those; what we need is a third or middle way; mine is that way" - by By-Pretty-Much-Everyone

19 May

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Got 13 pieces of mail from lawyers today (Tues) and 2 from spine practices after car got hit on Sunday. Our society is messed up.

18 May

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Had my car totaled while parked at Starbucks. http://www.andyrowell.net/kids/2010/05/totaled-in-the-parking-lot-at-starbucks.html

16 May

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Busy day. New baby and online @CTmagazine piece http://bit.ly/duAe1g about pastors resigning after book success. I also commented.

6 May 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Alice "Allie" Madelyn Rowell was born at 1:29 am this morning. Mom and baby are doing well. http://www.andyrowell.net/kids/ .

6 May 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

@JimBelcher joins the ranks of Francis Chan @PeterRollins @AlanHirsch @BrianMcLaren who left church they planted after book-writing success.

4 May 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

This NYTMag article about people obsessively/curiously keeping track of personal behavior is very thought provoking. http://nyti.ms/cyJepe

1 May 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I have series on music, books, and toys our boys (5 and 2 years old) have enjoyed on our Rowell Kids blog. http://www.andyrowell.net/kids/

30 Apr 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I commented on a post by @scotmcknight on James Davidson Hunter's book To Change the World http://bit.ly/9CxUxA

30 Apr 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I commented on the post by @tallskinnykiwi on Jeremy Begbie's theological assessment of the Emerging Church movement. http://bit.ly/9Sb9IJ

30 Apr 10

ivpress InterVarsity Press

by AndyRowell

Know anyone looking for a job? We've got three positions open! http://ow.ly/1EPqB

29 Apr 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Sociologist Christian Smith on Karl Barth and sociology http://bit.ly/9rSMor via @ayjay @booksandculture Subscribers: http://bit.ly/cUE8VZ

29 Apr 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Audio of Stanley Hauerwas interview with America Magazine http://bit.ly/bvLMNj about his memoir released two weeks ago http://amzn.to/cQH6u3

29 Apr 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

For a year much talk @DukeDivinity about Atheist Delusions by David Bentley Hart. Now see his big essay in First Things http://bit.ly/bcYh6d

28 Apr 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Wheaton Theology Conference 2011 info is not yet online. It is April 7-9, 2011. Theme: Global Theology in Evangelical Perspective.

27 Apr 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

NT Wright (61) is moving Aug 31 from Bishop of Durham http://bit.ly/d3z3Ci to take chair at St. Andrews (Scotland). http://bit.ly/bv464M

27 Apr 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Hauerwas, Cross-Shattered Church, 9. If you can only read a little H., read this book, Cross-Shattered Christ, Disrupting Time, or Matthew.

26 Apr 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Sixty percent of Duke undergraduates have never engaged in sexual intercourse. http://bit.ly/c3bTQI

26 Apr 10

ahc Andy Crouch

by AndyRowell

"How Not to Change the World"—my review of James Davison Hunter's new book at Books & Culture: http://ow.ly/1Cg4F

23 Apr 10

ahc Andy Crouch

by AndyRowell

"So you need a typeface. . . . handwritten, not too fancy . . . Are you alone?" "Yes." "Okay then, come with me." http://ow.ly/1BGyr

22 Apr 10

CTmagazine Christianity Today

by AndyRowell

Downloadable audio files for NT Wright-focused Wheaton Theology Conference here: http://tinyurl.com/y3ydukr

18 Apr 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

My Wheaton Theology Conference reflection: "N. T. Wright, Richard Hays, and Karl Barth on Scripture and Tradition." http://bit.ly/crmnVN

17 Apr 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Hays wants to unmask assumptions and outchurch opponents with beauty; Wright wants to recover the Bible and outargue opponents with reason.

17 Apr 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

RB Hays vs. NT Wright today. My theory: Hays concerned about liberal Christianity and secularism; Wright about fundamentalism and atheists.

17 Apr 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Calvin Festival of Faith & Writing, Wheaton Theology Conference, Together for the Gospel--all this week--suggest range of evangelicalism.

14 Apr 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

If you're going, you should see my Resources for Wheaton Theology Conference on N. T. Wright. http://bit.ly/9Ov09M

10 Apr 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Some 2010 conferences worth considering: APT, Wheaton, AETE, ASM, Barth, Duke, AAR, ETS, and SBL. http://bit.ly/bjKq2F

8 Apr 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

See the required textbooks for Fall 2010 Duke Divinity School courses. http://bit.ly/dcNWPI

8 Apr 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Barth Conference: “The Church Is As Such A Missionary Church”: Barth as a ‘Missional’ Theologian. PTS June 20-23, 2010. http://bit.ly/ds51kh

8 Apr 10

praxishabitus Gerardo Martí

by AndyRowell

Tenure note: 1975 to 2003, positions occupied by tenured and tenure-track faculty members fell from 56.8% to 35.1% http://ow.ly/1uNQM

5 Apr 10

DukeDivinity Duke Divinity School

by AndyRowell

Join us for Convocation & Pastors’ School 2010, featuring N.T. Wright, Rob Bell, Andy Crouch, and Vashti McKenzie. http://bit.ly/agKbz7

2 Apr 10

JohnPiper John Piper

by AndyRowell

Why I asked our elders for an 8-month leave of absence. No preaching, no books, no blogs, no tweets. http://ow.ly/1rM37

28 Mar 10

donmilleris Donald Miller

by AndyRowell

Read These Seven Books and You'll be a Better Writer: http://donmilleris.com/

24 Mar 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Steven Pearlstein recommends http://bit.ly/dkokNZ Michael Lewis's The Big Short http://bit.ly/dtRZw1 about greed, competency, and deceit.

13 Mar 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Paul J. Griffiths, Duke Div professor of Catholic Theology, rightly reminds us few of us need to know much on the news. http://bit.ly/an4VEy

11 Mar 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

"Rabbit's clever. And he has a Brain . . . I suppose that that's why he never understands anything." Piglet & Pooh http://bit.ly/cbbAqb p295

11 Mar 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

#1 NYT article rightly argues teaching is an art that can be learned from master teachers but misses imp of community. http://nyti.ms/aSK4gl

7 Mar 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Fellow theologians, the AAR deadline for proposals has been extended a week through March 8th. No need to stay up until midnight tonight.

1 Mar 10

booksandculture Books & Culture

by AndyRowell

The long-awaited redesigned Books & Culture website is now live. Please let us know what you think. http://bit.ly/dvU8CR

26 Feb 10

ahc Andy Crouch

by AndyRowell

RT @alissamarie: Books & Culture's looking fiiiine . . . http://www.booksandculture.com/

26 Feb 10

agnologist Davey Henreckson

by AndyRowell

Hays vs. Biggar. Just war vs. non-violence in SCE: http://bit.ly/bkFz9b

25 Feb 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Great advice from Anna Blanch for Ph.D. students trying to stay sane. http://bit.ly/97B8tU

23 Feb 10

CTmagazine Christianity Today

by AndyRowell

Breaking: Philip Ryken Named Wheaton College's Next President http://bit.ly/97wqhp

20 Feb 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Christianity Today critics (@CTEntertainment) name Most Redeeming Films http://bit.ly/a9Hxyy and Critics' Choice Awards http://bit.ly/a2WB2q

18 Feb 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Great article from Telford Work in Theology Today 2001 evaluating the VeggieTales (which my boys ages 4 and 2 love). http://bit.ly/cm7j9m

17 Feb 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I found Eugene McCarraher's 3-part interview with @theotherjournal scathing, dazzling, and thought-provoking http://bit.ly/cf9zZF

13 Feb 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

See Sept 2009 review by @scotmcknight which praises @DukeDivinity Joel Marcus's magisterial Mark commentary. http://bit.ly/aURFWV

11 Feb 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Andy Crouch @ahc reviews Wuthnow and Noll books that argue the decline of American Christianity is exaggerated. http://bit.ly/b9dJvF

10 Feb 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Karl Barth, "Is not the term 'Systematic Theology' as paradoxical as a 'wooden iron?'" Dogmatics in Outline, 5. Online: http://bit.ly/99fE9c

7 Feb 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Outstanding Feb 2010 issue of @CTmagazine arrived in the mail yesterday. Great stuff on sports, M. Robinson, hunger, best books, and music.

5 Feb 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Remembering Dietrich Bonhoeffer's birthday--reading his letters from Feb 4, 1944 (LPP p. 208)--he greatly valued "exacting friendship."

4 Feb 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I have a new blogpost about the 25th anniversary issue of the journal Modern Theology. http://bit.ly/bYqvqg

3 Feb 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Chris Smith of @ERBks has written a new eBook with 50 practical and thought-provoking ideas for churches. Free at http://is.gd/7jFEX

30 Jan 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

#1 emailed story at NYTimes.com: The Web Way to Learn a Language http://bit.ly/dnC1L9 I too like Rosetta Stone http://bit.ly/mO9fv

28 Jan 10

DukeDivinity Duke Divinity School

by AndyRowell

Dean L. Gregory Jones to step down at the end of the academic year for a new post at Duke. http://bit.ly/9ugapG

27 Jan 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Greg Jones will be senior advisor for international strategy for Duke University. Hays will be 2 yr interim dean while search is going on.

27 Jan 10

j_andersen Jonathan Andersen

by AndyRowell

Greg Jones to step down as Dean from Duke Divinity School March 1 & Dr. Richard Hays will be named Dean for a 2 year interim.

27 Jan 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Our baby due in May is a girl. We're excited. http://www.andyrowell.net/kids/2010/01/our-baby-due-in-may-is-a-girl.html

24 Jan 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Andrew Chignell, professor at Cornell, argues a new Wheaton College president should give faculty more wiggle room. http://bit.ly/6GHduN

14 Jan 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Fantastic 2009 books of the year awards by Hearts & Minds Bookstore (Dallastown, PA) owner @byronborger http://bit.ly/8NBJX8

13 Jan 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

A new interview with my adviser Richard B. Hays about his background, influences, and work http://bit.ly/7qYwbM

9 Jan 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Books I have been reading over the holidays: Cahn, Foss and Waters, Smith, Gladwell, Willimon, Miller-McLemore, Lewis http://bit.ly/6c0mnZ

9 Jan 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

New widgets for iGoogle.com: WSJ, NYT, Daily Beast, Weather Channel, WashPost, HuffPost. Go to "Add Stuff." Screenshot: http://bit.ly/4KsNtH

6 Jan 10

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Josh Rowley names best theology books of the decade: Long, Roxburgh, Placher, Broyles, Hooker, Wright, Walsh/Keesmat. http://bit.ly/86DAqm

31 Dec 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

A new interview with Stanley Hauerwas on leadership--a good glimpse into his wisdom, depth and warmth @faithleadership http://bit.ly/4y6Fyj

23 Dec 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Best Books Lists of 2009 http://bit.ly/66BKTc by Ben Myers @FaithTheology and @scotmcknight http://bit.ly/6tLSWV

21 Dec 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Movies that look fun and quality: in theaters: Avatar, Invictus, Fantastic Mr. Fox; on DVD: Julie and Julia. Up, Proposal & Earth were good.

20 Dec 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I commented on the article in The American Spectator entitled "Stanley Hauerwas's America" http://bit.ly/4PcAm0

19 Dec 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Just registered for the Wheaton Theology Conference April 16-17 with N.T. Wright (and Hays, Begbie, Vanhoozer, et al.) http://bit.ly/6CB0X5

18 Dec 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

After ch 3, I am loving Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell. Makes me think about parenting and habits. http://bit.ly/68QIty

18 Dec 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

A delightful day in the life of a pastor story by @pastorjdgreear about last night's accident with a truck with toys http://bit.ly/VsJaX

18 Dec 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

A very fine piece by @JasonByassee @faithleadership on Jaroslav Pelikan, creeds, and the work of the Spirit http://bit.ly/8jCtTy

18 Dec 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

"I like old Barth. He throws the furniture around." Flannery O'Connor. Letter to Brainard Cheney, 1963. http://bit.ly/7vQBHJ p. 181

18 Dec 09

dwcongdon David Congdon

by AndyRowell

RT @roflyer: Hauerwas' response to Obama's Nobel speech: http://bit.ly/7iyfDq

16 Dec 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I think Obama got the Christian just war tradition mostly right. H and S stress Christians primarily need to be proactive in peacemaking.

15 Dec 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Watch the 37 min. Dec. 10 Nobel Lecture by Obama on just war http://bit.ly/60eDlF and then listen to Hauerwas & Stassen http://bit.ly/5Y0wJa

15 Dec 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Google Wave as Group Sermon Preparation Tool @jonestony @DGShroyer @dalecarter http://bit.ly/7Kuscr Cf. Free for All http://bit.ly/8IJdwY

15 Dec 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

7 reasons I like John Howard Yoder and 7 new John Howard Yoder Books. http://bit.ly/6BJx2n

12 Dec 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

@GStephanopoulos received his master's degree in theology from Balliol College, Oxford University 1984. His father is Greek Orthodox priest.

11 Dec 09

faithleadership Faith & Leadership

by AndyRowell

John W. Kuykendall: Institutional leaders shouldn't say “my” church, faculty or institution, but “the church’s.” http://bit.ly/4A1t7n

8 Dec 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Celebrating Lesslie Newbigin's 100th Birthday Today with 10 Things You Probably Did Not Know About Him. See my post: http://bit.ly/6G766d

8 Dec 09

MaryShore Mary Hinkle Shore

by AndyRowell

What professors wish students knew about grading: http://tinyurl.com/ykcp8wx.

4 Dec 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Dan Wallace bemoans the prejudice against Dallas Theological Seminary graduates in Ph.D. admissions. 402 comments! http://bit.ly/87aSqx

3 Dec 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I commented on David Fitch's “You Must Admit You Are A Sinner!”: Why This Doesn’t Work in Post Christendom Evangelism http://bit.ly/5ipQxV

2 Dec 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I commented on Tim Keller's post "The Country Parson" http://bit.ly/6pFybV in which he recommends being a solo rural small church pastor.

2 Dec 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I made 2 comments about Hauerwas's Matthew Brazos Theological Commentary and Richard Hays at a post by Joel Willitts http://bit.ly/5szush

28 Nov 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I share a number of ways you can hear what is going on with Stanley Hauerwas at my post Memoir and Movies http://bit.ly/8PrFma

27 Nov 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I commented about Barth the pastor and Willimon the bishop at @ERBKS Brief Review: The Early Preaching of Karl Barth http://bit.ly/6XFIm5

27 Nov 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I recommend Up (rated PG)--out on DVD--the most joyful and beautiful film I have seen in a long time. http://bit.ly/8ih9oq

25 Nov 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I have now posted yesterday's Audio from SBL Deliverance of God session with Campbell, Gorman, Moo and Torrance http://bit.ly/5MEb5M #SBL09

24 Nov 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Audio from SBL: Gaventa, Hays and Gorman on "Romans as Christian Theology" http://bit.ly/6k8ZiN #SBL09

22 Nov 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Coming on May 15, 2010. "Hannah's Child: A Theologian's Memoir" by Stanley Hauerwas (Eerdmans). http://bit.ly/2NQDEw H/T Andy Goodliff

18 Nov 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Moo, Torrance, Gorman and Campbell said I can record and post SBL session on The Deliverance of God. http://bit.ly/38LqJE

16 Nov 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

John Flett is right. "Barth's theology underlies the missio Dei? No such connection exists." http://bit.ly/3CeVKr and http://bit.ly/2WlLXQ

15 Nov 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I highly recommend the audio of Will Willimon's workshop "Keeping Preaching Fresh." http://bit.ly/3DWGFJ or iTunes link http://bit.ly/bljXv

15 Nov 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Great interview with the interviewer Ken Myers. His thoughts on music are particularly provocative. http://bit.ly/SdjPW

15 Nov 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I tried to explain Hauerwas to people at the post @FaithTheology "Ask Hauerwas a question" http://bit.ly/nNIId

14 Nov 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

See the great post by Mark @Goodacre "How to enjoy SBL" http://bit.ly/yAbMN I gave my advice at http://bit.ly/1AbGTu #SBL09

14 Nov 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

My Guide to the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting 2009 http://bit.ly/1AbGTu #SBL09

13 Nov 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

Skye Jethani has put together a list of Church Leader / Celebrity Look Alikes. You don't want to miss it. http://bit.ly/ixWMS

10 Nov 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I made a comment on the post by Andy Crouch @ahc about the #9 most pop story at NYTimes about Kiva microfinance. http://bit.ly/3xUrqC

9 Nov 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I responded to comment by @JasonByassee @faithleadership about what evangelicals and mainliners think of each other http://bit.ly/2oKorb

9 Nov 09

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

I commented on "Twitter Theology" by @ScotMcKnight @OutofUr http://bit.ly/1S318C saying we should ask ourselves "Does it build up?"

9 Nov 09

»

AndyRowell Andy Rowell

See all of the early reviews of Douglas Campbell's The Deliverance of God--the most talked about book in NT right now. http://bit.ly/38LqJE

8 Nov 09 Favorite Reply Delete

Barth on Exegesis, Dogmatics, and Practical Theology

"Exactly halfway between exegesis and practical theology stands dogmatics, or more comprehensively expressed, systematic theology." Karl Barth, Dogmatics in Outline, p. 12. 

Thanks, Barth.  I had been wondering how I got here.  I guess I had been walking back and forth between the two sides and I must have sat down in the middle at some point.  You make systematic theology sound interested in Scripture and the practical--what a concept.

Note: Dogmatics in Outline are lectures Barth gave in Bonn, Germany in 1946.  The translation by G. T. Thomson is a little clunky.  It was his translation of Church Dogmatics I.1 that was later retranslated.

 

Reviews of Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas

Here are the links to six "major" reviews of Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas (Thomas Nelson, 2010) that I know of in the order they were published in the last year. Each argues that the anachronistic American conservative evangelical bias is the book's weakness.

 

 

"Bonhoeffer: The evangelical hero."

by Andy Rowell

Th.D. student at Duke Divinity School

Books & Culture

June 2010

http://www.booksandculture.com/articles/webexclusives/2010/june/bonhoeffer.html

 

"Review"

by Victoria Barnett

General Editor, Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works, English Edition and

Director of Church Relations, U. S. Holocaust Memorial Museum

Association of Contemporary Church Historians Newsletter

September 2010.

http://journal.ambrose.edu/ojs/index.php/acchquarterly/article/view/46/92

 

"Hijacking Bonhoeffer"

by Clifford Green

Executive director of Dietrich Bonhoeffer Works.

Christian Century

October 5, 2010

http://www.christiancentury.org/reviews/2010-09/hijacking-bonhoeffer

 

"Metaxas's Counterfeit Bonhoeffer: An Evangelical Critique"

by Richard Weikart

Department of History, California State University, Stanislaus and author of The Myth of Dietrich Bonhoeffer: Is His Theology Evangelical?

Reviewer's website.

January 2011

http://www.csustan.edu/history/faculty/weikart/Metaxas.htm

 

"The Grounds of Courage"

by Alan Wolfe

Professor of Political Science and Director of the Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life at Boston College

The New Republic

February 3, 2011

http://www.tnr.com/print/article/books-and-arts/magazine/81378/Dietrich-Bonhoeffer-pastor-martyr-spy

 

 

"Agenda-Driven Biography: Two very different tellings of the life and times of Dietrich Bonhoeffer."

By Nancy Lukens

Nancy Lukens is a retired University of New Hampshire professor of German and women’s studies. She has translated works by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Dorothee Soelle, and East German church leaders involved in the nonviolent opposition of the 1980s.

Sojourners

February 2011

http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=magazine.article&issue=soj1102&article=agenda-driven-biography

 

This last article by Lukens recommends

Dietrich Bonhoeffer 1906-1945: Martyr, Thinker, Man of Resistance by Ferdinand Schlingensiepen (T & T Clark; released in English in June 2010).  This is also the book that J. Kameron Carter is using in his Duke Divinity course this semester on Bonhoeffer.   

See my Dietrich Bonhoeffer category for more on Bonhoeffer.

 

Related:

The review by conservative reformed blogger Tim Challies (May 25, 2010) and his subsequent reflection Counterfeit Bonhoeffer (Jan 18, 2011)

 

Bonhoeffer and Anonymous Evangelicals
by Carl Trueman
January 18, 2011
Reformation 21 blog

 

Redeeming Bonhoeffer (The Book): The problem with Eric Metaxas's portrayal of the German hero as an evangelical.

by Jason B. Hood 

Christianity Today online

February 7, 2011