Most of the usual crew join this conversation on Christian’s attempt to recover the past, especially through liturgical forms of worship. We’re talking about a two part series by Alastair Roberts (part one is here, part two will be added when it is published). In any case, we chat about some of mixed motives, confusion about the nature of the past, and some of our misguided ideas about what it means for the liturgy to “form” us. We hope you’ll profit from the discussion.
Soli Deo Gloria
If you follow any discussions about the Trinity nowadays, you’re likely to hear the idea of “perichoresis”, or the mutual indwelling of the Father, Son, and Spirit. It’s long been a piece of trinitarian theology. But does it and should it have applications elsewhere in our theology? Like our doctrine of humanity, or our view of creation? That’s the issue we take up this week on Mere Fidelity as we interact with this article by Peter Leithart.
Hope you enjoy the show.
Also, you may find this article by Karen Kilby helpful, as well.
Soli Deo Gloria
This week on Mere Fidelity we had the pleasure of having Collin Hansen on to talk about his new book Blind Spots. Don’t worry, though, it’s not just a book plug episode. There was plenty of feistiness, charitable but substantial engagement, and, of course, me stumbling about trying to find something intelligent to say.
But really, I think Collin’s book raises a number of important issue and so does the conversation we have with him. I hope it challenges and encourages you.
Now, while the conversation wasn’t a plug, I did write one for the book for Christ and Pop Culture. Here’s the intro:
ne of the reasons I hated moving from my mid-size SUV down to an old sedan after my first car died was the fact that it was so short. I was used to riding up high, feeling like I could see most things, but now, in the smaller vehicle I felt exposed and off-kilter. Driving on the freeway was particularly annoying as I would frequently find myself being surprised by cars coming up on my sides. It appeared my blind spots had expanded. Now, fortunately, I knew what was going on and so I was able to correct for it.
But what about the blind spots you don’t know you have? Those are the most dangerous of all. And they can happen anywhere, can’t they? Not only on the road, but in our daily life of interpersonal interaction with friends, family, the broader culture, and even the Church. All too often, our conversations break down, our relationships fail, and even our unity is ruptured because we’re operating without an awareness of our blind spots–so we’re not prepared to correct for them. Collin Hansen’s new book, Blind Spots: Becoming a Courageous, Compassionate, and Commissioned Church is aimed at helping the Church, which Crossway has graciously made available for free to Christ and Pop Culture members. In a nutshell, Hansen offers his readers a brief theology of the importance of respecting the diverse experiences within the Church for the sake of the Church’s ability to follow Jesus.
Many of you are probably not Christ and Pop Culture members, though you should be, but you can still read the rest of my comments here.
Soli Deo Gloria
In case anybody’s been wondering why there have been no posts this week, I’ve been at The Gospel Coalition’s 2015 National Conference for the last few days. I have to say, it’s been a blast, though I am not quite exhausted. That said, we did record a very interesting episode of Mere Fidelity last week concerning the issue of Christendom and whether it’s appropriate for the Church and the Gospel to have some position of privilege in society, or if so, how? We touch on this in light of recent discussions concerning Church and State, power, marriage, and so forth.
Also, Matt wonders whether having a Queen might be a desirable thing.
I pray this blesses you. It certainly ought to challenge you.
Soli Deo Gloria
This week we chatted about just war theory and nonviolence/pacifism. Is is ever okay for Christians to go to war? What’s the difference between police activity and the law-keeping function of the State among the nations? What counts as violence? Stuff like that.
To do that we invited on our friend Preston Sprinkle as a guest and had a rip-roaring good time. No joke, not only was this a great conversation, it’s probably one of the funniest episodes we’ve ever recorded.
As always, feel free to share this around.
Soli Deo Gloria
A couple weeks ago my review of Todd Billings’ excellent new book Rejoicing in Lament went up. This week I have the pleasure sharing a podcast we recorded with him chatting about it. Todd is rich in insight and wisdom and thankfully he does most of the talking this show. I highly recommend it.
Soli Deo Gloria
We have a growing culture of public shaming. Or at least that’s one possible conclusion from an interesting NY Times essay on the phenomenon. We decided that we should take up the question of what such public shaming means for us as Christians. So we did.
As always, if you found this helpful, feel free to share with others.
Soli Deo Gloria
A few months ago I review Joshua Ryan Butler’s new book The Skeletons in God’s Closet. You can read that here.
Well, we decided to have him on an episode of Mere Fidelity to have a chat. That episode is here.
And yes, for those of you who were wondering, this podcast is still a thing. We just needed a new sound editor.
Enjoy!
This week’s Mere Fidelity finds Andrew, Matt, Alastair, and myself talking about the things that gave us cheer throughout the year. Apparently, that involves making fun of my driving skills, talking about books, laughing, and discovering Alastair has been knitting the whole time. Enjoy.
Soli Deo Gloria
I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to post, but this episode went up last week. We chat about Peter Enns’ review of Andrew’s review of Enns’ book. It makes sense on the show.
Soli Deo Gloria
incompletely reformed thoughts on God, ministry, and life
incompletely reformed thoughts on God, ministry, and life
incompletely reformed thoughts on God, ministry, and life
incompletely reformed thoughts on God, ministry, and life
incompletely reformed thoughts on God, ministry, and life
incompletely reformed thoughts on God, ministry, and life
incompletely reformed thoughts on God, ministry, and life
incompletely reformed thoughts on God, ministry, and life
incompletely reformed thoughts on God, ministry, and life
incompletely reformed thoughts on God, ministry, and life
Biblical Studies, Theology, and Pastoral Ministry
flotsam, jetsam, messages in bottles
incompletely reformed thoughts on God, ministry, and life
Reformedish 