I’ve been revisiting Philip J. Lee’s incisive study Against the Protestant Gnostics (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987) in anticipation of lecturing on the life and work of the second century Church Father Irenaeus. Lee’s diagnosis of Protestant Gnosticism seems just as apt in 2019 as when he first published the book some thirty years ago. Here’s a few quotes from a chapter entitled, “Results of a Gnosticized Protestantism” that caught my attention. Continue reading American Protestant Gnosticism
Category Archives: Books
Minding the Web on Kindle
Minding the Web: Making Theological Connections by Stanley Hauerwas with Robert J. Dean is now available for Kindle on Amazon.
America’s and Niverville’s Best Theologians
I was caught by surprise this morning when upon opening the town newspaper, the Niverville Citizen, I was confronted by my own face and that of Stanley Hauerwas staring back up at me. The article fittingly appears directly above a piece on the “Bear-y Holiday Musical” staged by the local elementary school, in which my kids participated. You can read the full article here. Continue reading America’s and Niverville’s Best Theologians
A Poor Church-Growth Strategy? (Series on “Minding the Web”)
“That we are taught to confess our sin, particularly during Lent, is not something to which we look forward. We are not at all sure an emphasis on sin is a good idea. We are in a time of a dramatic loss in membership in mainline Protestantism. We need to attract new people. Telling people they are possessed by sin does not sound like a good church-growth strategy. Continue reading A Poor Church-Growth Strategy? (Series on “Minding the Web”)
A Lifetime Project (Series on “Minding the Web”)
“One of the great advantages of being a Christian is that we are in a lifetime project to discover how to confess our sins. To be able to confess our sins is a theological achievement that our baptisms have made possible. For sin, as Karl Barth maintained, is only known in the light of Christ. Thus from Barth’s perspective, our fundamental sin consists in the presumption that we can know our sin without having become a disciple of Christ. In short, to be a Christian means we must be trained to be a sinner. Continue reading A Lifetime Project (Series on “Minding the Web”)
The Apocalyptic Advent which Stories the World
In the midst of this Advent season of waiting, I received an early taste of Christmas yesterday with the arrival of my author copies of Minding the Web.
Continue reading The Apocalyptic Advent which Stories the World