“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. (more…)
Tag: Hauerwas
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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. -
Providence Press Release for “Minding the Web”
Providence University College and Theological Seminary has issued a press release for Minding the Web: Making Theological Connections, the recently published book that I’ve worked on with Stanley Hauerwas. The press release includes some quotes from both myself and Hauerwas, alongside of other information about the book. You can read the full release here: http://www.prov.ca/news/theological-seminary/providence-professor-dr-robert-dean-illumines-work-of-theological-spider-man-dr-stanley-hauerwas-in-new-book/
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A People Who Wait (Series on “Minding the Web”)
“Advent is a time that rightly begins the church year. But as Christians we wait not only at Advent. Rather, waiting is a time that is constitutive of every time of the church year. (more…)
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Creatures of Time (Series on “Minding the Web”)
“Advent is a time the church has given us in the hope we can learn to wait. To learn to wait is to learn how to recognize we are creatures of time. Time is a gift and a threat. Time is a gift and a threat because we are bodily creatures. (more…)
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A Timely Word for Christ the King Sunday (Series on “Minding the Web”)
“I have called attention to the kind of authority Jesus and Paul enact as a way to suggest that there may be some tension between the political order that is the church and that form of social and political organization called democracy. I need not tell you this is the day Americans elect their president and a host of other offices. We will be told this is the day the people rule. That sounds like a good idea, but you need to remember that there was a democratic moment in the Gospels, and the people asked for Barabbas. (more…)
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No Humility without Humiliation (Series on “Minding the Web”)
“Humility, of course, is a tricky virtue. Have you ever known of anyone who successfully tried to be humble? Humility is usually something that happens to us, rather than something we do. I was once having a conversation with a friend in Ireland about sexual misconduct by priests. I asked him if the acknowledgment of this crime as sin might teach the church humility. He thought for a short time and then said, “Possibly, because there is no humility without humiliation.” The tax collector was humiliated, which made him an appropriate witness to the one alone worthy of worship.” (more…)
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All Truth Will Finally Testify to the Trinity (Series on “Minding the Web”)
“Because God is Trinity, Christians have no fear of the truth no matter where it may be found. Jesus tells his disciples that the Spirit of truth will guide them into all truth. All that is has been created by the Holy Spirit, so that all truth testifies to the one who makes the Father known. (more…)
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The Plague of Trinity Sunday Preaching (Series on “Minding the Web”)
“This is Trinity Sunday. Across Christendom preachers are trying to explain “Trinity” to their congregations. God is one, but God is three. How can one be three we ask? Attempts to explain the Trinity I fear often result not only in dull sermons but, even worse, heresy. Even more debilitating is the reality that the heresy evoked by such attempts is not recognized as heresy. It is not even clear if the person that represents the heresy thinks being a heretic is a “bad thing.” (more…)
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The Fears of the Courageous (Series on “Minding the Web”)
“Who you are, moreover, makes all the difference. The courageous know fears the coward can never know. Of course, cowards may be overwhelmed with fear, but they do not know the fears of the courageous, because the fears of the courageous are fears honed by being courageous. (more…)
