It’s common to hear athletes credit their success to God or thank God for a victory. Occasionally, sportswriters will question whether God cares about a particular athlete’s success or failure. After all, whether some player hits a three-pointer or catches a ball does seem far less important than Darfur, North Korea, or Iraq. Continue reading
In this post, Joe Carter respectfully disagrees with one of John Piper’s sermons, entitled “What Color Should Jesus Be?” (Friends who visit Carter’s post will recognize several of the paintings from my recent teaching series on world religions. I guess there are only so many public domain pictures of Jesus out there.)
Piper, in considering how Jesus should be portrayed, says (note that this is Carter’s transcription of the sermon),
But I think they should probably be black portrayals of Jesus, and white portrayals of Jesus, and Chinese portrayals of Jesus. And everybody knows that they’re not accurate. There isn’t one that’s accurate. That’s why it’s legitimate to do lots of inaccurate works. Because you just say we all know that we don’t know what he looked like so what we want to say with our inaccurate Jesus is something true about Jesus. Namely, he’s there for everybody. Continue reading
Yesterday, a person asked me how InterVarsity staff (like myself) are funded. In his words, he contrasted two models: what he called a “mission field” model of “not muzzling the ox” and being supported by donations, vs. a “tentmaker” model where I “earn my keep” by being paid for the work I produce. It was an honest question, and I think he was primarily trying to understand how InterVarsity works. But it’s a good question, and I’ve been thinking about it a lot this morning.
My position (ESN Associate Director) is funded by those individuals and churches who share my concern and vision for the university, and who want to partner with me financially and prayerfully in this ministry. I believe that this is a Biblical model (not “the” Biblical model, though), and I also think it makes sense in a general, nonprofit sort of way. When I’m wearing my other hat, I work with several hundred Greater Cincinnati nonprofits, so I think I have a good perspective on the nonprofit world. Continue reading
While reading a completely unrelated online discussion, I came across this strangely worded description of Jesus. The writer, who is not a Christian and was uncertain whether Jesus even existed, referred to him as “this alleged mortal.” This phrase stuck with me.
Who else in history could be called an “alleged mortal”? Who else lived a life, proclaimed teachings, and died a death so striking that even someone who doubts his very existance can only say that Jesus was “allegedly” mortal?Â
I recently attended the IICS Vision Conference and listened to Dr. J. P. Moreland of Biola University.  Dr. Moreland is a gifted philosopher who deals in both academic philosophy and popular apologetics. His topic – “How to Present an Exclusive Jesus in an Inclusive World” – laid out a philosophic argument for Christianity as the true religion. Towards the end, he described 4 criteria for choosing which religion to follow. The fourth and final criterion was
Pick a religion where you get all of Jesus, instead of a watered-down version of him.
A person in the audience asked whether he was stacking the deck here by making Jesus a focal person in any religion. Dr. Moreland replied, no, because every religion claims Jesus as their own. Muslims call Jesus the greatest of prophets. Buddhists claim Jesus as a bodhisatva. “Jesus is the greatest figure who ever lived,” said Dr. Moreland, and everyone wants a piece of him.
In case you hadn’t heard, Pope Benedict reiterated the official Catholic position that Protestant churches are not “full churches,” since they are not “governed by the successor of Peter and the Bishops in communion with him.” Instead, they are “ecclesial communities.”Â
Some good coverage:
I don’t have anything original to contribute to this discussion, but, a few years ago, Miroslav Volf wrote a terrific book entitled After Our Likeness: The Church As the Image of the Trinity
I found the book to be very helpful in thinking about my church, which comes from a nondenominational, nonsacramental tradition. Historically, these types of churches have not had a strong ecclesiology (theology of the church). Volf helped me to develop my thinking of a Scriptural foundation for the free church style of church governance, based on the intentional gathering of Christians. I strongly recommend it for anyone who, like me, loves the church and sees it as integral to God’s Kingdom. Â
UPDATE: Christianity Today has linked to an editorial they wrote back in 2000 about these same issues. Very positive view of the Vatican’s position as a way forward, since it recognizes Protestants as fellow Christians.
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