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Continue reading →: Jesus as Teacher of Moral TransformationI have often wondered why Evangelicals tend to imitate the teaching style of Paul more than Jesus, even though Jesus was clearly a popular and profound teacher. What would it mean to teach more like Jesus? Here are some reflections on Jesus as Teacher by Nicholas C. Burbules: As with…
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Continue reading →: Mikhail Epstein on Post-AtheismSome interesting remarks by Mikhail Epstein on Post-Atheism in Eastern Europe: “What we are facing is an extreme form of apophaticism, in which God appears as the radically Other, the Stranger, irrevocably distant from humans.” “Contemporary culture is religious in the sense that it is looking for nothing other than Otherness…
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Continue reading →: Theology for Knowing the UnknowableI have long had a facination with Mystical Theology, which is also know as Apophatic Theology or Negative Theology. If you share these interests in any way, one book I have found quite accessible as an evangelical Christian is “The Mystery of God: Theology for Knowing the Unknowable” but Christopher…
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Continue reading →: Negative Theology, Christologically TransfiguredThe following quote touches on why I am uncomfortable with the abstracted God of much medieval mysticism, despite the fact I consider mysef a mystic. It is because their negative (apophatic) theology becomes disengaged from the gospel, whereas I am seeking a negative theology that is grounded in the gospel.…
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Continue reading →: Would You Say Legalism Is As Satanic As Licence?Would you say legalism is as Satanic as license? I ask this question because it came to mind after some Atheists I know started talking about Satanism, LaVey and the Hebrew roots of the word Satan. I couldn’t help thinking of this image, “Get Thee Behind Me Satan” by James Tissot.…
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Continue reading →: Christian Guideposts on ChiThose of you interested in engaging with the concept of Chi and the related disciplines of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Martial Arts, Fung Shui and so forth, would be well advised to read Christian Guideposts on Chi: An Evangelical Assessment of Chi and Related Activities by Brett Yardley. Here are a…
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Continue reading →: Christ Centred, Esoteric FlavouredSo what does C4 contextualisation look like for me, given that the Western esoteric community is my “indigenous” context? For me C4 contextualisation means a kind of Christianity that is esoteric flavoured yet still fundamentally Christ centred. It is not a haphazard syncretism; it is not merely a Christian veneer…
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Continue reading →: Western Esotericism: It’s Six Characteristics According to FaivreSurely one of the most useful definitions of Western esotericism I have ever come across (also Western occult tradition, Western hermetic tradition, Western mystery tradition) is that of Antoine Faivre, the first to define Western esotericism as a field of interdisciplinary academic study. In his book Western Esotericism, Faivre listed…
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Continue reading →: Models of ContextualizationI know many of you missional types have heard of the Engel Scale but what about the C-Scale or “C1 – C6 Spectrum” of Church Contextualisation? It was first coined by a missionary, John Travis (a pseudonym), in his article: “Must all Muslims leave Islam to Follow Jesus?” Writing for…
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Continue reading →: Reframing what it means to be the Messiah“Jesus’ way of expressing his transcendent self-understanding was by using metaphorical language, symbolic gestures, and actions that, in the light of the Old Testament, had messianic overtones. The indirectness was necessary not only because Jesus was suggesting something that went beyond ordinary and popular understandings of what mashiach would be…
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