I had a preaching free Sunday, so no sermon notes today, but instead I thought I would point you to some blogs I think are worth looking at.
In my opinion, the gold standard is undoubtedly Scot McKnight’s Jesus Creed. Most often there are 4 posts per day (no idea how he manages that – though he is not the sole author), and whilst topics are largely theological in nature, the overall coverage is broad and always interesting. At times it is fairly specialized, but most are accessible to anyone ready for a theology 101 course. Comments (which usually flow thick and fast) reflect a diverse range of readers, and the discussion that follows is often fascinating. The two posts I especially enjoyed this week were When Silence is Not so Golden which explores the risk of using arguments from silence (e.g. Jesus never said anything about… and therefore it couldn’t matter so much), and His Challenge is Scripture, an essentially critical look at Luke Timothy Johnson’s book The Revelatory Body: Theology as Inductive Art, which explores the ever controversial topic of post-biblical revelation, Johnson provocatively claiming that those who feel that the Bible contains all that we need have adopted a view which ‘posits a God who is no longer active – in effect, a dead god.'(231) See what you think of the post.
Of course I am a little biased in my highlighting of Scot’s blog, as Scot is a great friend of Vose Seminary, and has been good enough to post reviews of my book The Big Picture (two actually, here is the second), and The Tortoise Usually Wins.
Dr Michael O’Neil is the director of research at Vose, and hosts a blog Theology and Church: Scripture, Theology and the Obedience of Faith. It reviews some great books. See the 2 part 7 and 8 October review of Beth Felker Jones’ Faithful: A Theology of Sex – which is pertinent in the light of some of the recent posts on this blog. Here is a great quote from the book:
Early Christianity was bold enough to imagine that all of us have—in Christ—the freedom to bear witness to who God is. The Christian understanding of sex was dramatic in the ways that it ran against Roman sexual morality. Roman women were not free to not marry. Christian women could choose—even insist on—celibacy. For Christians, women aren’t property or baby makers. We’re witnesses to the life of Jesus Christ in our bodies. Including in the ways we choose to have and not have sex. For Christians, men aren’t lust machines or power mongers. They’re witnesses to the life of Jesus Christ in their bodies, including in the ways they choose to have and not have sex. … In Rome, you were either a slave or you were free. In the kingdom of God, we’re all free. As a witness to this, we value singleness and marriage as two routes, two ways of life, in which the Christian may be truly sexual and truly free. (71-72)
And there is a lot more good stuff on the blog. Michael is a Barth specialist, and his posts often reflect this. Some of it is pitched more for those who are at a theology 201 (or even 301) level – but hey, if that’s not you, why not make the stretch?
I am always especially delighted when students decide to start blogging. Assignment writing clearly sparks a love to write a lot more. Vose student Larissa Gow has recently launched a blog, larissagow Conversations that matter. The opening post asks ‘What chapter in life are you in?’ Worth giving it a look.
Well, hope you enjoy these sites – and I am insecure enough to add, but do keep coming back here as well.
Nice chatting…
Great! Thanks Brian!