parables of a prodigal world

Part 5 of 7: When we say "God became flesh at Christmas," which "god" are we talking about? N.T. Wright often recounts the time when he was a college chaplain at Oxford and one of his duties was to greet the undergraduate freshmen and let them know that he would be available for them if they ever wanted to talk, etc. He remembers that some of the students would say to him something to the effect of, "Thank you for the offer, but you probably won't be seeing much of me because, you see, I don't believe in God," to which he would routinely reply, "Really? Which 'god' is it that you don't believe in?" Most of the students would stumble out a few popular notions about this 'god,' like "A being who sits up in the sky and looks down disapprovingly at the world, who occasionally intervenes with 'miracles,' and who will eventually send bad people to hell and good people to heaven," to which he would respond, ...

We interrupt the "Countdown to Christmas" to bring you this link to a new interview with N.T. Wright. Enjoy. Grace and Peace, Raffi

Less than one week to Christmas. Got all your shopping done yet? As the final madness approaches, please join me for 7 days and 7 stories/blurbs/video/audio/etc. about how we may re-imagine, re-appropriate, and re-learn how to celebrate the story of the Lord of the World arriving in a feeding trough in the middle of the night, the bastard this-worldly son of an unwed mother, destined to become the most climactic figure in all history by accepting the call to embody the fullness of His other-worldly Father. It's not quite poetry; it's not quite an essay; I call it a "manifesto." It's perhaps the most poignant modern writing on Christmas I've yet found. May it challenge you and focus your perspective, as it did mine. Part 4 of 7: The Christmas Manifesto There is a better thing than the observance of Christmas day,and that is, keeping Christmas. Are you willing… to forget what you have done for other people, and to remember what other people have done for you; t...

We interuput the "Countdown to Christmas" to bring you a link to this great new post , Enjoy. Grace and Peace, Raffi

Less than one week to Christmas. Got all your shopping done yet? As the final madness approaches, please join me for 7 days and 7 stories/blurbs/video/audio/etc. about how we may re-imagine, re-appropriate, and re-learn how to celebrate the story of the Lord of the World arriving in a feeding trough in the middle of the night, the bastard this-worldly son of an unwed mother, destined to become the most climactic figure in all history by accepting the call to embody the fullness of His other-worldly Father. Nothing like a good old "Top 10" list when the ol' creative juices start running dry, or when the ol' hard drive crashes. Whoever sent me that virus, God loves you and forgives you, and so will I...just not today. Part 3 of 7: Top 10 Chrsitmas Quotes 10. Once again we find ourselves enmeshed in the Holiday Season, that very special time of year when we join with our loved ones in sharing centuries-old traditions such as trying to find a parking space at the mall. We...

Less than one week to Christmas. Got all your shopping done yet? As the final madness approaches, please join me for 7 days and 7 stories/blurbs/video/audio/etc. about how we may re-imagine, re-appropriate, and re-learn how to celebrate the story of the Lord of the World arriving in a feeding trough in the middle of the night, the bastard this-worldly son of an unwed mother, destined to become the most climactic figure in all history by accepting the call to embody the fullness of His other-worldly Father. Ever notice how cute and cuddly Baby Jesus usually looks in those Nativity scenes? "Cute and cuddly" is not how N.T. Wright would describe the baby. Part 2 of 7: The Most Dangerous Baby Ever Born Grace and Peace, Raffi

One week to Christmas. Got all your shopping done yet? As the final madness approaches, please join me for 7 days and 7 stories/blurbs/video/audio/etc. about how we may re-imagine, re-appropriate, and re-learn how to celebrate the story of the Lord of the World arriving in a feeding trough in the middle of the night, the bastard this-worldly son of an unwed mother, destined to become the most climactic figure in all history by accepting the call to embody the fullness of His other-worldly Father. Part 1 of 7: What If...? Grace and Peace, Raffi

My friend Christopher over at TaylorWest and I have been engaging in a stimulating conversation, generally about Piper's critique of N.T. Wright in The Future of Justification , but more specifically about some of the overarching methods/assumptions of Wright and other proponents of the so-called "New Perspective on Paul." Christopher threw the ball in my court with the following, and since it brings up an important point that I believe is being marginalized in the overall discussion of the NPP , I thought I'd just devote a post to it: If I’m not mistaken, the NPP can all be boiled down to these two statements:1) We now know, through our research of Second Temple Judaism, that the Jews in Palestine were essentially a faithful people, attempting to please God by living obedient lives through faith in the promises of God. By in large, Israel was not a legalistic nation that was seeking to earn God’s favor by doing the works of the law. Rather, they acknowledged that,...

There has been much commentary on the theological implications stemming from the "New Perspective on Paul," both positive and negative, and usually focusing on the views of N.T. Wright, the most prominent spokesperson of the NPP. Some random samplings from the blogosphere, just from the last few days, can be found here , here , here , here , here , and here . I can join in on the theological musings, analyze the pros and cons of the NPP, but I think others are better equipped to do so. What I wanted to introduce into the debate is this. The NPP was a subset of an overall shift in Christian theology to try to view the New Testament within the 1st century Jewish categories in which it was written. Again, I could ramble on for pages an pages about why that overarching paradigm shift was necessary, but I think the point is better made from a random sampling of Christian art through the centuries. This sampling concerns "the Parable of the Prodigal Son," which happens to...