parables of a prodigal world

As the political atmosphere in this presidential election year begins to heat up, and Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, et al., go around promising salvation/resurrection from the George W. Bush era, I'm sensing and hearing a lot of voices, some loud, some quieter, either wondering or exclaiming whether or how the Gospel of Jesus Christ speaks to the issue of politics and power in general, or to specific political issues in particular. The issue is, of course, complex and dense, but let me throw my two cents into the mix, not as an answer, but as a signpost to the answer. Have you ever tried to read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—imagine that you are doing so for the first time—while consciously suspending any familiarity and presupposition? It is a very interesting thought experiment. Were you to do so, it would be difficult to avoid the realization that the Gospels are not primarily theological discourses. They are, at their most basic level, political stories, stories about a man wh...

The Preface of The Living Word of God is meant as an overarching introduction to the central question to be tackled in the book, which is "What does it mean to say that the Bible is both fully human and fully divine. Witherington makes clear that he will emphasize the "fully human" portion to the extent that it has been marginalized by much Christian doctrinal thought throughout history. He summarizes his position as follows: "The Bible, including the New Testament--our primary concern in this study--has always been seen as the word of God in the words of human beings, and the contribution of the latter has normally been recognized as considerable." And as Witherington develops that position, it becomes clear that the involvement of human beings will introduce a level of "humanness" to the text, which can also be called a level of messiness or instability or (that blasphemous word) subjectivity , not as much personal as cultural/historical. To that e...

I will admit that this is the first book I have (began to) read of Witherington's trilogy on the central ordinances of the Christian faith (baptism, the Lord's Supper, and the Bible), though it is itself the third installment. But I must also admit that my heart is always more drawn to books that discuss the authority of the Bible more so than those concerning baptism or the Eucharist, for reasons I'm not sure I can articulate, but I suspect may be calling-related. In any event, I'll be posting a lot more about the book in the days to come, at least until I get my pre-U.S.-release copy of N.T. Wright's Surprised by Hope that I just ordered from Amazon UK, because I'm just that much of an N.T. Wright nut and simply couldn't wait for the mid-February U.S. release. But a funny thing happened on my way to Chapter 1. Witherington actually utilizes a snippet, as a pre-introduction to the book, from one of my favorite N.T. Wright essays of all time, How Can the Bi...

I apologize to anyone who might have grown accustomed to this blog's theme for today's post, but today is personal, today is special. Today is my wife's birthday, her 30th birthday. And I can think of nothing more profound, more theological, more interesting or more relevant in my life than to say... Happy Birthday, Sweetheart. I love you. No, I agape you. Thank you for teaching me how to love, what it means to love. I pray every day that I can one day become worthy of your love, though I know that that is something you would never think to pray, which is why I love you so much. Your beloved husband and partner in this life, and forever, Raffi