|
mbjones
|
read my profile
sign my guestbook
Name: Brandon
Birthday: 10/25/1981
Interests: Christianity, Music, Books, Computers, Cooking, Life in general
Expertise: Computers and Making cheesecakes. Don't believe me? I've got many references for each...
Message: message me
Website: visit my website
AIM:  kardee25
Member Since:
7/31/2005
|
|
SubscriptionsSites I Read
|
|
|
|
| This past week while on vacation I had the opportunity to do a lot of reading. I finished *Church After Christendom* by Stuart Murray and *Resident Aliens* by Stanley Hauerwas and started *Transforming Mission: Paradigm Shifts in Theology of Mission* by David Bosch. This last book that I just started has been on my reading list for quite some time and I'm quite glad of that, only wishing that I had had the opportunity to read it sooner. As the name implies, it is an in depth theology of mission for our time. It starts with historical overviews of missions throughout the ages before arriving at our post-modern age though. Its starting point is missiology in the New Testament (and this is what I'm still going through). It's a work to trudge through though as the pages are littered with gems that I hadn't really ever thought of / taken into account / put together before.
This brings me to the topic at hand: Dikaiosyne in Matthew. Matthew is the first major Biblical New Testament text examined, chosen for obvious reasons: the frequently quoted "Great Commission" that closes the book. Bosch though contends that an average reading of this challenge without the context of the preceding text misses much of the point and as such he spends much time developing the concepts of missiology throughout the Gospel of Matthew. One of those areas is the inseparability of God's reign and Dikaiosyne.
Dikaiosyne is a Greek word. In mythological Greek texts, Dikaiosyne as a proper noun is the spirit of justice and righteousness. Pertinent to the Biblical text, it is either translated as *righteousness* (one of God's attributes and something we "get" from God through justification) or *justice* (our conduct in relation to our fellow man which seeks for them that which they have a right to). In Matthew, it is exclusively translated as righteousness to the detriment of the inherent richness in this word. In *Transforming Mission*, Bosch says, "...we should translate it with justice-righteousness, in an attempt to hold on to both dimensions...it is *doing* the *will of God*...[and]...relates to both God and neighbor." The two dimensions that he is talking about is the *constitutive* (God's justification of us which makes us holy and righteous) and the normative (a people of God's reign ministering to others the same justice they have experienced from God). In my mind this is quite powerful and radical and evokes new emotion/meditation when reading these passages. Here are a few as examples:
>Mt 5:6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for dikaiosyne (righteousness/justice), for they will be satisfied."
>Mt 5:10 "Blessed are those who are persecuted for dikaiosyne (righteousness/justice), for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them."
>Mt 5:20 "For I tell you, unless your dikaiosyne (righteousness/justice) goes beyond that of the experts in the law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."
>Mt 6:33 "But above all pursue his kingdom and dikaiosyne (righteousness/justice), and all these things will be given to you as well."
Re-adding the element of justice into these verses really brings the hammer down on us; no longer do they entail an individualistic sense of spirituality (our own righteousness before God) but added is our neighbor in relation to us. And something to remember -- adding an element of justice does not remove the element of righteousness. We cannot replace one for the other (creating the liberal notion of a purely social gospel) rather they work hand in hand.
Take this for what its worth; I found it worth sharing and preserving and hope someone else out there might as well.
| | |
| I read something today that struck me as interesting. It was a mocking of John Eldredge's new followup book to *Wild At Heart*. While admittedly more pop psychology than Biblical truth I don't think it deserves the ribbing it gets [here][1]. The major complaint, really the only complaint listed, gets to the heart of who God is making it an important issue.
[1]:http://www.challies.com/archives/002153.php
To quickly sum up the above link, Tim Challies takes issue with the romantic language used in association with God. It stems from Eldredge's notion that God has wooed him with heart symbols, found in rocks or clouds or whatever. Challies particularly has issue with any notions of pseudo-sexual qualities attributed to the love of God.
Back to why I find this important: as Tozer says, "What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us." Our image of God shapes how we view the Gospel, it shapes how we relate to God and ultimately how we relate to others as well. If we err by placing too much emphasis on one aspect or another we miss the entire picture. At its worst, doing so can build idols in regards to how we think about God. Another book I recently read put it like this: "To take our ideas of the divine and hold them as if they correspond to the reality of God is thus to construct a conceptual idol built from the materials of our mind." (Peter Rollins, *How (Not) to Speak of God*) By emphasizing one aspect of God at the derision of another, we lay the groundwork for idolizing it.
####So Who is God??
From my (admittedly limited) experience in conceptualizing God, I have found our view of God is best rooted in trinitarian theology. We can't separate our view of God from the Trinity. If we are to attribute roles to God we must begin there. The three persons of the trinity are (a) God the Father, (b) Jesus the Son and (c) the helper Holy Spirit. From exploring these persons, here is the beginning of a list of possible roles attributable to God:
* Father
* Husband
* Friend
* Helper
* Judge
* Defense
* Lover
* Prosecutor
* Shepherd
I'm still mulling everything from the link over (both in the post and in the comments). The only conclusion I have so far as that it errs in painting a true picture of God. I admit to not liking the whole "Jesus is my boyfriend" notion of modern Christianity (particularly in worship songs). There are even some I naturally shy away from singing because of the content. But at the core of God there is an aspect of His nature that relates to us in this way and we'd be wise to keep this in mind. If time allows I think this might be a notion that I will continue to explore (namely who God is), looking at the various roles above and others I haven't yet mentioned. Any thoughts about the nature of God or roles that should be added?
| | |
| News to myself and many others is the fact that the stingrays have gone on the offensive. No more are they the docile creatures we once thought. They now have more in common with the pitbull than a furry underwater creature. Not only did we lose the greatest crocodile hunter ever to the sting of their sharp barb but now we almost lost a grandfather taking his two granddaughters for an ocean boat ride. What in the world did the human race do to make them mad? For the unaware, A leaping stingray stabbed an 81-year-old Florida boater in the chest, authorities said Wednesday, leaving its poisonous stinger lodged close to his heart in an incident recalling the one that killed Australian TV naturalist Steve Irwin last month. From CNN I will be the first to extend a hand in peace to your increasingly violent race, oh stingrays. Please, stop the jihad. Should you refuse we WILL eliminate you with extreme prejudice. | | |
|
On a dark night,
Kindled in love with yearnings
–oh, happy chance!–
I went forth without being observed,
My house being now at rest.
In darkness and secure,
By the secret ladder, disguised
–oh, happy chance!–
In darkness and in concealment,
My house being now at rest.
In the happy night,
In secret, when none saw me,
Nor I beheld aught,
Without light or guide,
save that which burned in my heart.
This light guided me
More surely than the light of noonday
To the place where he
(well I knew who!) was awaiting me
– A place where none appeared.
Oh, night that guided me,
Oh, night more lovely than the dawn,
Oh, night that joined
Beloved with lover,
Lover transformed in the Beloved!
Upon my flowery breast,
Kept wholly for himself alone,
There he stayed sleeping,
and I caressed him,
And the fanning of the cedars made a breeze.
The breeze blew from the turret
As I parted his locks;
With his gentle hand
He wounded my neck
And caused all my senses to be suspended.
I remained, lost in oblivion;
My face I reclined on the Beloved.
All ceased and I abandoned myself,
Leaving my cares
forgotten among the lilies.
~On A Dark Night by St. John of the Cross
| | |
|
Holly
tagged me to do this. Because I like books, I’ll actually post it here
(this is one of the better meme type things that I’ve seen).
- Changed your life: Christianity Rediscovered by Vincent Donovan
- Read more than once: Magnus by Sigmund Brouwer
- Want on a desert island: Holly gave a series so I’m going to presume that I can do more than one: the Bible, Magnus, the Count of Monte Cristo
- Made you laugh (giggle): Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
- If you’ve seen the movies or plays, the book is hilarious: I’m
making up a new category - Fiction book you’ve related to the most: Visitation by Frank Peretti
- Made you cry: I’m a man. I don’t cry. New category: Best book you wouldn’t have read had no one tricked you into it: Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
- Wish had been written: fiction – more Sigmund Brouwer books like Magnus
- Wish had never been written: the Illuminatus Trilogy creeped me out
(couldn’t even finish it) so I’ll say that one. It’s complete skubala.
- Currently reading: Atonement for a ‘Sinless’ Society by Alan Mann, Created for Community by Stanley Grenz, Theology of the Old Testament by Walter Brueggemann
- Fact or fiction: I only read fiction until college. During college
I had no time to read extra-curricular material. After college I’ve
almost exclusively read non-fiction (with a few notable exceptions)
- Awesome book that is empowering me: We’ll take off the empowering bit and say How (Not) to Speak of God by Peter Rollins
- Meaning to read: Exclusion and Embrace: a Theological Exploration of Identity, Otherness and Reconciliation by Miroslav Volf, Post-Christendom: Church and Mission in a Strange New World by Stuart Murray and Transforming Mission by David Bosch
And I’ll tag Jennie, Chris, Daniel P. and Neal to do this. I would tag Daniel K. but we all know he doesn’t read.
| | |
|
