andygoodliff

responding to the problem of evil

The problem of evil is a topic that many school students will encounter in their RE classes at school. Its a regular topic, which I've introduced to year 7 (11-12yr olds), year 9 (13-14yr olds) and GCSE classes (14-16yr olds). I know its also look at in many a-level (16-18yr olds) syllabuses. Its also one of those frequently asked questions by those who question belief in God. Yesterday I got myself a copy of Raging with Compassion: Pastoral Responses to the Problem of Evil by John Swinton (HT to jim gordon). What makes this book different is that rather than trying to establish arguments in defence of God and attempt to explain possibles causes of evil and suffering, he instead attempts to 'present ways in which evil and suffering can be resisted and transformed by the Christian community' and so he's interested in 'how we can build communities that absorb suffering and enable faithful living even in the midst of evil' (4). The argument of the book outlines four christian practices - lament, forgiveness, thoughtfulness and friendship - which he argues 'sustain faith in a loving and powerful God and encourage hope that life has meaning and purpose, despite the way things appear' (244). Philosophical responses remain utlimately unsatisfactory to the person or persons experiencing or facing evil and suffering. It will be interesting to see how the argument of the book would work in the classroom

New Books for 2007 | Steve Holmes on Atonement

New small book out in May from Steve Holmes called The Wondrous Cross: Atonement and Penal Substitution in the Bible and History. It is described as:

'An accessible defence of the view that we need multiple metaphors for how the cross saves us (including penal substitution).

In this book Stephen Holmes offers an accessible and authoritative account of the way the saving work of Jesus is presented in the Bible, and has been understood throughout Christian history. In particular, the book offers background to the current debates about penal substitutionary atonement by looking at that idea in biblical and historical perspective.

Holmes argues that we can, and should, continue to talk of the cross in penal substitutionary terms, if we understand this as one of many complimentary descriptions of the salvation we find in Christ.'

I'm not a fan of penal substitution, so I'll be interested to read Steve's defence. He wrote a paper for the Scottish Journal of Theology on the same subject here. There he argued that

a key element of penal substitution is language of acts of transgression – crimes – and the guilt they bring, which must be dealt with. Thus, penal substitution is a way of talking that speaks of the cross to the oppressors, to those who damage and kill. It speaks a word of deep criticism – Barth’s insight that only the cross shows us just how abhorrent our actions are – a
word of decisive judgement that is still, nonetheless, a word of hope, of life
beyond judgement.

'night time' disciples

it's my turn on the lent blog here today

Tom Wright on Religious Education

But in schools it seems to me that the teaching of religion in the broadest sense is vital. We live in a world where religion of all sorts is making a comeback, even where secularism thought it had won the field.

It isn't, in other words, just a small-scale and rather odd private hobby, but something which affects the lives of millions. It is as vital to a young person growing up to understand what religion is and how it functions as it is to understand geography, electricity or biology.

Full article here from Newsweek

 

who's a theologian?

What makes someone a theologian? Is everyone a theologian, because everyone has some view on God, whether it's to deny his existence or to affirm it? Are there different kinds of theologian? Are some professionals and some lay? What does it mean to be a professional theologian? Does it mean holding or having held a university or bible college post? Does it mean that you've been published? I know Jeff Astley wrote a book and has done some work on Ordinary Theology, but I have never got round to getting a copy and reading it.

These questions arise out of my post on theology in the UK, where I identified theologians around the country, generally based at a university. Maggi ask me what is theology and who does it? In response I guess 'theology is simply the study of God' (Colwell, Promise and Presence, 2005, 1) and there are (according to Colwell) 'only two theological questions: 'what kind of God' and 'so what'.  There are many types of theology and my map was only looking at Chrisitan theologians and generally those who are involved in the study of Christian doctrine and how doctrines  relate to one another (systematic theology). I guess (I  hope) those theologians are also active in  doing theology for the church, that is, its grounded in  helping the church narrate its story more truthfully and faithfully (see Hauerwas, Christian Existence Today, 1998 [2001]). There are some theologians who seem to seek only to answer the first question, 'what kind of God', but I think this must always be followed by a 'so what'.

I believe there are some are called to be theologians, who's task is to study the scriptures and the tradition and to help the church to understand its faith and life in its present culture. This kind of theologian are often found in the academy, where they are enabled to undertake this task. I would not want to suggest that all theology is done in the academy and often it is others outside the theological academy who are taking theology in new directions, but I would want to value (is that a helpful word) the theological judgments of those full-time theologians in helping the church live out its story. For example the rediscovery of the doctrine of the trinity and trinitarian theology has largely emerged from the academy and has helped the church see some of the shortcomings of some expressions of charismatic and evangelical theology.

lent blog still running

Don't forget to visit the hopefulimagination lent blog, which has been really good so far, some great blogs from lots of people. It's jim gordon's turn again to day. Jim's also given us to great posts on his own, one about moltmann and a heart-broken God and the other about john swinton's new book raging with compassion.

marcus bull has been posting some great quotes on children and church and stuart blythe has talked about how worship and a gatherd congregation are different kinds of animals.

unveiling empire

This is my sermon from this morning

Unveiling Empire
Revelation 17.1-20.11
Bunyan Baptist, 11 March 2007

I want to begin by reminding us of the big picture in Revelation. John is a painting a huge epic stained-glass window with words. He is seeking to encourage his readers to be faithful and true witnesses of Jesus. He wants the Christians to whom he is writing to see their day-to-day lives in a new way, from the perspective of heaven. In a world where Revelation’s readers were constantly bombarded and confronted with powerful images of the Roman vision of the world – statues, rituals, military processions, money with the emperor’s head on it – John provides his readers with a set of counter-images which impress on its readers a different vision of the world: how it looks from heaven. The visual power of this apocalyptic letter is to unmask and purge the false views of the world and refurbish the Christian imagination with alternative heavenly and divine visions of how the world is and will be.

For the churches in Asia they lived in the shadow of Rome and its propaganda machine. Rome claimed to be the empire of the world; it claimed to have brought salvation, peace and security to the world; it claimed to be all conquering and all victorious over all peoples – it revelled in its military might; it claimed to be faithful, loyal and true; and it claimed its empire and reign was eternal. This was not an easy place to be a Christian; it’s never easy to be a Christian in the face of an Empire. So John’s work is to uncover these myths and show them to be mere propaganda and instead present a vision of God, a vision of heaven, a vision that would encourage the Asian Christians to stand firm. Hopefully we too will receive a fresh vision of God, of heaven and an encouragement to stand firm. And so we turn to Revelation, chapter 17, verse 1.

In Revelation 17 John’s vision is of a woman – at first glance she seems to be a description of the goddess Roma, in all her glory, a stunning personification of the civilization of Rome, as she was worshipped in many temples in the cities of Asia – ‘clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls’. But as John sees her, she is a Roman prostitute and a seductive whore, and her wealth and splendour represent the profits of her disreputable trade. John wants to warn his readers against the seduction of Rome – the seduction that says ‘go with the flow, enjoy life – the peace and quiet on the street, the food in your fridge, the world at your remote control and keyboard, the air you breathe.’ It sounds good, but John claims beneath, the true character is something quite different: ‘the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses of Jesus’ – Rome, like all empires, is not a peace-maker or a peace-keeper, but a shedder of blood. See the world as it really is says John. The relevance of Revelation today is to help us ask questions about our world; to unmask the images and ideals that seek to maintain the powerful in their power and keep us inactive.

Chapter 18 continues the judgement on Babylon, Rome and all empires. The message that Babylon is fallen, would have given confidence and encouragement to John’s readers to continue to their resistance of the empire. The message is that Babylon is coming to an end, that it’s not eternal and so depart from it and follow God. There is one story in the Bible: that of a people struggling to leave empire behind, whether it be Egypt, Babylon, Rome, or anywhere else, and setting out to follow God. John is calling the churches of Asia to resist, to refuse to participate, to create alternatives to the lies of empire. John is trying to say we don’t belong to Babylon, we belong to another city, whose architect and builder is God (more on that next week!). So he says to his Christians readers and to us ‘Come out…’, don’t get caught up in empire’s sin. What does this mean for us? It means to stand apart, to be distinctively different, to re-orientate and build our lives – heart and mind, body and soul around God’s truth: Jesus. We need to dissociate ourselves from evil. What is evil? The evil that is ingrained in the way of empire, in the way of profit and bonus, of celebrity and fame – evil that leaves those at the margins, both locally and globally, oppressed and destitute. It means changing the way you shop, it means turning the TV off every once and a while. It means orientating our lives less around the car, the TV, the weekly shop … and re-orientating our lives around God. Schooling ourselves in habits and practices that enable us to be faithful and truthful witness of God. We’re in a battle for our lives – everything and everyone wants our attention, our money, our time, our dreams. John’s readers were being asked were they willing to die for gospel, the question for us maybe that, but I believe it’s more likely to be are we willing to sacrifice the dreams and the lives that our culture tells us we must have, because we’re worth it! Our generation I think doesn’t really know what sacrifice means. We’ve always had everything, for most of us money has never been that tight, we’ve owned a car since our teens, we’ve got all the gadgets, we can have a meal out, we can buy new clothes, cds, dvds, ipods without too much worry. To be distinctively different I want to suggest is to know what it means to be a sacrificial, generous people – what would that look like?

The big problem with empire – be it Babylon, Rome, or anywhere else, is it lives without God, in fact, it lives as if humanity was god. As we read the judgment of empire it’s a description of a life founded on possession, position and pleasure – just read again the judgement on Babylon. God is absent in empire. Next week as we look at Revelation 21, we see the city of the New Jerusalem, the city of God, where God is at the heart of life. One of my favourite theologians has said that the problem with most Christians, is that too often we’re practical atheists and live as if God doesn’t matter. 

John takes us next back to a picture of worship. Worship is a constant feature of Revelation – chapter 4, 7, 11, 14, 15. The point of the prophecy is the worship of God. The book of Revelation is designed to bring people to the worship of God, to encourage them to be faithful and true witnesses. Our task is to worship God through our witness to Jesus. John wants to wake up the Christians of Asia and see the their lives and the world through the window of heaven, where God reigns. And this morning I believe God wants us to wake us up, to ask where our loyalty is located – God or our wallet? Who are the great multitude in heaven? I like to think it’s the poor, the oppressed, the marginalised, the needy, those for whom have suffered under the hands of empire. The judgement of empire brings the response of rejoicing. For God is true and just. No longer is there a need to plead with God for justice, justice has been done. To worship is to live as if God matters, it is a public statement that our allegiance is not to crown or company, but to God. It is way of saying we’re departing empire, to follow God. It celebrates the reign of God. John’s visions in Revelation always bring him back to worship, it is the constant in all the shocking and frankly sometimes disturbing images, and it should be the constant of our life. The opposite of empire is a God-centred worshipping life, which does not trust in military muscle or economic prosperity but in the salvation of our God.

In the face of world of overwhelming evil and violence it can sometimes feel like belief in God is a delusion, to allude to Richard Dawkins recent book, but here John is under no delusion that God will see off all other pretenders to his throne, that judgement and defeat are the only future for evil and those in its thrall. God will judge the living and the dead. Christ, The thing about empires and those that speak on their behalf is they don’t know how the story is going to end – they might make wishful promises, or big claims that peace, happiness, freedom and safety are just around the corner – but the reality is they cannot be certain. Revelation knows the ending. And what it reveals is that there is one Lord, one King and one Judge and it is not Caesar, it is not Satan, it is not Bush, or Blair or the owner of Tesco or Barclay’s or Coca-Cola or any other god of consumerism. Revelation says there is only one who should be worshipped, and it is not Caesar, or angels, or the god of celebrity.  The Lord who is worshipped is Jesus, whose name is Faithful and True, Word of God, King of kings and Lord of lords and Judge.  From the perspective of heaven things look very different. We are left hopefully expectant for the coming of a new heaven and earth … which we’ll read more about next week.

Our reading this morning has encouraged us to be known as a prophetic community who challenge and confront the worldly empire concepts of power, wealth, status and security. It has encouraged us to live our lives as if God mattered, to be known as a sacrificial and generous community. It has challenged us to be a witnessing missionary community that live faithful and truthful lives following in the footsteps of Jesus, whose name is Faithful and True. And finally it has encouraged us to be a worshipping community, to give our allegiance and our praise to the God who knows how the story will end. Amen.

(The following books were very helpful in the writing of this sermon - Unveiling Empire: Reading Revelation Then and Now, Wes Howard-Brook and Anthony Gwyther (1999), The Theology of Revelation, Richard Bauckham (1993) and Revelation, Eugene M. Boring (1989))

ten ways to read scripture

1. from genesis to revelation, from start to finish

2. old and new testament simultaneously, so genesis and matthew,  exodus and mark, etc

3. use the new revised lectionary, a 3-year cycle of reading scripture (an OT, psalm, gospel and epistle reading every day)

4. start with a gospel, mark's probably the best, then acts and then maybe romans

5. read a daily psalm or proverb

6. randomly (open the bible and read a chapter)

7. thematically (for example miracle pregnancies - sarah, rebekah, rachel, hannah, mary)

8. quickly (get a copy of the 100-minute bible)

9. in everyday language (try the street bible now called word on the street and its sequel the liberator)

10. with a commentary (new testament for everyone series by tom wright is good or interpretation series, or texts for preaching lectionary year A, year B, year C)

ten ways to resist empire

Tomorrow I'm preaching on Revelation 17-19. My main theme is unveiling and resisting empire and so as a practical resource I thought I'd give the church some ideas of resisting empire.

1. join the campaign not to renew Trident - the replacement of Trident is the empire mentality that trusts in military strength to keep Britain safe and secure; nuclear weapons are anti-gospel, they go against Jesus command to love your enemies and the exhortation that blessed are the peacemakers

2. don't let your charity become commodified - more and more recently charity has been linked to entertainment and consumerism. 10p of this call goes to charity; buy this 'thing' and we'll give £1 to this charity. charity is about giving voluntary to those in need, it shouldn't be about us getting some in return. see kester's reflection here and here

3. reconsider where you buy and your food - what food can you grow in your garden? what food can you buy fairtrade? what food can you get locally? what would happen if as many people in the church as possible grew food and we shared it with each other? many global food and clothing companies are destroying the world's resources and enslaving the poor. find out where your food is made and by who. boycott the worst offenders.

4. become less addicted to our cars. Most of us are slaves to our cars - what have forms of transport can we use? what would happen if as many people in the church as possible shared lifts on sundays and in the week?

5. orientate our lives around being a community of God - around praying together, reading scripture together, visiting one another, being hospitable to one another, worshipping together, being truthful to one another listening to one another - what would happen if we made time to be together as a church family? how could we celebrate sabbath as a time of rest and worship?

6. become globally aware - too often we're ignorant of what is happening around the world and how our lives, our governments and multinational companies are affecting the lives of others around the world - what would happen if everyone in the church - young and old - chose a country to pray for and learn about? what would then happen if we made time to share stories from around the world to inform our intercessory prayer and our day to day choices?

7. reading scripture together - what would happen if we read Jesus' sermon on the mount so regularly it become written on our hearts and minds? we need to school and train ourselves in christian politics - that is a vision shaped by compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness, love and peace

8. affirming self-image - one of the biggest lies a empire mentality tells us is that we are not beautiful, that we are not the right bodyshape, we don't have the right clothes - what would happen if we removed the magazine and tv adverts that lie to us from our lives? what would happen if we discovered ways to affirm and celebrate the way we look? what passages from scripture or  moments in our communal worship help affirm one another?

9. disconnect your television - how does the empire mentality sell us its myths? the answer is namely television. why don't you disconnect it every once a while? what would happen if we were more selective in what we watched (i.e. cut out the rubbish)? what would it mean to turn the TV while we eat? what would it mean to only have one TV?

10. become ethical bankers - how about switching accounts to more ethical bankers? how about checking where your money is being invested? if you have a credit card, switch it to a tearfund or christian aid one.

Jenson's Theological Autobiography to Date

Robert Jenson, one of the world's leading theologians describes his theological biography in the latest issue of Dialog, which you can currently download for free. (HT to Ben Myers)