Papers - Christian Theist In A Postmodern World - Page 3

The importance of self-knowledge in our process of growth and transformation

It is important to tell at least from time to time the secret of who we truly and fully are, even if we tell it only to ourselves. It is important to tell our secrets too because it makes it easier that way to see where we have been in our lives and where we are going. Frederick Buechner. Unlike long-held assumptions in the church today, everyday anxieties and fears are necessary elements for the healthy development of a person’s real self, although the process of growth and transformation is not always easy to recognize and manage. Without those anxieties …

NT Wright and the body-soul predicament

N.T. Wright has offered Christian philosophers a proposal where it is apparently possible to hold the belief in the intermediate state-resurrection of the body and an ontological holism in the same sense at the same time. I argue that this not only creates a basic contradiction in Wright’s ontological paradigm, but also it is not a coherent and tenable proposal despite the fact one might eventually find a potential solution to such a quandary. After engaging N.T. Wright’s article “Mind, Spirit, Soul and Body,” one can draw some significant conclusions. For Wright, the concept of the soul is not appealing, …

Caring for words as a moral issue

One of the most interesting experiences I had in dealing with language precision using the English language has to do with the word progressive. A couple of years ago, I was part of a church group discussing a controversial topic which led to a heated debate. There were people from different religious affiliations who were holding both liberal and conservative sides. In our table, there were six persons, two of them representing the liberal side of the group. While we were discussing the assigned topic, a college student holding a liberal position, said to the other three conservative peers and …

Cultural diversity and God’s mission

In Late Summer of 2013, I decided to purchase cycling sunglasses. Because it was an attractive price deal, I bought a box of five instead of the single item I originally saw online. As soon as I received and opened the box, I breathlessly chose the black polarized sunglasses and left the rest of the colored sunglasses in the box without paying attention to them. Regardless of whether or not it was morning or afternoon, I wore the polarized sunglasses most of the time. When the sun was out, they significantly reduced sun glare and overexposure; however, I soon learned …

Review of Toughest People to Love by Chuck DeGroat

Toughest People to Love: How to Understand, Lead, and Love the Difficult People in Your Life Including Yourself by Chuck DeGroat. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2014. Pp. 177. $14.00 softcover. Toughest People to Love is a combination of pastoral care, church leadership, and psychological insight. Pastor and counselor Chuck DeGroat invites Christian leaders to see God “in the broken lives of people” (3) and to lead out of love rather than out of power and ulterior motives. He writes, “we lead from a posture of self-sacrificial love, the deep secret of God’s kingdom, instead of from a posture of competition, control, …

Review of The Cosmos and the Creator by David Fergusson

The Cosmos and the Creator: An Introduction to the Theology of Creation by David Fergusson, London: SPCK, 1998. Pp. 115. $23.99 softcover. The Cosmos and the Creator: An Introduction to the Theology of Creation is a collection of four essays based on the Cunningham Lectures given by Scottish theologian and Professor David A.S. Fergusson at the University of Edinburgh in 1996. Every chapter of the book represents an essay. In this book, Fergusson discusses the Christian doctrine of creation based on the failure of modern theoretical approaches to offer an adequate understanding of the God-world relation. In that regard he rightly states, “the …