A Reply on Behalf of the Fool

A Resolution

2012-02-11T13:45:00.000-07:00

Resolved: not to make any grandiose (and vain) resolutions that I will post a remarkable, significant entry to my blog each day.

That being said, I have come to the conclusion that I must find an outlet for pent-up creative energies. Not to mention a way to mollify to those who incessantly prod me to write.

This blog may amount to nothing more than a haphazard travelogue of my intellectual meanderings. But follow at your own risk: sometimes meanderings are but the start of pilgrimages.

Lee

P.S. Also, this might be a fun place to show off all the big words I know.

Christians Wrong About Heaven, Says Bishop

2008-02-11T14:48:00.000-07:00

I thought some of you might be interested in this recent interview with NT Wright in Time. He's talking about the sometimes unbiblical views Christians have of eternal life. I think does a good job expressing why it is important for us to be more careful in the ways we talk about eternity. When I was a young believer, I remember being taken quite off guard when I first learned that the Bible didn't teach a hellenistic (or gnostic) divide wherein the eternal soul was good and the physical body was evil. I just assumed that was true Christian doctrine and that being saved meant that instead of going to hell, Christians would be in an amorphous disembodied state for eternity. At that time I hadn't heard any teaching to the contrary that gave a clearer picture of what the Bible actually teaches. And you know what, it really does matter: when we're sloppy in talking about this doctrine it isn't harmless. It can have serious negative consequences in how we view our stewardship of our own bodies and of our surroundings. Moreover, it is much easier for us to look forward to and long for an eternal state which isn't either completely undefined or simply mis-defined.

Time

2007-10-07T14:51:00.001-07:00

We're taking a break from the study of John's gospel (which we have been working through for more than a year) and spending the next 6 weeks in the book of Titus. John's message on Titus 1:1-4 today was particularly excellent. He was emphasizing the distinction between chronos (as the seasonal, ebb-and-flow perception of time) and kairos (as a critical moment, an in-breaking of God or a moment of realization that something significant has just or is about to occur).

John was describing our experience of chronos as being primarily a function of our observation of sequential movement. A 24-hour day represents one rotation of the earth on its axis; a 365 1/4
-day year the full rotation of the earth in its orbit around the sun. Days, Seasons, Years, Eras, Epochs, all find their markings in our perception of motion.

So this fuels the resurgence of a question I've been kicking around for about 20 years now: Is time (in the chronos sense) a thing? Is time anything? If time is our perception, our making sense, our attempt to accommodate and understand the sequence of movements macroscopic and microscopic, then are we perceiving something tangible which really is? Or are we merely putting the tangible motions into a sequential framework so we can describe it and conceive of it?

If time is not itself a thing, if it is merely our perception of actual things, then in what sense can we ever say that we are 'in time' or that God the Creator is 'outside of time'? Even if time is something, from where do we get the idea that it is something which is localized or spatial, something which one can be either inside or outside?

Is the statement commonly repeated in pop-theology that because God is infinite and eternal, that because he is the Creator of space and matter and all that is, that he is therefore outside of time a true statement? or even a helpful one? If time is perception and not a thing in itself, then the best we could say is that God's perception is infinite whereas ours is limited: our perception has a beginning but no end, while his perception has neither beginning nor end.

I apologize for getting so cosmological here. I'm pretty sure that no one else cares about this. But do any of you have thoughts on this?

How would you explain the verbal overlap between passages in Matthew and Luke not found in Mark?

2006-06-05T22:13:00.000-07:00

I would explain the verbal overlap between passages in Matthew and Luke which are absent from Mark as follows: Matthew and Luke both made use of another source to which Mark either did not have access or chose not to utilize.[1] This explanation is in line with the 4-Source Hypothesis. This additional source, now lost to us, is commonly referred to as “Q” for the German quelle (“source”). This collection of Jesus traditions was not necessarily a written document but may have simply been a set of familiar teachings which were part of the oral traditions about Jesus circulated in the early Church. Matthew and Luke sometimes have sections of this source material in the same order with a high degree verbal overlap. Other times they share the source material but use it in different places in their presentation.

Because of the length and precision in some of these instances of verbal overlap, it seems probable that there may have been a written source to which Matthew and Luke had access, though it is possible that it was common oral tradition which they both incorporated. Just as the verbal parallels between Mark and the other two Synoptics suggests a literary dependence, so too the verbal parallels between Matthew and Luke which are not found in Mark suggests that they both were dependent on an additional shared source.

For example, in the case of the Temptation narrative preserved in Mark 1:12-13 // Matthew 4:1-11 // Luke 4:1-13, Mark gives the temptation only the briefest mention, whereas Matthew and Luke devote quite a bit of space in presenting more fully the exchange between Jesus and Satan. Matthew and Luke are very similar in their presentations (in fact, nearly half of their wording overlaps), although they do place the temptations in a different order. Since Mark includes none of the extra material it is plausible that Luke and Matthew are relying on some other source to which they had access in common.

There are many other instances in which Matthew and Luke display verbal overlap in describing traditions which are not preserved in Mark. When Jesus teaches the people concerning John the Baptist in Matthew 11:2-29 // Luke 7:18-35, both accounts report His teaching with a great deal of overlap. While some have argued that this overlap results from either Matthew depending on Luke or Luke depending on Matthew, the slight variation in the specific wording and details suggests to me that both were relying on a third source independent of one another.

[1]Yes, Brian: utilize. UTILIZE!

pleonasm, n.

2006-05-31T12:59:00.000-07:00

The use of more words than are necessary to express an idea; as, "I saw it with my own eyes."

I fear that 95% of the things I say fit this definition.

Ironically, the word of the day is well-matched to the quote of the day:

"The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending, then having the two as close together as possible." - George Burns

My friend John Mitchell is giving me an opportunity to teach at Poeima Church (www.poiemachurch.com) at the start of July. I promise to avoid being pleonastic, though I may still be sesquipedalian.

How would you explain the verbal overlap between the Synoptic Gospels?

2006-05-26T17:59:00.000-07:00

I would explain the verbal overlap between the Synoptic Gospels as follows: Mark composed his Gospel first, and Matthew and Luke are inspired revisions of or reflections upon Mark’s composition. That Matthew and Luke incorporate so much of Mark’s presentation is itself an affirmation of Mark’s authenticity rather than an undermining of it. Despite the inclusion of differing materials and variations in wording, the Jesus they present is congruent with Jesus as He is presented in Mark. This view, more formally known as the 4-Source Hypothesis, makes the best sense of the available data and is the dominant explanation for good reason.

According to one variation of this view, the Gospel of Mark originated as a collection of Peter’s remembrances of Jesus which were recorded by Mark (Peter’s interpreter). This tradition finds early support in Papias. Mark’s Gospel was quickly embraced by the early Church and was accepted as authoritative because it contained apostolic tradition. It would have made little sense for Matthew and Luke to start from scratch in their accounts of the life and works of Jesus. For this reason, Matthew and Luke incorporated the vast majority of Mark’s materials because they agreed that Peter’s recollections accurately reflected both who Jesus was and what He did.

Nevertheless, Matthew and Luke had the freedom to nuance details and reorder the sequence of events in whatever manner best fit the intended aims of their Gospels, since Mark made not attempt at a chronological presentation. They also shortened some sections of Mark and expanded others, as well as adding their own material.

The 4-Source Hypothesis is more plausible to me than the theory that Matthew, Mark, and Luke just happened to have precise verbal overlap on many occasions and that they arrived at that overlap in complete ignorance of one another. Luke opens his Gospel by acknowledging that “many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us” and that he “carefully investigated everything from the beginning” (Luke 1:1-3). With this acknowledgement it should not surprise us to find he embraced Mark. Additionally, though Matthew was himself an eyewitness of many of the events recorded in his Gospel, why should we object against his utilizing Mark’s record? There is no known 1st Century Handbook for Gospel Writers which prohibits making use of another’s work. The fact is that 85% of Mark shows up in Luke and 95% of Mark shows up in Matthew. Moreover, we sometimes find that where there is verbal agreement there is even agreement in the chronology of the presentation in two or even all three of the Synoptics, further suggesting that Matthew and Luke were both dependant upon Mark.

For example, in the case of the common tradition preserved in Mark 2:1-12 // Matthew 9:1-8 // and Luke 5:17-26, Luke uses 35% of Mark and Matthew uses 33% of Mark. It’s evident that there is some form of dependence occurring here. Matthew seems to have taken up Mark’s tradition and conflated it, excising some of the details while retaining other sections word for word. Luke, on the other hand, retains more of Mark’s details and even adds further elaborations (i.e., in 5:26 where he adds that the people were not only amazed and glorifying God but were also “filled by fear”). Were there only a handful of rare occasions when verbal overlap occurred between Mark and the other two Synoptics, perhaps we could argue it was the mere result of chance, or that all three Gospel writers had a general familiarity with preceding oral traditions. But the number of instances where these overlaps occur makes far more plausible that Matthew and Luke were familiar with Mark’s Gospel and were consciously embracing some components of his presentation.

So, what are your thoughts on this? Do you think this is reasonable or unreasonable, and are there any implications to this if it's accurate? Does this in any way impact our definition of inerrancy or our understanding of the inspiration of Scripture?

N.T. Wright

2006-04-29T18:51:00.000-07:00

Are any of you familiar with him? Derek loaned me a copy of The Challenge of Jesus: Rediscovering who Jesus Was and Is yesterday and I've already finished it. I always feel like I'm standing on a precipice when I read N.T. Wright, like I'm about to discover something wonderful. Between that and the reading I've been doing for Church History I've been very much benefited and challenged over the last few days.

Here's something that is maybe not revolutionary but still just plain good stuff (in commenting on 1 Corinthians 3:10-15):

"If you build on the foundation in the present time with gold, silver, and precious stones, your work will last. In the Lord your labor is not in vain. You are not oiling the wheels of a machine that is soon going over a cliff. Nor, however, are you constructing the kingdom of God by your own efforts. You are following Jesus and shaping our world in the power of the Spirit; and when the final consummation comes, the work that you have done, whether in Bible study or biochemistry, whether in preaching or in pure mathematics, whether in digging ditches or in composing symphonies, will stand, will last." (80-81)

All the stuff we do matters. In Christ our work, whatever it might be, has eternal significance. The sacred and the secular are not separated: in Christ each one of us is a royal priest, period.

Caption Contest

2006-04-12T22:52:00.000-07:00

Why is this underlined? I don't know. This is a photo I just came across of Tom Dauber, me, Matt Smith, and Todd Laderer at Chad & Heidi's wedding a few years back. Can you come up with the most amusing caption?

A Thought

2006-04-12T22:50:00.000-07:00

Sometimes we emphasize Jesus as Teacher so much that we forget He is also the Savior;
other times we emphasize Jesus as Savior so much that we forget He is also the Teacher.

Awesome Quote

2005-09-20T18:38:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I get this sense that I am plowing through a collection of dusty, forgotten tomes in a setting that looks just like the archives Gandalf searched through in Minas Tirtith in his attempt to uncover the truth about Bilbo's funny magic ring. I wish I had more time to hang out in the archive and find all the cool stuff there! One thing I was reading recently is an early sermon in the Apostolic Fathers called 2nd Clement. It was preached to the Corinthian church sometime between approx. 100AD and 150AD. Here is just an awesome excerpt from it, it seemed especially applicable in light of the recent studies of the Sermon on the Mount we have been doing in our weekly fellowship...

"Let us be clear-headed regarding the good, for we are full of much stupidity and wickedness. Let us wipe off from ourselves our former sins and be saved, repenting from the very souls of our being. And let us not seek to please men. But let us not desire to please only ourselves with our righteousness, but also those who are outsiders, that the Name may not be blasphemed on our account. For the Lord says, 'My name is continually blasphemed among all the nations,' and again, 'Woe to him on whose account my name is blasphemed.' Why is it blasphemed? Because you do not do what I desire. For when the pagans hear from our mouths the oracles of God, they marvel at their beauty and greatness. But when they discover that our actions are not worthy of the words we speak, they turn from wonder to blasphemy, saying that it is a myth and a delusion. For when they hear from us that God says, 'It is no credit to you if you love those who love you, but it is a credit to you if you love your enemies and those who hate you,' when they hear these thngs, they marvel at such extraordinary goodness. But when they see that we not only do not love those who hate us, but do not even love those who love us, they scornfully laugh at us and the Name is blasphemed."

How Not to Pray (Part 1/2)

2005-09-18T17:05:00.000-07:00

Hey, it's been forever since I've blogged, sorry. Seriously, if it's getting to be more than a week or two between posts please feel free to email/comment/call/send a telegram to rebuke me for not keeping this up. I really do want to blog more frequently, so go ahead, hold me accountable, I dare you.

Anyways, I was looking for a copy of my testimony on my harddrive just now and I found this list of funny things people do when they are praying (I can't recall where I first found it) and thought it'd be fun to share. Can anyone think of anything additional to add to this list? And seriously, I hope no one stops praying because of this - it's simply that sometimes I wonderhow irritated I would be if someone started talking to me like this: "Lee, you know Lee, I just, Lee, I want to ask you that you might do such and such, Lee, so that, um, Lee."

How NOT to Pray (Part 1/2)

Be warned in advance that reading these might stilt your first few public prayers afterwards…

1. THE JUST PRAYER: For some inexplicable reason, the word JUST shows up a lot in prayer. "Just" is used for pausing, for filler, as an adverb, for rhythm, and, well, to underscore that this is just prayer and not talking in general. Since this is not normally the case in human dialog, it is hard to explain why.
ex.: Lord, we JUST pray that you would JUST like, JUST really JUST totally..."

2. THE GOSSIP: "Lord, please forgive Pam [not present] for her sexual lust towards George [who is present]."

3. THE THEOLOGIAN: Here the person feels led to lecture God on various--usually obvious--points of theology, as if God needed reminding. While the words of such prayers can be valid enough if said in a spirit of praise, THE THEOLOGIAN gives you the distinct impression that he/she is praying to ideas rather than God; or perhaps trying to impress the rest of us.
ex.: "Lord, you are God. You are the Triune, Immutable, Omniscient, Revelatory, the First Principle. You even know what I am going to pray next!... [etc. etc. etc.]"

4. THE OPPORTUNIST: For someone who would never get a word in edgewise in a normal conversation--because what they want to say is inherently boring or unedifying--prayer can be an opportunity to "seize the floor" and speechify at great length without fear of rebuttal or interruption unless something really awful is said; and perhaps not even then, as social convention says it is very rude to interrupt while someone is praying.
ex.: "Lord, I just want to pray for my little bunny. I know nobody here thinks it important, but I just love my bunny because it... [on and on and on]."

5. THE LECTURER: Similar to THE OPPORTUNIST, but here the motive is to harangue someone else--or the group--by sermonizing in general. Also known as THE SERMON PRAYER:
ex.: "O God, forgive those among us who do not understand the need to... [fill in the blanks]."
ex.: "Lord, forgive the congregation for their continued failure to tithe. For 'The tithe is the Lord's', and 'Test me in this' saith the Lord... [and on and on]"

6. CALLING DOWN FIRE: To rant or vituperate in a prayer. Basically, to ask God to send down a lightning bolt of judgment. (Often aimed at ungodly politicians.) Such prayers seem to beg for the response: "You do not know what Spirit you are of". (Lk 9:55, Mt 5:11-12)
ex.: "Lord, that lady who gestured rudely to me in my car today, I pray that you would slap her silly with your scorching judgment. Teach her not to treat your children that way, with a scathing rebuke from on high. Amen."

Ok, I had to edit this post because IE was doing something weird with the bullet points and it was just plain too long...

"If God created everything then He must have created evil also" [4/4]

2005-07-14T18:02:00.000-07:00

What is the answer, then? God could have created a world which was better than this one, a world where people freely loved Him and there was no sin or suffering or death. He could have created a world where tens of thousands of people are not killed by tsunamis, earthquakes, and plagues; nor by drugs, guns, and germ warfare. For whatever reason, God chose not to create that world, or, at least, created an initally 'good' world with the knowledge that it would become as it has. He is the Creator: He is the one who is responsible. Ultimately, He will avenge suffering, punish those who have done evil, reward those who have done good, and right the wrongs which He has permitted/caused to have occurred. And, perhaps, the way we come to truly know something is by it's contrast: therefore, to know God's love, it benefits us to know hate. To know God's justice, it benefits us to know injustice. To know God's mercy and grace, it benefits us to know His sternness and wrath. To know His power fully, it benefits us to see His power demonstrated both in the saving of those who call on Him and in the destruction of those who do not.

[end 4/4]

"If God created everything then He must have created evil also" [3/4]

2005-07-10T14:48:00.000-07:00

And let us not even bother with the argument that God did not want automatons and so He had no alternative but to create us to be capable of profound evil in order for us to be capable of genuine love. Is God not free? Is God not bound by His very nature to be without sin, without blemish? No one seems to claim that God is not free because He is unable to sin, yet the most popular refuge in this argument is that God had to create man with the capacity for sin so that he would be free to love Him. Moreover, those who advance this argument are left with a very difficult problem: When God fully realizes His kingdom on earth and all those who have opposed Him are removed from His presence forever, there will no longer be any sin. In that day, when sin is banished from God's presence forever, will we suddenly become automatons who incapable of genuine love? Or, for all eternity, will God permit the potential of sin to remain so that we can be truly 'free'? Of course not. There is an implicit belief, then, that it is possible for humans to be free and yet not sin, nor have the capacity to sin, at least in this eternal state. Moreover, love and obedience to God is not invalidated by this lack of choice. If it is possible in eternity, then there is no reason to claim that it would have been impossible for God to create beings capable of genuine love while incapable of sin.

[part 3/4]

"If God created everything then He must have created evil also" [2/4]

2005-07-09T15:31:00.000-07:00

To be perfectly honest, the best answer that I can give you is that God created the world He created, and that world has a lot of terrible experiences in it that don't make sense. As a follower of Jesus, I can take comfort when I suffer for my proclamation of Him, even if I were to suffer terribly for it. But, for the child who is kidnapped and killed for no other reason that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time; for the wife and mother who is paralyzed in a drive-by shooting for no other reason that that others enjoy causing misery; for the tribe that is wiped out by a neighboring people for no other reason than an ancient feud, the details of which are nearly forgotten--for these things I see no justification, 'no sanctification through suffering.'

[end part 2 of 4]

Just to get some discussion going...

2005-07-06T17:44:00.000-07:00

Alright, I realized my last paper, though of course erudite and fascinating, was just plain long to post. For those of you desperately curious to find out how it all ends, let me know. Actually, it's in need of some revision at this point, since there were some issues that came up at a healing conference we went to at the Scottsdale Vineyard that I wanted to address. I am done with classes for a little while - 2 whole months with no classes. Followed by 4 years straight of classes with no breaks, most likely! So I'm going to enjoy my free time while it lasts. I recently finished up an apologetics class, and had to interact with issues like the existence of evil, the nature of God's sovereignty, and it ended up leading into some really interesting discussions of the implications of limited atonement. I'm still trying to get my understanding of all this stuff, so hopefully as I process through some of this it will all get clearer. As part of that process I wanted to post some excerpts from a paper I wrote recently and get some other perspectives on it. Here's the stage 1 of 4 stages to my argument, basically interacting with aspects of the Problem of Evil and specifically the statement "If God created everything then He must have created evil also."

...

I grant that this statement is accurate. If, as Paul writes in Colossians 1:15-16, all things were created through, for, and by Jesus, then the conclusion seems inescapable that He is the one responsible for everything, good or bad, and that He is responsible regardless of whether He created it directly or merely created its potentiality. Moreover, He is the one by whose word of power all things are sustained (Hebrews 1:3), so presumably He is able to cause things which are evil to cease existing by simply ceasing His sustaining power for the evil in question. One could argue that evil is merely an illusion and doesn't really exist, but this hardly seems worth considering, for if evil is only an illusion, then the problem of evil disappears altogether. Alternatively, one might argue that evil is simply a privation of good, an 'ontological parasite.' While I think that is closer to the truth, we would have only to rephrase the question to ask why God made a creation where these privations, these parasites, could exist and thrive and we would find ourselves back at the beginning and facing the same difficult questions. Nor will I offer the patronizing answer that this particular world is the best world that God could possibly have created; we all know it could be better. And, while I am grateful for whatever measure of freedom God has given us to make choices in our lives, I don't value my freedom so much that I think it justifies the freedom of the murder or rapist or madman.

[end of part 1/4]

A very excellent day.

2005-05-09T13:05:00.000-07:00

It's beautiful and sunny and not too hot out today, and I've been getting stuff done at work but there's always a lot more to do - and not enough time each day. We're going to be meeting with some pastors around the new seminary facility in the next couple days, just getting to know them and introducing ourselves and Phoenix Seminary to people who may still not know much about us even though we've been here since 1987. Incidentally, 1987 is the year when the most excellent album of all time was released: U2's Joshua Tree, which (also incidentally), I was listening to this very morning. Coincidence? Yes.

I'm also getting ready for the new semester - only one four credit class this term! So I'll have more time, which will be very nice. Becca and I start our History of Christianity class tomorrow, and I've been reading my textbook and really find it fascinating. The development of the early church is something which I think would be so helpful for Christians to learn about - I wish I could just take a couple of years and spend all my time reading all the primary sources for the period. So much turmoil and schism and confusion as the church tried to understand its position in Christ and every member his position in relation to other members.

Also, here's a little snippet from my paper on Healing & Sickness in Acts through Revelation. Installment #1 of 4 or 5 on the topic. I've shared it with Brian, and I'd appreciate any other feedback.

---

In the tradition of Peter, we find the foundation for our present hope of physical, emotional, and spiritual healing in Christ. This hope stands on the same foundation as does the present reality of our forgiveness: the once for all sacrifice of Jesus. Peter writes, “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.” (1 Peter 2:24) Peter is elaborating on an OT passage in light of the healing ministry and atoning work of Jesus: “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5) In the Old Testament, the Lord sometimes healed His people in a direct response to their prayers, as in the case of Hezekiah (cf. Isaiah 38:1-22). At other times, He chose to use His prophets to even raise the dead (Elijah in 1 Kings 17:17-24; Elisha in 2 Kings 4:18-37). During Jesus’ earthly ministry, He healed the sick (i.e., Mark 2:1-12; 5:25-34; 6:5), cleansed the lepers (i.e., Mark 1:40-42), gave sight to the blind (i.e., Mark 8:22-25), gave hearing and speech to the deaf and mute (i.e., Mark 7:32-37), delivered the demon-possessed (i.e., Mark 1:23-27; 5:1-20; 7:25-30; 9:16-29), and even raised the dead (i.e., Mark 5:21-24, 35-43).[1] Not only did He do these works Himself, but He also gave those who followed Him the authority and commission to do the same works (cf. the commissioning of the Twelve in Mark 6:7-13 and of the Seventy-two in Luke 10:1-20).
Peter seems to have more in view here than solely physical healing—but physical healing not excluded from view either, particularly in light of the way in which Matthew cites the exact same passage from Isaiah 53:
[16] When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill. [17] This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.” (Matthew 8:16-17)

It seems then unnecessary to ‘spiritualize’ this passage such that it refers then only to spiritual healing or forgiveness from sin, so that believers cannot find in this passage the same hope for healing as the New Testament authors found in it. Thus, both through the healings Jesus performed in His earthly ministry, as well as through His death on the cross, He was able to bear our iniquities and our infirmities, our sins and our sicknesses. Though it is not appropriate to put sins and sickness in too strict of a parallelism, it doesn’t seem to go too far to say that God wants us to live lives free of both. In the same way that we have been redeemed from sin and yet nevertheless experience sin’s effects until Christ returns, we also have a foretaste of the healing wrought by Christ which we will not experience in it’s fullest sense until we see Him face to face (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:12).

[1] I restricted these citations only to Mark’s gospel as a full survey of Jesus’ healing ministry lies outside of the scope of this paper. However, even this sampling established the breadth of Jesus’ authority over sickness, demons, and death. The Twelve and the Seventy-two saw no limits on Jesus’ authority and ability to heal, and so would have had no reason to view His authority and ability as inadequate for the works which He sent them out to perform. Mark seemed to be the most suitable gospel to cite in relation to Peter, in light of the early tradition passed on by Papias that Mark collected and recorded Jesus traditions from Peter.

Eschatological Ontology, or, if you prefer, Ontological Eschatology

2005-05-03T12:50:00.000-07:00

And Jesus said unto them, "And whom do you say that I am?" They replied, "You are the eschatological manifestation of the ground of our being, the ontological foundation of the context of our very selfhood revealed." And Jesus replied, "What?"

I just love that quote: ironically enough it's from Quodlibet - the Online Journal of Christian Philosophy & Theology. Michael Mock, a friend of mine from the seminary who has been in most of my classes thus far, just had a paper of his published on their site: "The Futility of Philosophic Inquiry" - but be forewarned, the title is merely to grab your attention, because he doesn't think philosphic inquiry is futile. Actually, the entire article has nothing to do with philosophic inquiry, but rather the perniciousness of pop-up books.

It is finished!

2005-04-29T23:14:00.000-07:00

I completed my work for this semester and turned it all in this afternoon-woohoo! Since Becca was at a Women's Conference tonight I celebrated with John B. & Robert & Derek. Robert & I had some surprsingly authentic 'street tacos' from Rubios, then met John and watched Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (which, by the way, I don't get), and then met Derek and the four of us enjoyed Guiness and cigars. It was very pleasant and a good way to end semester #2. I'll post some excerpts and stuff and I'm sure you'll all be simply enthralled by my scholarship and depth of wisdom. Well, perhaps not, but maybe at least encouraged and interested...

Years and Finals

2005-04-25T13:52:00.000-07:00

Today is my 10th birthday! (Or, for Brian, my 120th month anniversary). 10 years ago today my ears were opened to the gospel and I put my faith in Jesus Christ. It all happened at a church drama called "Heaven's Gates & Hell's Flames" which was performed at Trinity Assembly of God in Zion, Illinois on April 25th of 1995. (7:00pm, in case you were wondering). I am actualy looking at the little yellow ticket right now - it's starting to get a little tattered from being in my wallet all this time but it's still readable and in surprisingly good condition. I am grateful to my friend Jason for inviting me to the drama and being so patient in responding to my myriad objections to the gospel, for my sister April who went along with me. Most of all I am grateful to God who on that night rescued me from the kindgdom of darkness and transferred me to the kingdom of His beloved Son. Thank you, Lord, for saving me even though I was hostile to you and a stranger to your promises - You are good and merciful beyond comprehension.

This time of year will always be a time of reflecting for me, looking back on where I've been, looking forward to where I'm going. I can't believe it's been 10 years - I was sure that I would have everything figured out by now. More and more I realize I know less and less. But I am confident that God is God and that His promises are true, even if I'm slow to understand at times.

This time of year will also probably always remind me of some of the hard lessons we learned about a year ago. There were some painful experiences we went through, and I wish I could say it never crosses my mind anymore and that all the difficulties and pain had all been transformed into wisdom and understanding. That's partly true, but I guess it's another case of 'already/not yet.' Maybe next year. I can say that there has been some wisdom and some sensitivity and some greater depenendence on the Lord that has resulted, and even if it never makes perfect sense at least I can trust in God to continue leading and teaching and working inside of us to renew us in His image. Lord, don't let me stand in your way!

This week I am finishing up my finals for all my classes, and I plan to post some excerpts from some of the papers on here later this week. For my Acts to Revelation survey course I wrote a theme paper on sickness and the gift of healing and I would very much enjoy getting some other feedback on it. I've also completed my translations of Ephesians & Colossians so maybe some day, 15 or so years from now, I'll have finished translating the NT. I'm actually translating from the Greek into Interpretative Dance, so I'll have to wait until I get more space so I can post the videos. :)

Hello...

2005-01-16T19:21:00.000-07:00

Well, I completed my first week of classes. They are all exceptionally interesting, I'll probably be posting some stuff from them on here from time to time.

Mondays 3.00-5.00
BI 586 - Jewish Literature at the Time of Jesus: An Introduction and Comparision with the New Testament

Tuesdays 6.00-8.00
NT 504 - Improving Greek Reading Skills

Wednesdays 6.00-10.00
BI 504 - Acts to Revelation

Also on Tuesdays we have a Greek Bible study on the gospel of John from 5.00-6.00. I can already tell it's going to be a very interesting semester all in all, and it's cool because I feel like all the classes mesh well and will reinforce one another. For Greek class we're translating Ephesians in class and Colossians for our individual project. It's nice to have a whole semester to spend on each of these books. For one of my papers in the Acts to Revelation survey class I'm thinking about writing on the definition and nature of the church, something that has been on my mind for some time now as many of you might know. I'd really like to investigate that topic in a more focused way.

Also, I'm not going to make fun of 4 Maccabees anymore--I used to ascribe all sorts of silly verses to it just cause it seemed so far removed from the canon, but now actually having read it I've found that it's got some pretty good stuff in it. Not Scripture, but certainly worthwhile reading on the level of Foxe's Book of Martyrs. More useful, actually, as it presents stuff that pertains to late 2nd Temple Judaism and even shows that there was an idea of one man's righteous suffering could be an atoning sacrifice for others. Plus it's just an edifying account of godly men and women who refused to disobey or dishonor God even in the face of torture and death. Not something to make fun of.

Here's a parting quote for you all to reflect on:
"I'm going to have to replace you as best friend with the new Battlestar Galactica because it's just that good." --Brian Dellisanti

Now that I've lulled you all into a false sense of security....

2005-01-05T18:15:00.000-07:00

...I can continue my blogging without your intense scrutiny of my work. Behold, many months will likely pass before you again read my blog, for until this time you've checked and checked and rechecked and there's never anything new. But one day, perhaps a day such as June 23rd 2005, you will check my blog, and find thousands upon thousands of new entries. Entries which were entered while you were not checking frequently. That will be a wonderful day indeed....

A new blog entry. wow.

2004-10-31T18:24:00.000-07:00

I simply do not understand where the time goes. Becca and I have been here 3 months now, I've been in seminary for 2, and it feels like we just moved in. I keep meaning to blog regularly but I obviously am not keeping things up to date very well. Seriously, if I haven't updated in a week or so complain and I'll try and at least write something. Here's a poem/song I wrote for my Living in God's Presence class a few weeks back...we had to write a poem based on a psalm. It didn't have to be good. :)

The light in Your eyes,
The smile on Your face,
The laughter I hear in Your voice,
Lord, how could I help
But to shout out Your praise,
To rejoice in the Source of all joy?

You will make known to me the path of life, the path of life,
And in Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures, Lord, forevermore,
For in Your presence is fullness of joy…

Now rejoicing with You,
As You rejoice over me,
Lord, how could I ever have known,
That You are the One,
Who, when Your lost ones are found,
Exults while Your angels look on?

How could I help but smile when I see Your face,
when I see Your face?
How could I help but laugh when I hear Your voice,
when I hear Your voice?
How could I help but dance and lift up my hands,
and lift up my hands?
When You rejoice over me with such joy?

I am really no good at this blogging thing, am I?

2004-10-12T15:13:00.000-07:00

I keep intending to blog, but there just aren't enough hours in the day it seems. I have a bunch of "comp time" this week since I'm a non-exempt employee, so I'm not supposed to work more than 40 hours a week and with the College Conference and some church displays I was at i had more like 60 last week, so I have to take time off this week. But there's so much to do! It's nice to be home right now though. I worked a full day yesterday and only like 5 hours today. I had a couple of students come in for tours, talked to a bunch more on the phone, and Herr Bockelman brought in enough Polish Sausage & Suarkraut to feed the entire office in celebration of it being Oktoberfest. Even though it's 90+ and doesn't feel like October at all.

Let's see...the College Conference--this was totally awesome. We had about 200 students from who knows how many campus ministries at this thing, from all over AZ and even a delegation from California. And it wasn't even weird, everyone was worshipping and learning and fellowshipping together even across ministry lines. The workshops were awesome, the worship was awesome, it was just very cool. It was a lot of work, but Becca and I still got to go to some of the workshops. And just having so many people volunteer their time and skills for this was a blessing. But man, if I thought it was a lot of work preparing for a men's weekend or something like that in 5.19, this was just wayyy more complicated. But definately worth it.

Other than that, I need to move my stuff from my cubicle into my new office, that's really exciting to me to be honest. It is hard with Jeff leaving, he was the Director of Enrollment and I kinda feel this overload of information as he was teaching me in many ways how to do my job and his job. Derek is starting as an enrollment counselor next week, and that means I'm going to be training him, but really it's not like I've been there all that long either. But I am shocked at how much I have picked up and how quickly. I really love working at the seminary, it's like the best of all the experiences I've had rolled into one job/ministry. But I really miss Ohio, and I really miss all of you, and the saddest part of being so happy with my work and school experience here is that I don't get to share the joy of that with you all on a daily basis.

In about an hour and a half I need to leave for my interpretation class. For tonight I had to make a chart on Acts 4:1-6:7, I have no idea if it's done correctly or not since it seems more like a timeline to me than a chart, but who knows. Last week we had this observation assignment on the Gospel of John that the syllabus said would take an hour and a half and should be done in one sitting, it ended up taking more like 7 hours, but that was good. I must say, I am glad the assignment for tonight didn't take another 7 hours otherwise I would most definately not be blogging right now.

I guess that's all for now. Anyone who hasn't heard Mike's new songs should email him and ask for the links, he just sent them to me and they are AWESOME.

A couple of new traditions...

2004-09-22T20:17:00.000-07:00

Well, I went to the first meeting of our Greek Club at the seminary this morning, we're meeting every wednesday from 7:30-8:45 to work our way through the greek text of Mark (cause it's the simplest greek in the bible) and it was awesome. Brian, you'd love this, I wish we'd started something like this in BG. You should commute out for wednesday mornings, then back each week to BG. Anyways, we only got through like 13 verses, but it was great going through so slowly and just really digging into it together, there was maybe 8 or 10 of us there, so it's not a threatening environment to make mistakes, introduce heretical translations, etc.,..

In other news, starting the friday after this one, all fridays will be renamed Battlestar Galactica Fridays, as my friend John got a copy of the series on DVD and we're going to watch an episode on our lunch break every friday. Fridays a lot more laid back at the seminary, though honestly it's pretty laid back all the time.

Anyways, that's enough for now, because i'm tired.

Interpretation

2004-09-05T20:42:00.000-07:00

I've been working on some reading for my classes today (though not as much as I should have been, I must admit the three day weekend has lessened my motivation for working ahead). I must be a super-geek because I am about to highly recommend a couple of textbooks to you all, how can I be excited about textbooks? I don't know but I am. The first is called Historical Theology: An Introduction to the History of Christian Thought, which I found utterly fascinating. I don't know what else to say other than that I wish I'd read it years ago. It's so weird that the same things and questions we delve into today have been delved into before, and often other believers have found some decent answers. The church has already faced some serious challenges, and sometimes it's failed in the face of them. I think maybe we can do better if we at least see some of the mistakes that have occured in the past.

The other book is Introduction to Bilblical Interpretation, I know this probably sounds boring but seriously it's not at all so far. A lot of the questions I think we began to examine in our Bible study last spring and summer are addressed to some degree in this book, and I'm still reading it so I'll have more to write on it soon. Some of those questions of 'Why can't (or why doesn't) the Holy Spirit just illuminate every believer so that we understand Scripture in the same way, i.e., the way it was meant to be understood?' or just the general frustration that studying some passages can lead to, when it doesn't seem at all like God's word is clear or that we have all we need to understand it adequately, even though we know He's not trying to trick us or make things harder than they need to be. Anyways, I'm including a couple of quotes from this latter book, and will probably try and do this on occasion with things I'm learning in and out of class, just to share stuff that I find interesting/inspiring/disturbing/whatevering.

“Any type of oral or written communication involves three expressions of meaning:
(1) what the speaker or writer meant by what he or she said;
(2) what the recipient actually understood by the statement; and
(3) in some abstract sense, what meaning is actually encodes in the text or utterance itself.”

"To grasp the text fully—and, more important, to be grasped by it fully—means to enjoy the ‘pleasure of the text,’ to engage it joyfully and adventurously with our mind, emotions, and imagination.”

“When we simply allow our unchallenged feelings and observations to distort or determine what the Bible means, our experiences have become the measure for what a text can mean. We must adopt an approach to interpretation that confronts this danger, for Scripture alone constitutes the standard of truth for Christians, and we must judge our values and experiences based on its precepts, not vice-versa. It follows, then, that any valid approach to interpretation must concern itself with two crucial dimensions:
(1) an appropriate methodology for deciphering what the text is about, and
(2) a means of assessing and accounting for the readers’ present situation as we engage in the interpretive process. We must account for both ancient and modern dimensions.”

I guess I'm certainly interested in this last part as some of you probably know my frustration when I see what is written and can't line it up with what is. Anyways, I ought to get back to studying, but figured I should continue trying to blog on a semi-regular basis.

Just a quick blog...

2004-09-02T20:04:00.000-07:00

to say that my classes are awesome! Work is going really well too, but it's nice to have a night where I didn't head right from work to class. Tuesday is the roughest--but hey, Joel's been working 90 hours a week and taking classes for all this time, so I suppose I can survive without complaining too much.

In other news, Becca and I went to IHOP Sunday and saw Ricky Schroeder eating breakfast there, I guess he comes in every friday and sunday. Mr. T apparently eats at the Denny's--I guess they had some sort of falling out after the whole Silver Spoons ordeal, and that's why they now frequent different breakfast places. It's a fascinating place, this city of Scottsdale.

That's about it, but let me leave you with this: "In the Kingdom of the Noun and the Verb, all other parts of speech are but vassals."

New Student Orientation

2004-08-28T14:37:00.000-07:00

I was tempted to title this 'New Student Borientation' cause I thought that'd be funny, but it really wasn't that boring, so it'd be inappropriate. Becca and I were at the seminary from 8:45 to 12:30 today along with all the other new students and their spouses. For students who happened to be single, spouses were provided. As well, the staff and faculty were present, so I got to eat lunch (pizza!) with Paul Wegner, and throw my plate away next to Wayne Grudem. Pretty neat. Anyways, we got to meet a lot of really awesome people, I'll now know a couple of people in class, and it felt really great to be able to set down all my stuff I'd collected during the orientation time in my very own cubicle, with my very own nameplate on the wall. I can see why the seminary has been voted the number one Christian work environment the last two years, cause seriously everyone there really loves the Lord, and really loves one another. I can't wait to get started working Monday, and to start classes that evening.

Anyways, it sounds like I passed my Greek exam last week, though I haven't seen the official grade or anything, which means the courses I took during undergrad will replace the first year of Greek courses here. So, Monday night I have Greek Syntax & Exegesis with John DelHousaye; Tuesday night I have Principles for Biblical Interpretation with Fred Chay; and Wednesday night I have Living in God's Presence with Norm Wakefield-a class which Becca is going to take with me as a personal enrichment course.

Anyways, I gotta run for the moment--I'll try and start posting shorter, but more frequent blog entries. My goal is to be posting entries that just contain one letter, 120-150 times each day, but i'm not quite there yet.

Good news...!

2004-08-24T13:14:00.000-07:00

Well I finally have some news to share:

As of Monday, August 23, at about 11:30 AM I am the newest full-time employee of Phoenix Seminary! I start next Monday working as a Recruiter contacting potential students and working with area college ministries to help people discern if God is calling them to seminary, and if so if He is calling them to our seminary in particular. The job is an interesting combination of my work at Century & in 519, so I'm really starting to think God can take whatever experiences we have and use them to prepare us for something good He wants to do.

Basically, life is about to change a lot: I'll be at the seminary from 8:30 to 5 every day for work, then til 8 for class Monday and Wednesday, til 10 Tuesdays, and I won't be bored and feeling like a bum since I've been unemployed since May now. However, I have totally loved getting to spend so much quality time with my wife--how many people get to spend a summer together like we just did? It was such a blessing, and was much needed since we're about to see each other a lot less than we did when we worked together.

Let's see, in other news, we celebrated our 4th anniversary last thursday, and I simply cannot believe that we've been married that long. I've said it before, but it feels like we've been married only a few months, and at the same time that we've been married forever (the latter not in the sense of I find marriage interminable, but that I can't imagine what life was like when I wasn't getting to share it with Becca). We had a great day together (we've had a lot of great days together lately though), and Becca got a Seal CD (IV) which I have just become increasingly addicted to [it's on right now, in fact]. I decree that Seal and Sting must combine forces, and form Steal, or Sling, or something along those lines, and use their admirable musical abilities to thwart evil in the world. Or something like that.

I've got my Greek exam in about an hour here, if I pass it (which I had better) I get to skip out of the first year of Greek at seminary. I still will take just as many credits in Greek courses, but I'll get to take more classes focused on individual NT books instead of just the greek grammar courses. I am such a geek, I get excited about this stuff--Brian we need to figure out a way to use our blogs to make witty comments based on our extensive greek knowledge.

Well, I have to go study a little more before my test, I will try and blog a bit more often. Talk to you all soon!

What's up?

2004-08-12T22:09:00.000-07:00

Well I actually got to work a little this week, which was kind of weird since I still don't know for sure if I have this job... Today was thoroughly exciting: I staffed a recruiting table for Phoenix Seminary at a Christian Marriage & Family Conference for 6 hours, and talked to (prepare yourself) maybe half a dozen people. Most of the time I spent reading the seminary catalog and a textbook on historical theology, and listening to this maddening, maddening music that was playing through the hotel sound system. For the few hours I was there yesterday afternoon, I was pretty involved in either conversations with Jeff or with the few other people who stopped by the booth; but today I was there on my own and just got to listen to the music which was on a 25 minute loop, repeating itself over, and over, and over. Ahhhhhhh!!!!

It's been kind of neat though, getting to share the story of how God drew me to this particular seminary with people. I am really looking forward to starting classes in a couple of weeks. After reading through the cataloge again today I was struck by the fact that I'd have to get three masters if I took all the classes that I want to take that they offer. I don't think I will do that, though. Even with the 94 credits that comprise my program in M.Div., I want to take every class that's offered, but you just have to focus. This semester I'm taking Principles for Biblical Interpretation, Intermediate Greek, and Living in God's Presence. Maybe I'll even post a syllabus or something so that you can all read along in all of your spare time. :)

Other than that, all I have to share with you right now is a funny anecdote: Becca & I were driving today, and I made some joke about mammon, which was of course hilarious, and she commented on how while it was funny that very few people would get it, as even among Christians a lot of people wouldn't know what the reference was to. Oh, never mind, it's too hard to explain. Wait, no, it's worth it, I'll take the time and explain the whole situation. So, we were driving, and I made this joke, and -- no, it will take to long. Here's the short version of it: Oh, forget it.

Prepare the Monkey-Helmets!

2004-08-07T12:59:00.000-07:00

Well, I've had an interesting week of job interviewing, studying for my Greek test, and doing some reading for seminary. I still don't have a definitive answer on the job, but hopefully will find out for sure soon. I can't believe we've been here for two weeks already! It's insane, we miss everyone back home so much. We've got a couple of churches we might go to on Sunday, either the VCF of Scottsdale or another one called Highlands. Hopefully we'll get into a home group soon, and get to know some people down here. It's kinda lonely. Actually, we think even Puppy is lonely, he must miss having all the attention, or at least miss seeing different shoes and getting to eat some of them.

I am actually having a hard time putting down one of my textbooks, it's an overview of theology over the past 2000 years. I just finished the section on the patristic period (up through about 450AD). It was really, really cool. One of the problems I think we have as moderns is that we think the ancients were stupid, so we don't take the effort to read and learn what's already been debated and decided in the church. So many of the heresies which are common today (and some which I think are too common and too tolerated, unfortunately) are really, really old. I'll have some more to write on this, but someone's in line behind me to use the computer, so....

We should have internet access in our apartment starting tuesday, so that'll mean more blogging and other internet communications...

We're here!

2004-07-25T16:23:00.000-07:00

So we got into Scottsdale friday night after a white-knuckled drive from Flagstaff. We seriously drive like maniacs on the mountain roads to get here in time to check into our apartment, because it was better to risk death than to risk having to check in Saturday morning. :) But we made it just fine, so I guess it was worth it. We moved all of our stuff in Saturday morning, and pretty much have been unpacking and getting our bearings here since then. We dropped off Becca's parents at the airport at like 7:30 this morning--they called and said it took 3.5 hours to get home by air even though it took us like 33 hours to drive! Wow.

I don't know what else to write at the moment; the rabbit is surviving the heat ok, so far everything we packed survived the trip. Trent, we did good with those monitor and tv boxes, btw...maybe we should begin a new company making custom, form-fitting boxes or something.

Well, I'll talk to you all again soon!

Albuquerque!

2004-07-22T21:28:00.000-07:00

So we've driven like 3/4 of the way, today through blinding monsoon rains in the desert of all places. We're staying at my sister's house in Albuquerque, NM. It's pretty awesome, and so is my little nephew Jackson, and her dogs Schmitty and Stonewall. Tomorrow we'll get to Scottsdale, and hopefully the next day our stuff will get there. Oh, also, my cell phone is working again so you can reach me at it, or, you could if i didn't have caller id, but since i do, i'll see that it's you calling, and, well...

I am thoroughly exhausted! Good night. Becca and I miss you all so much already, it's crazy. The Fart Machine just doesn't bring the same laughs when it's just the two of us and Puppy.

Holy crap! A second post on my blog!

2004-07-19T09:56:00.000-07:00

So yes, I do have something to write today, not much but just enough to keep my faithful blog audience interested. Really, I'm just stringing you along, and will strictly maintain my one blog entry per six weeks schedule. Well, hopefully I'll do a little better than that once we're settled into Phoenix. I wanted to write and thank all of you: friends, families, loved ones--for your help. Not just with moving and packing and stuff, but with LIFE! Thank you. It is going to be so hard for Becca and I not to see you all constantly. We will try to stay in touch with you all, please try and do the same.

I also feel the necessity to comment on how silly it is that my blog lists the time of the posts of my entries and related comments, but not the date. How useless is that?

Please pray for Gary, Susan, Becca & I to have a safe trip across the country to Phoenix, and that I get this job at the seminary, and that everything else falls into place as well. We're leaving behind so many loved ones, and really everything and everyone we have known for these past 7 or so years. It's terrifying, there's a kind of surrealness about it that is so intense that it makes me use the word surreal even though I'm not entirely sure if I'm spelling it correctly. Becca & I are both feeling really calm about it, maybe it's shock, maybe it's just the peace of Christ which passes all understanding. Let's hope it's the latter.

Again, we will miss all of you, you are in our prayers and in our hearts. You really have become dear to us, and we've shared so much of life together with you that it's scary to think about living life apart from you all now.

Well, that's all for this six weeks. I'll write again mid-September. :)

Lee

testing...

2004-06-09T16:07:00.000-07:00

nothing to say yet, maybe someday...