i also deny the resurrection of jesus

one of my favorite authors was recently on a north american tour to chat about his book and the different issues that it raises. 

he’s known as much for his clever word-plays, turns of phrase, and linguistic acrobatics, as he is for merging the insights of postmodern theorists with theology. to his critics who prefer straight forward answers, he can be absolutely infuriating. but to those who can at least sympathize with his philosophical inclinations, he is a much needed prophetic voice. 

at calvin college, a faculty member asked him if his philosophical beliefs led him to deny the resurrection of christ. 

he responded with this: 

Without equivocation or hesitation, I fully and completely admit that I deny the resurrection of Christ. This is something that anybody who knows me could tell you, and I am not afraid to say it publicly, no matter what some people may think…

I deny the resurrection of Christ every time I do not serve at the feet of the oppressed, each day that I turn my back on the poor; I deny the resurrection of Christ when I close my ears to the cries of the downtrodden and lend my support to an unjust and corrupt system.

However there are moments when I affirm that resurrection, few and far between as they are. I affirm it when I stand up for those who are forced to live on their knees, when I speak for those who have had their tongues torn out, when I cry for those who have no more tears left to shed.

the end of memory

one of my favorite books in recent memory is miroslav volf’s the end of memory. the question he poses in that book is: how ought one remember injustice and violence? most (including myself) would say that you should always hold on tightly to the memory of wrongdoings – to honor the victim(s) and to hold the perpetrator accountable for their act. but volf says something remarkably different: he says that the proper goal of the memory of wrongs suffered is the formation of the communion of love between all people — including victims and perpetrator. love is the goal of memory; when the goal is reached, the memory of wrongs itself can also end; it can be forgotten. in other words, love is the end of memory.

many of my own memories came flooding back today as i flipped through old photo albums at my parents’ house, and the picture above captured my attention. there’s my brother, tough and valiant, looking forward with jaw clenched and rifle in hand. and there’s me. looking up toward him, wearing my potato suit + socks, holding onto my absolute favorite kinda toy growing up: my parents’ kitchenware.

no conviction

a cool parable that wonders what it means to be a christian from an interesting thinker.  

In a world where following Christ is decreed to be a subversive and illegal activity, you have been accused of being a believer, arrested and dragged before a court.

You have been under clandestine surveillance for some time now and so the prosecution has been able to build up quite a case against you. They begin the trial by offering the judge dozens of photographs which show you attending church meetings, speaking at religious events, and participating in various prayer and worship services. After this they present a selection of items that have been confiscated from your home: religious books that you own, worship CDs and other Christian artefacts. Then they step up the pace by displaying many of the poems, pieces of prose, and journal entries that you had lovingly written concerning your faith. Finally, in closing, the prosecution offers your Bible to the judge. This is a well-worn book with scribbles, notes, drawings, and underlings throughout, evidence, if it were needed, that you had read and re-read this sacred text many times.

Throughout the case you have been sitting silently in fear and trembling. You know deep in your heart that with the large body of evidence that has been amassed by the prosecution you face the possibility of a long imprisonment or even execution. At various times throughout the proceedings you have lost all confidence and have been on the verge of standing up and denying Christ. But while this thought has plagued your mind throughout the trial, you resist the temptation and remain focused.

why the spiritually mature are leaving the church

a fascinating article from out of ur, christianity today’s leadership blog.

part 1.
part 2.

here’s george barna’s book, revolution, which deals with the subject a bit more in depth.

and then there’s duin’s quitting church, why the faithful are fleeing and what to do about it.  interesting book, though i’m not sure i find her solutions particularly helpful.

this is an outstanding book

“So in Jesus’ own teaching, in his choice not to avoid confrontation with the temple leaders and their Roman overseers, we find that his most definitive calling is neither to cultivate nor create — though, as we have seen, he did both extensively.  The core calling of his life is not something he does at all in an active sense–it is something he suffers. The strangest and most wonderful paradox of the biblical story is that its most consequential moment is not an action but a passion — not a doing but a suffering.”

[andy crouch, culture making]

thinking good thoughts isn’t good enough

while i was in school, it became increasingly en vogue for christians to “engage the culture.” this was novel at the time, since christians would more commonly withdraw from culture into a safe enclave of fellow believers. leaving the enclave to engage with the larger culture was refreshing.

but this had some problems (not the least of which is the fact that there’s no such thing as THE larger culture). according to andy crouch, engaging the culture today is almost synonymous with merely thinking about the culture, with the frequently false assumption being that action would come soon after reflection. the belief was that cultural artifacts like film, art, music, etc. emerge from deeply-rooted philosophical beliefs/world-view, and we must study these because they should be engaged rather than ignored. but when trying to engage the culture by watching movies and viewing contemporary art, the viewer gets better at thinking deep thoughts (thank you CHID!), but gains no such wisdom in how to participate in the hustle and bustle of creating culture, which is where i think the task of cultural engagement actually lies.

so, when talking about addressing america’s social ills like racism, sexism, etc., you may have heard people say, “we just gotta change people’s world-views” via dialogue, criticism, or some events that promote awareness. the hope is that an increase in awareness (or change of world-view, thought) will lead to new cultural artifacts (like laws) that address said social ills. it isn’t enough to critique & expose racist representations in the media. it’s not enough to think good thoughts — the impact of the best social criticism will never rival the cultural impact of the ipod. so i’m starting to wonder if we’ve got it backwards — the task of changing an internal world-view actually begins with the external development of new cultural artifacts, and not the other way around.

christian life

i was recently chatting with a friend at his house.

i told him about one of my students.  he was given an assignment to create a powerpoint presentation on his own life, and one of the slides he created was entitled “future goals.”  one of his goals was, “not go to jail.”  i asked him about the goal and he shared about how his mother, father, and brother are all currently in prison.  

teaching has felt like ministry to me, so it was no wonder that i felt conflicted about how to respond to him.  as his teacher, i wanted to encourage him to stay on the right track; as a christian, i wanted to tell him there is hope in christ.  obviously, i could not legally share with him the latter.  so i wonder, what does it mean to be a christian teacher?  after all, every teacher — christian or not — would’ve encouraged him to “stay on the right track.”  do i have a unique message to share?

health & wealth gospel

this is a video where john piper lets his feelings regarding the prosperity (word of faith, name it & claim it, health & wealth) gospel be known.  he’s not a fan, and i think his message is true for middle class/ well-to-do folks like me and my peers.  

…. but it is interesting to see where this message flourishes the most.  it’s been noted that the balance of christianity is shifting from the northern hemisphere to the southern hemisphere, and the theology of these pentecostal faith communities in places like africa and southeast asia is largely shaped by the prosperity gospel. putting your faith in jesus, congregants are told, will yield an improvement on health and social status.

a hermeneutic of trust

recently, i’ve been really interested in how to approach a “text” — movies, books, websites, scripture, people, cultures, etc.  what kinda predispositions should i have when i read?

i now take as a given that a text can never be read objectively; that is, i cannot wholly attain the “truth” behind a text because the way i read is always influenced by my worldview. i arrived at this assumption sometime in undergrad, when i learned to read texts under the tutelage of german and french guys interested in deconstructing language: they exposed how cultural systems and texts are constructed by idealogies that further the interests of those in power. as peter rollins puts it, deconstruction is about finding the “lie” in “belief.”

under this assumption, many folks (like me) approach basically all texts with a hermeneutic of suspicion. there is always a hidden agenda: the text is always phallocentric, jingoistic, tinged with religious dogma, or otherwise part of the vast right wing conspiracy, and i would be a blind fool to not recognize that my support of such texts means i support everything that’s wrong with the status quo.

i actually don’t think such a posture is a bad thing; it’s part of what makes an effective reader, in my opinion. but i’ve been curious: how should christians approach the bible? what should our bias be? toward suspicion still, even though we still choose to follow jesus?

richard hays argues here that we should read the bible with a hermenuetic of trust. this does not mean, he reminds us, that we should blindly give the bible a free pass on everything, or that we should never ask questions of the bible. to sum up his argument, he says that the task for christians reading the bible is to “hear” the text. our reading of the scripture should model and foster trust in god. texts are always critiqued but never interpreted; exposed by never exposited upon. all literary criticism ought to be founded on a love for the text.

surprised by hope

Think of Oscar Wilde’s wonderful scene in his play Salome, when Herod hears reports that Jesus of Nazareth has been raising the dead. “I do not wish him to do that,” says Herod. “I forbid him to do that. I allow no man to raise the dead. This man must be found and told that I forbid him to raise the dead.”

There is the bluster of the tyrant who knows his power is threatened, and I hear the same tone of voice not just in the politicians who want to carve up the world to their advantage but also in the intellectural traditions that have gone along for the ride.

But Wilde’s next, haunting line is the real crunch, for us as for Herod: “Where is this man?” demands Herod. “He is in every place, my lord,” replies the courtier, “but it is hard to find him.”

[surprised by hope, n.t. wright, p. 74-75]

this book is good — i highly recommend it.

check out this interview he did with time magazine shortly before the book came out, where he briefly explained why the popular christian understanding of heaven is wrong.  this isn’t what the book is primarily about, but it is one of many insightful arguments he makes.