This semester the Doctor of Ministry group that Dr. Justus Hunter and I lead is reading the Commonitorium, by Vincent of Lerins. Writing in the wake of a very contentious Council of Ephesus (431), Vincent famously insisted that “in the Catholic Church itself, all possible care must be taken, that we hold that faith which has been…
Many have noted that what we call “contemporary” worship isn’t so contemporary anymore. It’s a feature of the “attractional” model of church growth, embodied so well in Willow Creek and like-minded megachurches that popped up in the 80’s and 90’s. The basic philosophy of the attractional model is that if we can create a church…
Well, folks, it’s almost Christmas, and to celebrate the season we have a brand new podcast up. In this episode, we talk about the the meaning of the Incarnation, Gregory of Nazianzus, John Mellencamp, Athanasius, Mary, Santa Claus, and Scott’s propensity for leaving one of his children behind on road trips. Also, Maggie tells us…
“In Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us” (2 Cor 5:19). This is one of the most well known passages of Christian scripture. It is also one of the most puzzled-over. Atonement is a particularly knotty theological matter. While the…
I’ve been thinking about the framing of the so-called Wesleyan Quadrilateral in the Book of Discipline. Wesley believed that the living core of the Christian faith was revealed in Scripture, illumined by tradition, vivified in personal experience, and confirmed by reason. Scripture is primary, revealing the Word of God “so far as it is necessary…