It seems to me that a couple of things are running amok in evangelical theology right now which are pushing theology-in-practice to some unfortunate extremes. Though other things could be thrown in, two issues of principle concern to me are: 1) meticulous determinism and 2) either an over-inflation of human worth or an over-defamation of human nature.
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Here is an appropriate quote from N. T. Wright on Col. 3:4-11.
'put to death...' and 'rid yourselves...' (vv. 5, 8). These verbs introduce two lists of vices, one relating to sexual sin, the other to sins of anger. The two lists are classic statements of the ways in which Christians can be untrue to themselves and, more importantly, to God. By bluntly naming sins which are all too often excused or glossed over with euphemisms, Paul sets a clear standard for the church both ancient and modern. Many Christians tend to concentrate on one list or the other: one knows of Christian communities that would be appalled at the slightest sexual irregularity but which are nests of malicious intrigue, backbiting, gossip and bad temper, and, conversely, of others where people are so concerned to live in untroubled harmony with each other that they tolerate flagrant immorality. The gospel, however, leaves no room for behaviour of either sort. (N. T. Wright, Colossians and Philemon, TNTC (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2008) As in Paul's situation, ours has not changed much. The call today for the Church to embrace a post-modern sexual ethic finds no grounding in the ethical vision of the New Testament, which was decidedly "conservative" in these matters (and pitting Jesus against the rest of the NT authors doesn't accomplish that end either). In the same way, the narrow factionism that is found on the other end of the spectrum in Christian circles does little to further the kingdom or to embrace the NT call for the unity of believers. Both sets of prohibitions must be headed, though their is polarization today concerning which modern audiences need to hear which vice-list the most. I enjoy blogging. I really honestly do. The problem with blogging for me is there are so many other projects I spend my time on that I rarely have creative margins to come up with blog ideas. That's where you can help! I'd like to start a series of blogs prompted by the things others are interested in rather than what interests me. The parameters are anything related to theology, the Bible, Christianity, religion in general, or pop culture. If you have something you'd like to see me address, leave a comment or send me a Tweet or email. The plan is to start making a list of these topics and tackle them one by one. And, of course, if there is no interest, I will just continue to post random thoughts as they come to me, as sporadic as that may be!
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