Ponderings on a Faith Journey

THE ANSWER TO BAD RELIGION IS NOT NO RELIGION: A Guide to Good Religion for Seekers, Skeptics, and Believers.   By Martin Thielen.  Louisville:  Westminster John Knox Press, 2014.  Xv + 160 pages.

            It’s not secret – fewer people are going to church than they used to.  Many give the bad state of religion as their reason for staying away.  People seem to have noticed that there is a lot of hypocrisy among Christians.  They’re too politicized, angry, exclusive, dogmatic, and self-righteous.  They’re simply not pleasant to be around.  So why spend your Sunday’s around such people.  Instead, we can be spiritual without the trappings of religion.  I can understand the sentiment – I’ve known these kinds of people.  I’ve even been counted among them a few times in my life.    But just because some religion is bad, doesn’t mean we have to totally give up on religion!
            Martin Thielen, a United Methodist Pastor serving in Tennessee, and a former Southern Baptist pastor, doesn…

Mark 10:32-34


Jesus took the lead on their journey toward Jerusalem.  Perhaps he was in a hurry to get there, but the disciples lag behind.  They seem to be caught up in the moment.  It could be that this was their first visit to Jerusalem.  There in front of them was the big city and the Temple.  They’d heard about this Temple many times, and when they saw it in real life, it seemed even grander than they had ever imagined.  Remember they didn’t have cameras back then.  But it wasn’t just the grandeur of the Temple that grabbed them.  There were also the rumors that a violent fate awaited Jesus in Jerusalem.  Jesus had even brought up the subject himself.  So, it’s no wonder that they wanted to take their time getting to Jerusalem.  Because they didn’t know what lay ahead of them, they were filled with mixed emotions – both amazement and fear. 
When Jesus realizes that a gap was beginning to form, he stops and takes the twelve off to the side.  Then, for the third time, Jesus explains …

I have just begun reading A Lover's Quarrel: A Theologian and His Beloved Church, written by Disciples theologian Joe R. Jones -- formerly Professor of Theology (now retired) at Christian Theological Seminary.  I will, of course, be reviewing the book upon completion, but I may also add some posts in the in between times.  As I read the Introduction to the book, I came upon this definition of the church that the author is going to use in the course of the book.  I wanted to share it and make a few preliminary comments.  Before offering his definition, I also should note that language plays an important function in Joe's theological work, as seen in his two volume systematic theology -- A Grammar of Christian Faith: Systematic Explorations in Christian Life and Doctrine (2 Volume Set). The church is that liberative and redemptive
community of persons
called into being
by the Gospel of Jesus Christ
through the Holy Spirit
to witness in word and deed
to the living Triune God
for …