Marginal Christianity

            Luke the Evangelist is traditionally symbolized by a winged ox or bull –              a figure of sacrifice, service and strength.                                                                                                         The ox signifies that Christians should be prepared to sacrifice themselves in following Christ. LIVING...

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2012/12/31/disarming-the-disciples-by-drew-strait/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PatheosJesusCreed+%28Blog+-+Jesus+Creed%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher Dec 31, 2012 @ 5:15 By scotmcknight So many want to appeal to Luke 22 to show Jesus was not against guns, but Drew Strait subjects that counter-appeal to an examination: (Dis)Arming the Disciples? Jesus’ View on Sword Control in Luke 22 The tragic events in Newtown have left our nation riddled with grief, and the use of semi-automatic weapons in this most recent mass killing has once again brought the issue of gun control to national prominence. Within the church, too, this horrific tragedy has prompted serious soul searching. What should the church’s response be to the incessant violence carried out by individuals armed with guns? While mourning the loss of innocent children, I’ve found myself joining other Christians who are mour...

December 30, 2012 The number one column on the New York Times website right now is Maureen Dowd’s “Why, God?” It features counsel on the problem of evil, in the wake of the Newtown shootings, from a priest friend of hers, Rev. Kevin O’Neil. Amid his admirably kind, gentle, and humble remarks on the evils of our time, and every time, is this key admission: “I believe differently now than 30 years ago. First, I do not expect to have all the answers, nor do I believe that people are really looking for them.” Nor do I believe that people are really looking for them . I don’t think most people are really looking for them, either. A few straws in the wind: Has Prof. Alvin Plantinga of the University of Notre Dame, arguably the most important thinker about the problem of evil in our lifetime, been prominent in the news media, on all the talk shows, in all the bien-pensant columns? I haven’t seen a trace of him. My cousin Kent Annan, wh...

    In my last post I suggested three forms of Javertism, a moralistic and legalistic version of “Christian” faith symbolized by Inspector Javert in “Les Misrables,” that afflict much of the church in our time. In this post we’ll look at the second form, a legalistic view of justice.     By “legalistic” I mean an approach to living the faith governed by a retributive view of justice.  Retributive means that we deserve what we get and get what we deserve.  If I do this, I suffer consequence X.  If I do that, I suffer consequence Y.  A tit for tat kind of justice.      Faith lived under a retributive view of God’s justice always leaves us in the dock, always under threat of accusation and judgment for any misstep.  Such a faith leaves us focused on ourselves and our performance in a way that can easily become narcissistic.  Moralism is inevitable under a retributive view of justice.  As is the pride and e...

Date   December 31, 2012 http://www.theage.com.au/business/the-four-business-gangs-that-run-the-us-20121230-2c1e2.html?rand=1356872221146 IF YOU'VE ever suspected politics is increasingly being run in the interests of big business, I have news: Jeffrey Sachs, a highly respected economist from Columbia University, agrees with you - at least in respect of the United States. In his book, The Price of Civilisation , he says the US economy is caught in a feedback loop. ''Corporate wealth translates into political power through campaign financing, corporate lobbying and the revolving door of jobs between government and industry; and political power translates into further wealth through tax cuts, deregulation and sweetheart contracts between government and industry. Wealth begets power, and power begets wealth,'' he says. Sachs says four key sectors of US business exemplify this feedback loop and the takeover of political power in America by the '...