Marginal Christianity

JULY 27, 2020 BY  FREDERICK SCHMIDT For a long time, sin and guilt were really unpopular subjects in American life. Until recently, if they figured in the American psyche at all, it was the toxic projection of antiquated religious ideas, and its best antidote was good therapy.  Only on a rare occasion did it feature in public conversations.  The experience of Tiger Woods comes to mind.  People weighed in on his personal trials, declared him guilty and recommended that he seek absolution in a public confession-come-conversation with Oprah Winfrey. Sin and guilt were so unpopular, in fact, that one book asked,  Whatever Became of Sin? [1]    And more than once over the years, I have had seminarians tell me that I am the only professor who has ever mentioned it.  That’s extraordinary, when you think about it, since sin and the burden of guilt have been at the heart of the Christian faith for centuries.  Whether one thinks of the church’s h...

By Rob Vander Giessen-Reitsma Essay November 16, 2015 As I write, I’m sitting in my living room watching football on a Sunday evening. I just finished eating a meal made with organic tomatoes and peppers we grew in our garden this summer, and now I’m enjoying a craft beer, made not far from my home. Tonight’s Sunday Night Football game between the Arizona Cardinals and the Seattle Seahawks begins with a moment of silence to remember the victims of the Paris terrorist attack on Friday night, followed by a slightly altered version of “The Star Spangled Banner.” When the singer reaches the line “gave proof through the night that our flag was still there,” he changes “our” to “your” in a show of solidarity with France. As the song finishes, war helicopters fly over the stadium. As Arizona quarterback Carson Palmer narrowly avoids a sack, ...

    James K.A. Smith — The Harvard Ichthus      In the 1980s, North American evangelicalism experienced an almost revolutionary innovation: what later came to be known as the “megachurch.” What defined this new dialect of evangelical Christianity wasn’t really size but strategy. The philosophy of ministry and evangelism behind the megachurch movement was often described as “seeker-sensitive.” Sunday gatherings would be less focused on building up those who are already Christians; instead, gatherings would focus on being hospitable to “seekers,” those who were not yet Christians but were curious enough to consider attending an “event” that was accessible, welcoming, entertaining, and informative. But in order for the church to be that sort of place, it was going to have to feel less, well, churchy. If it was going to be “sensitive” to seekers, the church would have to remove those aspects of its practice and tradition that were alleged to be obst...

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe:   Guilt and Shame Edmund, the younger boy in the Pevensie family, is the focal point of the drama in LLW.   He falls prey to the enchantment of the White Witch’s Turkish Delight upon his entry into the magical land of Narnia (see second post in this series).   He becomes enslaved to her and betrays his brother and sisters to her in her effort to prevent the prophesied two Sons and Daughters of Eve (the Pevensie children) from taking up their rightful rule in Narnia which will spell the end of her evil reign. In the last post we took a look at Aslan’s atoning sacrifice of himself in Edmund’s place for his freedom.   After Edmund has been rescued by Aslan’s forces from the Witch, he and Edmund take a long walk together to talk over what has happened.   Neither his siblings nor Lewis’ readers are ever told what Aslan said to Edmund but subsequent events portray the change that has taken place in him. On the occasion of As...