Last February I did a 12-part review of Douglas Campbell's book The Deliverance of God. As I said at the time, I was interested in the book because many consider it to be a "game changer" in Pauline studies. For me, I was particularly interested in Campbell's devastating critique of "Justification Theory," the theoretical apparatus most Protestants use to understand Paul's soteriology.

In the end, I only reviewed Parts 1-4 of The Deliverance of God (there is a Part 5) but this does allow you to see the core of the argument, Campbell's critique of Justification Theory and his alternative reading of Romans 1-4. This post exists to pull my review posts together so I can link to the whole series on my sidebar.

My posts/parts are grouped under the four Parts (and their respective headings) from The Deliverance of God:

Continue reading...

Praying through the Morning Office this morning (in my backyard with by dog) I was struck by Psalm 101 in light of my post last night about Bob Sutton's Rule. If one doesn't like the name of the Rule it seems you could call it the Psalm 101 Rule.

Continue reading...

Back when this blog was young I wrote what might have been one of my most controversial posts (if letters to the ACU administration is our metric). That post recounted my use of Dr. Bob Sutton's New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Business Week bestselling book to make a few observations about 1 Corinthians 13 in my adult Sunday School class. For example, one of the wonderful insights from Dr. Sutton's book is this:

...the difference between how a person treats the powerless versus the powerful is as good a measure of human character as I know.

And what I found interesting is how sentiments like this, sentiments that should resonate strongly with Christians, were making their way into best selling management books. So it seemed natural, to me at least, to think about the book from a Christian angle.

Continue reading...

Stanley Hauerwas has written that American Christianity has become "too spiritual." That is, the concerns of the church have become other-worldly, with Christians focusing their attention upon the afterlife and the status of their souls.

Such a focus tends to miss the political, social, and economic implications of the Kingdom of God and how the "Kingdom come on earth" might come into conflict with the way Babylon does business.

Continue reading...

I have a good friend and colleague at ACU who just started what he calls The Van Winkle Project.

My friend, a self-confessed news junkie, will be depriving himself of all news for one entire year. He fell asleep--Van Winkled--on September 11 and won't wake up until September 11, 2011. As the blog relates, this involves the following:

Continue reading...

Comedian Stephen Colbert testified before Congress today about immigration.

Amazingly, he did it all "in character." That is, until the end.

In his final moments he comes out of character and explains his motivations for testifying. And in doing so he gives Congress a little theological lesson by quoting the King of Kings:

Continue reading...

For all you Book of Common Prayer fans, you'll have noted that Psalm 88 is the morning psalm today.

What a way to start the day!


(Programming Note: Psalm 88 is a favorite of Winter Christians)

In my post on Type 1 and Type 2 error (which you'll need to read to make sense of this post) I focused mainly upon the selection ratios of conservative and liberal churches. If you recall, I used the idea of a selection ratio to think about the "errors" we can make in our decisions to become more inclusive or exclusive in the Christian church.

But it occurred to me after that post that I wasn't addressing what we think might be going on with the Divine base rate, about who God will save or damn.

(And to be clear, what I'm analyzing here is the crudest form of soteriological thinking. Most of us on this blog don't think about soteriology in these terms, and rightly so. But some people--a lot actually--do frame the issues like this. So it is interesting to see how that thinking might work.)

By analyzing the Divine base rate we quickly realize something I mentioned a few weeks ago: A view of God is often rumbling in the background when we talk about moral or doctrinal issues. That is, while it seems that we might be disagreeing about this or that bit of biblical interpretation or application, what we are really disagreeing about is what God is like. There is, in a sense, only one real argument Christians have: What is God like? Everything we fight about is really just another version, in different guise, of that same question. What is God like?

Continue reading...

I'd like to follow the many CoC bloggers who have posted this podcast about the experience of women in the Churches of Christ (my faith tradition and the host denomination of my university).

For context to "outsiders," in the Churches of Christ women are prohibited from formal teaching (e.g., preaching) and leadership roles (e.g., elders). While any given Church of Christ varies in how restrictive they are in regards to gender inclusivity, the norm is patriarchal and male-dominated.

The podcast, entitled She is Called, is hosted by ACU Bible professor Dr. Stephen Johnson who poignantly guides us through the stories and heartache of four young women, each raised in the Churches of Christ, who have been called to the ministry.

She Is Called by Half the Church

The podcast is hosted at the Half the Church blog.

Today was a nice day on the ACU campus getting to hear Shane Claiborne (The Irresistible Revolution, Jesus for President) in multiple venues. The day will be capped off with a Derek Webb concert with both Shane and Derek doing a talk-back afterwards.

Derek Webb's latest album is called The Stockholm Syndrome. The Stockholm Syndrome is a psychological phenomenon where hostages begin to identify with and defend their captors. The syndrome was named after observing hostages in a bank robbery in Stockholm begin to identify with the bank robbers during the days they were being held hostage.

Why would hostages, prisoners, or captives come to identify with their captors and see them as kind and benevolent? Wikipedia lists the following as the causes and conditions behind the syndrome:

Continue reading...

A couple of months ago I watched the movie The Wrestler starring Mickey Rourke. The movie is the story of an aging professional wrestler who, knowing nothing else, pushes his body to the breaking point for the entertainment of others. Along the way he befriends Marisa Tomei who is an exotic dancer. In what I saw as a kind of parallelism, the wrestler is the Freudian twin of the exotic dancer. Where one body is used for a sexual outlet the other body is used for an aggressive outlet. Two bodies--wrestler and dancer--used up and consumed for our entertainment and gratification.

Continue reading...

After my Theology of Calvin and Hobbes class this evening I wandered over to the library to catch a bit of the poetry reading by best-selling author (The Cloister Walk, Amazing Grace) Kathleen Norris.

Here was one of the poems that struck me, from her collection Journey:

Imperatives

Look at the birds
Consider the lilies
Drink ye all of it

Ask
Seek
Knock
Enter by the narrow gate

Do not be anxious
Judge not; do not give dogs what is holy
Go: be it done for you
Do not be afraid
Maiden, arise
Young man, I say, arise

Stretch out your hand
Stand up, be still
Rise, let us be going…

Love
Forgive
Remember me

Today in Cornerstone the ACU freshmen got to hear from author and civil rights activist Dr. John Perkins. The talk opened up with the video above, Switchfoot's song honoring the vision of Dr. Perkins and the Civil Rights Movement:

Love is the final fight.

A large part of my day job is teaching statistics. I teach both undergraduate and graduate statistics classes. Theology--this blog--is really just a side hobby of mine. Little of what I talk about here on this blog makes it into my lectures on multiple regression, factor analysis, and Analysis of Variance.

But it is hard, at times, not to see theological issues emerging in my statistical lectures. Worlds collide was it were. For example, consider how Type 1 and Type 2 errors can help us think about who is going to heaven or hell.

Continue reading...

I'm already checking on plane tickets...

Announcements on the March and Countermarch.

A second major theme in Eugene Rogers' book Sexuality and the Christian Body is his interaction with and elaboration upon Rowan Williams' essay The Body's Grace. If you've not read The Body's Grace many consider it to be the most significant theological treatment of human sexuality in the 20th Century. You can decide that for yourself. Regardless, agree or not, The Body's Grace is considered required reading for theology students taking up the subject of human sexuality. So, before getting back to Rogers it might be helpful to sketch out some of the main moves in The Body's Grace.

Continue reading...

Today my wife had a surgical procedure. No fun in the Beck house. But things went well and she's home recuperating.

Jana is a 1st-5th grade teacher's aid at Abilene Christian Schools (Go Panthers!). So the second grade teacher brought over some Get Well Soon cards made by the ACS 2nd Grade. Beyond decorating the card and writing an encouraging note, the students were also told that they could add a bible verse if they wanted.

Well, some of the students made some interesting Scriptural selections. Here were three of our favorites:

On the outside of the card is a wonderful "Got well soon Mrs. Beck." On the inside of the card is a "Dear Mrs. Beck" followed by the biblical quote:

These are the proverbs of Solomon.

On the outside: "Git better Mrs. Beck". On the inside:

Evil people are never safe. But good people remain safe and secure.

And, finally, our favorite. On the outside: "I hope you can talk better and feel better." And on the inside:

This is what the Lord says: People of Israel, you say that I divorced your mother Jerusalem. But where is the legal paper the proves I divorced her? My children, did I owe money to someone?

Thanks kids! Mrs. Beck will be back soon...

Last week I finished Eugene Rogers' book Sexuality and the Christian Body. I thought I'd devote a few posts to some of the main ideas in the book for any who are interested.

The book is a theological argument advocating for the inclusion of same-sex marriages into the Christian communion. Consequently, I don't expect everyone to agree with Rogers' argument. Regardless, what I found encouraging in Sexuality and the Christian Body was a vision of marriage that inspired me in my own marriage to Jana. More, Rogers offers a view of marriage that also lifts up singleness and celibacy. In short, regardless as to what you think about Rogers' views on same-sex marriage, his theological treatment of marriage is, from a theological perspective, very inspiring. Or at least I found it so.

Continue reading...

On Sunday mornings I'm teaching the university bible class with my friend and colleague David. The title of the class is Resident Aliens: Strangers in a Strange Land. The class is starting off with a textual study of 1 Peter where "resident alien" themes abound. Right out of the gate in the first two verses the author of 1 Peter hits you with the phrase eklektois parepidemois diasporas. This is variously translated as:

Continue reading...

I'd like to ask for a gender relations consultation.

Growing up I was taught to use the words "gentlemen" and "ladies" when addressing people. Even homeless people were gentlemen and ladies (or "Sir" and "Ma'am" in Texas). It was a way, I was taught, to be respectful. To recognize dignity regardless of station. So I've continued this practice into adulthood and into my workplace. I address groups of male students or colleagues as "gentlemen" and groups of females students or colleagues as "ladies."

In fact, and what prompted this post, I just did this a minute ago when I entered my building. Two of my co-workers were coming out. And passing them I said, "Hello Ladies."

But I've heard rumblings that the address "ladies" might be offensive to some women. To call someone a "Lady" smacks of a Victorian patriarchy. So I'm wondering, is that correct?

Continue reading...

Awhile back I wrote about my prayer life coming back from the dead. A large part of this has been due to The Book of Common Prayer (BCP). Recently, my boys have become curious about "Dad's prayer book." The last week or so they have been asking for Jana or I to bring it to their bedtime prayers. They flip through the pages of Prayers and Thanksgivings toward the back and find a prayer that seems to be on a topic they would like to pray about. Personally, I pray this prayer for Social Justice a lot:

Continue reading...

That title made you click, right? You're saying, "What's Richard Beck up to now?"

Okay, here's one of those "experimental" posts I do. For your consideration and mediation.

I've just finished reading the essay Bare-Naked Lady: My vacation at a nudist camp by Emily Yoffe over at Slate. Yoffe writes as the "Human Guiana Pig" for Slate and in her essay she recounts her experience spending a day at a nudist camp. As a psychologist the whole essay--from Yoffe's own reactions to her psychological observations of the nudists to the whole phenomenon of nudism and its attractions--was interesting.

And then I started wondering about nudism from a Christian perspective. Could you be a Christian nudist?

Continue reading...

Readers of this blog, I expect, come and go. Some of you have been with me for years. Others dip in and never come back. Some check in from time to time, like visiting an old friend. Some of you are new and are trying to decide what you think of this space and its author.

So, for those of you who are new to this space, perhaps it would be helpful if I explained a bit what you are witnessing.

Continue reading...

For those of you who observe the Daily Office you know that the daily lectionary readings are working us through the book of Acts. And as I've been reading the book of Acts I've been paying attention to how the gospel is presented in the various sermons we find in Acts. These are, from the perspective of the Canon, the first sermons of the Christian church. And I wondered, how is the gospel presented in these first sermons?

Continue reading...

Whenever Christians are engaged in difficult discernment decisions there is always the risk for error. We are always going to make discernment mistakes, misjudging the will of God. It’s just a fact of life.

For example, maybe extending the sacrament of marriage to gay couples will prove to be a mistake. But my church allows women to teach adult Sunday School classes and lead communion thoughts (mere baby steps on the road toward egalitarianism). Maybe we’re wrong about allowing women to do these things. Maybe women should “remain silent” as they are in most of our churches. More, some churches suppress charismatic displays like speaking in tongues. But maybe these churches are wrong in this and are grieving the Holy Spirit. Some churches baptize infants. And maybe they are wrong about that.

Or maybe right.

Continue reading...

I'm currently reading Eugene Rogers's book Sexuality and the Christian Body. In reading I came across this quote from NT scholar Luke Timothy Johnson regarding the burdens facing liberals and conservatives in thinking about same-sex marriages, particularly as they relate to the church:

Continue reading...