In the podcast Ben and I talk about my fit within the Churches of Christ (Note: there are now two streams within the Churches of Christ, the ecumenical stream and the sectarian stream), how psychology influences my theology, why I'm not on Twitter, why I blog at blogspot.com and about some of the topics from my book The Slavery of Death.
You also learn what was my last Google search at the time of the podcast.
It was...this: "effect sizes for small N designs."
For better or worse, I am a social scientist.
I'd be interested in hearing more about this "two streams" thing.
Richard, I appreciate your last sentence very, very much. As one who grew up in the sectarian Church of Christ, but no longer a member, I do try to keep up with the progress within the church as a whole. While some is healthy and exciting, like the kind I see on your blog, I also see in other places the claim of PROGRESSIVE, yet is simply an acceptance of another conservative denomination or two that have identical political and social views.
One of the positives of the Gay marriage question is that it is causing many who have been "comfortably progressive" to start thinking again. I have no doubt that many leaders who call themselves progressive are now silently asking themselves, "What are we going to do when Gay individuals and couples just start showing up for worship?", and they will. My prayer is that most congregational leaders will stretch a little bit more with an open, welcoming hand.
Absolutely nothing to do with the post, but thought you would enjoy a timely example of disgust mechanism at work in the world... http://goo.gl/sWuT0G
Thanks! That helps.
I agree. Even the most progressive Churches of Christ aren't all that progressive. So much work left to do. But in my lifetime I've seen so much change in the CoC. That gives me hope. And that this blog is one of the most widely read CoC blogs.
Love this...
"A lot of my blogging and writing, and all of my books, are very autobiographical. I am writing to save my soul (haha). I am always trying to pick up the pieces of faith for myself - to write towards things that I have found helpful.
So in many ways my theology has always been very desperate. I'm reaching for a lifeline. I'm hunting for ideas that help me.
As a psychologist, I begin with the human predicament. My fundamental data is human experience. Where(as) theologians tend to be working more from tradition, orthodoxy, the creeds, and so they're worried more about keeping things fairly consistent and orthodox at that level.
My progressive views are always coming out because I'll always be with what's true at the human experiential level, particularly among people who are suffering.
If theology can't speak into suffering, then I think it's almost worthless."
~ RB