Confident of Not Knowing

I came across the website for the Cathedral at Chapel Hill in Decatur, Georgia where D.E. Paulk is the senior pastor. They describe their church as radically inclusive in regards to all faiths. Paulk's newest book is titled "I Don't Know...The Way of Knowing." The following is the promotional material for the book from their website:

"'I Don't Know...The Way of Knowing' by D.E. Paulk. I Don't Know is the required confession needed to be granted admission to the path of enlightenment and to The Way of Knowing. I Know is conclusive, ending, finite and therefore devastating. I Know is an enemy of immortality and nemesis to The Way of Knowing. We are all infinite spirits and the offspring of the Infinite Creator. When we discover the I Don't Know within we unleash our Infinite nature and unearth the Endless Us! Are you ready to put on immortality?All Truth flows to us from One Divine River . From that One River many wells form and are fed. We might call these wells religions, cultures or philosophies. All wells sustained by the One River contain beauty and truth. However, we make a grave mistake when we declare any particular well as being the One River. I Don't Know dissolves religious division, bridges cultural chasms and dodges philosophical divorce originating from the I Know. I Don't Know is the Repairer of the Breach. In a day when the I Know is to be charged with so much human suffering - I Don't Know shines brightly as an ancient idea whose time has come of age. $20."

I find it interesting that a book is written to asert what one doesn't know. Certainly "I know" has been used to abuse many, both flowing from religion as well as in society at large. But why spend many pages encouraging people to not know something? And how confident can I be that this approch to knowing is best? Can I really know what I don't know? Humm...

"Shack Chat" at Bethel University

Bethel University recently hosted a "Shack Chat" with Dr. David Clark and Dr. Steve Sandage discussing the book. I think that they have some good observations about the merits and down sides to this phenomenom of a book. The audio is here.

TIME on the New Calvinism

David Van Biema wrote an article in TIME magazine regarding the New Calvinism which he sees as the most passionate group within evangelicalism. In many ways I agree with his evaluation. In part this is to the credit of new calvanism which has found a theology that stirs the imagination towards the granduer of God as the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe.

What bothers me, both for my neo-calvanistic brothers and sisters as well as for myself, is Van Biema's final paragraph. He wrote, "It will be interesting to see whether Calvin's latest legacy will be classic Protestant backbiting or whether, during these hard times, more Christians searching for security will submit their wills to the austerely demanding God of their country's infancy."

Are these really the only options? And for my neo-calvanisitc friends, is this what is bringing converts into this theology - a desire for security in the midst of difficult financial times? If so, will these new converts then re-convert to the Prosperity theology when money picks up?

And for all of us as protest-ants, how much does the historical "backbiting" that we have been identified as having engaged in now shape our thelogies and relationships with one another and the world? How are we to expect that the world will indeed find security in a real and vital relationship with God if He is represented by backbiters and naval gazers?

Are You Really Seeing What Is Going On?

I was sent this video clip from a friend of a presentation on 'perception.' It is worth a viewing. How did you do?

N.T. Wright in Response

On the side bar of this blog is a listing of blogs I follow. One is by Dr. Ben Witherinton III who is one of the leading New Testament scholars of our day. His most recent post is a Q & A with Bishop N.T. Wright about his book "Surprised by Hope." I am in the process of reading the book, so far it is very good. If you are interested, here is a link to this Q & A.

"How is it with your Soul?" by Ruth Haley Barton

Here is the third article in Ruth Haley Barton's Lenten series. They continue to be very thought provoking as well as providing some good, practical steps. Here is the link.

The Eschatology of Jesus - 5

Scot's fifth post from his eschatology series is here. He tries to tie together his thoughts from the previous four postings.

"The Coming Evangelical Collapse"

This is an adaptation of the writings of Michael Spencer who blogs at InternetMonk.com. He offers a vision for a much different future for the evangelical movement of Christianity. What you think of his predictions? You can read the article here.

The Eschatology of Jesus

Scot McKnight is just starting to post a paper he wrote and presented on the Eschatology of Jesus. He wrote that R.C. Sproul recently described his view as a 'partial preterist,' for those of you who care. You can find his first post here. And his second post from today, here.

The Disappearing Act

According to a recent survey, the percentage of Christians is continuing to decline even as the number of Americans who claim no religious affiliation climbs. So even as the number of imimigrants from Central and Latin America who are predominately R.C. increases, professing Christians are still declinging. "Fifteen percent of respondents said they had no religion, an increase from 14.2 percent in 2001 and 8.2 percent in 1990, according to the American Religious Identification Survey."

What should this be telling us as the Church in U.S.?

"Repentance" by Ruth Haley Barton

Ruth Haley Barton of The Transforming Center in Chicago. The following is the link to her second enstallment in her Lenten series. Click here.