A lesson from Animal Farm12/1/2007
At risk of my life (the witness protection program rules are pretty strict), I feel the need to come out of hiding and chip in on the latest Ref21 squabble. I think Trueman is being typically petty. OK, the Alliance draws clear lines of trenchant criticism on many modern theologians for being aberrant on scripture, justification, and atonement (not to mention purgatory); and Lewis would be dodgy on all of these; but, as Rick says, C S Lewis was a very clever, educated old guy, and therefore it is totally unreasonable to expect him to reach the same very high doctrinal standards that we should require of, say, a very stupid, uneducated young guy. Come on, Trueman, face it, you crypto-Marxist -- all theologians are equal, but some theologians are more equal than others!
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Church Unity in Scotland5/29/2007
The call for the negotiablity of psalmody in the Free Church of Scotland as an ecumenical gesture has left me perplexed. Granted, the situation in Scotland is dire; and the institutional disunity of evangelical Protestants a scandal. Further, I write as someone with great friends, colleagues and allies in the C of S; I also attend a non-psalmody church -- unaccompanied psalmody is my strong preference, I find neglect of the psalms a scandal in Reformed circles, and I've yet to find anything remotely equal to it; but it is not for me a decisive, second-commandment issue. Still, I want to ask the questions: is adherence to psalmody really a significant part of the problem?
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More on PCE2/27/2007
In light of Del’s challenging new question, Ref21 decided to invite exciting contemporary theologian, Rev Dave Trendy, a self-proclaimed `theological barista’to give his considered opinion on the question. Dave is an obvious choice to address the question, being described on his website (www.ageingbutstillintouchwiththekids.org as `An author no Christian leader can ignore’ (Rev Sanc T Monious) and `One of the fifty most brilliant theologians since the very beginning of time’ (Agnes Trendy [definitely not Dave’s mother – same name but totally different woman]). He is also author of numerous books which have received stunningly good reviews in Christianity Today, including Semiotic Coffee for the Post-Starbucks World, Semiotic Starbucks for the Post Coffee World, and his latest, Semiotic World for the Post Starbucks Coffee.
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The Gent is Back2/8/2007
Been away for a while using the skills I gained in South Philly to help spread democracy in Venezuela for a certain well-known televangelist (who can't be named for reasons of national security). Anyway, those nice Reformed `made men' in the Free Church of Scotland might give tulips on Valentine's Day, but we mafiosi with open theistic tendencies celebrate in the traditional style: with a massacre.
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Nice try9/11/2006
but you fail, Justin. These photos are old. Indeed, they were leaked to Al Jazeera by `sources close to the ACE Council' some years ago in an attempt to undermine my credibility in the open theist community. They simply show me undercover in the Trueman compound, standing by his image of the Moon god and his acolytes -- proof positive that CRT is no Reformer.
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Dog the Bounty Hunter8/31/2006
Unable to endure the lack of `Walker, Texas Ranger' on networked TV any longer, I recently bought a satellite dish. Now I can get Chuck two or three times a day, even at 7 in the morning. Anyway, enough of this trivia -- always on the look out for tips about avoiding the law, last night I found myself watching the most bizarre of shows: `Dog: the Bounty Hunter.'
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Oui, moi aussi8/29/2006
Yeah, Sanct is on the money as usual. Back from my three month trip to Sicily at the symposium on `The Emerging Mafia: Reenvisioning Mindless Criminal Violence for the Post-X Generation' (I gave the lecture on `A Generous Beating: Whacking Rivals in the New Millennium') I too was shocked to read the reveiew of Velvet Elvis. Time for me to pay a visit to the reviewer to share some time of `fellowship' if you know what I mean. Seulement pour encourager les autres, as they say down Hackney.
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Good News Bad News7/18/2006
The good news? At the very last minute, the establishment at Ref21 caved in and granted me and the boys blog access again. The bad news? I've had to release Trueman from the basement. He was picked up this morning, wandering along the side of I-95, shaken but in reasonable spirits. And I was so looking forward to that particular `whacking.'
My return: a triumph for free speech; Trueman's release: a disaster for humourless theological conversation everywhere. And again the theodicy question: How can a God of love allow something like this to happen? Now tell me that open theism doesn't look attractive?
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