Owner: Sharp Iron URL:http://sharpiron.wordpress.com/ Join Date: Mon, 10 Sep 2007 15:06:16 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Greetings! My hope is that Sharp Iron can be a friendly enough place that you would feel comfortable sharing your thoughts and opinions on a variety of topics. I am very interested in spirituality and how that affects every aspect of our lives. Site statistics:Click here
Sounds Like the Devil 2007-09-09 14:44:35
In the “Screwtape Letters” by CS Lewis, the senior demon advises his apprentice, Wormwood, not to worry when his ‘patient’ begins to attend church services. Screwtape assures him that the patient will be so distracted by the terribly flawed members of the congregation that he will soon be missing the ‘enemy’s’ (that is, God’s) point, once again.
In the five years I have been going to church I would have to agree with Screwtape’s prognosis. We are so easily ensnared by the petty trivialities that crop up whenever our egos take center stage. But once we are aware of this trap, it can be avoided with just a little applied effort. Especially if the church is focused more on humility, worship and service, rather than on the instruction of others. Thankfully, these types of churches are becoming easier to find every day.
But Satan is a wily opponent and apparently never tires of inventing new ways to distract us from God. Just as we Read more:Sounds
, Devil
“God is Not PT Barnum” 2007-09-09 09:10:09 &ldquo
;If God is real, then why doesn’t he just prove that he exists?&rdquo
;
I get this question a lot from folks, particularly atheists, and nothing could be better designed to produce a migraine. Thankfully, John Shore over on Suddenly Christian has figured this question out:
If you think about that question, though, you’ll see pretty soon that what anyone asking it really wants is for God to not only prove to them personally that he exists, but to simultaneously prove his existence to a whole bunch of other people, too. Because if God proved his existence to just you, then that’s going to leave you with one whopper of a challenge on your hands, insofar as right away your choices will boil down to exactly two: Either tell people how you personally encountered God, and risk them thinking you’re absolutely badoinkers — or don’t tell anyone how God proved to you he was real, and risk having a stress-induced heart attack from having to keep such an extraordinary experienc
A Biblical Travesty: the Slandering of the Pig 2007-09-07 21:36:43
(Does this guy look familar? Then keep it to yourselves, please.)
The world’s most famous cookbook, the Old Testament, is pretty darn specific about what animals the chosen people could and could not eat. This was quite a list, as can be seen in the book of Deuteronomy;
3 Do not eat any detestable thing. 4 These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, 5 the deer, the gazelle, the roe deer, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope and the mountain sheep. [a] 6 You may eat any animal that has a split hoof divided in two and that chews the cud. 7 However, of those that chew the cud or that have a split hoof completely divided you may not eat the camel, the rabbit or the coney. [b] Although they chew the cud, they do not have a split hoof; they are ceremonially unclean for you. 8 The pig is also unclean; although it has a split hoof, it does not chew the cud. You are not to eat their meat or touch their carcasses.
9 Of all the creatures living in the water, you Read more:Biblical
, Travesty
The Wine Minister 2007-09-06 20:51:34
Oh, boy. Have I found a treasure while hunting on the web. Here is a fellow who has envisioned a ministry that uses the best that God has given us; good wine. He calls his site:
WineMinistry
Wine, Friends, Food and Theological Musings
http://wineministry.wordpress.com/
There is a pretty good article he just wrote about how just as a wine label can reveal nothing of the wine’s character, the same can be said of people. http://wineministry.wordpress.com/2007/09/06/theology-buying-wine-by-the-label/
I also like this one about how wine can encourage and enhance the celebration of community ; http://wineministry.wordpress.com/2007/07/
If you like good wine (or, as in my case, good cheap wine) go check him out. (No wonder I didn’t make it very long as a Methodist.)
But for those of my friends who are doing the 12 Step he also has another site, RevJavaDude’s Cafe:
http://www.revjavadude.com/
Either (or both ways) enjoy.
Read more:Minister
Birds of a Feather; Environmentalists and Fundamentalists 2007-09-05 15:59:23 Many of today’s environmentalists are concerned about the state of our planet and if it might be too late to fix things. Apparently the problem we face is that the greatest threat to our planet is mankind itself, and with our depraved nature there is little hope for the future.
The general consensus among this group is that early in the Earth’s history the world was pretty much perfect. Man even knew how to live harmoniously with all of nature. This changed when man’s arrogance, pride and selfish tendencies began to exact their toll on the natural balance. War, famine, pollution, poverty as well as natural disasters became the norm. Now the Earth is worse than it has ever been and apocalypse looms on the horizon. The extinction of humanity may be inevitable and in fact a good thing for the rest of the world.
Many of today’s Christians are concerned about the fate of the Earth and don’t believe that there is any chance of saving it. The Read more:Birds
, Environmentalists
Update on Sherri the Evangelizing Cyclist 2007-09-04 10:36:15 I received this e-mail today. What an amazing ‘coincidence’, eh? Since July 14th Sherri has traveled from Frederick, Maryland to Seneca, South Carolina, over 547 miles. Gott ist Gutt! (For those of you unfamiliar with the story of Sherri you may read the original story here; http://sharpiron.wordpress.com/2007/07/14/the-apostle-sherri/ )
I wanted to share an experience Ceph and I had over the weekend. We left on Sunday morning to see Ceph’s mom for her Birthday. It was a day trip and we always go the back way up 123 through Gainesville to Seneca and then Easley. On the way up outside Seneca, Ceph had to swerve the car to miss hitting an older lady that obviously homeless. She had long grey/blonde hair, baggy clothes and pushing a bicycle. She had everything she owned attached to the bicycle handlebar Read more:Update
, Cyclist
The Open Road 2007-08-30 08:07:17 Dateline: Somewhere in the Deep South.
I am writing this dispatch from a dark room within a seedy hotel just off of Shrimp Boat Lane in the low country town of Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina. Through the grimy windows I can see the booms of the shrimp boats swaying above the saw grass and palmettos as they wind their way down Shem’s Creek towards the open sea.
Actually the room ain’t that bad. I am taking a little vacation down South so I don’t expect to be posting much over the next week. I’ll be looking for blues, barbecue and beer (with a shrimp or two tossed on in for good measure.)
One thing of interest; I am extremely impressed with today’s new automotive technology. My wife’s van must have some sort of virtual voice hardware that I didn’t know about. It persistently communicates important information to the driver, including warnings, using what sounds like a woman’s voice. The voice is so realistic that you&r
Evangelize Through Intimacy, not Intimidation 2007-08-28 15:31:49 There was a training course offered today at work called ”Nonviolent Crisis Intervention“. It was designed to assist the school’s staff on ways to avert a crisis and then de-escalate the situation.
It was an excellent class presented by an excellent teacher. He taught that in order to successfully modify someone’s aggressive behavior it is important to remember that our first goal is to win them over to our way thinking. I found this interesting in that much of what he taught was similar to what I had learned over years in business. A couple of things in particular stood out;
When it comes to managing people (family, students, customers, employees, church members etc) we will rarely be successful in trying to exert our will over the other person. We need to understand where that person is coming from, how they see things differently than we do and even if they comprehend the immediate situation. “There is no reality for us other than that of the
The Architects of Fear (Our Drug Prohibitionists) 2007-08-25 10:40:53 There is an old “Outer Limits” episode called “The Architects
of Fear” in which some scientists decide on taking drastic measures in an attempt to prevent the Cold War from erupting into nuclear holocaust. They choose one of their own, played by Robert Culp, to undergo an experimental genetic mutation that results in his transformation into a hideous alien being. A crash landing of his ’space ship’ near the UN is staged , the idea being that he would then engage in such mischief as to create a world wide panic over alien invasion. This would hopefully encourage the warring factions to put aside their differences and unite behind one common cause; the defense of the Earth.This is not a novel idea, but merely a creative Sci-Fi spin on what demagogues and tyrants have known for so very long; It is much easier to control your subjects by giving them a common enemy than it is to maintain a constantly high level of coercion and oppression. People throughout history have proven t
I Have a New Article on TheOoze 2007-08-24 05:18:03 Some of you may remember the story about Sherri, one of God’s itinerant workers and how we met one day in Western Maryland. She’s the lady that has devoted her life to spreading the Gospel across this country on the back of a bike. TheOoze has decided to publish this story and it comes out today; “The Apostle Sherri: Bicycle Disciple”. Please check it out on: http://www.theooze.com/articles/article.cfm?id=1818
If you’ve never visited that web site I think you’ll be pleased with what you find there.
Read more:Article
Opening Church Windows 2007-09-27 08:11:12 Here is an excerpt from a letter by a minister of the Roman Catholic faith, Dennis Teall-Fleming. It was sent to Tony Jones, the National Coordinator for Emergent Village and he included it in today’s newsletter. It’s a pretty obvious analogy and helps someone like me, having been raised Roman Catholic, to put the Emerging Church
idea into a better perspective.
The Second Vatican Council took place in the Catholic Church from 1962 to 1965. Called by Pope John XXIII, finished by Pope Paul VI, it was the first time in over four centuries that the Catholic Church really took a look around and said, “Hey, there’s a whole wide world out there, that isn’t so bad….maybe we oughta find out what’s going on in it, and see if it has anything to do with our community of faith”. The opening lines of The Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (in Latin, Gaudium et Spes) set the tone for this new way of being church: “The joys an Read more:Windows
Bridges: The Old Man’s Yard, Part 2 2007-09-25 16:35:23 The first part of this story may be found at: http://sharpiron.wordpress.com/2007/09/20/the-old-mans-yard/
Things had been going very well in the old man’s yard. There were plenty of fruits and vegetables, a large grassy lawn for games and big shade trees for when the sun got too hot. The Old Man’s house still sat high up on the hill and every once in a while someone said that they caught a glimpse of him.
The kids got along nicely. Some of them became team captains and they worked hard at coming up with rules for the games and making sure that everyone followed them. This was important because many kids wanted to play (although a quite a few of them just sat and watched).
There were lots of things to do besides playing games. The fence always needed mending. The sound of the traffic on the busy street was noisy and distracting and and there were some kids who still had bad memories. So they decided to plug up all the holes that let in the noise. They made mud out of the dirt Read more:Bridges
Hangin’ with a Harlot: Jesus on Inclusion 2007-09-24 16:29:58 In the fourth chapter of John’s Gospel, an exhausted Jesus
encounters a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. Under the relentless Palestinian sun he and this woman have a conversation. Not only is she a Samaritan, generally reviled by the Jews, but also a lowly woman and one of of ill repute at that. Nevertheless he proceeds to engage her in a theological discussion;
“Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor there in Jerusalem. You worship guessing in the dark; we Jews worship in the clear light of day. God’s way of salvation is made available through the Jews. But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you’re called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter. “It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for Read more:Hangin
The Biblical Squint Test 2007-09-22 12:07:49
(Sorry for being out of season, but…..)
We were talking on one of the earlier threads and there was some disagreement over the true meaning of certain scriptural passages. (I must be kidding, right? Here?) It seems like we kept going around and around and around. I was suddenly reminded of another familiar situation where I keep going around and around and around. Christmas.
Or to be more precise, decorating our home for Christmas. I’ve always loved this time of year, I probably even loved it more when I didn’t have a faith (but that’s another story). But I am not crazy about getting everything down from the attic, setting up the decorations and then having to clean up. I especially don’t like having to trim the tree. It is a lot of work.
I used to spend a considerable time making sure that every single strand of tiny lights was evenly distributed on each branch, like my father had taught me. Soon enough I learned how to stand about six feet away and tos Read more:Biblical
The Old Man’s Yard 2007-09-20 15:18:51
There once was a kindly old man who lived in a big house, on a big yard in a town named after him. His yard faced a very busy road, a road that he had laid out himself a long time ago. Back then it was a quiet country lane that meandered through green farmland.
Now this street was so busy that there was hardly any room for all the cars, trucks and buses that zoomed back and forth all day and all night. The air was thick with smoke and noise. In order to make more room for more traffic the street had been widened, leaving no sidewalk for pedestrians. This made travel very dangerous, especially for the poor street children of the town, who could not drive cars. Many of them had been terribly hurt.
The old man watched this happening and it made him sad. So one day he walked down to his white picket fence and hollered to the kids, “Hey, kids! C’mon, get in my yard. It’s safe in here.” The children on this side of the road dashed through the gate. The noise of the traffic was so ba
God’s Pick in the Election 2007-09-18 16:16:30 Is it Hillary? Rudy? Barack? Mitt? More importantly, has he chosen your friend or your neighbor, your wife, your parents or your children? Has he even chosen you?
Because, some Christians say, long before the universe was but a twinkle in God’s eye he decided on who he was going to be with in heaven and who he would condemn to the fiery pits of hell, for ever and ever and ever. Using scripture verses such as Ephesians 1:3-4 there is an entire theology based upon a very specific and literal interpretation of certain passages in the Bible. Although some of those passages would seem to be in opposition to others (even those attributed to Christ) there is usually no chance of chatting amicably about this over a cup of coffee. The case is closed and theological minds on both sides are made up. In fact, a persistence in opposing either particular point of view can result in the religious version of WMD (the word ‘HERETIC’) being brought out and dusted off. (I’ve Read more:Election
Why Can’t Christians Sing Some Other Songs? 2007-09-17 11:05:55 On an earlier thread BuddyO suggested that I set up a page like “Some Good Books” but this time we could list our favorite songs. Soon after making an attempt, I gave up. The task seemed impossible. I initially tried to limit the list to my top ten favorite songs. Then my top 20. I soon realized that 100 would be too small of a number and even then I would likely forget one or two. My tastes run the gamut from Buddy Guy to Beethoven, Pat Metheny to Neil Young, Sinatra to Sabbath.
Looking over my list I noticed that there weren’t any Christian praise or worship songs. At that moment some popped into mind; “Amazing Grace”, “It is Well with My Soul”, “Ave Maria” and maybe one or two more. Other than maybe “He Reigns” by the Newsboys I couldn’t think of any modern praise songs that I might put on my list of 100 (or more) all time great songs.
This past weekend I got involved in a discussion over the appropriateness of using secular music in worship services. In Read more:Christians
Torn Raccoon 2007-09-14 18:41:53
I was driving in my car and listening to the local evangelical radio station. Someone was interviewing a Muslim, a foreign born Arab, who had converted to Christianity. This fellow had been responsible for running a prison mosque and apparently had quite a dramatic conversion experience.
He talked of a vision in which he saw all the world’s sin and suffering. This image drove him to tears and drove him to Christ as well. I am ashamed to say that at this point I became skeptical. His story sounded so melodramatic that I suspected that it was contrived. Besides, his vision seemed exaggerated - the sort one reserved for Christ or the saints.
Rounding a bend I confronted a grisly sight. Strewn across the middle of the road lay a gruesome mess, a small animal cut exactly in two, the double yellow lines of the highway running perfectly between the bloody red halves of the poor creature. It was, or had been , a raccoon, the distinctive striped tail and masked eyes quite visible Read more:Raccoon
Lawless Christians 2007-09-12 19:19:59 There is this never ending dance that revolves around the matter of the Law. (A dance in the way that Capoeira, the Brazilian martial art, is a dance). The first thrust is the suggestion that we no longer need the Law, that Jesus’ sacrifice has taken care of that. This is quickly parried, followed by a riposte from scripture in which Jesus says that he did not come to abolish the law, but fulfill it. (Matthew 5:17) A split decision.
We require a ruling, so we turn to our foremost referee, St. Paul, who speaks eloquently (if at times obtusely) on the subject. Variously he chastises those who fall into legalism, like the Galatians, while other times he creates new laws for us to worry about, as he does for the Corinthians.
But rather than listening exclusively to what Paul has to say about the Law I think we can learn more by focusing on his personal testimony. Even prior to his spectacular conversion on the Damascus Road he was a very devout and religious man. He rigidly adhered t Read more:Christians
, Lawless
To Church or Not To Church - That Is the Question 2007-09-12 05:52:35 Some of the comments on the last couple of posts (”Osteen in the Lobby” and “Sounds Like the Devil”) have touched on something that I have been struggling with for some time:
Is today’s typical church paradigm even close to what Jesus envisioned two thousand years ago? And if it’s not, how important is this? After all, our society, culture, government and lifestyles are radically different than then. But these things are very different today than they were 150 years ago when the newer paradigm was first becoming common.
If we find the present situation wanting, then what do we do? Find a church that most closely fits our perception of how it should be? Or do we work towards remaking the church, a relatively slow and laborious process, something that the ‘emergent’ conversation is so much about.
Or, as my good friend BuddyO is attempting, do we toss that paradigm aside and try something ‘new’. Rather than;
…rely solely Read more:Church
, Question
“And On the Eighth Day God Did….What?” 2007-10-01 16:25:40 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. Genesis 1:31 -Genesis 2: 3
I think we’re all pretty familiar with the creation story in Genesis; many of us know it by heart. When reading it again yesterday it dawned on me for the first time that there is no mention of an eighth day. I know this may sound silly, but why not?
The seventh day is presented as a day in which God rested from his work. This past Sunday Matthew, my pastor, asked if we really knew what this meant. Was God really taking a rest? Was he tired from all the energy spent during the last 6 days cooking up the universe? Perhaps he was recharging his ba Read more:ldquo
, Eighth
, hellip
, rdquo
Star Struck 2007-09-28 17:04:17 Driving home from work today I heard a radio commercial for the International Star Registry. For a mere $54 and change you can have an actual star named after someone you love. Wow.
http://www.starregistry.com/
Personally, it’s not my cup of tranya, but I guess for those who crave immortality it could be pretty cool. I assume the stars that are biggest or closest will go first, if they’re even still available. But we would never run out of opportunities, even if everyone on the planet takes a shot at having a star named after them.
But then I got to thinking; if this does become a big thing, can you imagine how it might affect future space exploration?
(Slow fade…..)
Star Date; 1.17-64; Captains Log:
“After leaving Jack O’Brien system I have ordered course set for Shlomo Liebowitz in the Buddy Oliver cluster. We received a sub space communication from Star Fleet outpost B87 on My Favorite Auntie Rose of a mass apparent escape attempt in the penal colony o
Conservative Contortionist Coulter Crams Capezio in Chops 2007-10-12 10:42:56 Oh, no. Say it ain’t so;
Columnist Ann Coulter
Shocks Cable TV Show,Declaring ‘Jews Need to Be Perfected by Becoming Christians’
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Slash-and-burn columnist Ann Coulter shocked a cable TV talk-show audience Monday when she declared that Jews need to be “perfected” by becoming Christians, and that America would be better off if everyone were Christian.
Coulter made the remarkable statements during an often heated appearance to promote her new book on advertising guru Donny Deutsch’s CNBC show “The Big Idea.”In response to a question from Deutsch asking Coulter if “it would be better if we were all Christian,” the controversial columnist responded: “Yes.” “We should all be Christian?” Deutsch repeated.“Yes,” Coulter responded, asking Deutsch, who is Jewish, if he would like to “come to church with me.”
Deutsch, pressing Coulter further, asked, “We s
To Church or Not to Church: Revisited 2007-10-12 09:16:12 Jonathan Brink over on Missio Dei wrote an interesting and imaginative piece on this topic: “Jesus and Leadership Structure”. Here is an excerpt:
When Jesus said the provocative words, “Come follow me,” there must have been a chill that ran up the spine of the disciple’s backs. Imagine the moment. Ordinary people being called by an extraordinary man. This was the man who healed people, restoring their dignity and inviting them out of oppression. He touched lepers without harm, turned water into wine and caused the fish to flood the nets. To follow Him was an epic call, a moment to be part of something good. What did He see that they didn’t? His very invitation invited them into a larger mission of restoration.
But imagine for a second, after calling his disciples to follow him, he proceeded to invite them to come to the local synagogue on Sunday morning for a couple of hours and Wednesday night for another couple of hours. Forget following him around and watching Him do Read more:Church
, Revisited
Good Book: “If God Is Love: Rediscovering Grace in an Ungracious World” 2007-10-11 07:31:33 I just finished this book and thought it was superb. Very easy reading, short chapters, light and airy styling. Although written by two men, Philip Gulley and James Mulholland (both Quaker ministers), it was written in the first person singular. It is essentially a compendium of their experiences and thoughts of Jesus and his kingdom.
I was lead to this book by reading Gulley’s blurb on the jacket of a Brennan Manning book . Gulley has a series of books about hometown Indiana and has been compared to Garrison Keillor. He also has (or had?) a program on public radio. I am looking forward to checking him out more thoroughly.
Read more:ldquo
, Grace
, World
, rdquo
Millennialism: Pre-Messianic Christianity 2007-10-10 14:20:55 For hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus the Jewish people waited, some patiently, some not so patiently, for the coming of the Messiah. The prophets foretold of the power that he would wield as he restored Israel to its proper place at the head of all nations. Those that had subjugated and persecuted God’s chosen people would be dealt with in a swift and decisive fashion.
In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him and his place of rest will be glorious. In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea.
He will raise a banner for the nations
and gather the exiles of Israel;
he will assemble the scattered people of Judah
from the four quarters of the earth.
Ephraim’s jealousy will vanish,
and Judah’s enemies will be cu Read more:Christianity
Jonathan Edwards; Mystical Contemplative 2007-10-09 21:41:02
“The sense I had of divine things, would
often of a sudden as it were, kindle up a
sweet burning in my heart; an ardor of my
soul, that I know not how to express.
Not long after I began to experience these
things… I walked abroad alone, in a solitary
place in my father’s pasture, for contemplation.
And as I was walking there, and looked up on
the sky and clouds; there came into my mind,
a sweet sense of the glorious majesty and
grace of God, that I know not how to express.
I seemed to see them both in a sweet conjunc-
tion: majesty and meekness joined together….
After this my sense of divine things gradu-
ally increased, and became more and more
lively, and had more of that inward sweetness.
The appearance of everything was altered:
there seemed to be, as it were, a calm, sweet
cast, or appearance of divine glory, in almost
everything. God’s excellency, his wisdom, his
purity and love, seemed to appear in every-
thing; in the sun, moon and stars; in the
clouds, and blue Read more:Jonathan
, Edwards
, Jonathan Edwards
Anita, the Christian Lesbian 2007-10-08 21:45:39
I trackbacked to this lady’s website and found it to be well worth the visit. Homosexuality is such a divisive topic within the church, some think it may very well make or break many denominations. I think that any of us could benefit to listening to her story. Her testimony is entitled “The Peace of God”. It is thoughtful, respectful and displays a deep and authentic love for the Lord. It is also well written. No matter what your position on this issue, please take the time to read her entire story. For those of you who are are not familiar with anyone who is gay you may be surprised at what you find.
http://www.christianlesbians.com/about/anitastory.php
Read more:Anita
, Christian
Enemies at the Gate: Christian Intolerance 2007-10-05 15:23:50
Your Jelly Fish version of Chrissianity (sic) is well documented…great job “coverting”(sic) souls to Christ with you gummy bear Jelly bean Jesus version of the Gospel! You guys are well defined by this little piece appropriately called “Back Rubs 4 Jesus” (www.youtube.com/watch?v=mohixsVRNdc ) Ha! That suits your sweet, sweet, candy cane Chrissianity (sic) just fine! What a farce! Chocolate Soldiers every one of you!
www.officialstreetpreachers.com
This was a recent comment on an article I wrote about the largely negative consequences of extolling a gospel of hell and damnation; http://sharpiron.wordpress.com/2007/08/28/intimacy-not-intimidation/#comment-1209
There were other more reasoned responses, some of them even suggesting that my position may be exaggerated, but I think the digestion of this one particular remark is the proof of the pudding. Although this fellow’s ‘ministry’ is a little over the top and would garner little sympathy among many of us, his w Read more:Christian
, Enemies
, Intolerance
N.T.Wright on the Enlightened Church 2007-10-18 18:05:00
We are all children, grandchildren or at least stepchildren of the eighteenth-century Enlightenment, and have cause to be both grateful for the consequent privileges and anxious about some of the consequent problems.
So says N. T. Wright
, in his little yet important book “The Last Word: Scripture and the Authority of God - Getting Beyond the Bible Wars“. In a brief chapter devoted to the challenges that the church has faced from the Enlightenment, Wright talks of how Modern thinkers have successfully proposed that all the Earth’s sordid history had been making its way to this pivotal point, the point where humanity had finally come of age. From that point on, through the auspices of science and philosophy, mankind would thrive as it never had before. War, suffering and disease would soon be things of the past.
This meant that the Enlightenment was offering its own rival eschatology, a secular analogue to the biblical picture of God’s kingdom, inaugurated by Read more:Church
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