The Internet Monk Archives

Jason Stellman: I Fought the Church and the Church Won

35_eucha — Communion of the Apostles, Fra Angelico

Note from CM: This week we are featuring stories of friends who found their way into the Roman Catholic church. The post-evangelical journey takes many different forms, and this is one of them. Michael Spencer himself experienced this in his family when his wife Denise converted to Catholicism, and you will find many articles in the archives (one of which we’ll run this week) recording his reactions. This week will also feature some of our own writers talking about how Catholicism has provided a spiritual home for them.

To complement these stories, for artwork we will feature the stunning San Marco Frescos of Fra Angelico (c. 1395 – February 18, 1455).

Today, we welcome Jason Stellman. We mentioned his story and the dust it has raised in Reformed circles on Saturday Ramblings the other day. I was so impressed by what I read of Jason that I asked his permission to share his journey with the IM community. This particular post was also featured on Called to Communion, a website that is devoted to telling the stories and sharing the thoughts of people who “arrived in the Catholic Church in diverse ways but through a similar path involving spiritual formation within the Reformed tradition of confessional Protestantism.”

Jason blogs at Creed Code Cult.

Continue reading “Jason Stellman: I Fought the Church and the Church Won”

Prayer for Our Friend

Dear Internet Monk friends,

I received the following update from Jeff Dunn the other day. With his permission I share it with you in order to encourage our prayers together.

Well, about a month ago I woke up with congestion in my chest. By that afternoon I had a fever of between 101 and 103. I had that fever for the next four days. I finally had Kathy take me to ER on the third morning, where they diagnosed me as having pneumonia in my left lung. In doing the diagnosis, I had a CT scan of my chest that showed some suspicious-looking nodules in that lung. The doctor used the “C” word to say what they might be.

Meanwhile, I wasn’t recovering from the pneumonia. Two more chest x rays showed that I had a partially-collapsed lung. I am doing breathing treatments now to expand that lung, and they seem to be working. I need to wait another three weeks before I can have another CT scan to see what those nodules are. Prayers are appreciated.

• • •

We pray to the Lord . . .

Jesus, Good Shepherd, you tend your flock unceasingly and know our every need.

May your crook and your staff always protect us and guide us through the troubles of this life.

Good Jesus, remember us in your infinite mercy, set us among the blessed of your Father, and save us in the time of trial, O Savior of the world, living and reigning with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever.

Amen.

Saturday Ramblings: Oct. 11, 2014 (Beatitudes edition)

copula25_domusgalilaeae[1] — Domus Galilaeae, Mount of the Beatitudes

We’re going to take a little more serious tack on Ramblings today. To guide us, we’ll organize our thoughts using several of Jesus’ pronouncements in the Beatitudes.

Blessed are those who mourn . . .
Here, in a nutshell, is everything that is wrong with “Christian” teaching today. June Hunt, radio host and founder of the worldwide ministry Hope For The Heart, is a “biblical counselor” who “offers a biblical perspective while coaching people through some of life’s most difficult problems.” Here are some profound examples of that “biblical perspective”:

The Silver Lining of Suicide
10 Biblical Steps to Overcoming Procrastination
7 Biblical Steps to Defeat Deceit
Ray Rice, Domestic Violence, and You: 5 Steps on How to Respond
8 Biblical Steps to Recover From Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

Really? The Bible tells me about procrastination? It’s filled with clear “steps” for all my problems? And this is the “biblical” hope we offer people who are going through problems like PTSD and the suicide of a loved one? “I have heard all this before. What miserable comforters you are!“ (Job 16:2)

Blessed are the meek . . .
In our youth-oriented church culture, the senior saints sometimes get overlooked. One church decided to do something unique to reach out to them.

Peace Lutheran Church in Joplin, MO will hold a seniors Vacation Bible School. The event will feature four days of Bible studies along with art projects and other activities including classes on the Wii and iPhone apps, pinochle, chess, and other games, a fabric arts project, greeting card crafts, watercolor class, prayer shawl knit and crochet class. They also hope to help participants start on a personal history project, in which seniors get the opportunity to write their life stories.

You know what? That’s just a great idea. Does my heart good to hear it.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for the right . . .
Apples, apples everywhere! In Poland, that is.

Michael Winship reports that people in Poland are eating lots and lots of them these days as an act of defiance.

Moscow has banned the importing of fruits and vegetables to Russia, in retaliation for the West’s sanctions against the country for supporting the separatists in Ukraine. Last year, Poland sold more than $400 million worth of produce to Russia, 90 percent of it apples. Now that market has disappeared.

So Poles are being urged to eat apples and then eat some more. It’s their patriotic duty. Cider sales have skyrocketed. Janusz Palikot, a controversial Polish businessman and politician declared to a local magazine, “Russia doesn’t want our apples? Then let’s make jam and booze!” The Polish ambassador to the US has even pronounced them “Freedom Apples,” in the dubious tradition of “Freedom Fries,” urging Yanks to take up the slack and buy more from Poland.

Winship calls these apples, “symbols of resilience in the face of adversity. The tenacity and desire for freedom they represent are why so many of the Poles, despite their history of enmity from within and without, and the fear of future conflict, seem determined to live in hope.”

Have an apple for Poland today!

Blessed are the pure in heart . . .
Well, this guy had better be anyway. Christian high-wire artist (a title I was unaware existed — is it in the NT spiritual gifts lists?) Nik Wallenda will walk the tight rope blindfolded in Chicago next month.

Wallenda said he plans to walk a tight rope 65 stories off the ground between the west and east towers of Chicago’s Marina City building blindfolded next month in the hopes of encouraging others to challenge themselves. Then he will perform a second high wire performance where he will walk uphill between Marina City’s west tower and the Leo Burnett Building.

Wallenda has a “never give up” attitude. “I believe that with persistence and with hard work and with that “never give up” attitude, you can accomplish anything … and with the grace of God.”

Glad he added that last phrase.

Blessed are the persecuted . . .
Brought to our attention by Michael Newnham, the Phoenix Preacher:

Jason Stellman, who will tell his story soon here on Internet Monk, was a Presbyterian pastor and leading spokesperson in conservative Reformed circles. Then something happened: he became Roman Catholic. Not willingly, but because he grudgingly came to believe the claims of the Church and its teachings. The consequences his Reformed “friends” have rained upon Stellman since his conversion have brought him “almost nothing but loss” in the past two years.

For example, just take a look at this excerpt from a, shall we say, less than gracious response from James White:

Apostasy has consequences. You abandon your vows, deny the gospel of grace, embrace the Papal system and promote it by your speeches and writings, and think you will be welcome in the church you almost single-handedly crippled? Your very presence would be divisive, troubling, and distracting even if you didn’t say a word. But can’t you see that your presence, given your positive profession of Rome’s teachings, would be a breach of the fellowship of the church?

Your final sentence truly explains it all: you are a traitor to the gospel, Jason. I warned you of that in my office. I made it clear, remember? We actually believe that to be true. Apostasy has consequences. You are surprised that we find you someone who needs to repent and abandon your error? That the church you had been entrusted with leading would rather not have a shepherd-turned-wolf wandering amongst the sheep? Is that really all that difficult to understand?

Later in his post, Michael Newnham shares a personal thought, and I consider it the quote of the week:

“I miss the days when I was dogmatically and doctrinally right and most of you were wrong. Life was much simpler when all my thinking had been done for me five hundred years ago…”

Finally, Blessed are the peacemakers . . .
Congratulations to Pakistani child education activist Malala Yousafzai and Kailash Satyarthi, Indian child rights campaigner, joint winners of the Nobel Peace Prize.

At age 17, Yousafzai is the youngest recipient ever to receive the award, and her story is amazing and inspirational.

11 Years of Same-Sex Marriage: A Canadian Perspective

In yesterday’s post Chaplain Mike asked “How do you envision your pastor, church, denomination, tradition responding to this new reality?”

I have a slightly different perspective on this, as being in Canada I can look backwards to see has transpired. In my home province of Ontario, same sex marriage has been legal for over eleven years. In Canada, the whole country has had umbrella legislation for over nine years.

In late 2004 the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that:

1. The potential marriage of same-sex couples did not violate the constitution;

2. That it only the Federal Government had the right to define marriage, and

3. That religious institutions had the right to refuse to marry same-sex couples.

The Government introduced legislation legalizing same-sex marriage the following year, and it became the law of the land in July of 2005.

Many denominations introduced their own legislation, either in the years leading up to the Supreme Court ruling, or in the years following. Their stand on same-sex marriage became enshrined in their church constitutions or statements of faith. There was a stated fear that unless a church’s stand was spelled out specifically that Pastors could be forced to officiate at same-sex marriages. There was also the intention to draw a line in the sand concerning what Pastors could or could not do within a given denomination.

I felt it unfortunate when language was added to statements of faith. I really don’t like it when these statements change for any reason. Consider those who have been long time members of a church who signed on the dotted line saying that they were in agreement with the statement of faith of a church. What are those who are not in agreement supposed to do? Resign a membership that they held for 30 years?

I also didn’t like that fact that while these statements were generally couched in positive terms, they were essentially communicating “Gays not welcome.”

Finally, I felt that statements of faith are intended to convey what we believe about God and the Church: Definitions of valid marriage seemed to be in a whole different category.

The other thing that I saw my denomination do was have a “Renew your Vows Sunday” in support of traditional marriage. In what appeared to me to be a very manipulative event, we were all encouraged to renew our vows to our spouses on one particular Sunday. It seemed to me to be a veneer for saying “We are anti-Gay.”

There have been surprisingly few court cases related to same sex marriage over the past ten years. The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal ruled in 2011 that Marriage commissioners in the province who performed civil ceremonies, could not opt out on religious grounds. A conflict had arisen when “commissioner Orville Nichols, a devout Baptist, refused to marry a gay couple in 2005.” In a verdict that went the other way:

A British Columbia Board of Inquiry’s recent ruling that the Knights of Columbus[a Catholic organization] may refuse to rent their hall for a same-sex wedding reception because it violates their “core beliefs” as a religious organization is relevant to all churches that rent their facilities. While the tribunal ruled in the Knights of Columbus’s favour, they were still fined “for injury to the lesbian couple’s dignity, feelings and self-respect.” –Evangelical Fellowship of Canadad

Only a few other court cases have dealt with conflicts between religious rights and the rights of gays and lesbians. While these conflicts have not been directly over same-sex marriage, they are relevant to the topic.

Similar to the Knights of Columbus case, a Christian camp in Manitoba is facing a human rights complaint because it would not rent its facilities to a gay and lesbian group.

One of the most significant legal decisions came in 2001. The British Columbia College of Teachers determined that graduates from the education program at Trinity Western University could not teach in the province unless they had done an additional year at another University. This was because Trinity Western required their students to sign a document in which they “agreed to refrain from homosexual behaviour while a student on campus.” The Supreme Court ruled that there was no basis for the decision of the College of Teachers. Furthermore, they stated that “the concern that graduates of TWU will act in a detrimental fashion in the classroom is not supported by any evidence.”

Trinity Western is back in the news because they have decided to start a law school, and a number of law societies in Canada have said that they won’t recognize their graduates. I believe that court cases are pending.

One other case of interest: An Ontario court ruled that a Christian printer “may not refuse work from an organization promoting the gay and lesbian lifestyle unless the material itself is offensive to his religious beliefs.” (EFC)

So, in the past number of years, there have not been the expected legal challenges and fights that you might have expected. As litigation seems occur much more in the United States as compared to Canada it is likely that the American experience might be quite different.

I wanted to conclude with a couple of personal thoughts. I had thought about tackling this subject with another “How I became a…” post but decided that I would not be able to do justice to the topic. Like my other topics I want to tell a story. In this case, three short ones.

My friend Steve was the President of his High School’s Christian Fellowship when he “came out.” He told me that he was faced with the choice of being a practicing Christian or a practicing homosexual. He chose the latter.

Bill was the worship leader at the college campus ministry I was involved with. He confided in one of the leaders and told them that he was struggling with homosexuality. He was removed from his position and told to pray about it. Bill later died from AIDS.

Geoff was a co-worker who recently got married to his long time partner. When I saw the notification on facebook I wondered for a minute what to say, and finally sent back a simple “congratulations.” He wrote back and told me that, other than his mother, I was the only Christian who had “ever had his back.”

Going back to the original question: “How do you envision your pastor, church, denomination, tradition responding to this new reality?”

It seems to me that no matter our view on same-sex marriage, in our response in Canada we seem to have done a lousy job of communicating Christ’s love. And that makes me incredibly sad.

As usual your thoughts and comments are welcome.

The Balance Has Tipped

Comments on this post are now closed. Thank you for a good discussion.

. . .

It was a good week for same-sex marriage advocates.

On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court denied petitions to review cases about the issue in states including Utah, Virginia, Indiana, Oklahoma and Wisconsin. But the effects are wider. Because the decision also affects federal appeals court cases, same-sex marriage is now legal in 30 out of 50 states.

On Tuesday here in Indiana, one of the states which had appealed to SCOTUS, state officials ordered county clerks across Indiana to remove all public obstacles to conducting and recognizing same-sex marriage.

With a majority of states now having legal same-sex marriage, it appears the balance has tipped. Brad Heath, in an article at RNS, quotes Yale law professor William Eskridge:

By letting gay and lesbian marriages go forward in 11 other states, the justices almost certainly made it harder to reverse course in the future, Yale law professor William Eskridge said. If they do, he said, the court would have to do more than simply prohibit some couples from marrying; it would have to invalidate marriages that have already taken place. “It will become very hard for the Supreme Court to take that back,” Eskridge said.

Recognizing that this will raise a new set of questions for churches and pastors, our Indiana-Kentucky Synod Bishop, William Gafkjen directed those who are rostered leaders (or in the process) to renew our acquaintance with the ELCA’s decisions regarding these matters.

There is no perfect “position” about all of this, but I think the ELCA has done as good a job as any in trying to be faithful both to the biblical witness about sexuality and its call to do everything possible to maintain unity among believers, even when we disagree.

I commend to you again our ELCA Social Statement “Human Sexuality: Gift and Trust.” Pages 18-21 are particularly helpful now. This social statement neither endorses nor forbids same-gender marriage but “commits itself to finding ways to allow congregations that choose to do so to recognize, support, and hold publicly accountable lifelong monogamous, same-gender relationships.” This document acknowledges the diversity among us regarding same-gender relationships, recognizes the historic tradition of marriage as a covenant between a man and a woman, and goes on to say that “On the basis of conscience-bound faith, some are convinced that the scriptural witness does not address the context of sexual orientation and committed relationships that we experience today. They believe that the neighbor and community are best served when same-gender relationships are lived out with lifelong and monogamous commitments that are held to the same rigorous standards, sexual ethics, and status as heterosexual marriage. They surround such couples and their lifelong commitments with prayer to live in ways that glorify God, find strength for the challenges that will be faced, and serve others. They believe same-gender couples should avail themselves of social and legal support for themselves, their children, and other dependents and seek the highest legal accountability available for their relationships.”

• • •

Back in 2012, I wrote a post that discussed the ELCA position more fully. You can read it here:

How the ELCA dealt with the issue of homosexuality

How do you envision your pastor, church, denomination, tradition responding to this new reality?

iMonk Classic: A Conversation in God’s Kitchen (3)

Part three of Michael Spencer’s classic essay on the Bible addresses the subject of interpretation. Read part 1, part 2.

• • •

Third, How do I Interpret the Bible?

Ever think of the Bible as….a grocery store? I worked at grocery stores for a long time. People come into the store with their grocery lists, and they know what they are looking for. They need some bananas, ice cream, a case of root beer, a head of lettuce. They run up and down the aisles finding what they want, find everything on the list, check out and go home.

That’s how evangelicals increasingly approach the Bible. They have a list of what they need. Parenting principles. Verses for healing. Advice for marriage. Rules for children. Stories to inspire. Challenges to give. Information on Heaven. Predictions of the future. We run into the “Bible” looking for these things, and when we find them, we leave.

This “grocery store” view of the Bible is built on the idea that the Bible is an inspired “library” of true information. A “magic book” as some have called it, where passages contain unquestionable information and authoritative rules. This approach to the Bible is flattering to the human ability to catalog information, and it is used in many churches to build confidence that the use of scripture puts a person on a foundation of absolute certainty.

In this approach, interpretation is important, and good interpretation is common. But the problem is fundamental. Scripture is not a grocery store. It’s not a place to run in and find principles for parenting or prophecies about the future, even though the conversation contains discussions about these things.

No, the Bible is a cooking show. And if we are going to interpret any part of scripture correctly, we need to get out of the store- the encyclopedia of true things in a magic book- and get to the kitchen.

And, amazingly, here we are! If you look on the counter, you will see all the ingredients for a cake. This cake is really going to be magnificent, and we have all the ingredients to mix together and create this wonderful creation. Eggs. Flour. Salt. Sugar. Butter. Vanilla. And many other bowls of ingredients.

All these ingredients, of course, are the contents of the Bible. The eggs are Genesis 1-3. The flour is Leviticus. The salt is Proverbs. The sugar is Psalms. And so on. These are good ingredients. Crucial ingredients. Now…we need to ask an important question: What are we baking?

The cake the Bible is baking is Jesus Christ, the mediator of our salvation, and the Gospel that comes in him.

There are people who like eggs. There are, I suppose people who like to eat flour. There are other things you can make with these ingredients besides the cake. But if you follow the conversation/recipe, this cake will turn out to be Jesus, the Lamb of God, the bread of Life, the salvation of the world. The cake scripture is baking is Jesus. If you recognize that cake for what it is, and eat it believing, you will be saved.

Using this analogy, we must interpret the Bible backwards. Reading it forward is fine and necessary. Interpreting forward is legal, but far from adequate. We must get to the Gospels. We must get to John 1 and Revelation 4 and 5 and Romans 1:1-4. We must get to Jesus, and then we can read Genesis 1 rightly. We can read it without Jesus, and do a lot of good or make a huge mess. But we will be missing the point of every part of scripture if we don’t interpret with Jesus in mind.

II Corinthians 3:4 But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.Galatians 3:10 For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” 12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree.” 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

Galatians 3:22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.

One of the first times I brought out my thoughts on this approach to the Bible was at a seminar for local pastors, where I was asked to teach Genesis 1-11. I am sure most of the men in the room were ready for the usual approach to Genesis, with lots of hat-tipping to the creation-evolution controversy and explanations for how these events could “really happen.”

Instead, I said that Jesus was the one for whom and by whom all things were made. I said Jesus was in the beginning with God. I said we are made in God’s image, in a way similar to the way Jesus is the image of the invisible God, and that this is why Jesus is made like us so he can save us. I said Christ came to destroy the works of the devil. I said Jesus loves us when we are cast out of paradise, and he left paradise for us. I said Abel was a picture of Jesus, and his offering a portrait of faith. I said the ark was Christ, and the flood the wrath of God Jesus endured for our sake. And so on, for four hours.

At the end, one man said I was trying to be “provocative”. Let’s hope so, because the grocery store approach to Genesis is boring me and turns preachers of the Gospel into lecturers in creation science.

Why can’t we preach Christ Jesus from Genesis? Why do we talk about the length of days and the location of Eden and whether women should submit, when the whole story exists to send us to Jesus to be clothed in his righteousness? Do we really think God wanted us to have a book of inspired science and trivia? I need a savior, not a set of facts. As Robert Capon says, if the world could be saved by good advice, it would have been saved ten minutes after Moses came back from Mt. Sinai.

When I read Leviticus, I interpret it through Jesus. He is the sacrifice. He is the thief who is punished. He is the adulterer who is stoned to death. Jesus is the priest, the altar, the sacrifice and the temple. The good news is we don’t live in Leviticus any more. We live in a New Covenant where the threats of Sinai have been fulfilled at the Cross, and a new covenant in His blood is now available to anyone, of any nation, who believes in Jesus as Lord.

The first Christians didn’t use the grocery store method. They but it all together and said “Christ!” They found every part of scripture was, in fact, an ingredient in allowing us to see and understand the bread of life.

It is important to remember that Jesus’ existence isn’t determined by the Bible. He doesn’t need it to be God. We need it to know God. We need the language, the pictures, the law, the examples….the whole recipe that gives us Jesus and the Gospel. We need the whole Bible so we can start to understand Christ, his person and work, his Gospel and what faith means. All the complexities of the great conversation are for our understanding of Jesus and the Gospel. When we interpret, we need to avoid literalism and find Christ, who is the truest of all truths. Literalism that lessens the saturation of the scriptures by Christ is as bad as liberal criticism that denies Christ.

So Biblical interpretation is part understanding the conversation, and part of understanding the final Word spoken and speaking. When we can hear the final Word in the words and images of the text of scripture, then we are getting it.

Pull the Plug on This Phrase, Please

Language matters. Let’s start there. Now, let me rant a bit.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not as intimately acquainted with the evangelical subculture as I used to be, so I don’t cringe as much about evangelical cliches these days. But there is a phrase I keep hearing that is driving me crazy. It seems to pop up everywhere. It may be the new evangelical mantra:

“Connect with God.”

Here is the phrase as it is used, in actual examples from evangelical churches and writers:

Our Mission is to help people connect with God and develop them into fully devoted followers of Christ. (Matthew 28:19-20)

Music is the language of the heart, and it is our hearts that connect with God.

In the Pentecostal church, we were encouraged to connect with God through supernatural phenomena.

Now is the right time to connect with God and with others as you reach out and serve the community, study, and celebrate together.

I’m not attending church anymore, because I think there are other ways to connect with God.

I want to connect with God more deeply, but I don’t know how.

I suppose this way of describing a “personal relationship with God” is inevitable and to be expected in this day of technological “connections.”

We stay connected (that is, in communication) with others in a multitude of ways: cell phones, social media, email, etc. And it is the technological character of the phrase that irks me. I enjoy the benefits of these days of miracle and wonder as much as anyone, but I can’t quite get myself to think of making a connection with God in the same way that I send a message to a friend on Facebook.

We also use this word in our culture to describe the kinds of transactional contacts that can benefit us, say in business connections or when we need a good repair person. “Hi, John gave me your name. Maybe we could connect at Starbucks and talk about it.”

Having a latte with God to discuss what I need. How inspiring.

Oh yes, I know that those who use it are trying to communicate some kind of deeper bond, a personal connection, an intimate connection. But I don’t think the language works. It doesn’t occur to me to use the language of “connecting” when I think about my relationships with my wife or my kids, or anyone that I know and care about, unless we’re just talking about making casual contact, such as, “I was traveling, but we were able to connect by phone.” “Connect” just sounds so cold, so techie, so transactional.

To my ears, this phrase simply has no poetry to it, no emotional content. The metaphorical world it evokes is empty of human personality and depth. It’s as personal, sensual, and profound as flipping a switch or plugging in a cord, as expressive as a string of computer code. It has no heart.

Worse, it is bad theology.

For example, I don’t see people in the biblical story “connecting with God.”

I see God surprising them, awakening them, encountering them, speaking to them, wrestling with them, thundering out commands to them, overwhelming them, listening to them, eating meals with them, rescuing them, forgiving them, leading them, providing for them, asking them to do strange or hard things, hiding from them, bringing the consequences of their sins down upon them, making promises to them, reassuring them, helping them, saving them.

I see people walking with God, hiding from God, rebelling against God, seeking God, praying to God, singing and making music to God, following God, trusting God, clinging to God, obeying or disobeying God, longing for God, loving God, complaining to God, crying out to God, asking God for help and provision, praising and thanking God, bowing before God, shutting their mouths in God’s presence, falling on their faces before God, trying to comprehend God’s ways, waiting for God, resting in God.

These are vivid, sweaty, tear-filled terms describing relational beings who live face to face, long for one another, and love in word and deed. This is the stuff of literature, poetry, and song, not bits and bytes on a screen. To describe such knowing we need words that strain to voice the mysteries of I and Thou, not digital tones from lifeless steel and plastic. We really must learn that our metaphors matter.

I know, I know. How ironic it is that I write these words to be read in cyberspace by a “community” of blog readers. The incongruity is not lost on me. I hope I’m “connecting” with you!

Anyway, back to the bad theology.

If I must use this language, let me at least remind you that we are all already “connected with God.”

In God we live and move and have our being (Acts 16:28). Where can we go from his spirit? Or where can we flee from his presence (Psalm 139:7)? There is one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all (Ephesians 4:6). It is not a matter of us making a connection, but a matter of waking up to see that we are swimming in an ocean of God!

If that isn’t enough to convince you, remember the Story of Jesus. God came to us personally in flesh and blood, with words and touch and actions, to live and die and to accomplish whatever remedial “connecting” work needed to be done for us because we consistently fail to acknowledge God’s good and loving presence.

God already “connected” with you in Jesus Christ. You don’t need to plug in, flip a switch, sign on, update your status, or send a tweet. You don’t need to do anything to connect to him. “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all” (Titus 2:11). The connection has been made. You don’t need to “connect with God,” and no person, no practice can “connect” you to God. You are connected.

Believe it or not.

And stop talking like that, please.

Fr. Stephen Freeman: There Is No “Bible” in the Bible

Note from CM: Thanks to Fr. Freeman for giving us permission to post this excellent article from his blog. Please be aware that he states his points strongly and even overstates some things (in my opinion). I anticipate that some of you will take strong exception to some of his claims and interpretations. (Many of us, after all, are Christians who practice our faith in Reformation traditions.) I hope, as always, that we will keep our discussion civil and gracious.

However, overall I think this piece encourages us to look at the Bible from a different angle, an angle that can offer a much needed corrective for the kind of naked biblicism we see in contemporary evangelicalism and elsewhere.

A number of years ago I recall being enthralled by a certain pastor’s motto that he used to impress the importance of Bible study upon Christians. “God gave us a Book,” he proclaimed. Now when I hear that, I picture the puzzled faces of saints across the ages. For it is only in the past 500 years that he could have said that to people who were actually holding a Book in their hands. Think of all the children of Abraham (biological and spiritual) who practiced the faith without a Book.

Of course, God’s people have always had words from God in some form to show them the way of life. But somehow, those words became THE WORD in a different way when put together between covers and made accessible to all in one volume. Living as a disciple has thus changed in many places from being an apprentice of Jesus Christ to being a student, from being a living, worshiping, missional member of the Church, which is the “pillar and foundation of the truth” (1Timothy 3:15), to having and maintaining a “personal relationship with Jesus” through “what he says to me” in the pages of my Bible.

I’ve editorialized enough. Consider Fr. Freeman’s word today.

• • •

There Is No “Bible” in the Bible
By Fr. Stephen Freeman

There are certain ideas that, once introduced, tend to change how people think of everything else. This is certainly the case with the Bible. For of all the ideas about the Scriptures, the most recent is the notion of “the Bible.”

The word “Bible” simply means “book.” Thus, it is a name that means “the Book.” It is a particularly late notion if for no other reason than that books are a rather late invention. There are examples of bound folios of the New Testament dating to around the 4th century, but they may very well have been some of the earliest examples of such productions. The Emperor Constantine commissioned a large number of such copies (all produced by hand) as gifts to the Bishops of the Church. How many such editions is unknown, though it may have been several hundred. One of the four manuscripts dating to the 4th century may very well be a survivor of that famous group.

In the Church (and to this day in Orthodoxy), the gospels are bound as one book and the Epistles, etc., are bound as another. And these are only those books appointed for reading in the Church. The Revelation is not usually included in such editions.

The “Bible,” a single book with the whole of the Scriptures included, is indeed modern. It is a by-product of the printing press, fostered by the doctrines of Protestantism. For it is not until the advent of Protestant teaching that the concept of the Bible begins to evolve into what it has become today. The New Testament uses the word “scriptures” (literally, “the writings”) when it refers to the Old Testament, but it is a very loose term. There was no authoritative notion of a canon of the Old Testament. There were the Books of Moses and the Prophets (cf. Luke 24:27) and there were other writings (the Psalms, Proverbs, etc.). But writers of the New Testament seem to have had no clear guide for what is authoritative and what is not. The book of Jude makes use of the Assumption of Moses as well as the Book of Enoch, without so much as a blush. There are other examples of so-called “non-canonical” works in the New Testament.

Continue reading “Fr. Stephen Freeman: There Is No “Bible” in the Bible”

Reflections on “Biblical” Preaching

I have preached and listened to preaching for many years (decades) now. Over time my understanding of “good” preaching has evolved. And my hunger for good preaching has increased.

Continue reading “Reflections on “Biblical” Preaching”

Saturday Ramblings: Oct. 4, 2014 (I Wish We’d All Been Ready)

Life was filled with guns and war. And all of us got trampled on the floor. I wish we’d all been ready.

Forgetting that my wife was on a trip with her sister to Arizona this week, I woke up and saw that I was alone in the bed. I wish we’d all been ready.

I drove up to a patient’s house to make a visit this week. I stood at the front door and rang the bell. And rang the bell again. And rang the bell again. I wish we’d all been ready.

The Chicago Bears didn’t show up at Soldier Field on Sunday when the Green Bay Packers came to town. I wish we’d all been ready.

Are you ready?

Let’s ramble.

Continue reading “Saturday Ramblings: Oct. 4, 2014 (I Wish We’d All Been Ready)”