One of the chapters in YCITS asks the question, “What Place Should We Give to Tradition?” As Robert Webber has said, the question is never whether or not we should believe in tradition, but rather which tradition we will believe in. We ALL believe in and have our own traditions. I can’t tell you how many conversations I’ve had with disgruntled parishioners because I didn’t include an altar call at the end of the Sunday morning service, changed the order of that service somehow, or didn’t follow one or another of a group of expectations they had about how a church or pastor should function. What were their complaints based upon?
This was always particularly interesting to me, since my pastoral work was done in churches that supposedly based everything they did on the Bible.Continue reading “John Armstrong on “Tradition””
Bob Webber grew up a staunch fundamentalist. His parents were missionaries in Africa who later returned to Pennsylvania to take up ministry in a Baptist church. He attended Bob Jones University. As an adult he became a professor at the more mainstream evangelical Wheaton College. Webber was immersed from birth in the world of free church evangelicalism and fundamentalism in one form or another.
So how did a man with this background end up…
worshiping regularly in an Episcopal church,
becoming one of Christianity’s foremost advocates for liturgical worship and renewed respect for early church traditions,
and being revered as a guide to multitudes who have joined him on what has become known as the “Ancient-Future” path of following Jesus in our day?
Thanks to friend of IM Fr. Ernesto Obregon for this testimony.
A word from Chaplain Mike: As we begin our week of emphasis on the Ancient-Future movement, I thought it would good to hear the testimony of someone whose faith journey has taken him through different streams of tradition and ultimately led him to find a home in an ancient expression of the “one holy and catholic church”.
Lately there has been much discussion about Emergents and the groups/churches they are founding. Are they dying? Are they entering a new phase? Were and are they simply a transitional phase from an institutional paradigm to a more “tribal” paradigm? There is some very lofty language being used to try to explain what happened back then and what is happening now and where the future might lead.
The second week of our conversations about “Three Streams of Post-Evangelicalism” will focus on what has been termed the “Ancient-Future” movement. Please remember that this is a DISCUSSION series…
We are doing this precisely because we are NOT experts with regard to these movements. We want to learn more. We want to hear your experiences. As pilgrims trying to negotiate the post-evangelical landscape, we are interested to hear of your involvement and interaction with these groups that have grown so much in recent years. Please join the conversation.
I think a good way to introduce this week’s emphasis is through the following video. This is the Tenebrae Choir singing a movement from Rachmaninoff’s All Night Vigil, Op. 37 (also known as “Vespers”). This piece of Russian liturgical music is one of the most sublime choral compositions known to humankind. It has been called, “the greatest musical achievement of the Russian Orthodox Church”.
For some time now, I have listened to this music while falling to sleep at night, so that my meditations and prayers at the end of the day may be formed by these glorious liturgical expressions. The music is wonderfully contemplative, with emotional depth and a sense of transcendence that is almost indescribable.
I chose this particular video because it represents both “ancient” and “future”. Rachmaninoff’s composition points us to that stream of the Great Tradition passed down to us through Eastern Orthodoxy. The ensemble choir and candlelit setting, while evoking a sense of the ancient, reflect contemporary expressions of this historic faith.
This movement is titled, “Blessed Is the Man”:
Blessed is the man that hath not walked
in the counsel of the ungodly. Alleluia!
For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous,
but the way of the ungodly shall perish. Alleluia!
Serve the Lord with fear,
and rejoice unto him with reverence. Alleluia!
Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. Alleluia!
Arise, O Lord; save me, O Lord my God. Alleluia!
Salvation belongeth unto the Lord,
and thy blessing is upon thy people. Alleluia!
Glory be to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
both now and ever and to ages and ages. Amen. Alleluia!
Glory be to thee, O God. Alleluia!
According to Luke’s portrayal, Jesus’ mission was clearly stated:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free,
and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come. (Luke 4:18-19)
The healing miracle described in today’s text, unique to the third Gospel and one of the last signs and wonders Jesus did that is recorded by Luke, is a poignant example of how Jesus fulfilled his mission. Continue reading “Loosing the Captive to Stand Up Straight”
Classic iMonk Post by Michael Spencer Originally posted September 15, 2009
“A chastened, invigorated traditionalism, re-rooted in deeper, better soil and paying attention to the younger voices and cultural changes, is the better evangelical future.”
Jim Belcher’s fine book, Deep Church: A Third Way Beyond Emerging and Traditionalhas been at the top of my book review stack for over a month. After living with my nose in my own book—a book stuffed with criticism of the current evangelical scene—it was a refreshing experience to read Belcher’s good work.
Deep Church seeks to examine a third way between the traditional and emerging camps, a way Belcher has discovered in his own journey from early years as an emerging church advocate to more recent experience as a PCA church planter. The narrative—and this book is just as much narrative as teaching—is a fascinating one, as Belcher doesn’t hesitiate to name names and to characterize positions bluntly and honestly. If anyone can be said to attempt an impartial moderation of the emerging/traditional divide in evangelicalism, it is Belcher.
It is, however, my opinion that Belcher’s book, despite a valiant attempt to be impartial, amounts to a thorough revelation of the failure of the emerging church to offer an answer for evangelicalism, and a clarion call to the position this web site has taken for most of its history: the post-evangelical appropriation of the great tradition; the wisdom of the broader, deeper more ancient church, in meeting the evangelical challenge today. A chastened, invigorated traditionalism, re-rooted in deeper, better soil and paying attention to the younger voices and cultural changes, is the better evangelical future.Continue reading “iMonk Classic: Review of “Deep Church””
MOD NOTE: Thanks to Adam Palmer for doing our rambling for us this week!
Jeff has taken leave of the iMonastery this week to visit our English friends across the pond (where they have monasteries that are only slightly older than this one), so it is up to me, Adam Palmer, to ramble today. Shall we?
Houston pastors Kerry and Chris Shook are encouraging people next week to participate in a one-day “Facebook fast.” The idea is that we need to stop relying on social media to be social and actually concentrate on, say, real relationships with real people. Obviously, a single day’s focus on this stuff isn’t enough, but in this day and age, I guess we’ll take what we can get. And yes, if you want to participate, the Shooks have ready-made text you can copy and paste… as your Facebook status.Continue reading “Saturday Ramblings—8.21.10”
When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “There is still one thing lacking. Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” (Luke 18:22, NRSV)
“When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, in case they may invite you in return, and you would be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” (Luke 14:12-14, NRSV)
Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need. (Acts 4:32-35, NRSV)
Some of us take Jesus’ words and the example of the early church seriously. The rest of us sit in our nice homes and read about them.
14“For many are called, but few are chosen” (Matthew 22:14, NLT)
In last week’s Difficult Scriptures, many of you thought the passage too easy. Or, perhaps, you didn’t care to dig deeply enough. There was a lot of meat left on that bone, monks.
This week’s verse is a head-scratcher. Who are those who are called? And why are only a few of those who are called chosen? And what are they chosen for? Does this verse support predestination?
Ok. Take it from here. Wrestle this one out. Don’t leave any meat this week. I’m counting on you.
. John writes a heartfelt, winsome appeal for Christian unity, based on Jesus’ prayer in John 17. You can read or review those posts here:
By Chaplain Mike
By Chaplain Mike
Classic iMonk Post
has been at the top of my book review stack for over a month. After living with my nose in my own book—a book stuffed with criticism of the current evangelical scene—it was a refreshing experience to read Belcher’s good work.
By Chaplain Mike
The Internet Monk Archives 