Catholic Answers?

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Book Review: Theology and Sanity, Francis J. Sheed

I was given this book by a Roman Catholic friend of mine once he discovered that I was in a Trinitarian class at Dallas Seminary. I found it to be very interesting  and was written how I suspect C.S. Lewis would have written; had he been Catholic. The style is very philosophical and challenging although many illustrations are given to help communicate exactly what Sheed is communicating.  Unfortunately for myself; the audience being targeted is exclusively Roman Catholic and unwarranted assumptions (at least from my perspective) are commonly made. While several of the arguments rest on dogmatic beliefs, (For an example, Sheed claims that the concept of a 'community of faith' relies on the infallibility of the Catholic Church’s teaching.) often times the arguments are helpful for viewing Protestantism through another lens. I found this book to be a helpful supplement to my Trinitarian class in that it gave me several technical, weighty arguments to wrestle with. (Some aligning with and others contradicting an evangelical perspective)  two (not surprising) issues I had were the few passages that clearly did not originate from NA27 (for an example, see Sheed’s treatment of John 17:21) and a very Catholic “sensus-plenior” approach to interpreting scripture. 

Overall, I found this book to be a helpful perspective especially relating to anthropology, trinitarian theology and soteriology. While I would not recommend it as a quick read, the writing style is more accessible than most and the arguments are simply presented.

2.5 dogmatic statements out of 5

-Yates

Could your Church do a better job?

$11 @ readerssupermarket

Advanced Strategic Planning, Aubrey Malphurs.

Even after several advanced collegiate leadership courses, I found this book to be both informative and challenging. Malphurs is very comprehensive (in respect to the Church environment)  and makes the challenge of leading well seem manageable and obtainable. I was able to read it very quickly because many of the suggestions are repeated and others seem (at least in hindsight) to be common-sense. The author is clearly familiar with many different church environments and is confident in the various strategies for implementing growth. Malphurs goes to great length to facilitate the development and implementation of core values, mission, vision, strategy, disciple making, forming a team, ministry setting, finances, and continued strategic planning.

I would recommend this book for anyone interested in the growth (and/or maintenance) of his/her Church. This is especially helpful for a topical overview of a solid Christian management strategy rather than a detailed, specific, custom-tailored strategy.

5 out of 5 sailboat analogies

AM Yates

Theology put to the test.

$17.50 @ ImportCDs.com

Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Pacifist, Nazi Resister. DVD. Directed by Martin Doblmeier. 2003.

While staying true to the documentary genre; the director (Martin Doblmeier) includes personal interpretation in such a way that both engages and challenges the viewer in a unique way. Doblmeier devotes a significant portion of Bonhoeffer towards establishing background instead of expounding on later years of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s life. (Which are more commonly known.) (*** For those who do not know; Bonhoeffer was a German Protestant pastor who resisted the Nazi regime in WWII.***) Beginning with the earliest information of Bonhoeffer’s life, Doblmeier slowly builds a case for the perception of the man presented in the concluding moments.

Professionals frequently interrupt the developing narrative in order to provide interpretive insights regarding Bonhoeffer’s circumstances. After several of these interpretive statements, a pattern clearly begins to develop. With only a few exceptions, a general statement regarding God or Christianity is made and on the basis of that unchallenged position the professional will present his interpretation.
For example, Bishop Albrecht Schonherr is quoted stating, “God is a God of peace and justice and one is not true to Him when one has a weak conception of war or Justice.” Bishop Schonherr makes this claim in light of the ironic tension of using murder to end a war. In many ways this is a nonsensical statement when used (as in the documentary) independent of any clarification or further explanation. I would be very interested to know if Bishop Schonherr places priority on either peace or justice and how he views God as being able to resolve that tension. As presented; this question is assumed to have an obvious resolution and furthermore, the capacity for man to imitate this Godly balance is likewise assumed.

Expounding the high ethical standards developed by Bonhoeffer, John De Gruchy defines Christianity as “putting into practice what Jesus preached at the sermon on the mount.” While possibly defensible, this is not the position that Bonhoeffer held. (Or at the very least first held.) Bonhoeffer was highly Christocentric and defined Christianity as the visible representation of Christ through the community of the Church. I suspect that De Gruchy has confused functional and positional Christianity. A Christian is someone who is associated with Christ, not someone who does “Christian” actions. For example, Gandhi never claimed to be a Christian while he did practice many of the commandments of Jesus in Matthew 5-7.
As a third example of this formula, John De Gruchy on a separate occasion defends Bonhoeffer’s actions from a theistic perspective. De Gruchy begins by stating that the question of right and wrong is flawed from the beginning. The real question is “what does God want me to do?” He goes only a little further suggesting that if anyone could know the will of God, surely a professor of Theology would. While I can be confident that his statement is well-intended, the mere investigation of God’s will does not cause one to infallibly arrive at it. Countless wicked deeds have been done by men believing that they were within God’s will.

Conclusion:
While the extensive history of Bonhoeffer’s life was very helpful in allowing the viewer to understand his circumstances more holistically, I thought the account of actual wartime measures was lacking. The audience will surely understand how passionate Bonhoeffer was for peace but someone completely unfamiliar with his story might never understand the extent of the actual measures taken against the Nazi war machine. The war-time phase of his life seems to be the most significant and this documentary I feel has majored on the minors. I also had hoped for more primary source material on Bonhoeffer. As mentioned above, many historians and theologians presented their opinions as to the influence of his life but ironically Bonhoeffer's own opinions seem to be overshadowed by them. Furthermore, those interpretations regarding Bonhoeffer weigh heavily on a particular philosophy or life-view and were varied and unquestioned by the presenters.

Ultimately I did enjoy the documentary and I have a great respect for Bonhoeffer’s legacy. This documentary has greatly spiked my interest in this man (especially regarding his war-time theology) and I hope to study him further in the near future.

4 out of 5 stars

-Yates

What does someone in seminary do?

Billy says:
"get back to work!"

goog_1726817030I have had several people asking me about my seminary experience and what my classes are like. I have found that most of the classes (not including Honors Greek.) I have already taken to be a challenge to my theological convictions and personal paradigms rather than intellectually straining. (I will definately credit ma/pa & the Grace Bible Church Internship for giving me a firm theological education.  I have definitely had an advantage over other students coming from non-Bible College backgrounds.)

In two or three of my classes, we had the option to write a paper for an 'A' and I found them to be fairly challenging and interesting to work on. I have posted one of those papers here for your viewing pleasure. This paper is typical of our assignments and while seeming complicated; mostly involves good organization skills.

Also, as seminarians we meet once a day for 'Chapel' where we have worship and hear a speaker.

Ironically, I have found that most of the fruit of the "seminary experience" has not been at the seminary itself. Most of my raw learning/meditating has come from reading, studying and writing off campus which later gets  polished in the classroom.

AMY 

'Ring-Wraiths;' finally I get it.

Although I don't normally read biographies, I recently found myself taking Brian Fisher's advice and picking one up. (Granted, I didn't have time to finish this one for over a year!) The book is Tolkien; the Authorized Biography, by Humphrey Carpenter. I found it in a pile of free books at a garage sale and almost passed over it but the picture on the cover of Tolkien smoking a pipe was too neat to pass up.

Tolkien (The book but apparently also the man himself) is slow-developing but interesting. Simply stated, he was an obscure Oxford Professor (specifically a Philologist) desiring to entertain his children with creative, mythical stories and at least one of those stories (especially the Hobbit tetralogy) was polished for publication.  Tolkien's obsessive-compulsive nature would not allow him to ever really consider a story to be "complete;" going so far as to research moon phases and measuring precise distances on maps to ensure that every detail was in order.

Prior to writing the Hobbit series, Tolkien had already developed the cultures found in his stories (elvish, hobbit, etc.) from languages he had created as a hobby. He felt as if the languages he invented obligated a certain culture as both representative and explanatory for them. Tolkien was a simple man living in a simple, suburban home. His creativity and imagination were however, clearly less than common. Coupling those with an obsessive focus on detail allowed him to compose (after over 20 years) a terrific novel as possibly his life's work.

If you're a fan of Hobbits and looking for more background information (in light of the new movie?) then I would encourage you to pick this book up used. If you're not pursuing an understanding of Tolkien's literary philosophy on character names or insights into the lifestyle of an author/professor, I would encourage you to pass on this one.  2 out of 5 harry hobbit feet.

AMY

Evangelical Moral Theology?

Tonight I had an interesting discussion with a Roman Catholic friend of mine and we talked at great length about what he called "moral theology." I was interested to hear of his passion in this field and he claimed that it was a common topic in Catholicism. Am I the only one missing this "field" or is this just a title commonly used by Roman Catholics? What would you include in "moral theology" if you had the choice? (or perhaps a better question, what would you exclude?)

Also, C.S. Lewis was a universalist. Kelli just read The Last Battle and it's fairly blatant. Apparently Bell isn't the only one.

AMY

Hodges, Absolutely Free!

Now that I have a bit more time, I want to update the book reviews a bit more regularly. For those who are not aware of the discussion, this debate is considered for the most part to be over. I hope that this first review doesn't betray my background too much but here's lookin' at you kid:

Zane Hodges, Absolutely Free!

Hodges provides a fresh review [at the time] of legalistic perspectives that have begun to work their way into evangelical thought.

$2.30 from Amazon

This might be to the extreme an argument against the Lordship Perspective. Perhaps Hodges stretches their position too thinly, builds a “straw man” at times, or simply takes their “positions” to their logical conclusion. That being said, I am not convinced that the brashness or the severities of the attacks are unwarranted.

Summary: Hodges allows God’s grace as the only means for salvation from hell and the means for motivation towards Godly living. Hodges’ perspective still allows for a defensible theology and strongly encourages Godly lifestyle. 

AMY