started 1/26/17 Kindle Version (More) Musings and Methodologies Book has changed a lot since original publication, but the core argument remains. Atonement theories tend to outlive their usefulness. “The Structure of What Follows” – Outline of rest of book Part 1: The Stories We Tell About Sin and Shame “Sin doesn’t really exist as a […]
The Unbearable Wholeness of Being: God, Evolution and the Power of Love Ilia Delio This is the best book I’ve read this year. A beautiful theology based on understanding evolution as the human story. Here are my notes: Introduction “In my view, evolution is the story.” The area where evolution has the least influence is theology due […]
The Great Emergence: How Christianity is Changing and Why Phyllis Tickle – 2012 (Reprint Edition), Baker Finished re-reading August, 2013. Best parts to re-read are chapters 1 and 5. Brief Summary: Roughly every 500 years, the church seems to have a “giant rummage sale,” shedding off old ways of being, doctrine, and practice, adopting new […]
The Holy Trinity and the Law of Three: Discovering the Radical Truth at the Heart of Christianity Cynthia Bourgeault – 2013, Shambhala Publications Finished July, 2013. This book is unlike anything I’ve ever read. It’s a tough, but rewarding read. Try your best to read it as a mystic for the best results. Summary/Notes: Introduction Compares […]
Compassion: A Reflection on the Christian Life Henri J. M. Nouwen Donald P. McNeill Douglas A. Morrison 2005, Image Finished February, 2013 Outline/Notes: Introduction The primary lens through which most of us view the world is competition. Compassion can play a small part of that competition, like the eraser on the end of a pencil. […]
Naked Spirituality: A Life with God in 12 Simple Words Brian D. McLaren Finished April, 2012. Helpful Chart Summary: Simplicity Right vs. Wrong Dualism Dependence Complexity Effective vs. Ineffective Pragmatism Independence Perplexity Honest vs. Dishonest Relativism Counterdependence Harmony Understanding of Purpose and Timing Interdependence of Mutuality Syntopical Learning: [Resonating with Thinking, Fast and Slow] O seems […]
Traditional Christianity often teaches that Jesus was perfect and without sin. The proclamation that Jesus is perfect and without sin isn’t something Jesus claimed of himself – in fact he denied it (Mark 10:18). Rather, it is a doctrinal formulation of the church. While, well-intentioned, and certainly a laudable statement of devotion and worship of […]
Last Friday, I took our youth to see the new Man of Steel movie as part of our Lockout. Some of our chaperones noted after the movie, as did I, that there were some rather overt Christian snapshot scenes in the movie. Most notably, one where Clark has a brief conversation with a priest in a […]
I’ve been reading quite a bit lately in the area of Integral Spirituality, Spiral Dynamics, and human/faith development in general. While admitedly anachronistic, I think Wesley had an innate sense about how faith develops and I can see in his sermon, The Almost Christian, a proto-version of the stages advocated by Ken Wilber (integral), Claire […]
I just finished reading a book that I think has made a big impression on me, Saved from Sacrifice: A Theology of the Cross by Mark Heim. I had read about the “Girardian” perspective on Jesus’s crucifixion various places, mostly, I think on Brian McLaren’s blog and was intrigued and wanted to learn more. Mark […]