Not sure how this is going to go, or even why I’m doing this anymore, but here we go! Still praying for either a dissertation break-through or a clear sign that I should quit. I hope to receive or discover one of those before the end of the calendar year.
After listening to the Blinkist summary of Cal Newport’s Deep Work (I’ve read the book, this was just for a refresher), I’m convinced that it’s time for another 30-day fast from Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. I think I’ll still keep my micro.blog up and running, but between running Anglican Compass and sprinting for some last-ditch clarity on my increasingly frustrating dissertation, I need all the extra bandwidth I can get! If you need to get in touch for some reason, please use the contact form on my website. You can also sign up for my very occasional email newsletter here. ...
For months and months now, I’ve been praying for either (1) a breakthrough on my “Barth, Bonhoeffer, and the Bible” dissertation or (2) a clear sign that I should quit the Ph.D. Unfortunately, after countless confusing dead ends in my endeavors to put Karl Barth and Dietrich Bonhoeffer into precise conversation with each other regarding specific passages of the Bible, I’ve now realized that such an approach is not going to work. ...
After realizing just how easy it was to lose access to the physical books that I own (now sequestered in my library carrel at Wheaton), on a bit of a whim I created a fundraiser to help my upgrade my Logos Bible Software library to either the Anglican Gold ($216) or Anglican Platinum ($582) libraries. Upgrading would help me in my preaching, teaching, and writing roles (as a pastor-theologian and as the Managing Editor of AnglicanCompass.com). I’ve already benefited immensely from the Anglican Silver package I bought when I got into the Logos Bible Software ecosystem a couple years ago (mainly to gain easy digital access to Barth and Bonhoeffer’s writings for my dissertation). I plan to stick with Logos—especially for biblical commentaries, systematic theologies, and reference works—because it allows me to quickly research, prepare for sermons, answer questions from readers, etc. ...
There is not unanimous agreement about women’s ordination in the worldwide Anglican Communion. Godly and thoughtful Christians hold opposing convictions about Holy Orders and who is called to ordained ministry. You often see the results of this debate at the Provincial level—a national expression of the Church may or may not ordain women, in accordance with their conviction. But for the Anglican Church in North America this disagreement is internal to the Province, varying from diocese to diocese and bishop to bishop. ...
Almost every vocational deacon I know, when asked why he or she has not become a priest, will respond, “I have never felt called to the priesthood.” Some will add emphatically, “not for a minute!” I am not one of those deacons. I don’t share this story often, rarely in its fullness, and never in public non-anonymous writing. Be gentle with my soul, O Church. The words which follow are all too raw. ...
SOURCE: They Say / I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing, 4th edition (affiliate link). Perhaps the most helpful and practical book on academic writing! Disagreeing Without Being Disagreeable While I understand the impulse to A, my own view is B. While I agree with X that Y, I cannot accept her overall conclusion that Z. While X argues Y, and I argue Z, in a way we’re both right. The Template Of Templates In recent discussions of A, a controversial issue has been whether B. On the one hand, some argue that C. From this perspective, D. On the other hand, however, others argue that E. In the words of F, one of this view’s main proponents, “G.” According to this view, H. In sum, then, the issue is whether I or J. ...
Help me out. I’m looking for the best, clearest, and most charitable explanations of the following three things: the biblical and theological reasons for caring about social justice and systemic racism, the unfair ways in which some have used accusations of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and Cultural Marxism to sideline legitimate Christian concerns about social justice and systemic racism, and the legitimate Christian critiques of CRT and Marxism. Now, I know that there are plenty of resources out there that address each of the three items above! ...
The following is a “collect” prayer that I composed for Juneteenth in 2020. What’s a “collect” prayer? The short form of prayer, constructed (with many varieties of detail) from (1) an invocation, (2) a petition, and (3) a pleading of Christ’s name or an ascription of glory to God; and one of the most characteristic items in the W[estern] liturgy. Source: The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church For more on Juneteenth, see “The Historical Legacy of Juneteenth” (National Museum of African American History and Culture). ...
(To listen to the audio of this sermon as it was preached on June 6, 2020, click here.) Christians believe that there is one God in three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Or, as my daughter Eva put it recently after seeing a picture in her book, “Father, Son, and Bird.” We’re working on that… We Christians have been taught that the Trinity is important. No one wants to be a heretic. Trinity, good. Modalism, bad. ...
There are PLENTY of resource recommendations out there for those interested in learning more about racism and anti-racism (just Google “best X (books, movies, podcasts, etc.) on racism,” “antiracist reading list,” etc.). However, I’m worried that, especially for people who are not used to working their way through lengthy reading lists, getting so many recommendations at once will lead to nothing due to the paradox of choice. I’d much rather recommend a single book that someone will actually read than 100 books they won’t! ...
I commend the entire interview series that Ed Stetzer recently did with Esau McCaulley. Among many highlights, I appreciate McCaulley’s following answer to the question of negotiating the differences between protests and riots. Again, read the whole interview and series, but here’s a key section related to concern about rioting and lawlessness: [Ed Stetzer] We both agree: Protests are good. Riots are not. Unpack that for us from your context. Esau: There is a cycle of what happens. There’s a racial incident. African Americans protest. Some of those protests from people inside and outside the community turn violent. People say, “Hey, look at this. Why aren’t the Christians who are speaking out against the racial injustice equally strong speaking about the riots?” ...
Certainly, the Bible has much to say about individual sin and redemption. But (1) focusing on “systemic” issues doesn’t need to negate a focus on “individual” issues. In fact, a focus on “systemic racism” actually exerts a lot of pressure to evaluate people individually, and not on the basis of their race—as long as we keep in mind how those supposedly individual evaluations are often subtly (and nefariously) shaped by systemic issues. ...
NOTE: As is our policy with all Anglican Compass content, we ask that you please submit a request before republishing content. Following the lead of bishops Jim Hobby, Todd Hunter, Stewart Ruch III, and Steve Wood, who recently wrote in response to the death of George Floyd, which gained support from a number of other bishops, we offer this open letter to our fellow ACNA clergy and to the churches under our care. Whether you’re ACNA clergy, a layperson, or a Christian leader outside the ACNA, we invite your consideration of the following and your signature in support. ...
I’m pondering the “don’t stir the pot” reaction that reliably happens every time we publish something on women’s ordination—most especially anything in favor of women’s ordination—over at Anglican Compass, where I’m the Managing Editor. (Note: This post is not a subtweet of anyone in particular. It’s just me thinking out loud about a phenomenon that keeps occurring.) Almost every time we post something about women’s ordination, a controversial issue has been whether or not doing so needlessly “stirs the pot,” as in “causes trouble, unrest, dissent.” ...