Here is a small hodge podge of discussion starters for when you next divvy up your seminary class into small encounter groups. To head off your curiosity, they are all in praise of Christendom.
1. The radical two kingdom approach within the Reformed world represents a fundamental capitulation to one of the central tenets of the anabaptist project. Discuss among yourselves.
2. Because the historic Reformed insistence on the legitimacy of civil rulers has been so strong, in order for this anabaptist agenda to be advanced within Reformed circles, it is necessary to appeal to secret conspiratorial histories, lurid histories which make the legitimacy of the civil rulers impossible for the pure of heart to accept. If John Calvin had only known about King Francis what Michael Moore knows, he wouldn’t have been so quick to grant him legitimacy. Agree or disagree.
3. We should start marking the anniversary of Constantine’s conversion to Christianity as an official American holiday, with twice as many fireworks as the Fourth of July. Give three reasons.
4. An abandonment of the ideal of Christendom is a refusal to defend the integrity of the gospel of the cross. Flip out among yourselves.
5. As we determine what the social order of the next iteration of Christendom should look like, we should seek to get our bearings from the Bible, and not from conversations we overheard at Starbucks. Say amen.