Like virtually all evangelicals trying to go with the zeitgeist flow, John Franke has to do some foot dragging here and there. He has to throw in a few sturdy absolutes from time to time, and this puts some believers at their ease. “The Spirit is guiding the community of faith into the truth, purposes, …
Unity and Uniformity
This post on the next chapter of Franke’s book will not be all that long. He says a number of true (and obvious) things about the diversity that has existed in the Christian church over the centuries, and which will no doubt continue to exist. He then points to the indigenization principle (God takes us …
In the Mouths of Theological Blowhards
In his second chapter, John Franke says a number of reassuring things, that would have been just fine in another setting. But here, they are not. For example and to wit: “An understanding of the situated and contextual character of truth and Christian theology provides a theological framework from which to embrace Christian pluralism without …
The Plurality of Truth Moonwalk
John Franke begins by asking and answering the question, “Do you believe in truth?” He allows that the easiest thing for emergents to do is to just say yes, in order to reassure everybody. But then he gets into his explanation of why he thinks this is an odd question, and all the reasons why …
Macedoine Salad Without the Bowl
The next book that I shall blog through, Lord willing, will be John Franke’s new book, Manifold Witness. This first post will consist of two parts — the first being a quick take on the cover, title, blurbs, foreword and preface. The second will consist a brief statement of my presuppositions in conducting a review …
A Vine-Laden Discussion
Here are my notes from a discussion we had yesterday at the NSA grad student forum. As expected, the discussion with Peter there answered most of these questions — the only place where a disagreement simpliciter occurs is in my third point below, on the nature of typology. So here are my notes, and sorry …
Gravitron Fairies
One of the more obvious things about doing television gigs is the compression of time. Everything has to be discussed in soundbytes and bumpersticker aphorisms. Five minutes is a long time, and twenty minutes stretches out in front of you like a highway in Montana. All the folks we dealt with were very kind, and …
Killing and Dying
Just a quick note on a nagging problem in hermeneutics, a problem that pomo monkeyshines help serve to highlight. To the extent that pomo thinking robs us of an authoritative word, the more it tries to leave us with a series of bad choices, all of them arbitrary and capricious. Here is the dilemma: As …
Geez Louise
So, a friend informs me, Brian McLaren is observing Ramadan this year. I was minding my own business, see, and my friend sent me this link. Check it out your own self here. He sent me the link, I am convinced, to see if I would go off like a bottle rocket, all the while …
Calvin on Young Earth Creation as a “Chief Doctrine of the Faith”
[Speaking of predestination], Calvin says, “But if their shamelessness deters us, we shall have to keep secret the chief doctrines of the faith, almost none of which they or their like leave untouched by blasphemy. An obstinate person would be no less insolently puffed up on hearing that within the essence of God there three …