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From the Archives: How I Found a Way Out of My Spiritual Desert

3rd October, 2016

Acedia

Over the centuries, Christians everywhere have experienced an apathy of body, mind, and spirit. From the monk who keeps checking the time until the day is over to the college student who aimlessly surfs the internet all day, this apathy can affect anyone, regardless of their spiritual maturity.

This spiritual and physical apathy is called acedia. Acedia isn’t quite depression, as there are a few differences. Some might call it a “spiritual desert,” but it feels deeper than that. First, acedia is a distinct lack of feeling anything. There’s no happiness, no sadness, no anger – just apathy, about everything. Second, there’s no apparent cause. With depression, a cause – either biology or trauma – can be found. The person who suffers from acedia doesn’t care about anything, doesn’t care that he doesn’t care, and often doesn’t care to find a solution.

A Review of Walter Brueggemann’s “Money and Possessions”

Joe Johnson

30th September, 2016

Church

Money and possessions matter. They might not always come up explicitly in our ordinary, everyday conversations, but when Jesus tells His disciples to sell their possessions because “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,”¹Luke 12:34, NRSV. or bluntly says, “You cannot serve God and wealth,”²Luke 16:13, NRSV. His words are especially challenging for many of us because they ring deeply true, even if we usually avoid thinking about them. Nevertheless, we often try to keep faith and money in separate spheres of life. In his new volume, Money and Possessions, Walter Brueggemann insists that this is both unsustainable and undesirable: “We live in a society that would like to bracket out money and possessions (politics and economics) from ultimate questions. The Bible insists otherwise.”³p.12.

References [ + ]

1.	↑	Luke 12:34, NRSV.
2.	↑	Luke 16:13, NRSV.
3.	↑	p.12.

Angles of the Cross: Part Two

David Marshall

28th September, 2016

Theology

In part one of this article, I tried to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of three of the major atonement models: the Christus Victor approach, Anselm’s satisfaction model, and moral exemplarism. What follows is my attempt to synthesize all three by discussing them in the context of several important theological ideas: sin, the Incarnation, and the Cross.

Topic One: Sin

Without sin, there would be no need to discuss atonement in a Christian context. However, there are two extremes it is often relegated to: the idea that sin is “simply a legal claim,”¹Hans Boersma, Violence, Hospitality, and the Cross: Reappropriating the Atonement Tradition (Grand Rapics: Baker Academic, 2004), 184. which is often espoused (both consciously and subconsciously) by those who hold to a more objective view, or the belief that when one is saved from sin, these sins have more to do with sinning against others and sins “committed through social institutions.”²Miguel De la Torre, Doing Christian Ethics from the Margins (2^nd ed.; Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 2014), 35. The problem here is both approaches have merit: sin is so much more than simply “offending” God, yet the effect of sin on humanity’s standing before God required something to happen as a result. Not recognizing the truth in both extremes leaves one with an imbalanced view of sin.

References [ + ]

1.	↑	Hans Boersma, Violence, Hospitality, and the Cross: Reappropriating the Atonement Tradition (Grand Rapics: Baker Academic, 2004), 184.
2.	↑	Miguel De la Torre, Doing Christian Ethics from the Margins (2^nd ed.; Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 2014), 35.

From the Archive: Understanding Holiness

Zach Perkins

26th September, 2016

Theology

“Holiness is not simply righteousness, for which the righteous merit the enjoyment of blessedness in the Kingdom of God, but rather such a height of righteousness that men are filled with the grace of God to the extent that it flows from them upon those who associate with them. Great is their blessedness; it proceeds from personal experience of the Glory of God. Being filled also with love for men. Which proceeds from the love of God, they are responsive to men’s needs, and upon their supplication they appear also as intercessors and defenders for them before God.”¹St. John the Wonderworker

When I first read this, it helped me understand holiness a bit better. There’s a difference between maintaining an aesthetic of holiness versus actually being consumed by God and thus being made holy through union with Him. It is not of works that I may boast, but through the grace given to me through Jesus Christ. I am the chief of sinners and unworthy of such a gift from God, but He has allowed me to enter into it because He has reconciled me to Himself through Christ. It is the true aim of any Christian’s life, but we will not fully know it for ourselves until we are standing toe to toe with the Holiest of Holies.

References [ + ]

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St. John the Wonderworker

The Lord’s Prayer: Relying on God

Adam Thrash

23rd September, 2016

Theology

Matthew 6:11

Give us this day our daily bread

Luke 11:3

Give us each day our daily bread

Perhaps one of the hardest parts of the Lord’s Prayer is the petition to God to give us our daily bread. This petition brings with it several troubling questions that, as far as I know, may not have answers that satisfy everyone. Given that the earlier parts of this series have attempted to establish reasons to trust God and have faith Him, there’s not much else to say about why we can trust Him for provision. We’ve already decided that we honor Him because of His past actions and desire His will because we have faith in His future actions.

Eschatology and Real Life

Chris Wermeskerch

21st September, 2016

Church

Some people may wonder whether or not there’s a purpose to studying eschatology. Some may think that the study is a foolish endeavor that comes with a mild thrill from decoding symbols and numbers, or that they will get lost in a jumble of technical terms, leaving them to wonder if there’s anything to actually look forward to (you mean all of Revelation already happened?). Others, enamored with the Left Behind series, have sometimes gone off-track and retreated from the world. However, this is not what God imagined when God gave us insight into His eschatological vision for the world. If God, in Christ, is actively reconciling the world to Himself,¹2 Corinthians 5:17-21. and in that reconciliation He is freeing creation from its bondage instituted by Adam,²Romans 8. we must, in virtue of our participation in Him, let our eschatology affect the way we live.

References [ + ]

1.	↑	2 Corinthians 5:17-21.
2.	↑	Romans 8.

From the Archive: The Apocalypse Is Not About You

Matthew Hartke

19th September, 2016

Church

Like many people in my particular stream of evangelicalism, I used to believe confidently that I was living in the end times.

Holding my Bible in one hand and the daily news in the other, I could see clearly that they were talking about the same things: conflict in the Middle East, natural catastrophes, globalization, and the world wide web. It was all the fulfillment of prophecy. Once I started seeing the pattern, it was everywhere — not just in Daniel and Revelation, but throughout the Psalms, Prophets, and Gospels too.

Angles of the Cross: Part One

David Marshall

16th September, 2016

Theology

Due to the nature of the topic, the church universal has yet to formulate a unified doctrine of the atonement. This article, written in light of the Anabaptist tradition where multiple atonement models have oftentimes been held in tandem,¹Frances F. Hiebert, “The Atonement in Anabaptist Theology,” Direction 30, no. 2 (Fall 2001), http://www.directionjournal.org/30/2/atonement-in-anabaptist-theology.html#Note15 (accessed August 15, 2016), 132. argues that three of the more popular models of the atonement (Christus Victor, satisfaction, and moral exemplar) can indeed be viewed as being complementary and mutually beneficial, despite those who would say otherwise. Part one will briefly review each model, including several critical remarks, followed by a short section detailing some of the initial concerns with this approach. Part two will deal with three topics in the context of the atonement (sin, the Incarnation, and cross) and how the aforementioned models can be utilized cohesively alongside one another.²This article was originally a paper written for CH503: The Church’s Understanding of Church, Humanity, and Christian Life in Its Theological Reflection; Fuller Theological Seminary, Summer Quarter 2016.

References [ + ]

1.	↑	Frances F. Hiebert, “The Atonement in Anabaptist Theology,” Direction 30, no. 2 (Fall 2001), http://www.directionjournal.org/30/2/atonement-in-anabaptist-theology.html#Note15 (accessed August 15, 2016), 132.
2.	↑	This article was originally a paper written for CH503: The Church’s Understanding of Church, Humanity, and Christian Life in Its Theological Reflection; Fuller Theological Seminary, Summer Quarter 2016.

Nineveh and Enemy Love

David Marshall

12th September, 2016

Culture

Even though I was living in small town Pleasant Hill, Missouri, rather than New York, 9/11 was a scary day for me and my family. Before I knew it, I was told my dad was not allowed to leave the air force base he was stationed at, since they were a potential target for future attacks. The thought of my dad being stuck on base while our country was under attack, let alone not coming home alive, was paralyzing for a 7th grader. Nothing may have happened, but it remains a haunting thought to this day, and it caused me to become skeptical of anyone I met who might…well, you know…be a “terrorist.”

Fast forward a few years later, and the same fear that gripped us as a nation then still lurks in the corner (or sometimes forefront) of our minds now. This is why Trump gets so much support for his ideas: if it were Japanese or Australian soldiers who had flown planes into the Twin Towers, Trump’s rhetoric against Muslims and Middle Eastern men and women would be powerless. However, because of 9/11 and our supposed “war on terror,” it’s easier to view others as potential terrorists and our enemies simply because they are Middle Eastern in descent. It’s simply how we’ve been conditioned to think.

Older Posts

Adam Thrash 3rd October, 2016

Joe Johnson 30th September, 2016