I’m going to seminary (kind of)

Well folks, I’m going to seminary. Or, rather, a seminary course is coming to me, thanks to the interweb. I’ve been accepted into the TH434: Readings in Postmodern Philosophy/Theology online course at Northern Seminary, which I heard about via Emergent Village.

The class is led by David Fitch and Jeff Holsclaw, and it runs from June 30 — September 14. The course description is provided below:

This course surveys several major thinkers in Postmodern Continental Philosophy as well as an assortment of theological responses to postmodernity. The course aims to introduce the student to first hand encounters with the thinkers that are shaping the theological mind of today in response to postmodernity. The student should come away with a basic understanding of the formative philosophical issues facing current Western theologians and church practitioners. The student also will be prepared for further reading and engagement with philosophical writings that are setting the course for so much of the post­Christendom West.

It won’t be an easy ten weeks, but it will certainly be illuminating. I pray that this is only the beginning of a long journey.

• In light of the Myanmar cyclone, First Things has republished “Tsunami and Theodicy” by David B. Hart which was originally written as a response to the 2004 tsunami.

  And while we know that the victory over evil and death has been won, we know also that it is a victory yet to come, and that creation therefore, as Paul says, groans in expectation of the glory that will one day be revealed. Until then, the world remains a place of struggle between light and darkness, truth and falsehood, life and death; and, in such a world, our portion is charity.

  05/09/2008

Toilet theology

When I was growing up, a few things were consistent: Velveeta® Shells and Cheese, quiet tables, and Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader.

The Bathroom Reader series is designed specifically with reading while sitting on the toilet in mind. According to the Wikipedia article, “Their volumes contain information on subjects such as quotes, dumb criminals, palindromes, anagrams, urban legends and hoaxes, failed inventions, the history of everyday things, and accidental discoveries, as well as articles on pop culture and ‘celebrities’… Throughout the books, there are what the BRI calls ‘running feet’ — short fun facts on the bottom of each page.”

All of this is to say that I was conditioned from a young age to read in the restroom. I don’t remember too much religion or theology in the Bathroom Readers, but that’s where A Theological Miscellany: 176 Pages of Odd, Merry, Essentially Inessential Facts, Figures, and Tidbits about Christianity comes in.

A Theological Miscellany is the perfect theological commode companion. Among the “176 Pages of odd, merry, essentially inessential facts, figures, and tidbits about Christianity”, you’ll find Famous Physically Disabled or Handicapped Christians, Church Announcement “Bloopers”, and Reformers Before the Reformation, among many others. I picked up my copy at Half Price Books for a scant $4.

If you can’t go number two without reading about the Holy One, this is the book for you. Plus, it’ll surely start some conversations when you have guests over.

Flickr + God

The photograph below is considered the most interesting image tagged with “god” on Flickr.

God and Automobiles, originally uploaded by g. s. george on flickr.

The photographer, Geoffrey George, writes eloquently of his thoughts about the photo:

This is the memorable and ironic view that greets every motorist traveling south on I-75 towards downtown. Thousands of these motorists are surely suburban GM workers on their way to work every day, and the irony of this chance alignment is hopefully not lost on them. In the background, the Renaissance Center, Detroit’s tallest building and GM World Headquarters. In the foreground, St. Josaphat, a 105-year old still-functioning relic from Detroit’s heyday. Detroit is the Motor City, but the sins committed here cannot be forgotten or forgiven–from the hundreds of murders every year to the construction of a freeway system that divided and destroyed vibrant and working neighborhoods. Hopefully this image will one day have different associations.

For me, it is a powerful view that is quintessentially Detroit. I’m sure it’s been photographed hundreds of times, but the balance and contrast between Detroit’s largest and most infamous glass skyscraper, a struggling community church, and the freeway that cut a swath across the city and acted as a runway for white flighters provides me with endless fascination. I hope you will find it equally stimulating.

• In case you haven’t been paying attention, here’s everything you need to know about the Democratic race for president in seven minutes. [ht: tony] 05/02/2008
• New Barna Research Describes Use of Technology in Churches. “Only 43% of churches described by their pastor as possessing ‘liberal theology’ have big screen capabilities, compared to 68% among the churches that say they are theologically conservative.” Interesting. Lots of good stuff in there. 05/01/2008

Bible book removal hypothetical

Martin Luther is famous for many things, including the phrase sola scriptura (”Scipture alone”). Interestingly enough, he had quite a distaste for several books throughout the Bible. In his Prefaces to the New Testament, Luther said of the book of James, “St. James’ epistle is really an epistle of straw…for it has nothing of the nature of the gospel about it.” Regarding the book of Revelation he said, “I can in no way detect that the Holy Spirit produced it” (If you’re interested, you can read more about Luther’s scriptural views here). Even some of the greatest theologians, Luther among them, had low views of certain parts of the Bible.

So here’s the (hypothetical) question: If you were forced to choose, which book of the Bible would you remove?¹

1. To clarify, the book would be essentially erased from human history and memory. All direct quotes and any references to the whole book or any passages/verses would disappear without a trace. ↩

• Why study history? Here are sixteen excellent reasons. “9. Nothing actually ever changes in history; change is an illusion; some systems or practices always remain the same. We study the past the same way we would study the present, to understand a single system which is continuous over time.” [via kottke] 04/28/2008
• Shawn questions the legitimacy of the Subversive Blogger Awards. You should read his post and the comments — it’s good conversation if nothing else. What do you think? 04/28/2008

Getting a foot in the door

hired., originally uploaded by jakebouma on flickr.

A while back I wrote a post called On writing a book which revealed that one of my life goals is to write a book. One of the toughest parts about pursuing this goal is getting your foot in the door. It’s the proverbial chicken-and-egg conundrum: publishers want to see legitimate writing experience, but one can’t get experience without the help of a publisher.¹

Well, thanks to the grace of God and a friend by the name of Erik Ullestad, I’ve been officially hired/contracted to write for Augsburg Fortress Publishers, the publishing house of the ELCA. It’s nothing glamorous; I’m writing devotionals for the webzine of Augsburg’s confirmation curriculum. But it’s a start.

My foot is planted firmly in the door.

1. Now, I realize there are other ways to get “published”, e.g., online magazines, blogs, and other various freelance endeavors… but you get my point. ↩

• There’s a debate (or “blogalogue”) between N.T. Wright and Bart Ehrman over at beliefnet on the subject of theodicy entitled “Is Our Pain God’s Problem?” N.T. Wright:

  Near the heart of Jesus’ proclamation lies a striking redefinition of power itself, which looks as though it’s pointing in the direction of God’s ‘running of the world’ (if that’s the right phrase) in what you might call a deliberately, almost studiedly, self-abnegating way, running the world through an obedient, and ultimately suffering, human being, with that obedience, and especially that suffering, somehow instrumental in the whole process. What ‘we would want God to do’ – to have God measure up to our standards of ‘how a proper, good and powerful God would be running the world’! – seems to be the very thing that Jesus was calling into question.

  [HT]: Exploring Our Matrix via N.T. Wrong 04/24/2008

Type-ified

Head here to make your own. [ht: soupablog]

Related: I’ve been Simpsonized.

Why I do youth ministry

“So, why do we call Jesus the Passover lamb?”

Several hands reached for the ceiling and I called on a blonde, spirited seventh-grade girl named Kara. Like many of her peers, she had raised her hand before actually formulating a response.

“Because, um, Jesus was… like…”

I waited patiently for Kara to finish her thought. Her face was starting to wrinkle and contort in hopes that the answer would soon arrive. It didn’t. I looked around the room for another vertical fleshy stick, and as I began to point at another student, I was abruptly interrupted.

“OH!” Kara blurted, with her eyes lighting up and back her straightening as she experienced her eureka moment. “So. Just like how they used to sacrifice a lamb during Passover and put the blood on the doorposts to, like, protect them from evil [Exodus 12:1-13], that’s like how Jesus sacrificed himself and gave up his blood to, um, save us from sin [John 1:29]. And that’s what Jesus meant when he said ‘This is my blood, shed for you’!”

I nearly broke into song as I said, “YES! That’s exactly right.” And I thought to myself, This is why I do youth ministry.

Subversive Blogger Awards, round two

It’s time for round two of the Subversive Blogger Awards.

American author Henry Miller (1891-1980) once said, “The new always carries with it the sense of violation, of sacrilege. What is dead is sacred; what is new, that is different, is evil, dangerous, or subversive.”

Subversive bloggers are unsatisfied with the status quo, whether in church, politics, economics or any other power-laden institution, and they are searching for (and blogging about) what is new (or a “return to”) - even though it may be labeled as sacrilege, dangerous, or subversive.

For round two of the Subversive Blogger Awards, I am tagging the following five blogs/bloggers:

1. Sarcastic Lutheran by Nadia Bolz-Weber (e.g., Why she isn’t that kind of Christian)
2. The Ongoing Adventures of ASBO Jesus by Jon Birch (e.g., Hamster Wheel Church)
3. Missio Dei by Jonathan Brink (e.g., Top 50 Possible Reasons Why You’re Not Emergent)
4. Nate Ritter (e.g., Ideas that Change the World via Twitter)
5. novus•lumen by Jeremy Bouma (e.g., The Good of Affluence: A Critique and Evaluation of Capitalism)

The rules of participation are pretty straightforward:

1. If you are tagged, write a post with links to five subversive blogs.
2. Link back to this post on JakeBouma.com so people can easily find the origin of the meme.
3. Optional: Proudly display the “Subversive Blogger Award” somewhere on your blog (images below) with a link to the post that you wrote.

That’s all there is to it. Keep in mind that this award is meant as an encouragement to bloggers to keep doing what they’re already doing - being subversive (however you interpret it). May we never forget that Jesus (and His message) was the original and ultimate subversive.

Here are the images you can use for your blog, courtesy of Josh Brown and Red Cowboy Designs. All I ask is that you download them and upload them to your own server.

Blog on.

UPDATE: Nate Ritter has graciously designed an additional badge for the award which you can find below. Feel free to use it in addition to or on place of the original badges.

• I added a kickass new podcast to my list last week: Watching Theology (link opens in iTunes). The podcast explores “the theological, philosophical, and thematic content of a single film.” The episode I listened to was on Casino Royale (2006), and it was fantastic. Related: Pat Loughery’s podcast list. 04/13/2008

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