.comment-link {margin-left:.6em;} <$BlogRSDURL$>

Friday, June 27, 2008

Horsley, R. (2002). Jesus and Empire: The Kingdom of God and the New World Disorder. 

In that imperial world, however, there was already a divine Saviour and Lord who had bought 'peace and salvation' to humankind and was worshiped with feasts and hymns by those who 'had faith' in him. So what were Paul and other apostles doing when they applied each terms to Jesus Christ and teh 'faith' relationship of believers with their 'saviour' and 'lord'? 12

The series of episodes in which Jesus exorcises demons and the discussions of the sigificance of Jesus' exorcisms in the Gospels indicate that precisely in his practice of excorsism God's kingdom is defeating Roman rule. 99

Warfare with Satan - was one of the principal ways that Galilean peasants as well as Qumran scribes had of explaining how they could be suffering such subjection and even violent oppression, when supposedly God was the ruler of history. Opposing forced of overwhelming superhuman strength must be responsible. 101

The exorcism stories declare that precisely in Jesus' exorcisms God is accomplishing a political as well as a religious or spiritual victory. 102

Possession by 'unclean spirits' was part of teh more general social spiritual condition of being constantly under attack or even control by a superhuman destructive force, Satan, the 'prince of demons' who was engaged in a sustained struggle with God for control of society and history. Tis explanation of their situation enabled Galileans and Judeans to avoid blaming themselves 107

In the Roman imperial world, the 'gospel' was the good news of Caesar's having established peace and security for the world. Caesar was the 'saviour' who had bought 'salvation' to the whole world. The peoples of the empire were therefore to have 'faith' in their 'lord' the emperor. Moreover, Caesar the lord and saviour was to be honoured and celebrated by the 'assemblies' (ekklesia) .... by applying this key imperial language to Jesus Christ , Paul was making him into the alternative or real emperor of the world 134

#

Monday, June 16, 2008

Nouwen, H. (2003). The Way of the Heart. Chicago: Ballantine Books. 

Fear of failing..

basis of the two main enemies of spiritual life: anger and greed. They are the inner side of a secular life, the sour fruits of our worldly dependencies pp 15

What is teh goal of theological education than to bring us closer to the Lord our God so that we may be more faithful to the great commandment to love him with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind, and our neighbour as ourselves? Seminaries and divinity schools must lead students into an evergrowing communion with God, with each other, and with their fellow human beings. Theological education is meant to form our whole person toward an increasing conformity with the mind of Christ so that our way of praying and our way of believing will be one. pp 38

#

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Driver, J. (1997). Images of the Church in Mission. Lancaster: Herald Press. 

In the bible the final goal of God's saving intentions is the transformation of all creation. The biblical vision calls the people of God first to live out this new reality in its own midst. The antisocial and corrupt systems of society-with coercive violence, the desire to dominate, and economic greed cannot be attacked more decisively than by the formation of a countersociety in its midst . Simply through its existence, this new society is an effective attack on the old structures for transforming the world. Pp21

To be a community of sojourners meant living against the current of dominant social values in their affirmation of life, their defence of women, and their solidarity with the poor and outcasts in society. Pp66

Wherever the church is seduced by temptations to power, prestige and property, it cannot communicate the gospel of the kingdom with integrity. This is so because the full-orbed message of the gospel has been obscured. Pp80

Ps 146:7-9 – As the ancient psalm reminds us, the kingdom of God is in our midst when the Lord brings justice for the oppressed, food for the hungry, freedom for the prisoners, sight to the blind, relief for those bowed down, love for the righteous, care for the strangers, and help for the orphan and widow. 92

The conduct of this people in the midst of the nations must be such that it faithfully represents their God. 136

Ps 113-118 and 120-134... common elements include praise to yahweh, sovereign preserves, and blesses the oppressed, the poor, and the needy. 161

Witness has come to be a term applied to programs of personal evengelism. These typically employ psychological techniques of marketing, which may have contributed more to our understanding of mission than the biblical background. Pp 197

How can the church speak of redemption when nothing has really changed since the coming of the Redeemer? Pp212

God's honour and the credibility of the gospel message were validated by the early church's practice . In its very life, the church was a sign and presence through whom God was glorified in the world. The early church saw itself as God's contrast-community whose life is itself a gift of grace. The images with which the church understood its identity and role were powerful symbols of its life as a new creation, a new humanity, the family of god, a city set on a hill as a light before all humanity, a living demonstration of God's intention for al humankind. 213

The communication of the Evangel in its fullness to every person worldwide is a mandate of the Lord Jesus to His community. There are times when our communication may be by attitude ad action only, and times when the spoken word will stand alone, but we must repudiate as demonic the attempt to drive a wedge between. Men will look as they listen and what they see must be at one with what they hear. There is no biblical dichotomy between the word spoken and the word incarnated in the lives of God's people (lausane) 220

#

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

Stockman, S. (2005). Walk On: The Spiritual Journey Of U2. Orlando: Relevant Books. 

To me, faith in Jesus Christ that is not aligned to social justice - that is not aligned to the poor - it's nothing (Bono 1988) 46

There is a radical side to Christianity taht I am attracted to. And I think without a commitment to social justice, it is empty
59

"Belief and confusion are not mutually exclusive; I believe that belief gives you a direction in the confusion. But you don't see the full picture. That's the point. That 's what faith is. You can't see it. It comes back to instinct. Faith is just up the street. Faith and instinct, you can't just rely on them. You have to beat them up. You have to pummel them to make sure they can withstand it, to make sure they can be trusted." 133

Million Dollar Hotel pp141

Falling at your feet phil 2:9-11
Phil 3 - stil haven't found what I am looking for

"Working within bigger contexts, taking what they really believe to the world beyond the Christian Ghetto, and to reach that world they are happy to be misunderstood by the evangelical doubters who live in their absence-of-doubt world! Their faith is bigger, their vocation is bigger, and their God is bigger. They are secure enough to be able to live outside the conformity. "215

Gloria 237

#

Monday, June 02, 2008

Elton. (2007). Blind Faith. New York: Bantam Press. 

For no society based on nothing more constructive than fear and brutish ignorance could survive for ever. No people who raised up the least inventive, the least challenging, the least interesting of their number while crushing individual curiosity and endeavour could prosper for long pp 320

#

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?