Thoughts on the Enlightenment

My most recent doctoral seminar has been a study of the Enlightenment and its impact on the church. Its been fascinating. The Enlightenment is that period of history, especially in Western Europe and her related colonies, from about 1620-1800, in which fundamentally new ways of thought and life came about, resulting in the shift from what is commonly called “premodernism” to what is commonly called “modernism.” It was a multifaceted change, at once intellectual, cultural, technological, etc.—and one of the abiding lessons I take away from the seminar is how complex and multiform the Enlightenment was. Nevertheless, I think one…

Grateful for learning about CCCC

I’m currently in the process of seeking to have my ordination recognized by the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference (CCCC). As of a letter in the mail today, my application has been approved and I’ve now entered into the required one year waiting period before obtaining full ordained ministerial standing in the denomination. To learn more about CCCC, I’ve been reading Modern Day Pilgrims: The First Fifty Years of the Conservative Congregational Christian Conference (Saint Paul, MN: CCCC, 2000). Its been a fascinating read, and I’ve really resonated with much of what I’m learning about CCCC. Here are several things that…

Looking Back At Favorite Blog Posts and Series

I’ve been blogging for just over 6 years now. Its been a far more enriching experience than I had expected. My primary purpose in blogging has always been my own learning: I find that I learn best in a dialogical, two-stage process of both (1) reading and (2) writing. Stage 1 typically involves carefully reading a book with my pen in hand, making notes on the pages and inside the back cover as I struggle with how to place and understand the book. (Sometimes, of course, it could also be an article, movie, etc.) The key in this stage is…

Is Christ in All of Church History?

Before moving to Washington D.C., I thought of it vaguely as a city in the “Northeast.” Having spent most of my life in the South and Mid-West, it was in my mind loosely associated with Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, as one of those Northern cities in which people were generally less friendly but culture seemed a bit more progressive. Then, after I moved to Washington D.C., I realized that I had lumped together a number of things that are really quite distinct. Washington D.C. is actually a part of the Mid-Atlantic region, which is quite distinct from the…

Medievalism

I’m too busy these days to do much extra reading. My ministry, my studies, and preparations for the baby are taking just about everything I have to offer! But one thing I find myself doing is ordering a book I’m interested in, reading the back cover and Introduction, and then filing it away on my “to come back to after life isn’t so busy” shelf. Its amazing how much you can often get a sense of what a book is doing just from the Introduction. Today I dipped briefly into two books on medievalism, which is a world that increasingly…

Congregationalism

I’m grateful to be a part of Congregationalist church. Congregationalism is a Protestant denomination with a rich history in Great Britain and the United States. Much of Christianity in colonial New England was Congregationalist, and many leading American theologians in this time were Congregationalists, like Jonathan Edwards. When I realized that my convictions on baptism and church government made me un-ordainable in the Presbyterian Church of America, the denomination in which I grew up, the primary kinds of churches I began to explore were Baptist or non-denominational. Many Baptist churches have a culture that I don’t fit in with, although…

Whitefield on Suffering

I read Dallimore’s shorter biography of Whitefield while in Chicago the last few days.  I learned a lot from Whitefield’s courage, his work ethic, and his emphasis in his preaching on the importance of the New Birth.  It was also interesting to learn about the origins of Methodism and Whitefield’s relationship with the Wesley brothers.  Here is Whitefield reflecting in a letter on some of his most painful difficulties with other Christians, reminding us how God can use evil for good in our lives: “It is good for me that I have been supplanted, despised, censured, maligned, judged by and…

Blood, Toil, Tears, and Sweat

I’ve been listening to Churchill’s speeches after reading Johnson’s biography.  Blood, Toil, Tears And Sweat is my favorite.  It was delivered on May 13, 1940, soon after Churchill became Prime Minister and when Hitler was threatening Britain.  I love his style – the slight lisp, the calm and yet willful tone, and the impression it gives of the gravity of the moment.

Paul Johnson’s Churchill

During some time off this week I read Paul Johnson’s Churchill (Viking, 2009).  Its a brief and enjoyable biography, covering in less than 200 pages a very full life of 90 years, from early military travels and literary fame, through the ups and downs of a stormy political career, to the inspiring leadership during World War II for which Churchill is now famous.  The epilogue provides a helpful summary of what we can learn from Churchill, and chapter 6 – my favorite part of the book – offers 10 reasons why Churchill saved Britain.  Overall, the story of Churchill’s life…

Insights from Reforming Fundamentalism: 11-12

[continued from this post] 11) reformation and fragmentation Reforming Fundamentalism helped me understand the tendency that renewal or reform movements have toward fragmentation and internal conflict.  Its much easier to unite in opposition to the status quo than it is to remain united while setting out in a new direction.  At one point Marsden writes of the Machen followers in the Presbyterian church, “as with all revolutions, they agreed on what they were against, but unresolved differences between the cobelligerents became apparent as soon as they attempted to define their own positive course” (43).  I think there may be some…