Friday, November 27, 2009
Church and Mission class Nov 25
Few were in class, as many had already started to travel for the Thanksgiving holiday. The class was surveyed about the remained material and we decided that we should cover pentecostalism. It is pretty incredible that there are only 2 class periods left. Where did the time go? Hmmm....
church and mission class nov 23
The Lutheran church was finished up, and my questions were answered. We also had a rousing discussion on some emerging churches that came from the Lutheran church. I find it interesting that renewal is happening within denominations. I would like to someday visit these churches. We also started discussing the reformed church.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Church and Mission Class Nov 18
The class has now entered the Protestant reformation. The Lutheran tradition was covered. What I am most interested in are the modern Lutheran churches. What are they like? What defines them and sets them apart from other churches? This is not clear to me yet. Hopefully these questions will be answered.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Book Notes 4
For the 4th book notes I read the first 6 chapters of Global Pentacostalism. An interesting read since it covers the more recent expressions of the barely more than a century old church system. The author calls these expressions Progressive Pentacostalism.
Chapter 1 - This chapter is really an extension of the introductory material of the book and lays the author's foundation for what is being said through the rest of the work. The book identifies four key types of Pentecostal churches that include actual denominations, independent churches, prosperity churches, and renewal movements. The author postulates in this chapter why Pentecostalism is so successful and states that it may be in large part because it addresses many areas of life that the modern world view fails to address.
Chapter 2 - This chapter was incredibly fascinating to me. I grew up in Oklahoma and am not unfamiliar with Pentecostalism. What I am familiar with though is the very legalistic forms that it takes. However, this book is very clear in stating that Progressive Pentecostals are increasingly NOT legalistic although there still remains significant pockets of those that are. This chapter actually explains in good detail the different way that Pentecostal churches have begun to formulate a theology of holism. This is incredibly interesting since the foundation of the church in the early years was to focus specifically on the heavenly realm. Ideas like top-down evangelism flowed from such beliefs. The clear line between Pentecostals and Progressive Pentecostals is drawn in this chapter and it is a line that is incredibly intriguing. Again, the key issue is the theology of holism.
Chapter 3 - A wealth of information of Pentecostal ministry is located within this chapter. The authors focus on different ways the progressives have formed ministries to reach children. Several examples are given where the main focus was on the unconditional love of the child. This is in sharp contrast to the 'purity' model where the main focus would be to reject those who might be considered to be engaged in sinful behavior.
Chapter 4 - This chapter is similar in structure to the 3rd, but it mainly focuses on the Pentecostals work with the drug addicted. Here, the issues of healing is presented as well. In many of the ministries the supernatural intervention of the Holy Spirit in the overcoming of addiction is highlighted if not directly emphasized. The authors share several dramatic stories in order to fuller demonstrate this side of Pentecostalism.
Chapter 5 - This chapter is a bit more analytical and seeks to determine the nature and function of Pentecostal worship. One of the main conclusions made is that it is communal. The authors feel that the outward expression of faith in Pentecostal worship is not only communication with God and individuals, but between the individuals in the congregation as well. One of the specific examples the chapter gives is how people begin to sermonize when they are praying. In this way, they are communicating both corporately and with God.
Chapter 6 - The authors use Max Weber's ideas of the Protestant Work Ethic in order to analyze how Pentecostalism changes lives. One example they show is that economic progress is an unintended benefit of a changed life. If one comes out of drug addiction etc., then the money spent on those items can now be saved and put toward things that will improve ones stature in the economic realm. The authors also claim that Pentecostalism's strong notion of the priesthood of all believers empowers people to have a strong sense of identity and to fully participate in the community. The authors see Pentecostal churches as the formation of civil society as much as they see it as a church. Intriguing.
Chapter 1 - This chapter is really an extension of the introductory material of the book and lays the author's foundation for what is being said through the rest of the work. The book identifies four key types of Pentecostal churches that include actual denominations, independent churches, prosperity churches, and renewal movements. The author postulates in this chapter why Pentecostalism is so successful and states that it may be in large part because it addresses many areas of life that the modern world view fails to address.
Chapter 2 - This chapter was incredibly fascinating to me. I grew up in Oklahoma and am not unfamiliar with Pentecostalism. What I am familiar with though is the very legalistic forms that it takes. However, this book is very clear in stating that Progressive Pentecostals are increasingly NOT legalistic although there still remains significant pockets of those that are. This chapter actually explains in good detail the different way that Pentecostal churches have begun to formulate a theology of holism. This is incredibly interesting since the foundation of the church in the early years was to focus specifically on the heavenly realm. Ideas like top-down evangelism flowed from such beliefs. The clear line between Pentecostals and Progressive Pentecostals is drawn in this chapter and it is a line that is incredibly intriguing. Again, the key issue is the theology of holism.
Chapter 3 - A wealth of information of Pentecostal ministry is located within this chapter. The authors focus on different ways the progressives have formed ministries to reach children. Several examples are given where the main focus was on the unconditional love of the child. This is in sharp contrast to the 'purity' model where the main focus would be to reject those who might be considered to be engaged in sinful behavior.
Chapter 4 - This chapter is similar in structure to the 3rd, but it mainly focuses on the Pentecostals work with the drug addicted. Here, the issues of healing is presented as well. In many of the ministries the supernatural intervention of the Holy Spirit in the overcoming of addiction is highlighted if not directly emphasized. The authors share several dramatic stories in order to fuller demonstrate this side of Pentecostalism.
Chapter 5 - This chapter is a bit more analytical and seeks to determine the nature and function of Pentecostal worship. One of the main conclusions made is that it is communal. The authors feel that the outward expression of faith in Pentecostal worship is not only communication with God and individuals, but between the individuals in the congregation as well. One of the specific examples the chapter gives is how people begin to sermonize when they are praying. In this way, they are communicating both corporately and with God.
Chapter 6 - The authors use Max Weber's ideas of the Protestant Work Ethic in order to analyze how Pentecostalism changes lives. One example they show is that economic progress is an unintended benefit of a changed life. If one comes out of drug addiction etc., then the money spent on those items can now be saved and put toward things that will improve ones stature in the economic realm. The authors also claim that Pentecostalism's strong notion of the priesthood of all believers empowers people to have a strong sense of identity and to fully participate in the community. The authors see Pentecostal churches as the formation of civil society as much as they see it as a church. Intriguing.
Church and Mission Class Nov 16
Our class's continuous march through the different forms of historical Christianity continued with Catholicism after a brief hiatus to focus on the incoming speaker, Graham Cray. Essentially, while there were some Catholics that did much good, the large majority were corrupt slavers that wrought havoc upon the nations they entered. It's pretty much a downer. Although it is very sobering. Pastors accross the nation today preach against Islam. In my hometown I know of an example where the pastor literally told his congregation that Islam wants them to die. I see that there were times where Christianity would kill someone just as quickly. Let us not forget the past, and let us love our neighbors as ourselves.
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Missiology lectures
For class we attended the missiology lectures from 3-5 pm. Bishop Graham Cray of the Anglican church was speaking. I was wondering the whole time how the concepts he was speaking of could be applied to the United States. I'm from the Bible belt and there is still an existing Christendom there. How can one revitalize it?
Monday, November 9, 2009
Church and Mission class 12
We moved on from Orthodoxy, and begun studying the beginnings of the Medieval church. It was fascinating to learn from the plights of Charlemagne. However, I have always wondered by such dominantly charismatic leaders have consistently had really crappy sons throughout history. As soon as the leader dies, everything goes to...well...you know the rest of the phrase. It would be interesting to investigate the matter further.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Book Notes 3
For the third set of book notes I read the first 5 chapters of Disciples of All Nations. It was a very historical book, but the most important point I can put in here is something the author does in all five chapters. The author commonly looks at what is going on in the margins of Christianity. This is incredibly helpful, especially during the slave trade when Christianity was in full empire mode.
Chapter 1
This chapter details ways early Christianity was directly helpful to the society around them. Rather than seal themselves off from a world that was suspicious and violent towards them, they promoted charity and a dynamic community. The author uses examples of the apostles as well as Tertullian. The author makes a point of saying that this Christian heritage is crucial if one is to understand what it means to be Christian.
Chapter 2
This chapter is unique as it analyzes some of the interactions between Christianity and the Muslim world. The most powerful point that I feel the author makes here is the argument about a revealed language. Christianity not having a revealed language made it a religion for everywhere and a religion for everyone. At the same time, this also led to the rapid creation of Christianities instead of one cohesive religion. This is one of the major points that Islam scoffed at Christians for in the early days. In a certain degree, that notion still exists today. The Quran translated into English is exactly that...the Quran translated into English. The only true Quran texts must be written in Arab. The Bible is considered the Bible no matter what language it is written in, despite the Catholic church foisted the Latin language upon people. Blame Charlemagne. Word.
Chapter 3
This chapter details the slave trade and colonial aspects. It lauds the early success of Catholic missions even though they would eventually deteriorate. In this chapter and in the next, the author makes it a point to show that many good Christian activities took place during these times instead of focusing on the obvious bad ideas. He certainly admits to and includes the negative, but that is not the purpose of the book. The eventual empowerment that Christiainty gives slaves is an ironic event in the face of a religion that was used to oppress them.
Chapter 4
This chapter builds directly on 3 and many of its concepts are hard to separate. The largest idea is that the reason that Christianity led to empowerment, even in the midst of oppression was the advent of vernacular Bibles. The fact that Africans could read the Bible in their own language made it their own. This one simple aspect kept colonial rule from stripping away their identity completely. Governments were using missionaries to subdue the people, but instead it set themselves up for well-organized and passionate revolutions.
Chapter 5
This is a shorter chapter, but I think the author uses it to clarify a few key points. He wants to show that earlier Christian history existed within Africa prior to the African churches claiming their independence. While many negative events occurred under the colonial church, I got the feeling that the author feels like it is not a good thing to throw the whole thing out with the garbage. In fact, it would seem that this book was written by a true historian. The past is important to know where our future is going...that sort of thing. The analyses in this chapter provide a picture of what various forms of Christanity were able to do in Africa prior to the concept of indigenous churches.
Chapter 1
This chapter details ways early Christianity was directly helpful to the society around them. Rather than seal themselves off from a world that was suspicious and violent towards them, they promoted charity and a dynamic community. The author uses examples of the apostles as well as Tertullian. The author makes a point of saying that this Christian heritage is crucial if one is to understand what it means to be Christian.
Chapter 2
This chapter is unique as it analyzes some of the interactions between Christianity and the Muslim world. The most powerful point that I feel the author makes here is the argument about a revealed language. Christianity not having a revealed language made it a religion for everywhere and a religion for everyone. At the same time, this also led to the rapid creation of Christianities instead of one cohesive religion. This is one of the major points that Islam scoffed at Christians for in the early days. In a certain degree, that notion still exists today. The Quran translated into English is exactly that...the Quran translated into English. The only true Quran texts must be written in Arab. The Bible is considered the Bible no matter what language it is written in, despite the Catholic church foisted the Latin language upon people. Blame Charlemagne. Word.
Chapter 3
This chapter details the slave trade and colonial aspects. It lauds the early success of Catholic missions even though they would eventually deteriorate. In this chapter and in the next, the author makes it a point to show that many good Christian activities took place during these times instead of focusing on the obvious bad ideas. He certainly admits to and includes the negative, but that is not the purpose of the book. The eventual empowerment that Christiainty gives slaves is an ironic event in the face of a religion that was used to oppress them.
Chapter 4
This chapter builds directly on 3 and many of its concepts are hard to separate. The largest idea is that the reason that Christianity led to empowerment, even in the midst of oppression was the advent of vernacular Bibles. The fact that Africans could read the Bible in their own language made it their own. This one simple aspect kept colonial rule from stripping away their identity completely. Governments were using missionaries to subdue the people, but instead it set themselves up for well-organized and passionate revolutions.
Chapter 5
This is a shorter chapter, but I think the author uses it to clarify a few key points. He wants to show that earlier Christian history existed within Africa prior to the African churches claiming their independence. While many negative events occurred under the colonial church, I got the feeling that the author feels like it is not a good thing to throw the whole thing out with the garbage. In fact, it would seem that this book was written by a true historian. The past is important to know where our future is going...that sort of thing. The analyses in this chapter provide a picture of what various forms of Christanity were able to do in Africa prior to the concept of indigenous churches.
Church and Mission class 11
Hey there class people. Last class we watched another video about Orthodox Christianity. It may have been a bit....one-sided, but it was informational nonetheless. It would do well for Western Christians to fully understand their Christian heritage as going back farther than Luther and Calvin. Yeah, that would be really nice. In other news it's 3:30 am and I shouldn't be up. Dragon Age Origins is an excellent video game.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Church and Mission class 10
The main chunk of class was spent watching a video about the origins of the Orthodox church. It was fascinating to learn about early Christianity and about the councils that decided what the correct beliefs were. I have often wondered how exactly all of that was decided.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)