Book 5 // Simply Christian

Posted February 8, 2010 by Charles
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Simply Christian

My Review

A couple of years ago at Garnett Wade did a series about heaven, using N.T. Wright’s Surprised by Hope. At the time Wright was getting blasted by my then favorite theologian, Mark Driscoll, for the New Perspective on Paul and his view of justification. As a result I was instantly hostile to the whole idea. I bought the book ready to read it, hate it, and set myself above the Bishop of Durham in theological faithfulness. Yes, I was (probably still am) an idiot.

I never finished it, but after reading Simply Christian I plan to.

The major idea that Wade expounded on was that heaven isn’t a distant land, but a dimension that exists right next to us, behind a veil. He described Jesus’ ascension as him stepping behind the veil, and Stephen’s vision as the veil being pulled back for him. That view of heaven is the major idea present in this work. This book isn’t about heaven, but about places where heaven and earth intersect.

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Category: 52 Books

Almost Book 5 (I gave it my best shot) // SimChurch: Being the Church in the Virtual World

Posted January 30, 2010 by Charles
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SimChurch: Being the Church in the Virtual World

My Review

Late last year, Douglas Estes, New Testament professor at Western Seminary, posted at a few well-known blogs some thoughts from his upcoming book about virtual or online churches—SimChurch. His arguments there weren’t well developed or supported, but he attributed that to the blog format, which is a plausible defense.

At the time I was eager to read his full treatment on the subject, but didn’t have the chance. I was recently able to borrow a copy and sat down with it. The result has been one of the most frustrating reading experiences of my life. He redefines many terms and concepts in an unconvincing attempt at persuading the evangelical mainstream that these virtual churches need not be associated with physical institutions; online meeting—tele-presence—is just as “real” as physical presence.

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Category: 52 Books

Integration

Posted January 30, 2010 by Charles
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Me: Look! The University of Pennsylvania has a giant picture of a black scientist on the homepage.

Wife:  And it says “integrating”.

Category: Whatever

Book 4 // And I Will Praise Him

Posted January 24, 2010 by Charles
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And I Will Praise Him

My Review

The primary goal of this book, by DTS professor Ronald Allen, is to open up the Psalms as a guide to worship. The preface opens with a list of focuses that evangelical churches have pursued over the years: evangelism, bible teaching, compassion. We “merely assumed worship would happen,” he says.

And we have done well. Not that we have done all that needs to be done, but we have been about our Father’s business…Yet we had not made much of worship. (11)

To Dr. Allen the Psalter is the finest guide to worship we possess, and he does a fine job of demonstrating this to be true.

And I Will Praise Him is a simple and helpful guide in how to read the various types of psalms and how they can be used to enhance our worship; in fact, how they can be used as the basis and most basic example of worship. Read more

Category: 52 Books

Is the dictionary the best source?

Posted January 23, 2010 by Charles
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When an author is trying to convince you that something means what you know it doesn’t, they’ll often go to the dictionary for support.

How can a virtual church be [a local church]? Glad you asked. If you look up the word local in the dictionary, it means “belonging to or existing in a particular place,” or more specifically, “of or belonging to the neighborhood.” [...]

Local churches are local not because of geography but because they are one specific group belonging to a place of seeking after God together.

From SimChurch

By this point the author has already redefined place in a way that includes “virtual spaces”, like a neighborhood in Second Life, so by saying that local is about place, he can reasonably conclude that a congregation that exists only in cyberspace is a true “local church”.

But is the dictionary definition really the best way to go about this? It seems problematic to me, and I expect others are uncomfortable with it as well. Read more

Category: Philosophy

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