Richard Beck Broadleaf Books, 245 pages Richard Beck is not only a professor of psychology at Abilene Christian University, but also a theologian who probes seriously the implications and interplay of psychology. I discovered him through his blog “Experimental Theology,” where he shares his wide-ranging interests from literature to film and cultural criticism as well as his ministry teaching the Bible to prisoners. A creative theologian and a committed Christian, he is on a quest to recover the core vitality of the Christian faith for those who have abandoned it, never considered it or are seeking how to embrace it without the harmful baggage of the church’s failures. It’s a daunting quest, but he is well-equipped to speak about the breadth and depth of Western Christianity in a way that is accessible (if not too easy). Without acknowledging it, Beck builds upon the work of philosopher Charles Taylor’s “A Secular Age.” That book is profoundly important to understanding how we … [Read more...]
-
Book Reviews 4 hours ago
Hunting Magic Eels: Recovering an Enchanted Faith in a Skeptical Age
Richard Beck Broadleaf Books, 245 pages Richard Beck is not only a professor of psychology at Abilene Christian University, but also a theologian who probes seriously the implications and interplay of psychology. I discovered him through his blog “Experimental Theology,” where he shares his wide-ranging interests from literature to film and cultural criticism as well as his ministry teaching the Bible to prisoners. A creative theologian and a committed Christian, he is on a quest to recover the core vitality of the Christian faith for those who have abandoned it,… continue reading... -
Editorials 4 hours ago
Daring to speak
My local library continues to serve me well. A few weeks ago, perusing the endcaps, I came upon Suzanne Nossel’s new book “Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All.” Nossel is the CEO of PEN America, an organization devoted to the defense of free expression. As a writer and the new editor of the Presbyterian Outlook, where our mission includes encouraging an open exchange of ideas, I eagerly checked out Nossel’s book, and I highly recommend it. I’ve been troubled by the dissolution of civil dialogue in our country.… continue reading... -
Outpost Blog 7 hours ago
The very stones: A poem
Photo by Scott Webb on Unsplash One of my first funerals, in my first pastorate, Was for a young man barely out of high school; One blistering July day, he died Working in the hay mow of the neighbor farmer. Survived by his parents and five siblings, An older brother had died years earlier, Hit by a car while on his bicycle near home. The church was packed, of course, And somehow, we muddled through. Then we went to the cemetery: Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust,… continue reading...
Parties in Stamford case had tried to expedite process in order to get a ruling on the merits of the case January 1, 1995 Uncategorized144 views The General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission -- in sidestepping the question of exactly how deeply a session should be required to probe into the private life of a gay elder who has acknowledged being in a committed, life-long relationship but has declined to say whether he is sexually active -- has put the question off but has not put it to rest.- Ministering with the Earth January 1, 1998 Book Reviews130 views By Mary Elizabeth MooreChalice. 1998. 226 pp. Pb. $19.99. ISBN 0-8272-2323-4 Ministering with the Earth is a quiltwork, both the on-the-ground activity and Moore's book about so ministering. Moore, professor of theology and Christian education at Claremont School of Theology, is fond of the metaphor, suitably pastoral and feminist.
- Remembered Voice: Reclaiming the Legacy of 'Neo-Orthodoxy' January 1, 1998 Book Reviews121 views By Douglas John HallWJKP. 1998. 145 pp. Pb. $18. ISBN 0-664-25772-0 It was in this order. I first read Tillich's Dynamics of Faith. Riveting. Next came The Courage to Be. Gripping. Then I went back and read the first volume of the Systematic Theology. Things began to make sense. Next came Biblical Religion and the Search for Ultimate Reality. Positive.
Financial uncertainty leads to adoption of a unified budget at General Assembly June 27, 2020 Outlook Reporting2 comments In the uncertainty and unpredictability brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Office of the General Assembly, the Presbyterian Mission Agency and the PC(USA), A Corporation presented to the 224th General Assembly – meeting online because of the pandemic – a unified budget and a request to have the flexibility to make mid-stream adjustments in the next two years as the situation develops.
Usually, the budget is divided into two parts:
The per capita budget is funded by an assessment based on a fixed amount fo...
The process of a unified budget: Presbyterian leaders collaborate and wrestle with sizable task April 27, 2021 Outlook Reporting2 comments Members of the Moving Forward Implementation Special Committee have voiced some concern about whether leaders of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) will be able to pull together a unified budget for the denomination for 2023 and 2024 — saying there’s been increased collaboration among agency leaders and some progress, but the task is big.
“We may not have time to work through the entire proposal for how we reach a unified budget,” said Marco Grimaldo, who is co-moderator of Moving Forward and who ...
Can war be just? January 4, 2022 Outpost Blog2 comments Ever since its inception, Reformed Protestantism – the movement that gave birth to the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A) – has paid attention to empirical data to learn about God and God’s presence in the world around us. This was true in the 16th century when John Calvin appealed to the then cutting-edge science of astronomy to help him understand that the words of Genesis 1 do not communicate a literal account of how God created the universe. In a similar manner, contemporary biblical scholars and theologians make use of secular disciplines from archeology to neurobiology to help them understand Scripture and God...
Hunting Magic Eels: Recovering an Enchanted Faith in a Skeptical Age
Daring to speak
My local library continues to serve me well. A few weeks ago, perusing the endcaps, I came upon Suzanne Nossel’s new book “Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All.” Nossel is the CEO of PEN America, an organization devoted to the defense of free expression. As a writer and the new editor of the Presbyterian Outlook, where our mission includes encouraging an open exchange of ideas, I eagerly checked out Nossel’s book, and I highly recommend it. I’ve been troubled by the dissolution of civil dialogue in our country. I’m hungry for us to come to a place where conservatives and liberals can, at the very least, talk to each other again. In fact, I believe we must be able to talk, to reason with each other, to come to understand each other and where each side is coming from in order to solve the complex societal issues we face today. I also feel called by Christ to an ethic of love. Too many of our conversations today are devoid of love and are more centered on dominating the other or … [Read more...]
The very stones: A poem
One of my first funerals, in my first pastorate, Was for a young man barely out of high school; One blistering July day, he died Working in the hay mow of the neighbor farmer. Survived by his parents and five siblings, An older brother had died years earlier, Hit by a car while on his bicycle near home. The church was packed, of course, And somehow, we muddled through. Then we went to the cemetery: Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust, Trusting your love and mercy, In the sure and certain hope Of the resurrection to eternal life. When we were all done, the father, Standing just an arm’s length away, Reached into his pocket, Pulled out a pebble, And handed it to me. I still cry when I think about it, Over forty years later. For the previous Palm Sunday, At the end of the sermon on this text, I had handed out pebbles To everyone in the congregation, Scrounged from the manse’s driveway, And then, pretty much forgot about it, At least until that day in … [Read more...]
Red Lip Theology: Candice Benbow’s love letter to Black women in the Black church
(RNS) — Candice Marie Benbow came to be a theologian by way of the death of Whitney Houston, who she considers “the ultimate church girl.” Dressed like they were there, Benbow said, she watched the famous singer’s funeral on TV with her mother and grandmother and wondered how and why Houston was once hailed by the Black church, dissed by it when she had addiction and marriage troubles and later reclaimed by it. When the service ended, she started writing an application to seminary. Fast-forward a decade, and Benbow is now a public theologian out with a new book called “Red Lip Theology: For Church Girls Who’ve Considered Tithing to the Beauty Supply Store When Sunday Morning Isn’t Enough.” Both spiritual and religious, Benbow offers critique of the overall Black church but remains a member of an Atlanta congregation affiliated with the National Baptist Convention, USA. Benbow, 40, has her own style of practicing and writing about faith, even as she challenges the Black … [Read more...]
During the Colleyville crisis, the sounds of silence
(RNS) — For 11 hours this past Shabbat, the Jews of America and the world held their collective breath. We were waiting to see how the hostage crisis at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, would play out. We were reliving the prayer from the Days of Awe: “Who shall live, and who shall die?” Only one person died — the gunman himself. The rabbi, Charlie Cytron-Walker, emerged as a true hero. First, for embodying the Jewish value of welcoming the stranger. He had initially allowed the gunman to enter the synagogue, thinking him in need. Second, the equally Jewish value of resistance. When he realized the situation was getting desperate, he threw a chair at the gunman, which allowed the hostages to escape. During that time of anguish for the American Jewish community, what did American Jews hear? In the words of Paul Simon, the sounds of silence. Based on the reports of many of my rabbinical colleagues, the first rendition of silence was from our non-Jewish … [Read more...]
Remembering Dr. King by celebrating and protecting religious freedom
(PNS) — A panel convened by Union Presbyterian Seminary’s Center for Faith, Justice and Reconciliation spent 90 minutes Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, discussing the importance of protecting religious freedom while remembering King. President Joe Biden declared Sunday, Jan. 16, as Religious Freedom Day. Dr. Sabrina E. Dent, the Center’s president, moderated Monday’s discussion, entitled “All Faiths and None: Reimagining Religious Freedom in the 21st Century.” The panel included: Tahil Sharma, the regional coordinator for North America of the United Religions Initiative Dr. Keisha E. McKenzie, senior vice president of Programs at Auburn Seminary Elizabeth Platt, director of The Law, Rights and Religion Project at Columbia Law School. Among their discussion topics: a 2020 report co-written by McKenzie, Platt and others, “Six Signs of Religious Freedom: A Guide to Protecting Religious Liberty for Everyone.” Download the report here. A media guide, “Asking Hard … [Read more...]
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 3213
- Next Page »
Tweet With Us
Be A Facebook Fan
Our World in Photos
Pin With Us