The Theologian's Table

Who Will Save Us Now? I'm writing this a few days after President Joe Biden gave a speech in Pennsylvania about how the next midterm election is about fighting for the "soul of America." For however long, it seems that those of us who reside in the United States have been fighting that war. It was once religious and spiritual, but now it is mainly political, with religion and spirituality being hostage to politics which are suffering from Stockholm syndrome. This battle or war over the soul of America has ramped up dramatically since the nation has experienced a decline in traditional Western values. As the US has adopted much more progressive ideals by societal elites, many have lamented the breakdown of modernity and what it supports. On the other hand, we have also seen those who despise postmodernism and progressive advocates fight fire with fire and skew increasingly right as progressives skew increasingly to the left. This has seen both sides fall into a self-cannib...

The Wise Old Sage In case you haven't read any of the first two posts, I have been pondering over a dream about the Bible being called a spare tire. The first post concluded with the analogy that reading Scripture is like wrestling with it because it can be hard to come to terms with. The second post dove more deeply into that theme, suggesting that the violence of the Old Testament and the failures of humanity operated as a mirror being held up to us that simply reflects the realities of human existence, and we don't like that. Now, though, I'd like to recognize another facet of why we sometimes avoid the Bible; it was written two thousand years ago. I've seen the criticism in online interactions that we don't need to pay attention to what the Bible says because it's 2000+ years old. I haven't seen Christians say it as much, but at one time in my life, I have felt that way, and I know I'm not alone. Even though people quote 2 Timothy 3:16 to affirm th...

  To Wrestle with Scripture is to be Blessed Recently, I had a dream that I've become somewhat obsessed with interpreting. In the dream, I was seated with others around a large conference table, and we were discussing some kind of pressing issue and having trouble finding a solution. We were also falling through the air during the meeting. In an attempt to try and find a solution, I pulled out a Bible from under the table. The person leading the discussion, one of my former professors, Dr. Chris Green, gave me a compassionate look but told me to put it away, saying, "people only use that as a spare tire." Those of us at the table never solved the shadowy problem, and I remember waking up feeling very puzzled. What did the dream mean? Not every dream has a meaning. Sometimes dreams are just leftover bits of information your mind is still processing, and you're treated to a viewing of that process while asleep. On the other hand, I, like Peter, believe that the Spirit o...

In my last entry, I talked about my strategy in dealing with anxiety. Mainly, it's summed up in trusting the goodness of God. There are a couple more things though that help me fight anxiety and the one I want to talk about today is worshiping God. More specifically, I want to highlight two worship songs that have helped me immensely, then try and explain why they have helped me, and what I think worship accomplishes for us. The first worship song that I want to highlight is called Fill My Cup, which is fairly new, and its actually from Lee University's worship band on their debut album. Musically, the whole song has this calming effect, but what impacted me the most was just one line of the song, "in you[God] I'm made whole." There are so many theologically significant things I can say about this, but it mainly points me back to what Scripture says about our beings residing in God's care. Psalm 139:13 says, " For it was you who formed my inward par...

I'm not sure what it is with my generation, the millennials, and anxiety. It seems every time I get onto social media I see some post about it. In fact, since there is so much about it out there now, the temptation is to wonder if people aren't confusing it for something else, or are just trying to seek attention. The latter part could be true, but we as a people have already become so dismissive of each other that I do not want to add to that problem. And then, of course, there is the fact that I myself publicly admitted last week that I've experienced several anxiety attacks within the last month or so. My attacks have interfered with everything, work, faith, family, and self-worth. They didn't just come out of nowhere. Since these recent episodes happened I have had to look back through my life and see if I had anything similar happen. I remember around the age of 19 that, at times, before I would work, I would lay in bed until the last possible second trying to ...

Unless you have lived under a rock for the past week then you are probably aware of the hashtag #metoo that went viral recently. Triggered by movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's deplorable practice of sexual assault and harassment, the hashtag is meant to shine a light on those issues as well as unite women who've been the target of that behavior. The movement has since sparked a conversation of how widespread the issues are and why they seem to persist even in places that seem, for the most part, egalitarian.* There are some corners of thought that have dismissed the whole thing as some kind of liberal slacktivism, but scrolling through my social media feeds and seeing women I trust post #metoo.... I have to say that I was deeply disturbed. Disturbed by the fact it happened to them and disturbed that people would be dismissive of it. Sexual Ethics in Christian Ministry The history of Christian ministry is littered with stories of sexual misconduct by people in positions of aut...

I am one of those Christians that Atheists and Agnostics make fun of. I am Christian in large part because I was raised in the church. Mostly, I've never questioned the existence of God because I'd seen Him at work too much to deny Him. What my critics might not understand is that just because I grew up in the church doesn't mean that I was always Johnny Do-Good Christian, as I'm sure my early college friends can attest to. And, there is a different kind of denial, which is just walking away from God. In my late teens and early twenties, that is how I denied God's existence, by walking away. I remember a time where I lived on an Native American reservation. I visited some people that lived in a run-down house with no windows. Meaning, there were places for the windows to go, but there were no panes of glass, just empty frames letting in the elements. In many ways that house mirrored my life back then. It was in disrepair, incomplete, and vulnerable. As I r...

What a year 2016 was. I think, as far as the American public is concerned, it was one of the most difficult periods we've seen in quite a while. When people weren't busy becoming divided over such a controversial election season, we were waylaid by the many deaths of prominent and highly influential celebrities. It is this area in which I'd like to focus my attention on, death. Princess Leia and Kathy - Artist, Rick L. At the time of this writing, Carrie Fisher's death was perhaps the most shocking, which was then followed by the death of her mother (only a day later!). Celebrities like Bowie, Prince, and Fisher are given the status of icons or even idols. People view them in a somewhat supernatural way simply because of what their music and acting has done for each human who is influenced by them. When one of these idols dies a couple things happen. One is that we remember that they were human and not some god who could stave off death with their talents. Another...

Well, now that I have fixed some formatting issues along with a few typos, I can finally re-post this. Below is a paper I wrote for my Christian Theology class concerning the Christus Victor view of the Atonement and why it is a relevant, Scripturally sound, albeit incomplete, view that adds more richness to the Christian faith.  THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CHRISTUS VICTOR VIEW OF ATONEMENT  Introduction  Finding salvation through Jesus is the cornerstone of the Christian faith, but many people seeking faith and those who are living an atheistic, or agnostic lifestyle may not understand why they need to be saved, or what s/he needs to be saved from. The next issue for these people may happen to be the issue of what Christ’s sacrifice on the cross does for their potential salvation. For the church today, we are blessed by God to have been given many great thinkers over the past twenty centuries that have mulled over these issues and created detailed accounts of ho...

Mary Ann Morgan  - "Worshiping hand on blue" - Flickr Disclaimer : They say honesty is the best policy, but it can sometimes lead to hurt feelings or offense. What I have to say in this post may hurt some. All I can do is apologize in advance and tell you that writing posts such as this helps me sort through my thoughts and clarify my positions. Of course, feedback is always welcomed. Generalizations           I'm not sure if the average Southerner is aware that there are certain stereotypes pitted against them when it comes to spirituality. It may not be the case for every Northerner to hold these views, but this one did. What I'm talking about of course is the stereotype that most Southerners who go to church are swinging off the chandeliers, speaking in tongues, falling over in the aisle types of worshipers. Or they are people who check their mind at the door, sing hymns and passively listen to a preacher shout fire and...

See what I did here?      Like the local bar-b-que, living life in the south for the past 5 years has been a sweet and savory experience. LA may have a Starbucks across the street from each other, New England may have have a bar on every corner, but here in Georgia we have churches right next door to each other! Although I wouldn't mind a Starbucks on every corner... Here there is no terrible rush, unless you're on the interstate, but overall there is a more relaxed pace of life. Perfect strangers are friendly enough to wave at you while you're walking by and small talk is an art form. The summers may be hot and humid, but most every place has a/c. The winters are just cool enough to give you the taste of the season and it rarely snows (despite the recent snowpocalypse).       There, now that I have the staples of the South out of the way I can talk normally. Everything that I mentioned above is true, but there is much more to the South ...