CWoznicki Think Out Loud

Two Quick Political Philosophy Reviews – Balibar and Rawls

Spinoza and Politics (Radical Thinkers) – Etienne Balibar

This book was great. I read it as a 3rd year philosophy student at UCLA and I took 2 classes on Spinoza. In one class we studied The Ethics, and in the other we read the Tractatus Politicus. Balibar’s book was mostly about the Tractatus Politicus and his theological essay as well. Balibar’s ability to capture Spinoza’s themes without resorting to the use of technical language was extremely helpful. Because Balibar explained Spinoza at an intuitive level, it made for a light yet informative read.

According to Balibar the fundamental theorem of Spinoza’s metaphysical politics is that reason and imagination interact in a certain way to create a stable society. It turns out that state itself determines if and how this interaction will proceed. Because 1) the state determines how the interaction between imagination and reason proceeds 2) this interaction determines the stability of the state thus 3) the preservation of the state’s existence is in the state’s own hands.

A Brief Inquiry into the Meaning of Sin and Faith: With “On My Religion”

A Brief Inquiry is Rawl’s undergraduate thesis. In it you can see that he was formulating his more mature political philosophy in this theological work. His focus on community in explaining sin and faith is an interesting take on the traditional definitions of sin and faith which involve rebellion or obedience to God. Although this interpretation of the meaning of sin and faith might not be the traditional one, it is orthodox nonetheless. It is interesting to see what kind of philosopher Rawls was becoming even at a young age.

Best Valentine’s Day Tweets

I love valentines day! Not because I love the holiday itself, but because it generated some really good tweets. Two of the best Valentine’s day hashtags were #ActivistPickupLines and #AcademicValetines. Now that V-Day is officailly over here are some of the best tweets from those two hashtags.

Activist Pickup Lines

I’d invite you over to my place, but I don’t believe in private property. #ActivistPickupLines – @SamWieseyes
Would you like to redistribute resources by taking me out to dinner? #ActivistPickupLines – @Suey_Park
If you’re asking for action, my answer is affirmative. #ActivistPickupLines – @ReadJerome
I don’t mean to drone on and on but you made a strategic strike straight to my heart. #ActivistPickupLines – @drJ512
Girl—sorry, girl is belittling. Woman—too patriarchal. And sorry I assumed you identify as female. I’ll just go. #ActivistPickupLines – @heretichusband

The Best #ActivistPickupLines is ……

If I said your body was subject to pernicious, patriarchal, media-constructed scrutiny, would you hold it against me?#ActivistPickupLines – @Geecologist

Academic Valentine’s

“I’ve never seen bell curves as wonderful as yours.” #AcademicValentines – @ComDoc_H
You spin me right round, baby right round Like a centrifuge #AcademicValentines – @SanaBau
Do you believe in love at first cite? #AcademicValentines – @ExileonWainSt
My love letter for you was vigorously peer reviewed #AcademicValentines – @tmsRuge
Would you like to be my *p<0.05 other? #Academicvalentines – @babyattachmode

The Best #AcademicValentines is ……

How do I love thee? Let me deconstruct the ways. #AcademicValentines-@tumbulwead

And as a bonus here is a theological Valentine’s Day card… (via @eerdmansbooks)

Niebuhr, Christ, and Culture (Pt. 2)

Last time I briefly surveyed a few of Neibuhr’s “Christ and Culture Types.” I explained that the understanding of Christ and culture that I am most drawn to (at this point in my life) is the understanding of Christ as the transformer of culture. However all of this is tempered by an understanding of the now/not yet reality of redemptive history….

How would you talk to people in backgrounds similar to the one you describe about engaging more with culture?

I think that talking to Christians who tend to see Christ and culture being completely incompatible is a difficult thing, namely because they tend to see your desire to correct them as coming from a position of worldliness. Some would assume that trying to convince them that Christ is not against culture is actually an attempt to tempt them back into the world. However in helping them to change their stance I would emphasize two things.

God’s creation is good. I would likely take them back to Genesis or Revelation. Secondly I would emphasize the big picture story of scripture, that God creates, the fall happens, God sends his son to rescue the world, and that God restores and redeems this world in the eschaton.
This world is indeed fallen but this is the same world that God intends to redeem. Because God desires to redeem this world, including the cultural aspects of it, we cannot take a position of hate against the world. In illustrating this I would likely use Christians as an example. Christians were once idolatrous people who stood in opposition to God, yet God choose to redeem and restore us. God did not hate us he loved us enough to draw him back to himself. Our stance towards God is analogous to cultures stance towards God, it stands in opposition to God until God restores it. There is continuity/discontinuity between the world in sin/the world restored and the non-christian/christian in this example.

Is it important to try to change other Christians’ attitudes in this area?

I certainly think it is – primarily for the sake of mission. Its important because our view of culture greatly affects what we understand to be our mission. If we believe that Christ is against the world, then how will we be motivated reach out and engage in meaningful ways withthe world. I think the “Christ as Transformer” view offers the best tools for mission; it emphasizes the dual nature of Christ’s stance towards the world. Christ does not love its idolatry, but Christ does love the people of the world. Christ does not love cultural idols, yet he loves cultures. Because Christ loves the people and their cultures he wants to restore and redeem them and their culture for his purposes.

Book Review – Replant by Darrin Patrick and Mark DeVine

“How a dying church can grow again,” the subtitle really caught my eye. I don’t know much about church planting, or rebooting, or replanting neither do I feel called to doing any of those things at this moment however I am always interested in learning about how to make dying/stagnant/cold churches grow again. That is why I decided to pick up this book.

This book wasn’t what I expected at all. I expected some stories about replanting dying churches along with some practical wisdom as to how to go about doing that. Honestly I expected a list of things dying churches could do to stir growth. I definitely did not get that list in this book; instead I got something way better.

Replant tells a brutally honest story of how draining replanting a church can be, yet at the same time showing how rewarding it can be.

Replant is told manily from the perspective of Mark Devine, who was a seminary professor and interim pastor at First Calvary Baptist Church in Kansas City. Calvary was once thriving church, but as is sadly the case with many historic churches in urban environments, it slowly began to die. Mark entered this church with the goal of revitalizing it, however God had a different plan for the church. Instead of simply revitalizing God wanted the church to partner up with Darrin Patrick and The Journey to convert a once autonomous church into a Journey Campus (which happened to have its center 250 miles away). The result was a church that is thriving in a way that nobody could have ever imagined.

The Pros

Authenticity – People nowadays talk about authenticity being a virtue. If that is the case then Replant is a virtuous book. The author’s don’t sugar coat anything. They tell it as it is. Because they did this I walked away with a greater appreciation for the replanting process. (I also walked away afraid of church business meetings. I am starting to question whether congregationalism is the right way to go for church leadership).
Helpful Hints – This is not a how-to book, but it does include a ton of helpful hints from Darrin Patrick. These hints are interspersed throughout the book. Most of them are short one-liners, so they are really easy to remember.
The Appendix – The appendix alone is worth buying the book. It includes a chapter on the theological value and meaning of buildings. It offers a strong theological argument for why church buildings are actually important. Many young Christians should heed this word of wisdom. It also includes a chapter on the dangers of open business meetings.

The Cons

I really enjoyed the book, however it wasn’t very practical. If I were replanting a church, I don’t think I would have gotten very much out of it, other than the fact that replanting is harder than it sounds….

Conclusion

Having finished the book I now have greater respect for church re-planters. I have a better understanding of all the stuff they have to go through. So if you are looking for a window into the re-planting world, want to see how hard it really is, and come out encouraged, I recommend this book to you.

Note: I received an advanced copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley and David C. Cook in exchange for an impartial review.

Niebuhr, Christ, and Culture (Pt. 1)

Niebuhr’s book Christ and Culture is a classic book on the history of the interaction between Christianity and the culture around it. Over the next few days I’m going to share some thoughts I have on this book….

Are his five types accurate?

I think that Niebuhr’s typology pretty accurately represents my experience interacting with other Christians and their views on Christ and culture. However I would say that most Christians that I have interacted with would not classify the types of stances in terms of five categories, rather they would classify them in three. These three would be: 1-Christ against culture, 2-Christ affirming culture, and 3-Christ and Culture in some complicated blend of the two. The churches that I grew up in always tended to see Christ and culture as two incompatible things, however now I do not see things as being so simple. (Thankfully the church I am currently at also sees it as a complicated matter.) Life tends to be difficult to break up into dichotomies like Christ against or Christ for culture.

Am I drawn to any of these types?

The understanding of Christ and culture that I am most drawn to (at this point in my life) is the understanding of Christ the transformer of culture. However, I really do not want to go as far as Niebuhr does in affirming the liberalist project as it is displayed in the work of F.D. Maurice. I agree with Niebuhr in saying that one day culture will be “converted,” however I thik D.A. Carson brings up a good point in Christ and Culture Revisited when he speaks about the conversion of culture needing to be understood in terms of the larger narrative of Scripture. I believe that it is a misunderstanding of The Kingdom of God as taught by Jesus that leads to Liberal Protestantism’s (as well as Fundamentalism’s) hope that culture can be converted now. A proper understanding of the Kingdom of God affirms that one day culture will be converted, but since we live in the now/not yet of the Kingdom, the conversion of culture will not occur until the eschaton. One extreme example of the now/not yet conversion of culture that I have witnessed is in the area of politics. When it comes to the difficult issue of homosexuality, some Christians campaign for the conversion of culture to a biblical understanding of marriage as being between a man and a woman. Although I believe that this is the biblical definition of marriage, it is difficult to say why culture around us ought to act in a biblical manner. It seems to me that the desire to convert culture to a Christian understanding of marriage is hoping that culture is converted now. This is a failure to understand the now/not yet aspect of the conversion of culture.

Recommended books on Christ and Culture

If you are looking for some books on the interaction between Christianity and Culture here are some I definitely recommend.

D.A. Carson – Known more for his exegetical prowess than his cultural engagement, but in recent years he has entered the arena of “Christ and Culture”.

Carson, D. A. Christ and Culture Revisited. Eerdmans, 2008.

Andy Crouch – He has quickly become the expert on Christ and Culture (at least in my mind and the minds of a lot of other evangelicals). His books have reshaped the discussion of Christ and Culture in recent years.

Crouch, Andy. Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling. InterVarsity Press, 2008.

Stanley Hauwerwas – He brings wisdom from the Anabaptist tradition.

Hauerwas, Stanley, and William Willimon. Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony. Abingdon Press, 1989.

Abraham Kuyper – A true man of all trades. He was never a professional theologian, yet as a lay theologian-politician he isn’t just a man sitting up in the ivory tower theorizing. He put his theories to work!

Kuyper, Abraham. Lectures on Calvinism. Eerdmans, 1943.

Richard Mouw – A true Kuyperian. If you want to know about Kuyperianism read Mouw. More than anybody else Mouw has shaped my understanding of Calvinism and the reformed take on Christ and Culture.

Mouw, Richard. When The Kings Come Marching In: Isaiah and the New Jerusalem. Eerdmans, 2002. ISBN: 978-0-8028-3996-1. $14.

Richard Neibuhr – This book is a classic. It is the starting point for all discussion about Christ and culture.

Niebuhr, H. Richard. Christ and Culture. HarperSanFrancisco, 2001.

Kevin Vanhoozer – He is a theological beast! Enough said….

Vanhoozer, Kevin, Charles Anderson, and Michael Sleasman. Everyday Theology: How to Read Cultural Texts and Interpret Trends. Baker Academic, 2007.

Book Review – Flesh by Hugh Halter

Open up any systematic theology and you will find a chapter on the incarnation. This chapter will usually revolve around metaphysical issues including anthropology, the Trinity, and discussion over the contradiction between categories of humanity and divinity. What you probably won’t find in that chapter is discussion about how incarnation informs our mission. Hugh Halter addresses that problem in Flesh: Bringing the Incarnation Down to Earth.

Hugh Halter is probably best known for his book The Tangible Kingdom, a primer for living in missional kingdom oriented communities; in this book he puts a bit more flesh to that concept.

Summary

This book is broken up into six sections. The first section, “Incarnation,” explores what we mean when we talk about Christ’s incarnation and what it means for us to be incarnational as a faith community. The second section, “Reputation,” is probably the most helpful section of the book. Here Halter explores the ins and outs of how one goes about being incarnational. A major part of being incarnational is earning a reputation in a community that gives you authority to speak into the deeper issues of people’s lives. You do this by avoiding shallow religiosity, planting yourself down in a community long term, working well, and practicing hospitality. Doing these things goes a very long way and actually set us up for having the type of conversations he describes in the third section, “Conversation.” As we incarnate God’s presence in the world our conversations must be filled with truth, but they must also be filled with grace. We must also learn not to point people to our church or to our religion. We must learn to point people to Jesus first. This means that the name of King Jesus must constantly been on our lips, and we must ooze out the gospel in our conversations. Eventually these conversations lead to a confrontation; the next section is aptly name “Confrontation.” It only consists of one chapter, but it’s a very important one. It’s the chapter that most people are probably waiting for (“when are we going to talk about evangelism!”). Halter makes the important point that this final step – evangelism – is supposed to be a spirit led and inspired moment. He concludes this book with a section titled, “Transformation,” where he addresses the issue of conversion without discipleship.

Pros

The book is filled with great stories that help put “flesh” to the ideas he is writing about.
He clearly communicates the notion that incarnational ministry is not easy and that it takes a lot of time and work.
He does not “church bash” – at times these sorts of books tend towards a “the church has it all wrong” attitude; that attitude is absent in this book.

Cons

Halter briefly addresses this, but many have written about how “incarnational ministry” is actually a category mistake. They argue that “incarnation” is unique to Christ’s role, thus we cannot be “incarnational.” This might not be the book to address those types of issues, but I think Halter could have spoken a bit more to it.
The chapter on confrontation tends to overlook some important parts of scripture – Halter says that “Jesus never tried to confront someone. They always tended to confront themselves.” Halter holds this up as a model for Christians when they interact with friends and family who are making poor choices. I am pretty sure that Jesus did confront people, however he knew how to confront them well. We cannot simply let people “confront themselves” because there are certainly times, especially within the church, that we need to confront one another.

Wrapping Up

Hugh Halter has written an excellent book describing what it looks like to live incarnationally. There is much wisdom here, especially for those who want to jump quickly into “sealing the deal.” We need to learn to slow down, do life with people, and earn a position to speak the gospel into people’s lives. That slowing down and doing life is the “incarnational part.” I think Hugh is right, we need to learn to be more like Jesus who spent 30 years “moving into the neighborhood” before he began preaching about the Kingdom.

May we learn to “move into the neighborhood,” learn the community’s rhythms, learn what is “good news” for our friends and neighbors, before we begin preaching a gospel that makes no sense to them…

(Note: I received a advanced copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley and David C. Cook in exchange for an impartial review)

This Paycheck’s Book Purchases (February 7th)

I am married now and I am still reading books! Its a wonderful surprise that I really didn’t expect. I guess this blog series didn’t die out….

Anyway, here are this paycheck’s book purchases, you might notice there is a little bit of everything (ministry, philosophy, history):

Flesh: Bringing the Incarnation Down to Earth by Hugh Halter

I got this book through NetGalley. Here is Amazon’s description: If we’re honest, no one really cares about theology unless it reveals a gut-level view of God’s presence. According to pastor and ministry leader Hugh Halter, only the incarnational power of Jesus satisfies what we truly crave, and once we taste it, we’re never the same. God understands how hard it is to be human, and the incarnation—God with us—enables us to be fully alive. With refreshing, raw candor, Flesh reveals the faith we all long to experience—one based on the power of Christ in the daily grind of work, home, school, and life. For anyone burned out, disenchanted, or seeking a fresh honest-to-God encounter, Flesh will invigorate your faith.

The Twilight of the American Enlightenment: The 1950s and the Crisis of Liberal Belief by George Marsden

George Marsden is a great author and a great historian. Here he tackles a very important subject – In the aftermath of World War II, the United States stood at a precipice. The forces of modernity unleashed by the war had led to astonishing advances in daily life, but technology and mass culture also threatened to erode the country’s traditional moral character. As award-winning historian George M. Marsden explains in The Twilight of the American Enlightenment, postwar Americans looked to the country’s secular, liberal elites for guidance in this precarious time, but these intellectuals proved unable to articulate a coherent common cause by which America could chart its course. Their failure lost them the faith of their constituents, paving the way for a Christian revival that offered America a firm new moral vision—one rooted in the Protestant values of the founders.

Preaching?: Simple Teaching on Simply Preaching by Alec Motyer

Every once in a while I feel as though its important to pick up a book on preaching – it will act as a shot of adrenaline to your week-in-week-out preaching. Here is the Amazon description: Like many things in life, the skill of good preaching is 95% perspiration and 5% inspiration. Alec Motyer gives us a simple guide based on a multitude of sermons over many years of preaching, in many different situations. At its basic level he tells us that preparing a good sermon is like baking a cake. It requires the correct ingredients for each type of cake to be baked, likewise with preaching, know your subject and pull all the pieces together to make up the winning recipe. Preaching is a privilege accorded to few and the fruits thereof welcomed by many – let Alec help you reach out and make the best of the gifts God has given you.

The Severity of God: Religion and Philosophy Reconceived by Paul Moser

I was browsing through the Notre Dame Philosophy Book Reviews and this came up – philosophy has been on my mind a lot lately so I figured I should buy it. Here is the Amazon description – This book explores the role of divine severity in the character and wisdom of God, and the flux and difficulties of human life in relation to divine salvation. Much has been written on problems of evil, but the matter of divine severity has received relatively little attention. Paul K. Moser discusses the function of philosophy, evidence and miracles in approaching God. He argues that if God’s aim is to extend without coercion His lasting life to humans, then commitment to that goal could manifest itself in making human life severe, for the sake of encouraging humans to enter into that cooperative good life. In this scenario, divine agapē is conferred as free gift, but the human reception of it includes stress and struggle in the face of conflicting powers and priorities. Moser’s work will be of great interest to students of the philosophy of religion, and theology.

My Paper for ETS Southwest 2014

This year I have the privilege of presenting a paper at the 2014 Southwest ETS Regional meeting. This year’s meeting will be hosted by Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Fort Worth and will take place on March 7th-8th. The theme is “The Decline of Denominationalism, and the Future of Evangelical Christianity.”

I am so excited to be presenting at my second conference! Here is the abstract for paper I will be presenting:

Jonathan Edwards: America’s Theologian?

A Latino Evaluation of Jonathan Edwards’s Hamartiology

Christopher G. Woznicki

Associate Member

Eternity Bible College

Robert Jenson has famously dubbed Jonathan Edwards “America’s theologian.” Jenson has in mind an American Christianity that has the Enlightenment as its defining narrative. However there are other narratives that give meaning to the phrase “American Christianity,” for instance the Latino Evangelical narrative. With the rapid growth of the Latino Evangelical population, the Latino perspective will become increasingly important in Evangelical theological discussion. This paper examines the claim that Edwards is “America’s theologian” by evaluating his Hamartiology through a Latino Evangelical lens. If Edwards’s theology can be read fruitfully from a Latino perspective then perhaps we can indeed say that he is “America’s theologian.” I argue that the theology of Jonathan Edwards can be used as a constructive dialogue partner for Latino Evangelical theology.

This paper begins by examining Edwards’s metaphysics of sin in light of his Federalist and Augustinian realist tendencies, paying special attention to the role metaphysical antirealism and his doctrine of continuous creation play in his doctrine of original sin. It goes on to examine Justo Gonzalez’s “Fuenteovejuna Theology” which exemplifies a Latino emphasis on the community. By examining Edwards and Gonzalez it becomes apparent that Edwards’s theology and Latino theology have a communal rather than individualistic understanding of responsibility and action. Thus in this particular area Edwards can speak constructively into Latino theology and we can truly say that he is “America’s theologian.”

Book of 2012 — An “interesting” portrait of Jonathan Edwards

The Missional Coffee Cup

I couldn’t decide. One made my life easier. The other had a bunch of bells and whistles but seemed like such a hassle. Both served fulfilled their purposes in their own ways. So I just stood there. Staring at both boxes. I knew I had to make a decision…

Which coffee maker would I choose?

Amelia and I were getting married in a few months so we went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to pick out our coffee maker. To tell you the truth it was hard to pick out which one we wanted for our new home. They all seemed so technologically advanced. Its as though they were being made by NASA to brew coffee on the moon.

None of these were an option for us... — None of these were an option for us…

I was torn between two coffee makers though. The first coffee maker was a Keurig system. Boy that would have made my life so much easier. I just pop in a Keurig cup and I have one cup of coffee in less than a minute. Amelia doesn’t drink coffee, so getting a traditional brewing system seemed like so much of a hassle. I would have to brew 6 cups of coffee if I wanted to drink one cup! The Cuisinart system was really cool though, but it seemed so impractical! It takes longer to brew and it brews too much coffee. But then again, this system had a cool water heating feature for tea. All to say, the decision was a difficult one to make. That is until we added another criterion to the set –

Which coffee brewing system is more missional?

That seems like a ridiculous question, but bear with me. Being on mission does not simply consist of activities. Being on mission is a way of life. So we had to ask ourselves, which system helps us to be more effective for the mission God called us to?

Pros of the Keurig – It is a quick brewing system. It makes one cup (which is the perfect amount for me).

Cons of the Keurig – It makes just one cup at a time.

Pros of Cuisinart System – It makes many cups at once and you can make tea at the same time!

Cons of the Cuisinart System – It makes many cups at once, so I would waste coffee. It is to slow to make coffee in the morning.

Let me fill you in on the deciding factor – It makes many cups at once and you can make tea at the same time. This isn’t really a benefit for me, but I saw this as having a greater missional impact than a Keurig maker.

A huge part of being on mission is spending time with people, being able to open up your home to those far from Christ, and showing hospitality. Think about some of Jesus’ most impactful conversations with people… many of them were over dinner. In his day (as in ours) dinner is a time of getting to know people and engaging in meaningful conversation. In our day we engage in meaningful conversation with friends at home with a glass of wine or a cup of coffee. If Amelia and I wanted to open up our house for our non-Christian friends we needed to be able to offer them that glass of wine or that cup of coffee. Picking the Keurig system was just impractical for showing hospitality and being on mission. Yes it made it harder for me to have coffee in the morning, but the result is that it will be a lot easier to serve people and show hospitality to her work friends or our neighbors.

I could have chosen to have a coffee cup by myself. Instead I choose to have a missional coffee cup.

Question:

Its easy to think of being missional as a major life decision, but it really starts with making smaller choices (like which coffee brewing system to buy). What small steps could you take towards living a missional lifestyle?