Homebrewed Christianity

What would Jesus brew? Part 3 of 3

Michael Camp — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 04:20:24 +0000

Rethinking a Messiah’s Miracle I’m struck how this miracle—Jesus’ first—and most of his good works, were not performed in churches or synagogues, but among the riffraff and ragamuffins; in homes, at parties, and among common folk outdoors. In fact, most people are surprised to hear that Jesus didn’t found a new religion or an institutional [...]

What would Jesus brew? Part 2 of 3

Michael Camp — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:00:19 +0000

Rethinking a Messiah’s Miracle Might I suggest Jesus would favor brewing up a batch of European varieties such as the Floreffe Special Reserve, a rich dark beer seasoned with anise spice and orange peel. At eight percent alcohol content, this Belgium Ale is a joy to drain and represents a choice brew that would easily [...]

What would Jesus brew? Part 1 of 3

Michael Camp — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:07:00 +0000

Rethinking a Messiah’s Miracle WWJB? It’s a legitimate question. Jesus drank with the best of them.1 He made choice wine from water at a wedding in Cana—and lots of it. About 150 gallons. In case you’re wondering, that’s about 800 bottles. And it was good stuff. “You saved the best for last,” said the master [...]

The Resurrection: Borg or Wright? (Audio Poll!)

Chad Crawford — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:00:20 +0000

Tripp had a sweet idea to let you listen to two brief soundbites from our recent interviews with Tom Wright and Marcus Borg back to back, so you can let us know with whom you agree more on the resurrection. You don’t have to fall in line completely with either to vote, but vote and [...]

Marcus Borg, a “Novel” Jesus Scholar: Homebrewed Christianity 84

Chad Crawford — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 20:33:41 +0000

Marcus Borg, well-known for his work with the Jesus Seminar and author of nineteen books, many of them best-sellers, including The Meaning of Jesus: Two Visions, co-authored by NT Wright, and three co-authored by John Dominic Crossan, The Last Week, The First Christmas, and The First Paul. Jesus: Uncovering the Life, Teachings and Relevance of [...]

The Offical Wine of Homebrewed Christianity is….

Tripp Fuller — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 06:49:47 +0000

If you like good people and good wine then check out the enso winery. One of the men behind the grapes is Ryan Sharp of The Cobalt Season fame. Cobalt makes awesome music and the whole Sharp family is annoyingly amazingly talented so this wine venture is sure to succeed. If you are in Oakland [...]

Islam and Christianity – is a clash of civilizations inevitable?

Tripp Fuller — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 21:30:21 +0000

Keith Ward, who will be at Big Tent Christianity, has an amazing lecture on the so called ‘Clash of Civilizations’ between Islam and Christianity. Because I have heard enough ignorant and bigoted rhetoric coming out of Christians’ mouths I thought I would share this. Of course HBC Deacons would never say such things but your [...]

Rockin Oxford

Deacon Hall — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 20:57:17 +0000

Friends, I’m quite fortunate to receive the chance to present a paper at Oxford this coming week for the European Society of the Philosophy of Religion. I’m calling the paper The Christian Voice in American Civil Discourse: A Theological Guide Incommunicability, which is both long enough and pomo enough sounding to at least make me [...]

A thought on….Decolonizing Biblical Studies

Tripp Fuller — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 06:06:35 +0000

Thoughts on Decolonizing Biblical Studies: A View from the Margins by Fernando Segovia. This book is pretty sweet. Segovia’s reflection on twentieth century biblical criticism focuses on the shift from seeing the text as a means, an entry point to reach back to the historical locus from which the text originated, and the text as [...]

Paul Tillich on Christ & Buddha as Historical Figures

Tripp Fuller — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 21:39:00 +0000

Today is Paul Tillich‘s birthday. In honor I thought I would share a bit of a conversation he had with students that is recorded in a book titled ‘Ultimate Concern.’ You can read the entire book for free @ religion-online! Professor: What of other basic differences between Christianity and, say, Buddhism? Buddha and Christ as [...]

The Death of the gods

Tripp Fuller — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 06:00:49 +0000

This past Sunday I got to preach on my favorite Psalm! In Psalm 82 the God of Israel puts other deities on trial for failing to support social justice and ends up condemning them to death. Pretty sweet text and if you are interested here’s the sermon audio. (right click and save as if you [...]

Kierkegaard on “What big tent Christianity is NOT”

Tripp Fuller — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 05:08:39 +0000

Big Tent Christianity is not about BIG numbers. In fact, it is interested neither in big numbers nor becoming the new Christendom Christianity. SO here’s a little syncroblog feed back from Soren Kierkegaard. He is one of the most ingenious authors the world has ever known and this parable is from his ‘Attack Upon Christendom.’ [...]

Anne Rice on Quitting Christianity: Homebrewed Christianity 83

Chad Crawford — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 17:55:13 +0000

This week, we’re privileged to have Anne Rice come on, interviewed by Mike Morrell. Rice is one of the most read authors in modern history … her books have sold over 130 million copies. She is best known for the gothic genre, but in recent years, after coming out publicly as a person of faith, [...]

John D. Caputo Returns: Homebrewed Christianity 82

Chad Crawford — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 14:23:48 +0000

John Caputo stops by for a sweet second coming on the podcast, interviewed by our friend Callid Keefe-Perry from TheImageofFish.com. And while I was touring the Midwest and rocking it out at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (hence AC/DC music) in Cleveland, Tripp and Callid caught up with each other for the intro. [...]

Andrew Root on the Promise of Despair: Homebrewed Christianity 81

Chad Crawford — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 18:58:16 +0000

This week our guest is Andrew Root, who is Associate Professor of Youth and Family Ministry at Luther Seminary in St. Paul. He joins us to talk about his new book, ‘The Promise of Despair: The Way of the Cross as the Way of the Church.‘ As Tripp puts it in the interview, Andrew Root [...]

Stuff Liberal Christians Like: #2 Coexist Stickers

Chad Crawford — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 11:00:07 +0000

Very few would argue that Liberal Christians have the upper hand when it comes to religious merchandise. Those other Christians have the most sales in bumper stickers and T-shirts. There’s a lot of money in “putting a God-spin on popular secular ideas.” The formula is fairly simple for youth ministers in this group … take [...]

The Resurrection’s Role in Christian Theology

Tripp Fuller — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 09:04:42 +0000

Jurgen Moltmann’s newest book, Sun of Righteousness Arise!, he spends six chapters examining the resurrection and its role in Christian theology. His general observation is this, in light of the numerous crises that the world faces (ex. ecological crisis, nuclear threat) the human species has come to see itself as mortal. This calls the church [...]

Go PoMo with John Caputo on your Ipod

Tripp Fuller — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 07:50:18 +0000

John Caputo is master of deconstruction, a philosopher smitten with its undoing, a theologian who confesses God’s weakness, an author who is actually fun to read and one of the most popular guests on the Homebrewed Christianity Podcast! Not only is John Caputo coming back on the podcast but he has been releasing a ton [...]

CALL FOR PAPERS: “The Future of Continental Philosophy of Religion

Tripp Fuller — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 07:24:24 +0000

When John Caputo asks you to plug something…….YOU DO CFP: The Future of Continental Philosophy of Religion (Syracuse) Postmodernism, Culture and Religion 4 “The Future of Continental Philosophy of Religion” Syracuse University | April 7-9, 2011 Plenary Speakers: JOHN D. CAPUTO Watson Professor of Religion and Philosophy Syracuse University (http://religion.syr.edu/Caputo.html) PHILIP GOODCHILD Professor of Theology [...]

Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove on the Wisdom of Stability: Homebrewed Christianity 80

Chad Crawford — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:08:00 +0000

Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove is a voice in the new monastic movement. He’s an author, speaker, North Carolinian, and Duke Divinity grad, who visits us to talk about his new book The Wisdom of Stability. In The Wisdom of Stability, Wilson-Hartgrove illuminates the biblical and monastic understanding of why staying in one place is both a virtue, [...]

A rabbi, a minister and an imam walk into a classroom, and it’s no joke….

Tripp Fuller — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 06:56:37 +0000

‘A rabbi, a minister and an imam walk into a classroom, and it’s no joke.’ That’s the opening line from the AP story on Claremont School of Theology’s new University project. The plan is basically to have all three Abrahamic faiths training ministers in separate schools within one larger University. Al Mohler (among other conservative [...]

Stuff Liberal Christians Like: #1 Saying, “I’m Not One of Those Christians.”

Chad Crawford — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 17:04:43 +0000

Liberal Christians get nervous when outing themselves as Christians. They choose their words carefully, since often it occurs at a dinner party with their spiritual-but-not-religious friends. With this crowd, the conversation can accelerate from sushi to spirituality in 5 seconds. That’s fast for a Liberal Christian. If you ask her whether she practices Buddhism or [...]

The Future of Christianity is (not) a Postmodern Glorification of Diversity…Moltmann Speaks

Tripp Fuller — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 07:56:32 +0000

God only knows (and bemoans) how crappy the Church can be. A brief look at the history of the Church and you can easily make a big list of reasons one group of Christians think another group is wrong enough to go to Hell and a slightly smaller list of times the truth holders helped [...]

Coming This Summer: Stuff Liberal Christians Like

Chad Crawford — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 07:18:51 +0000

First, there was ‘Stuff White People Like.’ Then, ‘Stuff Christians Like.’ Soon, we at Homebrewed Christianity will bring you ‘Stuff Liberal Christians Like.’ I was just pitching the idea to Tripp about this new series and we thought of a ton of ideas for titles: from ‘Having token friends from other religions’ to ‘Reading Daily [...]

Openness, Love, and other Goodness from the Oord of Tom

Tripp Fuller — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 07:44:09 +0000

Tom Oord is one of my favorite philosophical theologians working today. On top of that he is a publishing machine! I am currently reading one of his newest books ‘The Nature of Love: a Theology‘ and I am sure it will get more blog time soon but for now I just wanted to share this [...]

The Search for Meaning and Why to Believe in Others

Chad Crawford — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 06:34:44 +0000

I saw this video on TED and thought it was an ‘idea worth spreading’ … it’s from a 1972 talk by holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl. Having flown in a kit aircraft my dad built, I’m familiar with what it’s like to be a passsenger landing in crosswind. So here’s a video of some gnarly crosswind [...]

Tripp @ Open Mic

Tripp Fuller — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 02:11:17 +0000

Here’s a video from my Church‘s Open Mic night. Enjoy!

Doubting Dawkins…

Tripp Fuller — Mon, 31 May 2010 07:20:54 +0000

There have been a bunch of theological and philosophical responses to Richard Dawkins and company’s New Atheism. Last year we had Eric Reitan on the Podcast to discuss his book ‘Is God a Delusion?’ Eastern Orthodox Theologian David Bentley Hart goes for the jugular with Nietzsche and Nicaea in his work ‘Atheist Delusions: The Christian [...]

God Bless the Fear-filled States of America

Deacon Hall — Thu, 27 May 2010 19:01:49 +0000

The all around enormity of what we as both a nation and world face right now is mind-boggling. If it’s not a debt crisis in some form, it’s an unprecedented environmental disaster (with a looming climate catastrophe on the horizon). I think the buildup of these contemporary and simultaneous disasters will test Democracies to their [...]

Jeremiah and the Oilpocalypse

Chad Crawford — Thu, 27 May 2010 06:23:41 +0000

Jeremiah 2 The word of the Lord came to me, saying: 2Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the Lord: I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed me in the wilderness, in a land not sown. 3Israel was holy to the Lord, the first [...]

Divine Revelation, Action, and Resurrection….oh My!

Tripp Fuller — Tue, 25 May 2010 16:06:42 +0000

Does science eliminate the possibility of divine revelation? Can God do anything in the world? Is the resurrection even reasonable anymore? Keith Ward, philosopher and theology, answers Yes. Below is an outstanding lecture he gave as part of a series with Metanexus (who has tons of other sweet lectures for free). Keith is an outstanding [...]

“Keep Theology Weird!” (redacted) Jurgen Moltmann

Tripp Fuller — Mon, 24 May 2010 07:48:47 +0000

‘Keep Theology Weird!’ In Jurgen Moltmann’s newest book, Sun of Righteousness, Arise!, he begins by setting a unique goal for himself…’to bring out what is specific, strange, and special about the Christian faith.‘ For Moltmann, ‘what is distinctively Christian is the confession of Christ and belief in his resurrection.’ Despite the tendencies since the Enlightenment [...]

Dear, dear, dear Texas. Are you serious!?

Chad Crawford — Thu, 20 May 2010 03:55:41 +0000

Dear Texas Board of Education, I’m a Christian first, and a Texan a close second. I know I live in California now, but I’m still a Texan at heart. I might have posted a snarky thing or two about Gov. Perry, but I love my home state. I’ve been following the stories about the Board [...]

How the Holy Spirit Moves Today . . .

Tripp Fuller — Fri, 14 May 2010 22:17:49 +0000

It is easy to get swept away by the vision of God’s dream for the world. Unlike the brokenness of the present, it is whole. Unlike the violence of the present, there is peace. Unlike, well, what is actual, something more is possible. The Holy Spirit is God’s continuous gift to the present that protests what is with [...]

NT Wright! Homebrewed Christianity 79

Chad Crawford — Tue, 11 May 2010 18:10:35 +0000

Tripp and I had a great visit with Bishop Tom, and the episode is destined to become a Homebrewed classic. In case he needs an introduction, NT Wright is the Bishop of Durham for the Church of England, leading New Testament scholar, and has been featured on ABC News, Dateline, and the Colbert Report, but [...]

The Time @Jennifer_Knapp Wore My Ball Cap

Chad Crawford — Tue, 11 May 2010 03:13:16 +0000

Order/Download Jennifer Knapp’s new record ‘Letting Go,’ coming out on May 11. It packs the same powerful folk-rock vocals 9 years later, with honest, humble lyrics that reflect on faith, love, and her conflicting relationship with Christian culture. As a college student active in just about every student organization on campus, naturally I was asked [...]

Ask NT Wright! Upcoming Homebrewed Interview

Chad Crawford — Thu, 06 May 2010 12:00:09 +0000

Tripp and I are pumped about talking to leading New Testament scholar NT Wright on Monday…and we want to hear from you! What questions do you have for the bishop? We’ll be talking about his new book, After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters, but feel free to ask anything about previous works. Call in [...]

So Runs The World Away w/ Josh Ritter

Tripp Fuller — Thu, 06 May 2010 03:48:28 +0000

The potato state songwriter, Josh Ritter, who brought us such theologically thickening and poetically penetrating songs as “Girl in the War” and “Temptation of Adam” released his 6th album this week. So Runs the World Away is an album of exploration, lyrically, mythically, thematically, and for us who have the habit of hearing everything this [...]

On Acts of God

Chad Crawford — Tue, 04 May 2010 20:36:11 +0000

Rick Perry, the sometimes secessionist governor of Texas, my beloved home-state, dabbled in theology yesterday to explain the cause of the worst oil spill in history. ‘From time to time, there are going to be things that occur that are acts of God that cannot be prevented,’ Perry said. [Source] ‘Act of God’ is actually [...]

Q….Ideas that create a better world?

Tripp Fuller — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 07:22:22 +0000

My buddy and HBC Deacon Davis is at the Q conference in Chicago. He is one cool progressive baptist minister and fellow Demon Deacon graduate. Here are his reflections….. I have heard the term “justification by faith” more times in the past five hours than I have in the past five years. Not to mention [...]

Alexander Shaia on the Hidden Power of the Gospels: Homebrewed Christianity 78

Chad Crawford — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 19:10:06 +0000

In this episode, Tripp interviews Dr. Alexander Shaia about his new book, The Hidden Power of the Gospels. Dr. Shaia’s unusual approach combines anthropology, psychology, and ancient spiritual traditions to reveal that each of the four gospels focuses on a different spiritual question. These questions form a recurring cycle that guides us through our spiritual [...]

Yep, Mainline Leadership is Killing the Church (Reassessing a Previous Blog)

Deacon Hall — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 06:32:55 +0000

I wrote a blog a while back called “Is Mainline Leadership Killing the Church?’ In it, I recommended that it be made canon law that all Episcopal Bishops take communion from a child once a year, that this act may bring some humility to at least Episcopal leadership and remind them whom they serve. (To [...]

Jigsaw Puzzle or House of Cards?

Chad Crawford — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 19:03:24 +0000

Here is a sweet metaphor from The Economist article ‘The clouds of unknowing‘ last month: Whether your impression is dominated by the whole or the holes will depend on your attitude to the project at hand. You might say that some see a jigsaw where others see a house of cards. Jigsaw types have in [...]

Listen to John Cobb on the 40th Earth Day

Chad Crawford — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 13:17:34 +0000

Forty years ago the first Earth Day was celebrated. Two years later, John Cobb was the first philosopher to publish a single-author book-length environmental ethics text about the ecological crisis. He has continued to speak and write about new ecological issues that weren’t known at the time he wrote Is It Too Late? A Theology [...]

Leave Those “Big Tent” Doors Open (and I Might Come in)!

Deacon Hall — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 17:29:36 +0000

I just read an interesting post by Philip Clayton talking about ‘Big Tent’ Christianity. His question is whether there’s still room enough in the American tent for the two sides of Christian faith we find in the States…the liberal and the conservative…to sit with one another. I must admit, I am not personally as concerned [...]

The Fascinating Life and Music of Kevin Prosch: Homebrewed Christianity 77

Chad Crawford — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 16:16:16 +0000

Long-time friend of the podcast Mike Morrell partners with Homebrewed this week for this fireside chat (minus the fire, unless you count the Holy Spirit) with Kevin Prosch, a renowned singer/songwriter/instrumentalist who has traveled the world and influenced virtually every well-known worship leader in recent decades. His story is incredibly fascinating … from his troubled [...]

Progressive Religiosity Just Gave Me a Headache

Deacon Hall — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 06:30:00 +0000

I have a predicament. I am a progressive Christian, but I am pretty sure that progressive Christianity as it’s usually interpreted opens up a deep and anguishing pain in my heart, head, and soul! I think this is the case because I’ve read too much of the Bible and Barth lately, so maybe you all [...]

The Clergy Sex Abuse Crisis: A Guest Post from John Sylvest

Chad Crawford — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 23:03:33 +0000

I asked John Sylvest (@johnssylvest) of the Cathlimergent Network and ChristianNonduality.com to offer our readers some thoughts on the clergy sex abuse scandal and this is his response. A Complex Reality The clergy sex abuse crisis is a complex reality with many dimensions and a social ontology that includes many different types of stakeholders. Foremost [...]

The Question of Authenticity and God

Deacon Hall — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 21:32:25 +0000

Since I finished my Quals, Tripp’s been bugging me to begin posting on 19th and 20th century philosophical-theology. I gotta be honest, here: I’m really tired of reading and writing that kind of stuff. The truth of the matter is that I think Tripp just wants me to put my exams online so he doesn’t [...]

Disagree to Agree: Philip Clayton and Daniel Dennett

Tripp Fuller — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 09:01:32 +0000

On February 16th, 2010, before a standing-room-only crowd on the campus of Claremont Graduate University, Philip Clayton and Daniel Dennett debated issues in philosophy, religion, and science. The event was momentous for its awkward proceedings. Clayton is a well known theist and Dennett an atheist, but the two thinkers did not merely decry each other’s [...]

Identity-Bound: Some Fun with Advertising

Deacon Hall — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 21:29:19 +0000

I haven’t been blogging for a bit, now; I’ve been working on passing my Qualifying Exams. But I’m back for a while and will be presenting to you what are some hopefully thought-provoking posts! I won’t explain this post too much, now, (I’ll save that for a follow up post), but it’s connected to [...]

Live Options in the Study of Religion

Tripp Fuller — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 04:34:06 +0000

This coming Thursday and Friday the Society for Philosophy and Religion at Claremont (SPARC) will be holding its second annual student conference “Live Options in the Study of Religion” in Claremont, California. If you look at the schedule below and click on the links to read the papers (not all are available because some are [...]

The Teaching Company Legend Phillip Cary on Homebrewed Christianity!

Tripp Fuller — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 16:21:25 +0000

Phillip Cary is a master of the lecture. He can keep any keen mind’s attention, get them excited, and send off thinking. I know this because I have all of his teaching company classes! When I ran into him at AAR this year I went in to ‘fan’ mode and just started talking to him [...]

What does it mean to be human in the 21st century?

Tripp Fuller — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 14:39:12 +0000

Barry Taylor brought the theological heat in his presentation titled ‘Finding Sea Legs in a World of Pirates, Gods and Monsters.’ On top of his awesome presentation where he gives a post-structuralist anthropology about the ‘techno-self’ he managed to dominate the whole cornhole tournament with his partner Ryan Parker. Barry sent me a picture [...]

Reboot Review (video blog)

Tripp Fuller — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 00:58:13 +0000

‘Reboot: refreshing your faith in a High-Tech world‘ is Peggy Kendall’s newest book on technology, communication, and faith. In the past she has published on the relationship of technology and youth culture but this book opens up to the conversation to adults. I decided to try video blogging my review so we will see if [...]

Jeff Jarvis goes Googley on your Church

Tripp Fuller — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:21:54 +0000

Jeff Jarvis of ‘Buzz Machine‘ fame was gracious enough to join the ‘theology after google‘ event last week for a conversation about taking his book ‘What Would Google Do?’ into the church. I have heard tons of positive responses and a couple asked for audio of the talk so they could put it on their [...]

Umpires and Postmodernism: a reflection from theology after google

Tripp Fuller — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 22:07:12 +0000

A seriously thought provoking reflection from the flaming heretic on Tony Jones’ presentation from Theology After Google. Had to share it…Enjoy! I’m attending the Theology After Google conference at Claremont School of Theology, and there have been many thought provoking sessions. One of the speakers used an illustration from baseball to explain postmodernism, which was [...]

“Theology After Google” Streamed

Tripp Fuller — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:52:42 +0000

The Theology After Google Conference will be streamed for all those not enjoying the SoCal sun this week. We would love to get your feedback, some conversation, and questions for the presenters through our Twitter Twub (#tag10). Here’s the event bookstore if you are so inspired. Live streaming video by Ustream

The Theology After Google Bookstore

Tripp Fuller — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 18:21:13 +0000

// Conference Info Here

Astrological Dynamics? Really?

Chad Crawford — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 18:20:59 +0000

I was a bit skeptical when my horoscope said I would find humor in something sad today. But I had to laugh when I read the South Dakota resolution being emailed around the office this week, as well as sent by Drew, requiring schools to teach: That there are a variety of climatological, meteorological, astrological, [...]

I Survived the Christian Right: Lesson 9

Michael Camp — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:00:23 +0000

I Survived the Christian Right: Ten Lessons I Learned on My Journey Home Lesson 9 Embrace Universal Life Before I went to Malawi and early on in my evangelical walk in 1982 I got one major thing right. Faith in Jesus includes emulating his concern for the poor. I packed my bags, joined an evangelical [...]

Beta Faith with Philip Clayton, Spencer Burke, and Oozers: Homebrewed Christianity 75

Tripp Fuller — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:04:28 +0000

One of the greatest insights of the Google-World is the freedom of Beta. A Beta is more than a product not-yet-ready-for-consumption, but a way of thinking, creating, and living. It owns being unfinished. It expects contribution, evolution, transparency. For a long time all of culture was under a spell. It believed in the myth of [...]

the future of the church….

Tripp Fuller — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 08:00:15 +0000

Bruce Epperly is one of the coolest dudes I know. I had a chat with him about the future of the church, the emerging church, the new shapes of religion and spirituality on the ground, and other theological tid bits. I hope you enjoy it. If you do check out his blog series here.

I Survived the Christian Right: Lesson 8

Michael Camp — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:00:37 +0000

I Survived the Christian Right: Ten Lessons I Learned on My Journey Home Lesson 8 Science vs. Religion – Go Where the Evidence Leads Us vs. them attitudes are in the science vs. religion and creation vs. evolution debates. Typically, the people debating are the extremists, who only see things in black and white. There can be [...]

Why do we believe in a God?

Tripp Fuller — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 08:21:29 +0000

Do you believe in God? Is it because your brain or genes tells you to? Is it natural to do so? Did it serve an important part in our evolution as a species? Do we need to evolve past it? Is religious belief a by-product of the structures of our brain? Would it bother you [...]

Who is God?

Tripp Fuller — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:14:54 +0000

‘God?’ Who or what is God? That was the most popular question for my interviews with the’ Transforming Theology’ theologians. Here are their answers. I am sure the diversity of answers will get your brain a movin’. It may inspire you to attempt to answer the question yourself. If so check out the 100 word [...]

I Survived the Christian Right: Lesson 7

Michael Camp — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 14:00:43 +0000

I Survived the Christian Right: Ten Lessons I Learned on My Journey Home Lesson 7 Support Gay Rights Not Wrongs Most of my evangelical friends thought I went off the deep end when I changed my view on this issue. I have to admit, for years I had wondered how anyone could defend homosexuality in [...]

Chris Seay on the Gospel According to LOST: Homebrewed Christianity 74

Chad Crawford — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:55:59 +0000

Since I am a big fan of LOST, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to invite Chris Seay back on the podcast. Chris is a pastor in Houston and author of The Gospel According to LOST. In the conversation, we explore the biblical themes in LOST, the theme of science vs. faith, and we spend [...]

What is wrong with ‘Progressive Theology?’

Tripp Fuller — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:08:53 +0000

You may not be exactly sure what ‘progressive theology’ entails, but a pretty easy way to figure it out is listening to ‘progressive theologians’ tell you what they think is wrong with it. Here are a bunch of notable theologians answering the question. Check them out and let me know what you would add. Answers [...]

I Survived the Christian Right: Lesson 6

Michael Camp — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 14:00:19 +0000

I Survived the Christian Right: Ten Lessons I Learned on My Journey Home Lesson 6 Have Sensible Sex By now, I’m sure some have declared me a full-fledged heretic. Brace yourself, there’s more. Now for something totally uncomfortable…the subject of religion and sex. In my experience, with some noble exceptions (there are some excellent evangelical [...]

What book-stack introverts agree upon…

Tripp Fuller — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 16:13:04 +0000

….Eric Reitan’s book ‘Is God a Delusion?’ is awesome!!!! Choice magazine just named it ‘academic book of the year.’ Of course all the Deacons remember his amazing appearance on the HBC podcast, but little did we know just how many librarians were Deacons. That is good news to me because I absolutely loved getting to [...]

Video Games & Theology?

Tripp Fuller — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 08:44:37 +0000

Who hasn’t had a couple months in their life where they were obsessed with a video game? Well I guess the oldies out there may not know that experience but I got say I spent many a days rocking out with Link trying to save Zelda and I am pretty sure that despite tons of [...]

I Survived the Christian Right: Lesson 5

Michael Camp — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:00:20 +0000

I Survived the Christian Right: Ten Lessons I Learned on My Journey Home Lesson 5 Don’t Be Seduced by Political Power I learned one of the warped mindsets of heavily financed political activism is an us vs. them mentality. Today, this attitude continues to fuel the Christian Right in their quest to save America from moral [...]

The Clayton \ Dennett Conversation…Evolution, God, Religion, Science, and other philosophical goodies!

Tripp Fuller — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 19:25:27 +0000

Here’s my attempt to stream this conversation. It should go live right before 2pm on the West Coast. Here‘s Clayton’s Pre-Debate Post \ John gives a super recap \ Philip‘s post-debate reflection \ Bob Rhodes reflects on the conversation \ newspaper writeup

I Survived the Christian Right: Lesson 4

Michael Camp — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 14:00:29 +0000

I Survived the Christian Right: Ten Lessons I Learned on My Journey Home Lesson 4 Don’t Be Deluded by the Last Days As a brand-new believer in 1979 I tended to accept the pre-tribulation Rapture view that the Bible predicts Jesus would return a second time before a period of tribulation, to whisk believers up [...]

I Survived the Christian Right: Lesson 3

Michael Camp — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 14:00:38 +0000

I Survived the Christian Right: Ten Lessons I Learned on My Journey Home Lesson 3 Leave Churchianity Surprise! Jesus didn’t found an institutional church.14 For that matter, he didn’t found a religion either. He also didn’t expect his followers to set up a Christian version of the synagogue, let alone create a parallel Christian universe [...]

The Gospel According to Lost: Ask Chris Seay

Chad Crawford — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 03:20:33 +0000

As I’m writing this, I’m filled with exuberant anticipation as the second week of the final season of Lost is minutes from airing on the West Coast. I’m usually tweeting away this time of day. But my phone is off and I won’t be looking at Facebook and Twitter updates for the next few hours [...]

I Survived the Christian Right: Lesson 2

Michael Camp — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 14:11:14 +0000

I Survived the Christian Right: Ten Lessons I Learned on My Journey Home Lesson 2 Beware of Bible Abuse With some notable exceptions, most evangelicals I know primarily read the Bible devotionally, meaning they read it in a superficial way without regard to the conditions of history, culture, genre, or its own literary context. They [...]

Philip Clayton invites Daniel Dennett to a debate: Will the New Atheist Accept or Hide (again!)?

Tripp Fuller — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:21:56 +0000

Can Daniel Dennett be a public philosopher and engage in a real debate with someone who is both a philosopher and theist? Or, will he once again choose to display his rasslin’ rhetorical skills and pass on demonstrating the Apocalyptic fury his intellectual insights are reported to bring? We will see. One could call it [...]

I Survived the Christian Right: Ten Lessons I Learned on My Journey Home

Michael Camp — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:12:57 +0000

OK, I confess. There are only nine lessons, but ten sounds better. A quest for a reasoned faith based on honest questioning. That was largely what my 25-year sojourn in evangelicalism was about. Although evangelicals are not a monolithic block comprised only of conservatives (progressive evangelicals are becoming more influential), I found the movement and [...]

Visiting St. Peter’s Brewery with Jonathan Blundell: Homebrewed Christianity 73

Chad Crawford — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 16:00:01 +0000

Jonathan is a blogger, podcaster, and the author of the novel, St. Peter’s Brewery. He was a newspaper editor and used to be involved in Christian rasslin. St. Peter’s Brewery follows the tale of Jimmy, who runs away from all of his problems, and finds sanctuary in a small pub located in what used to be a church building. [...]

Does your theology go off-roading?

Tripp Fuller — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 08:26:04 +0000

What do you get when you put two of the world’s top philosophical theologians, a prestigious university President, and me in a room with a camera? A fun conversation. At the American Academy of Religion I was able to join LeRon Shults, Philip Clayton, and Stephen Knapp for a discussion about how theology finds traction [...]

Can progressive theologians talk about God’s Future?

Tripp Fuller — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 05:26:58 +0000

Karl Barth, the most influential theologian of the 20th century, said that all Christian theology is eschatology. The Apostle Paul is pretty serious, though flexible, about God’s future for the world. Jesus had a hard time NOT talking about the present-yet-coming Kin-dom of God. SO what happens when I asked some of the top progressive [...]

Bart Ehrman’s “Jesus Interrupted” is coming to paperback….

Tripp Fuller — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 06:57:25 +0000

…so if you have listened to the podcast with him and Tony Jones and thought about getting the book you can now get it for 10 bucks.

Adam Walker Cleaveland on Theology After Google

Tripp Fuller — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 09:06:48 +0000

Theology After Google: Leveraging New Technologies and Networks for Transformative Ministry We invite you to join us March 10-12, 2010 in Claremont, Calif., for a first-of-its-kind national conference, “Theology After Google.” Thanks to a generous grant from the Ford Foundation, we are able to keep registration costs low, as in 99 bucks. Who is coming? [...]

Scientists and Religious Folk on Global Warming

Chad Crawford — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 00:58:50 +0000

This isn’t about an actual confrontation between the two communities, or a discussion on whether they can coexist. For that, check out Stanley Fish’s review of Barbara Herrnstein Smith’s “Natural Reflections.’ I just want to share a chart that shows a significant gap between the two on a specific issue. One day over lunch my [...]

What Would Google Do? When a theology class reads it

Tripp Fuller — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 10:47:42 +0000

Jeff Jarvis has done us all a favor. ‘What Would Google Do?‘ is a gift (well one you pay for). Through an engaging, informative, and flat out fun style he takes on his journey to reverse-engineer the company that defines ‘getting it’ today, Google. This is the first book we are reading\blogging through in the [...]

A Fish Trying to Learn to Breathe Air: This Too Shall Pass

Chad Crawford — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 04:04:16 +0000

The statement below is from the band OK Go to their fans about why their YouTube videos, which made them famous before they had a record label, are no longer allowed to be embedded on other websites. It boils down to ads on YouTube that don’t earn money when videos are embedded. Damian Kulash, the lead [...]

A Spiral, Not a Pendulum: The Massachusetts Special Election

Chad Crawford — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 06:39:13 +0000

While I wouldn’t say I’m pleased with the result of today’s special election in Massachusetts, I choose to look optimistically toward the future. When I was in high school, I had an English lit teacher who taught that American politics is a pendulum that swings back and forth between conservative and liberal power. It certainly [...]

Cruisin’ Santa Monica with Brian McLaren & Spencer Burke

Tripp Fuller — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 06:29:00 +0000

Brian McLaren and Spencer Burke have a great discussion about his upcoming book ‘A New Kind of Christianity.’ Enjoy!

Calling all Deacons!!! Come to the ‘Theology After Google’ event.

Tripp Fuller — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 08:51:45 +0000

Deacons, Friends, Ministers, Church Leaders, Theologians, or Just cool people who like God and use the internet. I am part of putting on this super sweet conference at Claremont March 10-12 and I would love for you to think about coming. For three days you will think about theology, the church, technology, communication, and all [...]

Twitter-gestions for the Theology After Google

Tripp Fuller — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 08:34:11 +0000

This is the first day of the ‘Theology After Google’ class and yesterday I asked on Twitter what video I should use to get the conversation moving. I promised I would share them with the class and figured y’all might enjoy them. So without further ado, here’s the Twitter-gestions…..

The Dangerous Biz of Truth

Tripp Fuller — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 07:56:59 +0000

What is truth? Good question. I asked a bunch of theologians to answer it without crossing their fingers and here are their answers from Transforming Theology. Below I took a stab at the question in response. Truth is dangerous business. Truth is really dangerous when it comes to religion. It is definitely not a fashionable [...]

Deacon Parker on “The Earthquake in Haiti, God, and the Arbitrariness of Life”

Tripp Fuller — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:47:08 +0000

Taken from Ryan Parker @ pop theology (because it was awesome) By now, most people are just as familiar with Pat Robertson’s interpretation of the Haitian earthquake as they are with the natural disaster itself. Yesterday, I came across two other theological responses to the quake, one by Al Mohler that is almost as offensive [...]

Tupper Says “Reject Clericalism!”

Tripp Fuller — Fri, 15 Jan 2010 02:26:02 +0000

This is indeed from my trip to AAR and this is indeed the Frank Tupper from the infamous canceled CBF session on homosexuality.

Googlicious Theology with Barry Taylor: Homebrewed Christianity 72

Chad Crawford — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 20:51:49 +0000

Heresy hunters, be on alert, because this episode features Heretic’s Guide to Eternity coauthor Barry Taylor hanging out in his Beverly Hills office with Tripp talking about all the various intersections he’s interested in involving faith and culture. Barry is the artist-in-residence at the Brehm Center for Worship Theology and the Arts at Fuller Theological [...]

“Theology After Google” with Spencer Burke

Tripp Fuller — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 08:32:00 +0000

Spencer Burke is one sweet cookie. Here’s is little conversation between him and philip clayton. They discuss the nature of theology, ministry, education, communication, and other goodies in a google-shaped world. This is just one more reason you should come to the ‘Theology After Google’ event March 10-12 in Claremont CA.

Is the Emerging Church Movement Waning? Deacon Hall’s Response

Deacon Hall — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 07:37:14 +0000

I’ve been reading up a little on some of the debate over whether or not the emerging church is dying. That is, I just read over Brian LePort’s insightful blog which tends to argue alongside a few other persons that, in fact, the movement is dying. However, as someone not particularly connected to this debate [...]

Crazy Texan Monday Talks Ethics

Deacon Hall — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 07:14:33 +0000

The Crazy Texan, Mr. Rick Roderick, has a great grasp of the development of ethics in the west. If classical virtue ethics were concerned in developing persons with good character, modern ethics became concerned with quantification and instrumentalization. To understand what I’m talking about, you should listen to this whole series, namely, ‘Philosophy and Human [...]

Serene Jones from AAR

Tripp Fuller — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 18:13:47 +0000

Is Serene Jones one of the coolest theologians ever? Yes. Why? Because when I asked her to share a big idea for the future of the church at AAR she asked the students at her seminary. That is the kind of thinking that can transform theology, the kind of thinking that thinks to ask others. [...]