My Call to Ministry

The path to ministry God set before me was indeed mysterious. I was raised in the Mormon church, but always felt that something wasn’t right. For the longest I assumed it was my lack of faith and sinfulness that prevented me from being able to believe the things I should. When I left home for university I stopped attending church and, though I still considered myself a Mormon, started exploring different options. At university I found I had more in common with my friends at the Wesley Foundation, Baptist Student Union, and other Christian organizations than I did with my Mormon peers. At the same time, I was also put off by the Christians on campus who would confront people on the quad and condemn them to Hell or question if they were saved (a phrase of little meaning to a Mormon).

Evangelical Anglicans in the First American Century

Introduction

The 19th century was a time of great action and change in the religious scene in America. Republican ideals and the new sense of freedom offered by America’s vast frontier led to great revivals of religion. Americans questioned the established churches and forged their own religious paths with nothing except personal conscience and the Bible as their guide. Within this context the post Revolutionary War remnants of the established English church remained in America. Many of the parishes left behind stood apart from the evangelical Protestant mainstream that would come to define the 19th century. Others had been touched by the revivals of Edwards, Whitefield, and Wesley’s Methodists and intended to take part in the religious conversation of the first American century.

Torture Condemned?

The parable of rich man and Lazarus found in Luke 16:19-31 raises many uncomfortable questions about wealth, poverty, salvation, judgment, and the nature of the afterlife. Most uncomfortable for me, is the parable’s apparent ease with the idea of the rich man being tormented in Hades.

In the narrative, torture is introduced abruptly without comment and neither Lazarus nor Abraham seem to have a problem with it. The rich man is dead, buried, and being tormented in Hades all within one quick declaration in vv.22b - 23. Lazarus makes no plea for mercy with Abraham on the rich man’s behalf in the parable. Indeed, Lazarus remains completely silent during the entire afterlife exchange between Abraham and the rich man. Abraham throughout his entire discourse with the rich man shows no repulsion to what is happening. On the contrary, Abraham makes it clear in v. 25 that he knows the rich man is “in anguish.” This he notes, as matter of fact.

Helping the Seeds Grow

The Parable of the Growing Seed – so called by Snodgrass1 – found in Mark 4:26-29 at first glance appears to present an image of a careless and maybe not very intelligent man who aimlessly throws seed around, naps during the growing season, and then harvests whatever happens to grow. First impressions, however, are not always best. On a deeper analysis, the parable reveals an image of humankind participating in the building of the kingdom of God and enjoying the bounty of God’s blessings once his kingdom has been fully realized. In this short parable, Jesus not only answers the question of why things do not seem to have changed too much at the Son of Man’s arrival, but also why his followers should work to build the kingdom they thought would appear in an instant.

Sanctification of Soil

The parable found in Luke 8:5-8, Mark 4:2b-9, and Matt 13:3b-9 titled the “Parable of the Sower” by Snodgrass1 is much better titled the “Parable of the Soils” as it is called in Burton’s2 early 20th century gospel harmony, because the point of this parable has very little to do with the sower and everything to do with dirt.3 Snodgrass provides sufficient evidence that the nimshal found in Matt 13:18-23, Mark 4:13-20, and Luke 8:11-15 fits well within the bounds of what Jesus would have taught to his disciples.4 The explanation of the parable in the text makes it clear that Jesus and the Evangelists saw the seeds in the parable as a metaphor for God’s word being preached to God’s people. The soil represents those who Jesus’ message is preached to and their receptiveness to that message. A person with the qualities of good soil will listen to Jesus’ message, work to understand it, and put Jesus’ teachings into action in her or his life.5

More Than Bread

The interrogative parable found in Luke 11:5-71 is best interpreted not only in the assurance given in v. 8 and Jesus’ sayings about the Father’s faithfulness in answering prayers in vv. 9-13, but also by Luke’s version of the Lord’s Prayer in vv. 2-4. Snodgrass notes that the parable and the Lord’s Prayer are connected because in each a request for bread is made.2 The connection goes much deeper than bread. The parable is used to connect the words of Jesus’ prayer to the mode they should be prayed in.

Mustard Seeds, Leaven, and the Present Kingdom of God

Though the Gospel of Thomas separates the parable of the mustard seed1 and the parable of the leaven2 and Mark does not have the parable of the leaven entirely3, the pairing of the parables in Luke and Matthew bring the similarities of both to light. The parables are connected in that both are about the small acts of women and men who, when paired with the mysterious acts of God, bring forth the Kingdom of God in the present world.

The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)

Luke 10:25-37, to me, has always been a parable about a person who crossed cultural divides to serve and love another. My understanding of the parable of the “Good Samaritan” prior to this week was focused on my call as a Christian to serve others in need and not walk past them; plan and simple. This week, however, I am left with additional points of focus. Through Short Stories__1 I have been lead to explore the effect the parable would have on me if I identified with the victim instead of the Samaritan.

The Parable of the Dishonest Manager (Luke 16:1-15)

The parable of the dishonest manager has always been challenging for me to interpret. Is there a positive figure in the parable? Is there even a lesson in the narrative portion of the parable or does that only come after 8a when Jesus gives his interpretation? Does the narrative even fit with Jesus’ interpretation, or was this explanation possibly a Lukan addition; his attempt to salvage a well-known story attributed to Jesus by the early church? In this analysis I will attempt to answer my own questions about this parable by first, looking for meaning in verses 1-8a as a distinct narrative pericope and second, by attempting to resolve Jesus’ interpretation of the narrative with my reading.

Wesleyan Theology, Reduced and Engaged

Introduction

For a movement still in its infancy when compared against other traditions and movements within the Christian oikoumene the Wesleyan church tradition has already reached a high level of diversity both in theology and practice. John Wesley was not a systematic theologian. His theology, like the apostle Paul, came out of the practical needs of the people he ministered to.¹ Wesley was more focus on what he need to teach his parishioners and how best to teach them along with what the entire revival should be doing to best serve God and neighbor.² Somewhere between Wesley’s revival and the modern church, the Wesleyan tradition lost its focus and started down unknown paths. Engaging with the Wesleyan theological tradition the core of Wesleyan theological thought can be sufficiently reduced to a study on the nature and work of the Triune God and that God’s universal plan to bring all creation into relationships of love with himself.

The Apocalyptic-Eschatology of Jesus and Paul

Introduction

The dominant worldview of Jesus, Paul, and the contemporary Hebrews was that of apocalyptic-eschatology. The prophets of the Hebrew Bible had spoken of the coming Kingdom of God and Jesus had declared himself a prophet who was the sign that the time of the end was coming for the world. Jesus, Paul, and their contemporary Judaism all have something to say about the Hebrew god’s revealing of the end of time. In many instances all three streams share a common narrative; however, each reinterprets and recasts the narrative for a particular audience and context.

Background on Klaiber and Marquardt's Living Grace

The selected readings from chapter two of Walter Klaiber and Manfred Marquardt’s Living Grace: An Outline of United Methodist Theology focus on two traditional flashpoints in Western Christianity’s tension between the ever-growing body of secular truths and theories about the natural world and the all-powerful, loving creator God of the Old and New Testaments. In the first selection - pages 93 to 102 - the authors focus on the tension between the Judeo-Christian belief in ex nihilo1 creation and natural science’s discovered truths and generally accepted theories over the last several centuries. In the second selection - pages 115 to 126 - the authors focus their attention on the Wesleyan theology of theodicy; how we explain and embrace the seemingly contradictory nature of a loving God who allows suffering. In both selections the authors juxtapose the seemingly nihilistic nature of modern atheistic, secular thought against the always-creating Christian God of love. Rather than furthering the conflict, the authors in both selections bridge the gap between worldviews by presenting a theology of God that is larger than ancient Mesopotamian understandings of creation and beyond the machinations of DNA chains and the “chance” of natural selection.

Background & Theological Analysis of "O For A Thousand Tongues to Sing"

Background

“O For A Thousand Tongues to Sing” was written in May 1739 by Charles Wesley in remembrance of his moment of assurance and full conversion. The year before, Charles had become very sick and was cared for by a group of Christians. Their service, prayers, and testimonies during his sickness greatly affected Charles and caused him great reflection. While on the mend after the sickness, he was reading from his Bible and had an experience that would later be mirrored by his brother John at Aldersgate. Charles would point to this even as a great renewal of his faith. Hymn 57 in the United Methodist Hymnal was written in remembrance of this great renewal originally as an 18 stanza poem, but later shorted into a hymn for the Methodist hymnal of 1780.

The Divine Plural in Early Genesis

The first four chapters of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible are interesting for many reasons. In these chapters the ancient editors have stitched together two even more ancient written sources — the Yahwist and Priestly — to give an account of the creation of the world and humankind. The saga of Earth’s first people and their dealings with God are masterfully presented to set the stage for the later patriarchs and the coming of Israel as a covenant people. Genesis chapters one through four are, therefore, a fertile ground for critical study of the Hebrew Bible; redaction, form, source, literary, etc. all forms of Biblical criticism can be applied to these early chapters. However, one peculiar facet of early Genesis stands out even to the casual reader of the Hebrew Bible: twice — Gen 1:26 and Gen 3:22 — the singular, monotheistic god of the Hebrews is referenced using the plural pronoun us. This “divine plural” is the source of much scholarly discourse.

Review: Basil of Caesarea

In Basil of Caesarea: A Guide to His Life and Doctrine Andrew Radde-Gallwitz gives space to not only to the historical events and context of the life of Basil of Caesarea, but takes an extended look into the theology of Basil. However, unlike many books summarizing the theology of a great influencer of the church, Radde-Gallwitz doesn’t separate the human being from his or her theology. Radde-Gallwitz gives the context of the political and ecclesiastical world Basil lived in along with Basil’s various academic and personal relationships as a window into the place in life from which he approached the divine mysteries of God. Radde-Gallwitz strives to show a Basil who is not only an innovative and politically cunning bishop of the early church, but a theologian trying to bring unity in a difficult time whilst bringing as little innovation to the church’s understanding of God as possible.