16.07.07
Tom Wright in German III: Half time
In the process of the ongoing translation of Tom Wright's “Everyone” commentary on Romans, I have reached chapter eight, or rather, I have completed it. Half time! That means, I have translated the first book (minus the glossary). I am curious to see how this adventure will continue – so far, it's just been a crazy thing I've been doing mostly for myself.
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12.06.07
The most persecuted religion in the world
It is the especially tragic situation of the Christians in the Middle East: They are almost seen in connection with the West, but this West almost doesn't perceive them. (...) It remains undeniable that Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the world. And there is no country that feels responsible for the persecuted Christians.
The Zeit in an interesting article on persecution of Christians.
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31.05.07
Daily-life Luke
Professor: So, the gospel of Luke differs from Mark in its concern about... [Walks across room to look at poster promoting Iraq War protest, studies it for a moment, then returns to podium.] Sorry, I was distracted by the war. [Students laugh.] No, really. The things we're doing right now are actually really pointless in the world we live in. [Silence.] Okay! Back to pretending my job is important. Anyway...
(Source: Overheard in New York)
What a pity the professor was not aware how relevant Luke is for that war...
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04.05.07
Christian democratic politics II
The German CDU really honors its name. Malte of Spreeblick seems to think similarly. He discusses some interesting background of Kohl, Biedenkopff, Schleyer, Flick, and Ries.
However, I don't think the situation is much better in other parties...
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21.04.07
Tom Wright in German II
Translating Tom Wright's „Everyone“ commentary on Romans is a lot of fun so far, but does have its pitfalls. There are a few basic technical terms where I haven't yet decided how to translate them. In some cases, there's a direct and commonly used translation in German that may have other connotations than Wright intends. Here's a few examples (some easier, some harder):
covenant justice – I normally translate “covenant” as “Bund”. However, “covenant” or “to covenant” can be used as verb or attribute as well. „Bundesgerechtigkeit“ seems to be the usual technical term, but at the moment I'm using “zugesicherte Gerechtigkeit”. I am not yet sure whether it would be good to use the concept of Bundesgerechtigkeit here.
declared to be in the right – This one seemed to be a bit more difficult in the beginning, but in the meantime I decided upon “zu denen erklärt, die im Recht sind”. In German, “im Recht” often carries the one connotation of being right in a discussion through having made a correct or right statement. However, I still consider that the best translation.
put to rights – Much harder. According to my own understanding, the connotations are both “right” in the sense of “Recht” (like in “in the right”), but also “put right”, meaning fixing or “in Ordnung bringen”. “Richten” is not so bad, but in most cases, this would immediately and only be understood as pronouncing a judgement (since the connotations of “etas richten” don't carry over as easily to “jemanden richten”). “Zu [ihrem] Recht bringen” only reflects the first connotation as well, “zurecht machen” won't work at all. For the moment, I've decided on “in Ordnung gebracht” – a good reason for that was the meaning of Ordnung as a basic created structure that is the best for something (i.e. once mankind has been “in Ordnung gebracht” by God, we can live in freedom in the way that God intended us to). Choosing the right translation is not made easier by the fact that it's a rather central concept and often used.
redemption (Romans 3:24) – “Erlösung” seems to be the obvious translation. However, that is a concept that is well known, but maybe dangerously abstract. It still might be a good translation, especially since the every day usage of “redeem” is rather similar to “einlösen” (and also “auslösen”) in German. In his commentary, Wright talks about buying back slaves from a slave market or an object from a pawnshop. The connotations here are both buying back as well as the freedom that is created through this action. Unfortunately, in German, “freikaufen” doesn't work so well as a noun.
anger and wrath (Romans 1:18) – Obviously, Wright had his reasons to use “anger” instead of “wrath” (he mentions that many older translations still put “wrath”). I understand “wrath” to have a more vengeful connotation than “anger” (a famous example would be John Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath/Früchte des Zorns). In German, “Zorn” is commonly used as translation for “wrath”, and it doesn't usually carry the connotation of revenge. Instead of that, it is usually a more well-calculated, well thought out strong discontent with injustice or malevolent or evil behaviour. “Ärger” is not strong enough, and “Wut” carries a strong uncontrolled and emotional, maybe even unjustified, connotation – which might or might not be right for “anger”. Wright affirms that God's “anger” is passionate, but not ouf of control or arbitrary. So far, I used “Zorn” for “wrath”, and “Wut” for anger, even though “Zorn” seems to be the concept that I'm seeing in Wright's commentary. The main question is: Why does Wright use “anger” instead of “wrath”? I believe it is to avoid the connotations of revenge, which “Zorn” doesn't have in German.
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07.04.07
Paul in the Süddeutsche
Being currently occupied with the translating Tom Wright's commentary on Romans, these things are a lot on my mind. Therefore, I'm especially happy that even the German weekly Die Süddeutsche has something to say about the kingdom of God:
Christian faith was never meant to be an individualistic private affair, but to be a public, and also always political affair of a community. Originally, God invented his people for himself, so that it would get rid of the misery of the world.
Peter Aschoff writes a few good thoughts on the article. Simon de Vries probably understood the article in a rather different way than me, and I am curious to see the follow-up articles in his blog.
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Don Miller about not having a father
Via an article on Tautoko's blog, I got to read about Don Miller a while ago. His book “Blue Like Jazz” touched me in a very positive way. He has a incredible way of talking about faith without making use of clichés.
Today, I finally managed to listen to the first episode of his Blue Like Jazz Podcast. In it, he reads from his new book “To own a dragon”. I thoroughly recommend it, he is hilariously funny! In this sampler, you can read the first chapter (that he is reading from; he skipped the introduction at the beginning).
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A collection of treasures II
I already wrote about the blog of the excellent David P. Field. Here's another selection of links:
- David quotes T.S. Eliot on the idea of a Christian society. E.g.
But the Church cannot be, in any political sense, either conservative, or liberal, or revolutionary. Conservatism is too often conservation of the wrong things; liberalism a relaxation of discipline; revolution a denial of the permanent things.
- Through David I found an interesting article about the problematic aspects of presenting words and speaking at the same time. It just confirms my suspicion that Steve Jobs is indeed doing something right.
- David also seems to strongly believe in the power of the Gospel to influence political and social conditions for everyone. Here's one of his heros, and here's a comment on foreign aid, plus a link to an article describing why Fair Trade coffee is a bad idea.
- His collection of miscellaneous items contains a few treasures, e.g. his rough guide to Romans (item 43).
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07.03.07
Modern prophets
For Baudrillard, postmodernism meant: Civilisation has passed its boiling point; from now on, it will grow colder. It marks time, and many things will occur, but nothing will happen anymore. Events will not take place anymore, and if they do, then just as an on-screen simulation.
Seems that Baudrillard was a kind of prophet as well. Der Spiegel even manages to establish a connection with the inevitable Second Life. Let's hope that Mario Sixtus is right.
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13.12.06
Unintended side effect
Khoshaba erzählt, dass es in seiner Heimatstadt Basra vor vier Jahren noch 1500 christliche Familien gab, "davon sind jetzt sind vielleicht noch 200 übrig."
Khoshaba mentions that four years ago, 1500 Christian families lived in his home town Basra. "Now, only about 200 of them remain there."
I guess this effect was not intended at all: Spiegel Online reports that tens of thousands of Christians flee from Iraq to Syria because they are persecuted and threatened in Iraq
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15.11.06
The ABC of the kingdom of God
(I'm publishing this entry a few days later due to our internet connection having been down).
In his blog, Peter Aschoff asks the question (using an interesting quotation) whether God and the church have become unnecessary for most people.
The question is whether it is really true (and can be proven) that "the people" used to be rather interested in God and that this is not the case anymore today. Obviously, fewer and fewer people attend churches (at least in Germany), but to me that doesn't mean that faith in God has lost its relevance as a whole. It is more probably the way we are communicating this faith that is not relevant to people anymore.
I think the most important step towards possible solutions is to realize that we have lost common ground with the rest of the world. I still see a lot of forced attempts to witness to people based on the flawed assumption that people just need to be told that they need a saviour and that this is enough to make them open towards the Gospel.
I experienced this today with a new member's welcome post in the openBC forum Wirtschaft und Spiritualität (Business and Spirituality): When joining a group that seriously and busily discusses all different kinds of esoterics and spirituality, you're not going to win yourself friends by saying: "Here am I, Jesus is the answer (no matter what), you just don't know (yet)".
Unfortunately, many Christians seem to be surprised by this. And they conclude that many people are not interested in spirituality or faith at all. The opposite is true! But I think people today need to be convinced both on an emotional and intellectual level. And while doing this, I cannot assume knowledge and acceptance of basic Christian axioms anymore.
Jesus had a similar problem: His (jewish) contemporaries wished for a Messiah that will free them from the oppressive Roman government. A messiah that bears the sin of the whole world (inclusive of the Romans) probably was not wished for by most. What did Jesus do? Adjusting his mission to the desires of his contemporaries was out of the question. In the same way, (luckily) we cannot change the Gospel. However, he still succeeded to explain the kingdom of God to people in a relevant language and way. Because he had a completely different idea of the plans of God, he went to spell out the basics of the kingdom of God for them. And this is our task, too.
But, before we are able to spell out the kingdom of God for others, we probably need to get up to speed again first ourselves...
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08.11.06
The burning light
The light of truth can be scorching at times. This is an experience Ted Haggard probably is currently going through. A former senior pastor of an American mega church and the former president of the National Association of Evangelicals and an active opponent of gay rights and gay marriage, he had to step down from his office after it came to light that he entertained sexual relations with a callboy and bought drugs from him.
A lot can be said about all this, and not all of it would be wise. What is most striking for most of the media reporters probably is the stark contrast between Haggard's preaching and his actions (judging from the reports - I don't know Haggard's preaching myself). We shouldn't be surprised or even angered that this is a big thing for the media, and that they are making use of it. It should be a big thing for the church! In today's media society, wrongdoings like this one are punished and published instantly. We can either be angry about it and complain about the secular media that is not able and willing to report objectively (whatever we sometimes mean by that) - or see it as a chance, as God inciting us to strive for holiness.
For me, I am happy that the whole thing came to light. It is a lesson for myself to re-examine my own heart, to ask myself whether I am hypocritical in some things that I believe in, and to ask myself how the church should deal with issues like these. A lot of interesting questions are raised by this case, and in the end, the openness of others towards Christ and the Gospel will hopefully not be determined by the misbehaviour of Christian leaders, but how the church deals with them.
(Photo: Dave Gingrich)
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19.09.06
Halleluja vor dem Schloss
Der Auftritt mit Gospel News auf dem Rathausplatz in Wiesbaden (gegenüber dem hessischen Landtag) hat beim Wiesbadener Tagblatt einen interessanten Artikel gezeitigt. Ich könnte mir vorstellen, dass der eine oder andere Konzertbesucher sich fragt, ob er eigentlich das gleiche Konzert besucht hat wie der Reporter. Alleine die angegebene Zahl von 300 Konzertbesuchern ist fragwürdig; unsere Schätzungen liegen eher bei 1000-1200 Besuchern im Schnitt, zwischendurch sogar deutlich mehr. Eine generelle Abneigung christlichen Veranstaltungen (oder persönlichen Lebensberichten bei solchen Veranstaltungen) gegenüber scheint beim Tagblatt allerdings nicht vorhanden zu sein, der Bericht über das Frauenfrühstückstreffen fällt äußerst positiv aus. Und so vermute ich, dass es vielleicht der Fokus auf Heilung in Verbindung mit dem freikirchlichen Veranstalter war, der den Reporter so gestört hat, dass eine differenzierte Betrachtung des Abends für ihn wohl nicht mehr möglich war. Das Herausgreifen von Einzelstimmen ohne differenzierte Gesamtbetrachtung ist jedenfalls keine gute Technik, um Artikel zu schreiben, und wenn man das Verhältnis von Wortbeiträgen zu Musik an dem Abend betrachtet, so wäre eine längere Würdigung der musikalischen Inhalte auch wünschenswert gewesen.
Hier ist der Leserbrief, den ich in Reaktion auf den Artikel eingereicht habe. 1500 Zeichen sind kürzer als man denkt, ich musste über manche Formulierungen ziemlich nachdenken...
Gospel in Musik und Wort
Als Musiker von Gospel News freue ich mich, dass unsere „solide musikalische Leistung“ ihre Zustimmung gefunden hat und bedaure, dass der Rest des Programms nicht ähnlichen Anklang fand. Die Inhalte wurden allerdings deutlich differenzierter transportiert als von Ihnen dargestellt. Die „spektakuläre Überwindung der Spielsucht“ etwa wurde als ein von Freunden und professionellen Helfern einer Suchthilfe begleiteter Prozess beschrieben, nicht als marktschreierische Spontanheilung. Dass durch Jesus Christus Veränderung und innere und äußere Heilung möglich ist wurde — das gebe ich gerne zu — als eine Kernbotschaft christlichen Glaubens transportiert. Hier haben wir unseren Zuhörern ein konfessionsunabhängiges Angebot gemacht und uns nach dem Konzert kritischen Fragen im Gespräch gestellt. Von einem Spielen mit Erwartungen kann also nicht die Rede sein.
Als Gruppe aus Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz haben wir einen diversifizierten Hintergrund aus Volks- und Freikirchen. Hieraus nehmen wir uns die Freiheit, unsere christlichen Zuhörer und uns selbst zu einer konsequenten Umsetzung unseres Glaubens im Alltag herauszufordern. Die Mehrzahl der mehr als 1000 Zuhörer konnte mit diesen Denkanstößen souverän umgehen. So jedenfalls nach dem Konzert die Rückmeldung von Menschen aus verschiedenen Religionen. Ähnliche Erfahrungen machten wir auch bei anderen Konzerten — egal ob von einer Volks- oder Freikirche organisiert.
Danke an die Wiesbadener für das schöne Konzert!
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What is the Kingdom of God?
Today, I took one of Sven's quizzes. Here's my result (not very surprising for me):
You scored as Kingdom as a Christianised Society. Christians shouldn't withdraw from the world, but by being present in it they can transform it. The kingdom is not only spiritual, but social, political, and cultural.
What is the Kingdom of God? created with QuizFarm.com |
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12.07.06
A collection of treasures
I've been trying to follow the blog of Oak Hill's David P. Field (yes, he's a colleague of my brother) for a while, but alas, he just writes too many good things to keep up with. The “problem” with his blog posts is that they are the kind you want to take some time to think about, not the kind you quickly read and forget.
Anyway, here's a quick mention of three things I want to keep track of before they disappear in my RSS reader:
- The Ultimate Pro-Wal-Mart Article - I'm quite curious to read that one, given David's soft spot for social justice that I sensed in his articles so far…
- Opening Up Obadiah - A study guide on Obadiah. Certainly not a book I've been over-reading… (oh, and Thomas, where are your materials? :-))
- Audio Bible - David P. Field reads the (complete!) World English Bible. I would love do to something like this, but I'm not sure I can find a German copyright-free version of the Bible I really like… any hints?
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26.05.06
Growing up
Today, I saw two rather contrasting articles on Spiegel Online: Children reach sexual maturity earlier and earlier [in German]. According to the researcher Norbert Kluge, in 1860 girls had their first period at an average age of 16.6 years. In 1950, the average age had dropped to 13.1 years and in 1994 it had dropped to 12.2 years. For 2010, he expects the average age to be between 10 and 11 years old. Boys developed in a similar way: The average age for the first ejaculation used to be 14.2 years in 1980 and dropped to 12.6 years in 1994.
On the other hand, students depend on the financial support of their parents longer and longer. In 2003, 90% of the students in Germany received €435,- from their parents on average, compared to one third receiving less than DM 100,- (~ €50) in 1967/68. Unfortunately, the article does not expand on the duration of formal training: According to my own subjective estimate, the majority continues their formal education until they are about 27 to 30 years old. Earlier, only a small minority was able to study. In our parent's generation, most 18 to 20-year olds probably were already employed and financially independent. Around 1860, the mean age of first employment should have been much lower - at that time, a continuous education probably was unaffordable for most families.
Interestingly enough, the mean age of (first) marriage in Germany didn't change as much as I would have expected. According to research done on data for Stuttgart-Feuerbach, the mean age of first marriage for woman during the years 1760 to 1913 varied between 24 and 27 years, depending on government. In the 20th century, the average age was a bit lower in Germany (whether because or despite the world wars, I don't know), but rose substantially during the last two decades and is now about 29 years. So it seems that during the last two centuries, out of varying reasons it was normal for Germans that the beginning of sexual maturity and the first marriage lie a few years apart. It would be interesting to know what it was like in the middle ages and in other culture groups.
By the way, both earlier sexual maturity as well as later financial independence are (according to the articles cited above) both due to our greater wealth that allows for faster physical development through better nourishment as well as better financial provision while studying. So much for the numbers.
What a contrast: A hundred years ago, children and youths started their working life rather early. On the onset of sexual maturity, they already had learned to take over some responsibility. Today, this is reversed: The development of our bodies has overtaken the development of our character and personality by far. It is not surprising that through this, our dealings with sexuality have changed substantially. Whether we find those changes agreeable or not, we still have to face them. Of course in the past there were already kids that lived out their sexuality, but in general, practicing sexuality was something for adults. Which I find quite appropriate, considering not only possible pregnancies, but also the responsibility and mature personality that is needed to establish healthy sexual relationships. If physical and mental maturity do not correlate anymore, we should also re-think our definition of “adulthood”.
Warum habe ich das nun unter „Glaube“ eingeordnet? Aus verschiedensten Gründen hat der christliche Glaube auch einiges dazu zu sagen, wie Sexualität gelebt wird. Angesichts dieser Entwicklungen reicht es aber nicht, moralische Wertmaßstäbe „auf der grünen Wiese“ zu propagieren, als ob sich nichts geändert hätte. Da sich die Wertigkeit und Wahrnehmung der Sexualität in der Gesellschaft grundsätzlich geändert hat, wird christliche Kritik im Umfeld der Sexualität auf Kritik an der konkreten Sexualpraxis oder auf Ablehnung der Sexualität insgesamt reduziert. Der moralische Anspruch der Kirche scheint sich also lediglich darauf zu beschränken, den Menschen vorzuschreiben, wie, wann und mit wem sie schlafen dürfen und ihen so den Spaß am Sex zu verderben.
Das ist schade. Denn Sex ist mehr als nur Privatvergnügen – wie wir mit unserer Sexualität umgehen, prägt unsere Gesellschaft. Wenn wir von „Sexualmoral“ reden, sollte es nicht darum gehen, welche Stellungen „erlaubt“ sind, sondern beispielsweise darum, dass Sexualität Grenzen hat und nicht dazu führen darf, dass andere Menschen körperlich und emotional mißbraucht werden. Schade, dass die Kommunikation der Kirche sich so von den gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhängen verabschiedet hat, dass sie nun als Lustkiller angesehen wird. Denn unbiblisch ist die Lust am Sex sicher nicht, im Gegenteil.
Ich wünsche mir eine Kirche, die selbstbewusst dieser Generation Freude am Sex und gleichzeitig verantwortlichen Umgang damit vermittelt. Wie das gehen kann, weiß ich auch nicht – aber ich bin bereit, dazuzulernen.
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19.01.06
Außerirdische im Kirchenschiff
(English translation will follow)
Dass die Kultur vergangener Tage oft als „heiliger“ gilt als die aktuelle ist kein neues Phänomen. Die Charismatiker müssen sich oft den Vorwurf gefallen lassen, sich viel zu sehr von der aktuellen Kultur beeinflussen zu lassen. Und davor gab's den Vorwurf sicher auch schon. Wie Mark schreibt, hat der Vorwurf nun die emerging church erreicht.
Ich bin der Überzeugung: Wir sind alle Kinder unserer Zeit und können das nur schwer ablegen. Wenn jemand seine geistliche Erfüllung in einem traditionellen Gottesdienst findet, so hängt das teilweise sicherlich mit der Tiefe der Choräle und der (hoffentlich) an der Bibel orientierten Lehre zusammen, aber eben zu einem großen Teil auch mit dem (geistlichen) Aufwachsen in diesem Kontext und mit einer gewissen Affinität des Charakters mit diesem Stil. Das gleiche gilt für Hillsongs, Vineyard, Mennoniten, usw.
Prinzipiell ist das auch gar nicht negativ und ein Teil der Vielfalt, die Gottes Schöpfung mit sich bringt. In allen diesen Richtungen gibt es aber auch Dinge, die nicht mit Gott übereinstimmen. Daher müssen wir uns alle bemühen, diese Dinge abzulegen. Leider ist es nicht so, dass Traditionen über die Jahre hinweg immer göttlicher werden, daher müssen wir sowohl Tradition als auch Neues ständig hinterfragen.
Marks Beispiele zeigen, dass der Vorwurf wirklich nicht spezifisch für die emerging church ist. Die Erlösung der gesamten Schöpfung (Römer 8, 19) ist für mich gerade ein wichtiges Thema. Dazu gehören auch Gerechtigkeit in Handelsbeziehungen, soziale Gerechtigkeit, Nachhaltigkeit im Umgang mit unserer Umwelt, usw. Letztendlich muss Gottes Reich unser Handeln, aber auch unsere ganze Gesellschaft, auf allen Ebenen verändern. (Ich bin zum Beispiel dankbar, für ein Unternehmen zu arbeiten, in dem die shareholder value nicht das Maß aller Dinge ist – weil es keine Shareholder gibt.)
Je nach Glaubensrichtung beschränken wir uns aber auf die gesamte Kirche, die gesamte Gemeinde oder sogar nur das gesamte Ich, das gerettet werden muss – der Rest interessiert uns nicht mehr. Sicherlich gibt es in der emerging church Leute, denen man vorwerfen muss, dass sie sich nicht mit den Folgen ihres Konsums beschäftigen. Aber die gibt es in jeder Gemeinde und Strömung. Ich bezweifle, dass die emerging church insgesamt mehr vom „Konsumgeist“ dieser Zeit geprägt ist als andere Denominationen.
Letztendlich gilt: Wir müssen alles prüfen, und das Gute behalten. Traditionelle Gottesdienstformen können ein Segen sein, aber auch ein Rückzug in den eigenen Konsum ohne Rücksicht auf andere. Gabentests können ein wertvolles Werkzeug sein, aber auch ein Mittel zum Individualismus und zur christlich verbrämten Selbstverwirklichung. Es kommt darauf an, was man daraus macht.
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06.01.06
Germans and theology
Men interpret the bible, women are responsible for social affairs
A blog entry by Peter Aschoff has pointed me towards an interesting article in the Süddeutsche about the BGG church in Stuttgart. I share Peter's assessment that the article was written based from a positive yet critical viewpoint.
What struck me was the emphasis on the negative view of “theologizing” as well as the rather conservative view on the roles of men and women in the church. Maybe that came from the intention of the author to find parallels between the BGG and american megachurches. If the examples given in the article are factual, they are also examples for the reservations of evangelical and charismatic circles towards theology that questions interpreting the bible only literally.
Through reading N.T.Wright's commentaries on the New Testament in the last year I noticed that such foundational knowledge about dealing with the bible and the contents of the bible is rarely taught in many churches – at least according to my own experience. And that is not only true for charismatic, but also for traditional churches. I still hope there will be someone who will translate this series by N.T.Wright to German… even thought it's a Herculean task.
Maybe the church again is at a point where the leaders of the church have good theological knowledge, but don't teach the members of the church to work on an intelligent, well-founded faith themselves. That's a pity, since that should be prevented by church renewal in whatever form.
While staying in London, I thought about this topic a lot. There are a number of false dilemmas that we strongly believe in: Either a sermon is relevant to our lives but superficial, or it is deep theologically, but exhausting to listen to, boring and irrelevant. Or, to express it differently: Either a church is young, funky and interesting, or it has “good bible knowledge”. Either the bibel is true in a literal sense, or it is just a collection of myths without historical basis (which, interestingly enough, is a preconception shared both by liberal and conservative circles). Either the leadership exercises strong control over the church member's lifestyle and decisions (a model favoured by a number of charistmatic churches), or everybody does what they want and they don't live a “real faith”. Either the spirit (literally) sweeps us off our feet, or we are a “dead church”. Either men and women are the same in every single aspect, or the traditional understanding of male and female roles are the only correct way. Either the bible is totally influenced by culture, or totally acultural.
I believe that in all cases the truth is somewhere in the middle. It is much easier to just agree with one side or the other than to go and find a way through the jungle in the middle, but it is worth it.
Currently I am asking myself how I can improve my theological foundation. The Leadership Academy would be a good opportunity, but I would like to do something that goes beyond the normally accepted scope and conventions in Germany. My brother recommended the Moore College's Correspondence Course to me. Maybe I'll find something else?
Well, I will continue to read Wright's books. And I found a few interesting books in my brother's study as well:
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13.12.05
“People forget that redemption is tailor-made for the wretched.”
“Spare me the sound of your songs. I won't listen to the music of your harps. But let justice flow like a river and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.”
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07.12.05
Music for Christmas
On Sunday, I will be playing for the Messias Celebration at Treffpunkt Leben, together with Michael Schlierf, Matthias Gassert and a small choir. There will be some classical music and a few dances as well, so it should really be an inspiring morning. If you happen to be free on Sunday, I'd be glad to meet you there.
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06.12.05
A weekend in Karlsruhe
I've been wanting to write about this for quite some time…
We spent a weekend in Karlsruhe at the end of October. We went there to visit a few friends and to finally drop by Kubik.
I met Mark of Kubik last year at a conference; this was the first time I heard of the “emerging church”. Unfortunately, it took me a long time to finally go there. I decided to use this weekend including the time at Kubik as a time for myself, rather than trying to get some inspiring ideas about how to build the church.
We spent Friday night at Kubik and enjoyed the service a lot. I was touched by the creativity I saw in dealing with each other and with God. It was a precious evening for me – I felt at home right from the beginning and had a few meaningful conversations. On Monday, we went there again to participate in the 24/7 prayer week.
That weekend has left one question in me: Why is church not always as personal and relevant as this?
Thanks a lot to the friends that opened their house for us!
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28.10.05
The Quest for a Calling
The first installment of the Bluffer's guide to Christian doctrine also talks about idolatry, about putting our trust and hope into something else than God.
It is good to explore gifts and the calling that God has for us. But sometimes, we feel the meaning and satisfaction of our life depends on these things. They can actually be a christian version of the general fear of meaninglessness in our generation. We must be careful to still get our confidence and satisfaction from God, not from our service.
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15.05.05
Links for Pentecost
It is interesting what different kind of reflections can be found on this day of Pentecost. On the church's birthday, Simon Cozens muses about not really liking to go to church anymore. Reinhold shares some very challenging thoughts on revival, Wulf writes about Pentecost vs. Babel and Mark shares about an interesting Pentecost service.
The Pentecost Grid Blog collects posting on Pentecost from many different authors, not quite yet all over the globe, but let's hope we manage to achieve that next year. I contributed as well.
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Come ye, spirit of truth
Part of the Pentecost Grid Blog
These days, probably quite a few people wonder what is so important about Pentecost that in Germany we like to celebrate it with two public holidays (Pentecost Sunday and Monday). Most people know some of the background of Christmas and Easter, but the meaning of Pentecost has mostly been lost in our post-church society. Even those that know the “correct” answer (“outpouring of the holy spirit“) find it hard to attach any practical importance to it.
Even in christian circles it is not easy to deal with Pentecost: Even though it is sort of a “home base” for pentecostals and charismatics, we are still unsure how to celebrate it, and in other denominations it can be even worse. There is an official answer, of course, but how do I celebrate this day personally? What do I thank God for? What rituals are there for Pentecost when there's no nativity, no easter eggs, no christmas tree? Once the service is over, is Pentecost still more than a normal sunday for me?
An interesting description of Pentecost is that as the birthday of the church. Jesus announces building his church on Pete in Matthew 16:18, and Pete's impressive sermon in Acts catches us as a surprise after the easy to anger, hasty and somewhat insecure Pete we get to know in the Gospels. After that, we read that “…the Lord added daily” – model church growth that is to be envied.
The very important step in between that made all this possible can be found in Acts 2: Being filled with the holy spirit. At this point, it is important to remember that we are not talking about a frame of mind, godly thoughts or spiritual experiences, but about God himself living inside those who believe in him. Our modern society likes to express this thought as “the spark of God in us”, a “godly power or idea”, often to explain that being religious is not necessary since we already carry God in us. We all are God – to some extent
However, that is not what the new testament talks about! It is not about a thought or idea that is under our control. It is about yielding power, about a sovereign God that powerfully leads our life and brings it towards a good finish, even despite our hindering him somewhat sometimes.
For the church as an institution, this means that christian faith is not primarily focused on remembrance, recollection and preservation, but on acting, changing our unjust societies towards God's justice and building the kingdom of God.
This also must influence our own personal life: God acts creatively in us and despite us. Let's use this time to thank him for this privilege. We need courage to change this world. And we need humility to recognize that our thoughts and our actions are still permeated by our own wishes – as can be seen throughout church history.
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09.05.05
A living mystery
The following quote relates to my blog entry a few days ago.
“To be a witness does not consist in engaging in propaganda, nor even in stirring people up, but in being a living mystery. It means to live in such a way that one's life shall not make sense if God did not exist.”
Cardinal Emmanuel Suhard
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04.05.05
Regarding evangelisation strategies
When you're caught up in generation and culture-aware evangelisation and church planting strategies for modern, postmodern, unchurched and other societs, it is sometimes easy to lose sight of the basics.
Fortunately, Nils Minkmar of the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung“ gives us some feedback to let us know what is really important (found via Spiegel Online, my emphasis):
„Selbst die Katholiken, die ich kenne - und man muß ja schon gezielt danach fragen, zu welcher Konfession jemand gehört, um es zu erfahren; man kann es kaum noch aus dem Verhalten, dem Milieu, den Ansichten erschließen -, sind weniger fromm, weniger praktizierend, gehorchen weniger den Sittenlehren denn je.“
(Unauthorized translation: Even the catholics that I know – and you purposely have to ask what denomination someone belongs to to know it, since it is hardly possible to infer it from the behaviour, milieu or views – are less pious, less practicing, obey the moral law less than ever“.
Jesus expressed the same thing rather strongly.