Reflections of the Kingdom

Render Unto Caesar: The Struggle Over Christ and Culture in the New Testament by John Dominic Crossan My rating: 5 of 5 stars "Render unto Caesar" is the beginning of a phrase attributed to Jesus in the synoptic gospels, which reads in full, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's" [Matthew 22:21] - Wikipedia This is an academic piece that looks to place this encounter within the greater cultural context of the first century Roman World. While I am not qualified to speak on the merits of the scholarship, I found the analysis presented in a clear and concise manner that allowed a layman to follow and understand it. As such, it greatly expanded my own understanding of what Jesus was really speaking about … although it does strike counter to some fundamentalist interpretations. To make his point, the author draws upon other areas of the Christian Bible as well as contemporary e...

The Stoic Arsenal: 40 Lessons from Stoicism for a Better Life by Leandro Faria My rating: 4 of 5 stars An introduction to Stoic philosophy, updated for the modern practitioner seeking “the good life.” We get 40 “lessons” in six parts … the primary idea being to not worry about that for which you have no control. What follows are various techniques to put that into action, often further subdividing the lesson into manageable steps (example: lesson 1 - “Mens Omnis Regit” is further divided into self-sufficiency and constant presence to show how we can change the way we think about everything). Woven into each block of text are quotes from various famous stoics and several persons whose personal philosophy appears to intersect with Stoicism. I found the comparisons with Buddhism particularly interesting where they look at mindfulness and the instruction to avoid emotional attachments to the physical world (Lesson 15 & 16). As might be expected for ...

The Christian Moral Life: Directions for the Journey to Happiness by John Rziha My rating: 5 of 5 stars Performance: Let's be real ... I expected this book to read like a text book and that's okay because I am very interested in the topic. This makes evaluating the narration difficult ... so I started with a comparison to my college professors somewhat monotonous lectures (multiple character voices are obviously missing). In that regard, I enjoyed Andrew's performance. His tone and cadence varied just enough to keep me paying attention to the content ... which is the goal here right? Story: The first part of the book explores "ethical concept" of what it means to be created "in the image of G*d" ... specifically what is the soul and what is its connection to the body. The text skillfully includes references to some of the greatest Christian Theologist of the Western Faith to support the authors narrative (without subor...

Scripture First by Daniel B. Oden My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is a curated selection of six (6) academic essays from the Stone-Campbell Restoration tradition that tries to re-examine how and why the moment failed to bring about the Christian unity it was looking for. Having grown up within the Disciples of Christ wing of this movement, I came to this book with a certain perspective that colors how I understood the material. 1. Creedal Expressions and Their Development in the Hebrew Bible: One of the tenants of the Restoration movement is that scripture should be read without the "lens" of creeds or traditions which was thought to have contributed to erroneous interpretations. The problem with that approach comes from the fact that "the canon of scripture has come to us through and within community - through the same community that also preserved tradition." In other words, we all use some form of a "lens" to interpret ...