Reflections of the Kingdom

Trinitarian Dogmatics: Exploring the Grammar of the Christian Doctrine of God by D Glenn Jr Butner My rating: 5 of 5 stars As part of my formation as a Deacon, I have been reading a lot of text on Christology and the Trinity; and for most of them I finish more confused about the concept then when I started. A major contributor to this is the tendency of the authors you use uncommon terminology (from metaphysics and philosophy) as well as using common terms with the primary understanding/attributes redefined and/or stripped away entirely (eg. persons, begotten, processions, et al). By itself, that would not be as much of a problem if they 1) better defined with concepts with specific examples and 2) didn’t over use the term with slightly different nuances each time. This book appears to fix these short comings (at least for me), presenting and defending the dogmatic theology of the Trinity that would be easily understood by the average joe sitting in ...

Let Truth Prevail: An Introduction to European Christian Renewal Movements by Allen Diles My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book is, for all intents and purposes, an academic text exploring the beginnings of the restoration/reformation movements in Europe.  There is an indirect tie-in to the Stone-Campbell movement in the United States of which I am a product of; so I found this history an extremely interesting review of how the various schismatic communities developed the various beliefs that they came to hold.  Each chapter introduces a movement and some of the founders and/or main players in the movement evolution.  This usually includes a compare and contrast against the predominant Catholic view as well as other Protestant churches … and it is remarkable how they were nearly all in alignment except for a few specific disagreements and it was the subsequent persecution that forced some of the major changes/conflicts.  The author then sums ...

The Good Life Method: Reasoning Through the Big Questions of Happiness, Faith, and Meaning by Meghan Sullivan My rating: 4 of 5 stars An interesting review of virtue ethics from two (2) philosophy professors at Notre Dame.  While the primary alternative used was utilitarian ethics, or consequentialism, there is a very brief mention of deontological ethics as well.   And so we get a very good introduction to the likes of Plato and Aristotle, Socrates and Seneca, Aquinas and Kierkegaard with brief comparisons to stoicism and epicureanism.  What we don’t get is specific answers … and the authors explain why that is toward the end of the book … “Many a cult has used philosophical language and frameworks to direct people on pseudo-spiritual journeys of self-discovery. These inevitably end poorly for everyone involved. If a philosopher promises to give you the good life, you should go skeptical.”  With all of that, the authors present the ...

Eve, Where Are You?: Confronting Toxic Practices Against the Advancement of Women by Nicole L. Davis My rating: 4 of 5 stars I had an opportunity to read this book after reviewing another book on a similar topic: Women in the Bible: Interpretation: Resources for the Use of Scripture in the Church In Part I, we find four (4) chapters that introduce “The Conflict” between women called to serve and the established patriarchy that frequently impedes that call. In chapter 2 the author looks at “The Struggle Between What I’m Competent to Do and What I’m Allowed to Do” before moving on the more traditional conflicts of men vs women and women vs women that I though were both interesting and insightful without being overly judgmental. Part 2, “The Explanation” takes on a bit more risk as the author uses psychological model theories to show why there might be so much resistance to change within the church. I enjoyed these four (4) chapters on identity, power, ...