Reflections of the Kingdom

Strangers and Scapegoats: Extending God's Welcome to Those on the Margins by Matthew S Vos My rating: 4 of 5 stars The Book is divided into two (2) parts, with the first part focused on identifying the stranger in terms of in groups and out groups (were I typically use the terms self and other). A lot of effort goes into explaining how the poor treatment of out groups is a mechanism for preserving group boundaries; however, the analysis was not convincing at times; his anecdotal evidence just didn’t match my anecdotal experience (which tended to be a lot more nuanced and less an argument of absolutes). For example … in discussing a lynching of a black man in TN, the author makes this curious statement: “ Of course, their actions showed little concern for the traumatized African Americans among them.” My own conclusion is the exact opposite … the whole reason the mob lynched the man was because of the impact they believed that would have on the “A...

Across the Spectrum: Understanding Issues in Evangelical Theology by Gregory A. Boyd My rating: 5 of 5 stars As stated in the Introduction, this work is intended to introduce several of the topics of debate within the Evangelical Christian movement along with a very basic position and support adopted by each side in the debate. Although the focus is on the Protestant tradition, there were a few references to Catholicism where that tradition was useful as a contrast (and I found all of the positions informative and useful). Each chapter takes up a specific debate introduced in a section entitled “Posing the Question” that tries to frame the question in common everyday language within a hypothetical discussion/encounter between two christians.  The next section identifies “The Center and Its Contrasts” which briefly describes each Evangelical position before presented supporting arguments for each position (organized into an summary, biblical argum...

The Bible and Baptism: The Fountain of Salvation by Isaac Augustine Op Morales My rating: 5 of 5 stars Christian Baptism is probably the one key rites of initiation shared by all Christian traditions in some form or another. Over the years I have extensively contemplated on the nature and meaning of this sacrament as a preacher’s kid, catholic catechist, lay dominican and deacon candidate, so I thought that I had a pretty good handle on the subject. This book managed to surprise me with a well organized exploration of the central themes (redemption/salvation, communion/unity, new life/spirit and the new priesthood, which were comfortably familiar) as well as several nooks and crannies where I never thought to look before (such as how water is used within the OT - Part 1).  Although this book was written by a Catholic theologian, his fundamentally solid biblical exegesis and accessible writing makes the book suitable for anybody who wants to under...

God and Morality in Christian Traditions by J. Caleb Clanton My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is a collection of eleven (11) short, academic essays exploring some of the debate about how human morality is determined, with a specific emphasis on the influence of God in a Christian context. “These essays were originally draft in response to a formal call for papers for a specific issue of the journal Religions entitled ‘God, Ethics, and Christian Traditions.’” Each essay was written by a different [group of] author(s) from a variety of backgrounds, so there is a wide variance on readability and understandability for a casual reader (of which I consider myself to be). Most seem to have a particular slant on the source or orientation of [christian] morality: Natural Law Theory (NLT) which sees morality as part of creature that is ordered to the good, Divine Command Theory (DCT) … aka theological volunteerism, which is essentially that we are moral only in so much a...