The phrase "wrong side of history" gets a lot of usage these days. It means wrong, disapproved, unenlightened, out-of-date, or irrelevant from the presumed perspective of the future. I couldn't disagree more with everything about that sentiment. At best it's a thought-terminating cliché that kills important conversation; at worst it's moralistic virtue signaling used to … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Never Appeals to the “Wrong Side of History”
Bullshit
Beatnik Christianity Defines the Gospel As Jesus Putting the Whole Creation to Rights
In some circles, it has almost become cliché to say that the Gospel isn't intended as a "get out of hell" card. Yet even in those spaces there isn't a widespread renewal of what the Gospel actually is. There's seldom a compelling vision capturing its true depth and breadth. Instead what we often find is this rather clumsy refitting of a deeply flawed paradigm. It's like … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Defines the Gospel As Jesus Putting the Whole Creation to Rights
Beatnik Christianity Reboots Expectations to Christocentric Marital and Sexual Ethics
Christian culture teaches Jesus followers to have painfully misguided expectations when they engage the biblical text. Christians seem to believe the Bible is written to all people and not for all people. They think it's exhaustive in answering all of our important questions. They presume everything they read is supposed to be prescriptive instead of largely descriptive. They … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Reboots Expectations to Christocentric Marital and Sexual Ethics
Beatnik Christianity Supports An Unapologetically Positive Theology of Pleasure
After 2,000 years of avoidance, it's high time that Jesus followers develop a holistic, nuanced, and overtly positive theology of pleasure. This whole time Christian culture has been, at best, dubious because of the precedents established by Stoicism's ethical influence upon the emerging Christian community in the Greco-Roman world. There's a reason we've got a word for the … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Supports An Unapologetically Positive Theology of Pleasure
Beatnik Christianity Recognizes A Clear Alternative to Objectivity vs. Subjectivity
The moment I knew American conservatism had utterly lost its way wasn't the 2016 election itself, but the defense of Kellyanne Conway's "alternative facts" following the inauguration. The evangelical sub-culture in which I was raised proudly declared its commitment to the truth. This was coupled together with a denunciation of philosophy's "postmodern thought" and psychology's … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Recognizes A Clear Alternative to Objectivity vs. Subjectivity
