It's become a folk wisdom among American Christians that people are simply a product of their time and place. For instance, Southern slave owners shouldn't be judged too harshly because that was the world in which they lived. It's unfortunate, but they didn't know any better. The implicit belief here is one of cultural and psychological determinism. We're products of our … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christian Professes the Church-State “Heresies” of Roger Williams
Hegemony
Beatnik Christianity Laments the Existence of American Civil Religion
When it comes to church-state dynamics, Paul showed us the way by appealing to his citizenship in the Roman Empire while reserving his allegiance for Christ and His Kingdom. Sadly, Christian culture in the U.S. has taken another path. We suffer from a chronic condition of adjective-noun confusion. An adjective is a description. A noun is a source of identity. That distinction … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Laments the Existence of American Civil Religion
Beatnik Christianity Follows Jesus As the Counterculture Incarnate
Wikipedia defines counterculture as "a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores." It means consciously pursuing a fundamentally different vision for one's life and community. It can be fueled by many motives--traumatic experiences, youthful rebellion, principled … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Follows Jesus As the Counterculture Incarnate
