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 It means wrong, disapproved, unenlightened, out-of-date, or irrelevant from the presumed perspective of the future.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”
N.T. Wright
Beatnik Christianity Refuses to Participate in Conservatism vs. Progressivism
N.T. Wright once observed, "From where many of us in the UK sit, American politics is hopelessly polarized. All kinds of issues get bundled up into two great heaps. The rest of the world, today and across the centuries, simply doesn’t see things in this horribly oversimplified way." Totally agree, but it's worse than that. It's this all-encompassing hodgepodge of politics, … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Refuses to Participate in Conservatism vs. Progressivism
Beatnik Christianity Calls for Discernment with Our Theological Metaphors
1980's Metaphors We Live By is a classic book by George Lakoff and Mark Johnson. The authors suggest that the conceptual metaphors we use in day-to-day conversations both reflect and create the way we think, feel, perceive, and interact in the world. A popular American metaphor like "time is money" shapes our collective cultural values and cultivates our individual interior … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Calls for Discernment with Our Theological Metaphors
Beatnik Christianity Rebuffs Inane Religious Frameworks Like Protestant “Faith vs. Works”
If you study theology long enough, you'll inevitably come to a point where there are certain topics you don't ever want to discuss again. It's not that the topics grow uninteresting. It's because the warped manner in which people insist upon framing the discussion is. just. so. freaking. awful. It's exasperating. The god-awful Arminianism vs. Calvinism debate being the … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Rebuffs Inane Religious Frameworks Like Protestant “Faith vs. Works”
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
