Faced with the impossible choice between being intellectually honest or following Jesus, I chose intellectual honesty and became an agnostic. That was until a professor recommended Mark Noll’s book, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind. It saved and transformed my faith. In it Noll notes four key historical movements that were responsible for evangelicalism’s anti-intellectual … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Treasures the Life of the Mind As a Sacred Means of Worship
Pentecostalism
Beatnik Christianity Steers Clear of Neo-Gnosticism and Conspiracy Theories
If you were taught the Smurfs and Harry Potter were portals into the demonic realm, you might be a Pentecostal. If you were told rap music contains Satanic rhythms that subconsciously train our spirits to align with unnatural bio-mystical frequencies, you might be a Pentecostal. If you were warned about shadow world governments led by socialist Illuminati who are laying the … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Steers Clear of Neo-Gnosticism and Conspiracy Theories
Beatnik Christianity Expects Jesus Followers to Grow and Develop
Show me a person who's virtually unchanged over a 20-year period and I'll show you someone who's terribly boring and likely suffering from trauma-induced stagnation. It's an entirely natural psychological process of human growth and development for people to have experiences that influence their worldviews, personalities, relationships, interests, and values. Therein lies a lot … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Expects Jesus Followers to Grow and Develop
Beatnik Christianity Savors the Overlooked Role of “Valley Experiences”
Contemporary Christian culture loves its "mountaintop experiences." Harkening back to the biblical stories of Moses, Elijah, and Jesus, this figure of speech refers to profound encounters with the divine where the wall between heaven and earth is seemingly thinned. God is present. Theologically speaking, most Jesus followers recognize that God is everywhere, of course, but in … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Savors the Overlooked Role of “Valley Experiences”
Beatnik Christianity Repudiates Honor-Guilt And Honor-Shame Cultural Paradigms
One of the insights I most appreciate from the field of cultural anthropology is the identification of the sister paradigms of honor-guilt cultures and honor-shame cultures. In guilt societies, control is maintained by continually reinforcing individual themes of inward guilt for condemned behaviors. The moral order is preserved through law, punishment, and forgiveness. In … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Repudiates Honor-Guilt And Honor-Shame Cultural Paradigms
