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
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Beatnik Christianity Renounces the Cosmic Bellhop View of God As Blasphemous
In every religious expression throughout history there has been a disconnect between the official tenets and expectations of the powers that be and the actual beliefs and practices of the everyday people. Christianity is no exception, so it's probably best to be charitable between the espoused ideal and the actual reality. At the same time, it's worth asking, "At what point … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Renounces the Cosmic Bellhop View of God As Blasphemous
Beatnik Christianity Believes the Bible Is Ancient, Ambiguous, And Diverse
The Bible is not the "Word of God." That language trains Jesus followers to implicitly worship the Bible almost as the fourth member of the Trinity. Let's not pretend that confusing the two doesn't reek of idolatry. The Bible is not God nor is it a part of the Godhead. No, that designation--the Word of God--belongs to Jesus alone as the incarnate Word who, along with the Father … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Believes the Bible Is Ancient, Ambiguous, And Diverse
Beatnik Christianity Harmonizes the Scientific Method with The Way of Jesus
Science and scientism are often conflated, so let’s differentiate them. Science is "a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe." Scientism is "the opinion that science and the scientific method are the best or only way to render truth about the world and reality." Science is a methodology for … [Read more...] about Beatnik Christianity Harmonizes the Scientific Method with The Way of Jesus
Beatnik Christianity Treasures the Life of the Mind As a Sacred Means of Worship
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
