tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878914472051909043.post4179461644689342535..comments2024-01-12T12:39:47.241-08:00Comments on The Christian Monist: Road Blocks to JesusUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878914472051909043.post-32766237276665977352010-03-20T04:59:38.047-07:002010-03-20T04:59:38.047-07:00I sure do hope you suggested to Chris that he atte...I sure do hope you suggested to Chris that he attend the Presbyterian church you wrote about. I fear that were he to try your church, his seedling faith would be strangled by the weedy vines of anti-scientism. You & Bob might want to accompany him, too, just to make sure he didn't feel too lonely the first time. In the some of their congregations the "frozen chosen" are not immediately welcoming to new comers.Anwarihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18251799870609021860noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878914472051909043.post-59339373762328642302010-03-14T15:29:27.919-07:002010-03-14T15:29:27.919-07:00The "pro wrestling + Jesus" is quite a m...The "pro wrestling + Jesus" is quite a mix that I've seen before. In Seattle there's a "Cage-fighting" church where the pastor preaches and then the men all beat the hell out of each other.<br /><br />Here's a different cage-fighting ministry: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/02/us/02fight.htmlMJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09240462070445948163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878914472051909043.post-2021445767408187482010-03-14T14:50:29.036-07:002010-03-14T14:50:29.036-07:00The deepest thinking they did was watching a Ken H...<i>The deepest thinking they did was watching a Ken Hamm video. But they decided that Ken was far too smart for them to understand. So, their major ministry activity was watching live and caged wrestling as a group once a week.</i><br /><br />Let me get this straight. Their major ministry activity was WATCHING PRO WRESTLING?<br /><br />I'd like to hear just how they Spiritualized that. Pro Wrestling For Jeesus?<br /><br /><i>These kids were being taught to be very superstitious. God spoke to the leaders through cloud formations, or raindrops or dreams all the time.</i><br /><br />Questions, everybody: <br /><br />Isn't that called "Preistcraft", controlling the commoners by claiming a Direct Line to God (and can call down curses on anyone who gets uppity)? <br /><br />And claiming signs and wonders and Magick to prop up their Divine Right to be Lords and Masters?<br /><br />Why am I seeing the sacrifice scene from <i>Apocalypto</i> just now? The one timed to coincide with a solar eclipse (predicted by Mayan astronomy) at the climax?<br /><br />And the Duvalier regime in Haiti, which encouraged Voudun among their people to keep them dumb and superstitious? And in fear of the Tontons Macoute?<br /><br />Wasn't one of the Romans' beefs with this Christian cult was that they weren't properly superstitious enough?<br /><br />Headless Unicorn GuyAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878914472051909043.post-71929807582998110442010-03-14T05:26:05.298-07:002010-03-14T05:26:05.298-07:00MJ, like you and Michael S. I'd love to see t...MJ, like you and Michael S. I'd love to see this kind of fundamentalist Evangelism become a footnote in history.<br /><br />What I fear for them is final judgement, where they will have to account for the many people that they have turned away from Jesus; maiming others,etc.Anna Ahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14349723755730969082noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878914472051909043.post-23316857542193452772010-03-13T01:44:06.068-08:002010-03-13T01:44:06.068-08:00I sit here sighing in sympathy with you.
Luckily I...I sit here sighing in sympathy with you.<br />Luckily I attend a church where there's at least openness to intelligent design and evolution (one of our worshipleaders is a scientist in the field of nano-biology who published in Nature and Science), but I recognize this way of thinking. <br />I myself have some of your dilemma, albeit in much smaller terms: do I stay at a church where I know friends, but I sit cringing during the sermon almost every sunday? Or do I leave this institution and become a 'free ranger' of sorts? I honestly haven't figured the way out yet.<br /><br />JohanJohanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13477699002066225256noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878914472051909043.post-51933132013105928092010-03-12T16:43:45.694-08:002010-03-12T16:43:45.694-08:00I just went back and proofed my posting for the fi...I just went back and proofed my posting for the first time. Whew. I think I corrected 10 typos. I hope that I got most of them.<br /><br />Trevor, sometimes I think my church experiences are fringe, then, I where-ever I go within Evangelicalism, I run into the same thing. So, it must be mainstream. I have to realize once and for all that I am not an Evangelical any more.<br /><br />I became a board member of a large Christian youth ministry a few years ago. I was hoping to interact with more open minded people. I do have a heart for the youth. They need someone to answer their honest questions. But I was so disappointed. It wasn't only a non-intellectual group but an anti-intellectual group. The deepest thinking they did was watching a Ken Hamm video. But they decided that Ken was far too smart for them to understand. So, their major ministry activity was watching live and caged wrestling as a group once a week. <br /><br />These kids were being taught to be very superstitious. God spoke to the leaders through cloud formations, or raindrops or dreams all the time. Anyway, I was again a fish out of water and did not renew my term after two years. But among the 10 board members, I was completely alone in my desire to be more honest and to dig deeper.<br /><br />Anyway, this kind of Evangelicalism is pervasive.MJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09240462070445948163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878914472051909043.post-40684924795141200972010-03-12T14:26:32.422-08:002010-03-12T14:26:32.422-08:00Hey Steve, thanks for the references. I like Mark...Hey Steve, thanks for the references. I like Mark Noll a lot. At the time I read his first book, I knew no other human being who was having the same thoughts as I was (and expressed in his book).MJhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09240462070445948163noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878914472051909043.post-70761905248194398972010-03-12T13:57:17.968-08:002010-03-12T13:57:17.968-08:00Every time I read a post like this I think 'wa...Every time I read a post like this I think 'wait, that can't really have happened, can it?'<br /><br />I don't have any sage advice for you, but I appreciate you documenting the utter weirdness that is contemporary US evangelicalism; not least it makes any problems I might have with my church pale into insignificance. At least I never feel that I have to sacrifice my intellectual integrity to be allowed to walk through the door.<br /><br />It's funny the litmus tests that people choose to decide who's an acceptable Christian and who isn't. Maybe you should turn round and ask them how well they're keeping clear biblical instructions such as, well, Luke 3:11.<br /><br />I keep reminding myself of that one. All the while I've got more than one coat in my closet, I better not start telling other people that they're not measuring up.Trevor Morganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02583257795864285412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-878914472051909043.post-49420051492902509602010-03-12T12:45:56.676-08:002010-03-12T12:45:56.676-08:00Hi MJ,
Here! Here! Excellent article. To put my...Hi MJ, <br /><br />Here! Here! Excellent article. To put my cards on the table, I'm with Bob on the biological evolution as God's tool for creation ... I had a similar article to yours in <a href="http://evanevodialogue.blogspot.com/2007/06/evangelicalism-and-evolution-why.html" rel="nofollow">Evangelicals and Evolution: Why the Discussion Matters</a> .. my point#4 was similar to yours (with a different scientific topic) ... anti-evolutionism is often a road block to Jesus. <br /><br />I see you have Noll's "The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind" on your "interesting books" list. Not sure if you've seen Noll's new paper <a href="http://biologos.org/uploads/projects/Noll_scholarly_essay.pdf" rel="nofollow">Evangelicals, Creation, and Scripture</a> paper he gave at the Biologos conference late last year that discussed the compatibility of evolution and an evangelical expression of the Christian faith (about 50 evangelical leaders took part - two other authors on your list - Yancey and N.T. Wright were also among the 50).Steve Martinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11734019573868663947noreply@blogger.com