Ekkesia Then & Now

ET&N 98 Designed for Science

Dick Soule — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 06:00:38 +0000

Even without the Genesis account, the Judeo-Christian tradition is firmly rooted in God as Creator. The differences we have about this truth lie in our interpretations of Genesis 1, some believing it is a literal description of a six-day event about 10,000 years ago; others a looser description of a much longer process; and still others a poetic affirmation of God’s sovereignty.

The purpose of this edition of ET&N is not to discuss those perspectives, but rather to suggest that not only did God create the universe but he did so in a manner to optimize human ability to observe, analyze, and hence, understand the physical world. In other words, God designed his creation for science.

Read the full text of ET&N 98 (peculiarpress.com/etn/html/etn98.htm)

ET&N 97 Gardening with God

Dick Soule — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:05:59 +0000

In Surprised by Hope, supported by other works, N.T. Wright teaches “God intends in the end to fill all creation with his own presence and love” through the “drastic and dramatic birth of new creation from the womb of the old,” where “the redeemed people of God in the new world will be the agents of his love going out in ways, to accomplish new creative tasks, to celebrate and extend the glory of His love.”

Now that’s a hope we should all be able to celebrate and embrace!

The well-meaning focus on “personal salvation,” Jesus as our “best friend,” and the like is true as far as it goes, but Christian salvation only has meaning in the broader context of the role of the entire restored human race with God’s restored creation.

Read the full text of ET&N 97 (peculiarpress.com/etn/html/etn97.htm)

A disclaimer, of sorts

Dick Soule — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:28:26 +0000

I have now posted all installments of Ekklesia Then & Now here on the blog. Past issues are only available as pdfs, which require the Adobe Reader to access.

One clear expectation of Christians is that we continue to grow and mature in our knowledge, attitudes, practices, and behavior. I’ve been writing ET&N for more than six years now (with some significant gaps), and I hope during that time I have, in fact, grown as a disciple of Christ Jesus, and I have plenty of room to continue to grow.

I haven’t re-read all the past issues of ET&N, but I know there are things I wrote in the past about which my view has changed, sometimes subtly, sometimes significantly. Perhaps, in that way, ET&N is ultimately a chronicle of the growth of an individual Christian.

ET&N 96: Not Just a-Passin’ Through

Dick Soule — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:12:24 +0000

In our church, and in many churches in our tradition, we sing the hymn, “This World is not My Home,” but I hope we never sing it again. The hymn, though perhaps motivated by the writers’ genuine faith, directly or indirectly denigrates God’s good creation and contradicts the Kingdom values Jesus came to announce and model.

Read the full text of ET&N (peculiarpress.com/etn/html/etn96.htm)

ET&N Returns

Dick Soule — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 02:59:35 +0000

Following an absence of 31 months, Ekklesia Then & Now returns on September 1, 2009. Subscribers will continue to receive installments through the inJesus service (subscribe here). I’ll be re-posting some past installments on the new ET&N blog, including the series, but all past issues can be viewed at the Peculiar Press website.

I look forward to continued conversation about Christ Jesus and His church in the world.

Dick

ET&N 95 Upon this Sand: The Papacy

Dick Soule — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 17:54:02 +0000

This issue of ET&N examines the false claims of the papacy based on Thomas Madden’s “The See of Peter” lecture in the Modern Scholars audio set, “Upon this Rock: The History of the Papacy from Peter to John Paul II. Discussion is now open on this issue. Click here to access the article.

ET&N 94 Mardi Gras and Lent

Dick Soule — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 13:02:22 +0000

This issue of ET&N is part of the “Holidays” series, which examines the traditions and origins of Christian holidays. Click here to access the article.

ET&N 93 Titus

Dick Soule — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 13:05:23 +0000

This issue of ET&N is the sixth in the “Co-workers” series, which examines the men and women whom Paul referred to as sunergos sunergos.

Note: because of the planned 2010 publication of Coworkers as a Bible study in AMG Publisher’s Following God series, this issue of ET&N is no longer available.

ET&N 92 Marcion and the Two Gods

Dick Soule — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 13:10:04 +0000

Marcion is often considered the greatest heretic of the second century, yet I am including him in the ET&N “Early Fathers” series. Why? First, because fathers aren’t always good. Second, because his contribution to the early development of Christian theology is substantial. And third, he had some of the most important things right!

Click here to access the article.

ET&N 91 Neos and Kainos

Dick Soule — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 13:12:39 +0000

I think Greek is a wonderful language – so many nuances of word meanings, often with deeper significance than English typically conveys. This issue of ET&N looks at two words for “new” – neos and kainos.

Click here to access the article.

Happy Kainos Year!