...Preaching the Gospel in an Awkward Age William H. Willimon Duke University Chapel, Durham, North Carolina In The Nature of Doctrine: Religion in a Post-Liberal Age, (Westminster) George Lindbeck notes that North American Christians live in an awkward age. The age is awkward because, Christianity, having once been established in this culture is not yet clearly disestablished. Perhaps that explains why the majority of my sermons begin in Lindbeck's "experiential-expressivist" mode, beginning with the congregation's unformed and uninformed experiences and subjectivity, as if the old Constantinian synthesis were still in place, only to end as if I am a missionary speaking to pagans. Having begun in the recesses of human experience - are you depressed? Do you want self-esteem? How can we get the attention of Congress? -1 end with the renewed realization that the gospel does not merely want to speak to the modern world, it wants to assault, confront, convert, remake that world through the church and its preaching. As Lindbeck might put it, I begin, as all liberals do, as "experiential-expressivist," providing poetic articulation to what people already know, only to realize belatedly that the gospel is more "cultural-linguistic," demanding conversion into a new culture and a new mode of speaking and thinking which cannot be known without conversion. Most Sundays, in my neo-gothic, middle-of-the-university pulpit built in the heyday of North Carolina Constantinianism, speaking to a campus...
Words: 3319 - Pages: 14
...promoting secular ideology and the highly controversial prosperity gospel. Balmer, Randall. "Televangelism.." The Oxford Companion to United States History. :...
Words: 875 - Pages: 4
...are learning about Christ’s life often hear the word “gospel” and do not know what it means. With some quick research one can learn that the word gospel comes form the Greek work euangelion, which means good news. But that does not solve what exactly is the good news is. One will also learn that there can be a distorted gospel or more than one gospel according to Galatians chapter one, verses six through nine, and he or she can be confused as to what the gospel really is and unsure if what he or she is reading is true. It says, “...not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ…If anyone is preaching you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him...
Words: 790 - Pages: 4
...Besides Jesus, the person I chose that I can learn from in the Gospel of Luke would be John the Baptist. John is talked about throughout the gospels and appears in chapter’s one, three, seven, and nine in The Gospel of Luke. He shows us his utter determination to help others and he was still very kind and faithful. In the Gospel of Luke, John portrays to us how he always puts in his full devotion and determination when preaching to the public. John is always very confident in his ability to preach. In the parable of Peter Declares that Jesus is the Messiah (9:19), we see that because of John being true of heart and so devoted towards God, people thought he was Jesus. He teaches me to always be true of heart and determined towards everything...
Words: 433 - Pages: 2
...Works and Words: Why You Can't Preach the Gospel with Deeds And why it's important to say so. Duane Litfin [ posted 5/30/2012 10:43AM When it comes to the enduring question of word versus deed in the Christian's calling, the issue is always one of balance. How are Christians to think about the relative roles of words (proclaiming the gospel) and deeds (loving action) in what Christ has called his people to be and do? We need to set our scales to a balance that matches Scripture. "Balance" may sound simple, but finding and maintaining our equilibrium on such a complex subject is never easy. It's like walking a tightrope. Only one direction will keep us upright and moving forward, and any number of missteps could lead us to fall off one side or the other. Misguided claims abound. Here's a prominent example. How often do we hear these days, with passion and approval, the famous dictum attributed to Francis of Assisi: "Preach the gospel at all times. Use words if necessary"? In this saying, the word-versus-deed question rears its head, stressing in this instance how important it is for Christians to "preach the gospel" with their actions. Let the gospel be seen rather than spoken, it's implied. Words may serve a useful backup role, but our actions must take center stage if we are to make a difference in the world. At first blush, this sounds right. Except that it isn't. According to those who know the relevant history well—the Franciscans—Francis never uttered these words...
Words: 2720 - Pages: 11
...There was no doubt about it, by most any standard Saul was good. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul describes himself likes this: if anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. In short, Saul had all the credentials that you could ever ask for in a religious person. And he made sure that these principles by which he lived were enforced. His preaching was a preaching that was unambiguous as to its expectations. Moreover, these expectations had “teeth” in them. They were enforced and held accountable by laws and rules strictly enforced. That’s what Saul was doing one day as he made his way to a town called Damascus. Armed with letters from the high priest giving him authority to arrest any who opposed him, Saul made his way to Damascus with the intent of taking prisoner as many Christians as he could. These people were going to know the rules. And they would obey...or else. You’ve got to admit, there is a certain appeal to that line of thought. It really simplifies things. All you have to do is say, “these are the laws...these are the rules, and if you don’t follow them, then we will impose this or that sanction on you.” It’s so simple; and all the while one can readily assume and heartily believe that he is...
Words: 2274 - Pages: 10
...through our relationship with God and studying His word, to bring the body of Christ into maturity by equipping the whole body for the work of service, for the edifying of the body of Christ (Eph 4:12). We are also charged to spread the Gospel of truth throughout the world, helping believers to understand the mysteries of God. The building itself also consists of exposing the wisdom of God to believers in spiritual unity, purity, stability and love. In essence, we should be as perfected in Christ as possible. Our growth toward maturity in the faith depends upon our learning and vigorously applying revelation knowledge obtained through illumination. It is in this vivid, Spirit-led context that Ephesians 4:12 is to be fully...
Words: 827 - Pages: 4
...story and or parable appears in more than one gospel I assume that the writers have access to a common source. Scholars have identified a source for the synoptic gospels that they call “Q” from the German “Quelle.” The Q document is held to be the common source from which Matthew and Luke obtain their shared stories that are not found in Mark. But both Matthew and Luke also use Luke as a source for their material, which is common to all three synoptic gospels. If one accepts this two-source hypothesis it would mean that the early Christians began to preserve the sayings and miracles of Jesus first in an oral form and then in written form. The authors of the synoptic gospels wrote decades after the crucifixion of Jesus and they pulled much of their material from the Q document and from other written or oral traditions. So when only Matthew and Luke include the miracle story of the Healing of the Centurion’s Servant (Matt 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-10) or the Parable of the Talents (Matt 25:14-30; Luke 19:11-27) it demonstrates a common source, which is most likely unknown to Mark. What Does This Say About The Inspiration Of The Scriptures? If the two source hypotheses is correct it would destroy the belief of some in the plenary verbal inspiration of scripture, but not my belief in scriptural inspiration. Many ancient forms of literature had oral and or written sources from which they pulled their information. So, why should the gospels be any different? Prior to taking this class...
Words: 871 - Pages: 4
...RESEARCH PAPER “The Theology of the Emerging Church” THEO 510 LUO Dr. Sanders Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary Joseph M. Yarbrough November 10, 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………1 History of the Church……………….……………………………………………………………2 Church Doctrine…………………………………………………………………………………..3 The Emerging Church…………………………………………………………………………….4 Beliefs of the Emerging Church…………………………………………………………………..5 Methodologies of the Emerging Church………………………………………………………….8 Strengths and Weakness of the Emerging Church………………………………………………..9 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………….10 Works Cited……………………………………………………………………………………...12 Introduction Churches all across America are working hard in their attempts to increase the kingdom of God with all kinds of innovative and inspirational ministries. Many of these churches are tuning their worship services to make them more attractive and exciting to reach a new generation. According to George Barna, “Millions of dollars flow from church budgets into events each year in an effort to influence people’s thinking and behavior. Literally billions of dollars are spent every year maintaining, upgrading, and expanding buildings and facilities to provide the space and equipment required for the ministries planned by the church. To appeal to people who have thus far turned a cold shoulder to God, churches and denominations launch sophisticated marketing campaigns that are designed to reposition...
Words: 3487 - Pages: 14
...Luther openly states ideas against the Pope. As a monk, Luther had to remember passages and recite them, and he admits that one word in a passage confuses him. This passage is in the book of Romans, and the word in righteousness. He said he meditated day and night to try and understand the context of the passage. He re-read the text as it was written and figured out the meaning. …I gave heed to the context of the words, namely, “In it the righteousness of God is revealed as it is written, He who through faith is righteous shall live.” There I began to understand that the righteousness of God is that by which the righteous lives by a gift of God, namely by faith. And this is the meaning: The righteousness or God is revealed by the gospel, namely, the passive righteousness with which merciful God justifies us by faith, as it is written, “He who through faith is righteous shall live.” Later in that same paragraph Luther talks about the things God does in us, like God gives us strength and wisdom. I think Luther is starting to tell us that it is through God’s Grace that we can do all of this things, and that it does not matter what we do, God has to decide to give us these things. In other words, I think this is his start to the idea of predestination. Concerning the practices of the church, Luther writes a letter to Archbishop Albert of Mainz about the buying of indulgences. Luther is concerned with the people buying these indulgences because...
Words: 1238 - Pages: 5
...liberty.edu/eleu/vol2/iss1/7 This Book Review is brought to you for free and open access by the Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary and Graduate School at DigitalCommons@Liberty University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Eleutheria by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@Liberty University. For more information, please contact scholarlycommunication@liberty.edu. Book Reviews Abstract Review by Russell Meek of Existential Reasons for Belief in God: A Defense of Desires and Emotions for Faith by Clifford Williams. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2011, 188 pp., $22.00. Review by A. Chadwick Thornhill of The King Jesus Gospel: The Original Good News Revisited by Scot McKnight. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011, 177pp., $19.99 USD. Keywords Existential, belief, faith, God, Clifford Williams, Jesus, Gospel, Scot McKnight Cover Page Footnote Various authors. This book review is available in Eleutheria: http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/eleu/vol2/iss1/7 Eleutheria 2:1 Winter (2012) 94-98 Existential Reasons for Belief in God: A Defense of Desires and Emotions for Faith by Clifford Williams. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2011, 188 pp., $22.00. Christian apologetics primarily focuses on what Williams calls evidential arguments for belief in God—arguments that focus on facts, such as the “first cause” argument for God’s creation...
Words: 2613 - Pages: 11
...Testament Books I. Luke The genre in the book of Luke is gospel. Luke is not only a physician, but also a historian that wrote concerning the perfect humanity of Jesus Christ. Throughout Luke’s gospel the humanity and compassion of Jesus is portrayed in His mission of seeking and saving the lost. In the introduction, Luke emphasized how the beginnings of Christ and John the Baptist intertwined. Jesus prepared for His ministry for over thirty years, which is summarized in one verse (2:52). After being baptized by John the Baptist and tempted by Satan, Jesus began His ministry that lasted only three years. In Jesus’ ministry, authority was shown over every realm, including demons, disease, nature, effects of sin, and traditions. With the growing number of ones that believed, there were also those that rejected the gospel. Jesus taught His disciples on a number of practical matters by parables, including the Lost Sheep, Lost Coin, and Lost Son. After the crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus appeared to His disciples before He ascended to heaven. II. John The genre in the book of John is gospel. The humanity of Jesus, as the Son of Man, is shown in the gospel of Luke. Jesus is portrayed in the gospel of John in His deity as the Son of God. The seven “I am” statements and seven miracles represent the deity of Christ in the gospel of John, more than any other book in the Bible. The major theme in the gospel of John is twofold, eternal life given to those who believe in...
Words: 916 - Pages: 4
...commotion in his society. This woman was Anne Hutchinson. Anne Hutchinson was born in England where she was married and had 13 children and became pregnant with another. Her decision to move to Massachusetts was motivated by the fact that her former minister voyaged to America to spend his life. In her eyes, he was the only minister that could honestly teach the gospel. She knew that she was to follow him not long after his departure....
Words: 655 - Pages: 3
...anyone to gain access to heaven is to believe Jesus is the Son of God, confess Him with their mouth, and have a relationship with Him. Also from my recollection the only sin which is unforgivable is that of "blaspheming the Holy Spirit." I believe what I just wrote is biblical and I did not leave anything out. If so, I am just wondering why I hear so many stories from "non-believers" (Sorry Peggy) about "Christians" telling them they won't make it to heaven because of the way they choose to live their lives. Let me be very clear. Nowhere in the bible are followers of Christ commissioned to go into all the world and inform the nations of their eternal doom. The "Preaching the Gospel" the great commission speaks of does not mean correcting someones behavior. I believe "preaching the gospel" could look like us sharing the love we have with Jesus and inviting others into the same love. We don't have to tell someone they are going to burn in hell in order to share the love of Jesus with them. In fact, I cannot remember one example in the Bible of Jesus telling a specific...
Words: 720 - Pages: 3
...2 Tim 1 Encouragement to Be Faithful 3I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. 8So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, 10but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. 2 Tim 2 2And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. 15Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 20In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. 21If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. 22Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love...
Words: 3674 - Pages: 15
