“Do you know your Enneagram number?” Me: “I’m whichever number thinks the Enneagram is [nonsense].” I know there are some people (none of whom likely read my blog, or will continue to in any case) who feel the Enneagram saved their life or marriage or whatever and might be hurt by my opinion. In suchContinue reading “Enneagram? Meh.”
Author Archives: Greg
Progress Report
I’m at the halfway point in my PhD program. I’ve completed seven quarters of coursework. These included (1) a directed reading (guided independent study) in philosophical hermeneutics, (2) a seminar on theological method, (3) a seminar on biblical theology and theological hermeneutics, (4) a seminar on research methods in New Testament study, (5) a seminarContinue reading “Progress Report”
McFague’s Method in Models of God
A Reading of Sallie McFague, Models of God: Theology for an Ecological, Nuclear Age (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1987), Part 1.
Sermon Prep. for John 16:16–33
The text this week is John 16:16–33, assigned as part of a series on the “very truly” sayings in John. These are initial notes and reflections on the text, co-text, and intertext before recourse to contextual materials and commentaries. What does the assignment of a text do to the process of delimiting the interpretive boundariesContinue reading “Sermon Prep. for John 16:16–33”
Discipleship Leads to Mission?
Mike Breen is wrong about missional ecclesiology. Here’s his claim: Now one of the buzzwords around today is the word “missional.” People want to create missional churches or missional programs or missional small groups. The problem is that we don’t have a “missional” problem or a leadership problem in the Western church. We have aContinue reading “Discipleship Leads to Mission?”
Listening to Joe Rogan
The Joe Rogan Experience podcast is one of my guilty pleasures. I don’t really know why guilty. That just feels like the right way to say it. Probably because my inner workaholic is ranting about how much time I’m not spending on more productive things. I don’t really spend much time on social media, andContinue reading “Listening to Joe Rogan”
An Aside on the Post-Everything Context
A Missional Method for Constructive Theology (Part 6) Many theological methods are concerned with relevance and, as a matter of academic legitimacy, current ideas. Relevance and currency are valid interests, but missional theology assumes that more is at stake in attending to context. Being teleological and participatory, missional theology understands the viability (livability) of theologyContinue reading “An Aside on the Post-Everything Context”
Why the Society for Ricoeur Studies?
For two years, I’ve been a member of the Society for Ricoeur Studies and traveled to our annual conference to present papers. I don’t think I would have ever ventured to dive into these unfamiliar waters if I hadn’t been invited by my professor—a founding member of the society but probably the only other conservativeContinue reading “Why the Society for Ricoeur Studies?”
Reformation Day 2017
I was going to say “happy Reformation Day,” but then I read Stanley Hauerwas’s Washington Post article. He’s right: division is not to be celebrated. Reform is, though, even if it’s not usually a happy process. As a member of the Stone-Campbell Movement, I stand in a tradition of reformers. As a student of Scripture,Continue reading “Reformation Day 2017”
The Two Captivities of Missiology
The field (I do not say “discipline”) of missiology is liable to two kinds of captivity, and this liability entails overcompensation on both sides, especially in the US cultural milieu of polarizing discourse. At the same time, the call for a middle ground or for balance makes my entire brain roll its eyes, because suchContinue reading “The Two Captivities of Missiology”
Scripture & Mission 