I have been following artist Cory Godbey's blog recently and have found his "bit and run" comics to be quite a treat. I look forward to reading them each and every Friday. You can sample the breadth of his work here.
So, there was this guy in my class today who was taking notes with a miniature red sharpie. I was pretty sure that I was on the Mount of Transfiguration by the end of class.
Who takes notes with a sharpie anyway? I should have asked him if he needed a pencil. I think I had an extra one. I guess it's my own fault. But I opted for tripping. Maybe subconsciously I wanted to hallucinate. Yeah. I was most likely repressing it.
All I know is that I am listening to Coldplay now. I never do that. I must be altered.
Here is a nice little recurring post idea: "Words Theologians Like." Let me qualify.
Firstly, theologians tend to use the same word/words over and over again when it fits their agenda. Now some of this is necessary. There aren't many, if any, synonyms that communicate the same idea as atonement (which was a word that did not enter the English language until William Tyndale simply transliterated it in the sixteenth century), and there are other examples of terms that have to be used to communicate exactly what the author is conveying. So, I am not talking about those words. I am talking about the filler; the context in which those big, important theological terms exist.
Secondly, when I say "like," I mean abuse. And when I say abuse, I mean like in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and into The Order of the Phoenix where J.K. Rowling writes repeatedly that so-and-so "screwed up his/her face." All the freaking time. That is what I mean.
Finally, this is a shot (albeit a very respectful shot) at the writing of theologians. They are so consumed with sounding profound that they label stuffy, boring, unreadable writing as academic writing. The concepts theologians are discussing are already profound. Abusing some big words is not going to add to the subject matter. But don't get me wrong, I am not in favor of anti-academic, irreverent language where the author is always writing about "punching himself/herself in the throat" or maiming sentence structure and employing one clause disjointed paragraphs and inserting "c'mon" and text message lingo throughout. My point here is that theologians should try to be better writers. They read enough J.I. Packer and C.S. Lewis. One would think that they might garner some better habits.
With all of that said, the purpose of this recurring post is to expose words that theologians use too much. I will include a short definition and an example sentence.
Without further ado, "Words Theologians Like."
Repudiate
To divorce or separate formally from; to refuse to have anything to do with, disown; to reject with disapproval or condemnation.
"After an extensive study of eschatology, Timmy repudiated his view on post-millennialism."
In November I posted the about the difference 29 years has made when it comes to film. My example was Clash of the Titans.
The remake (and I say that tentatively) comes out in a couple of weeks, so I thought I would put up the extended trailer for your viewing pleasure.
Usually the time from Thanksgiving to New Years is called the Holiday Season; three holidays in a month and a half. But what about March 14-17?
This semester Dr. Jim Hamilton has opened up Scripture in a whole new way to me.
Check out his website.
And as a bonus, check out this picture. It looks like he is ready to rough up some liberals.
Here's my latest movie idea. I think it's a good one.
Matt Damon and John Cena play two brothers who team up to save the world from some evil. Simple plot. Everyone would watch it. Boom.
They could play brothers, right?
Potential titles:
It occurred to me that maybe the cause of the low ecclesiology that the Church is afflicted with is reminiscent of the gospel that we preach.
We proclaim that the cross comes to us and we are justified where we stand. But that is not the gospel. We are drawn and find ourselves at the cross; a singular event that is effective for us all. And if it is true for all believers, we see others at the cross and understand that we are in fact linked with them.
If the gospel comes to us and we are saved each in an isolated incident then we have warrant to neglect the meeting of the saints. But if we recognize that salvation is grounded in one singular event that we all partake in, blowing off Sunday morning will be the farthest thing from our mind.
