trinitarian psychology

Let me share something from a seminar. If we are made in the image of God then we are, in some sense, trinitarian. This might be reflected in the father-mother-child relationship or in human components of 'law', 'body' and 'communication'.

I hadn't heard of trinitarian psychology before!

spooks and the mission

I've seen two powerful pictures of biblical themes recently. At the end of Spooks, series 7, episode 1, there is a dramatic event which immediately made me think about the atonement. Then I watched The Mission and saw a wonderful picture of forgiveness / salvation as Rodrigo is liberated from his literal burden. I'd recommend watching both if you haven't seen them.

On Spooks see here

subjects this term

In no particular order and not comprehensive:

a practical lesson in baptism (we all get wet in the process!)
bereavements and funerals (again including practical guidance on funeral services)
preaching
voice production
exegesis
pastoral pyschology
worship
safeguarding and child protection
creation, evolution, 'big bang' etc
mission
Luke-Acts

Let me know if you'd like more details on any of the above!

Bitzer was a banker

John Piper exhorts ministers not to neglect the biblical languages here.

new website for Regent's Park College

The home page is here

My course has two elements:

1. Ministerial Training on the Pastoral and Mission Studies programme

2. Theological Study towards the Advanced Diploma in Biblical and Theological Studies You can see the rolling programme here

It's a really great course and it's a privilege to be at RPC

biblical languages

I'm slogging away at Hebrew and Greek with the Open Theological College, in parallel with my studies at Regent's Park College. Why bother with the biblical languages?

In the context of Martin Luther's life John Piper says:

The main issue was the preservation and the purity of the faith. Where the languages are not prized and pursued, care in Biblical observation and Biblical thinking and concern for truth decreases. It has to, because the tools to think otherwise are not present.

Piper quotes Luther:

Without languages we could not have received the gospel. Languages are the scabbard that contains the sword of the Spirit; they are the casket which contains the priceless jewels of antique thought; they are the vessel that holds the wine; and as the gospel says, they are the baskets in which the loaves and fishes are kept to feed the multitude.
If we neglect the literature we shall eventually lose the gospel ... No sooner did men cease to cultivate the languages than Christendom declined, even until it fell under the undisputed dominion of the pope. But no sooner was this torch relighted, than this papal owl fled with a shriek into congenial gloom ... In former times the fathers were frequently mistaken, because they were ignorant of the languages and in our days there are some who, like the Waldenses, do not think the languages of any use; but although their doctrine is good, they have often erred i the real meaning of the sacred text; they are without arms against error, and I fear much that their faith will not remain pure

And so I am encouraged to persevere with my studies!

My own answer would be less colourful than Luther's comments. I want to be able to engage with the primary texts and not interpret someone else's interpretation. May God be pleased to make me, 'one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.' (2 Tim 2:15)

long essay on mission

choose one of the following:

Consider the implications of a pluralist society for the theology and practice of Christian mission.

What is the significance for Christian mission of Liberation Theology?

Discuss the relationship between Conversion, Culture and Context and outline their importance for Christian mission.

'Mission is an attribute of God before it is an activity of the Church' Discuss.

long essay on Luke-Acts

Long Essays on Luke-Acts (Advanced Diploma)
due by 16th January
one of the three following titles:

I. Discuss Luke's Sermon on the Plain material. What are the central ideas contained within it? In what ways does a study of Matthew's Sermon on the Mount help our understanding of Luke's intention? Pay special attention to the Lord's Prayer in 11:1-4

II. Discuss one of the central figures in Luke's account of the spread of the church as it is found in the Acts of the Apostles. In what ways does Luke's account help us understand the life of the church today? In what ways does in help and in what ways does in hinder?

III. Offer a critical assessment of Hans Conzelmann's theory about the arrangement of Luke-Acts into three distinct stages. Identify some of the strengths and weaknesses of this idea. Include the discussion offered by at least two major commentators to the issue.

economics of professional ministry

'Ten tithing church members = one minister'. Really? So, the non-negotiable in church finances is hiring a professional minister? Charity begins at home?! This is an 'equation' I have heard with my own ears from a casual conversation between Christians - I didn't make it up.

youthwork after christendom

yesterday we had a thought-provoking series of sessions with Nigel Pimlott, author of youth work after christendom

working with young people

This week is about 'working with young people'. We had an excellent couple of sessions in Reading with REInspired

The Bodleian Library

Today I was in the Bodleian library again after more than 15 years. It's such a cool library. It has 8 million books and 117 miles of shelving - that's like from Oxford to London and back again! How cool is that!

shape of my course

My course has two elements:
1. pastoral studies
2. biblical / theological studies.

For the second part, I am studying towards an Advanced Diploma in Biblical and Theological Studies and will be covering the following subjects through lecture, seminar and private study:

Term 1 (called 'Michaelmas Term')
Mission, Luke-Acts, Creation and Fall

Term 2 (called 'Hilary Term')
God and Revelation, Modern Church History, Apologetics

Term 3 (called 'Trinity Term')
Philosophy, OT prophets, The Teaching of Jesus

the work of the minister

We were asked to consider three questions:

1. What do ministers need to do?
2. What do ministers need to be?
3. What relationships do ministers need to have?

I was most interested in a definition of the term 'minister', which doesn't seem very straightforward to me!

We were referred to Charles Gerkin's 'Introduction to Pastoral Care'

the pastoral cycle

We want to be reflective practitioners. To aid this, we have the following model:

1. begin with experience
2. next exploration
(what am I feeling? what are others feeling? etc)
3. reflection
4. response

and as a result of our response, we get more experience and so the spiral continues

(see Let's do theology Laurie Green. see also Practical Theology in Action Ballard and Pritchard)

Paul Fiddes - stories we live by

Today Paul Fiddes gave us an introduction to the Old Testament in about 45 minutes! I won't do it justice but can perhaps just give a flavour.

Stories people live by in contemporary culture might include Magna Carta - perhaps Princess Diana? Paul Fiddes identified three stories in the Old Testament:

1. The story of the Exodus: divine redemption
2. The story of the City: divine presence
3. The story of creation: divine wisdom

The story goes sour in both the Southern and Northern kingdoms and the people of God is forced to relive captivity through exile in Assyria and Babylon - and then a second exodus.

The stories reach their zenith in Christ.

A few other points which struck me:
Fiddes said that the Northern kingdom was more interested in the story of the Exodus, while the Southern kingdom was more interested in the story of the city.
The God of the Exodus is a mobile god!
In Isaiah, the vision goes deeper and wider than Israel's own benefit. The people is challenged to be a Suffering Servant - to serve the nations.

It was a rich and nuanced lecture.

why churches should ban singing in harmony

I recently reviewed Life Together by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

What I liked:
1. "The ministry of holding one's tongue" (p.91-94)!
2. Work should be "a real breaking through the hard "it" to the gracious Thou" – in other words, it should be God-centred. (p.71)
3. The view of fellowship as a kind of sacrament (p.20) and the potential of confession to build fellowship (p.112)

What I didn't like:
The extraordinary section on singing – I could hardly believe what I was reading! "There are some destroyers of unison singing in the fellowship that must be rigorously eliminated … There is the solo voice that goes swaggering, swelling, blaring, and tremulant from a full chest and drowns out everything else to the glory of its own fine organ." (p.60)

a good kind of thuggery

Listening to a talk by John Piper, who quotes Luther saying, "I beat importunately upon Paul". Here Luther sounds like the kind of man one wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley! This reminds me of Jacob wrestling with God in Genesis 32:22-32. We are often reminded that Jacob limped after this encounter with God but Jacob is more struck by the fact that he survived at all (v30)! A fuller quote from Luther is below, taken from here :

I had indeed been captivated with an extraordinary ardor for understanding Paul in the Epistle to the Romans. But up till then it was not the cold blood about the heart, but a single word in Chapter 1, “In it the righteousness of God is revealed,” that had stood in my way. For I hated that word “righteousness of God,” which . . . [I had understood as that] with which God is righteous and punishes the unrighteous sinner. . . . I did not love, yes, I hated the righteous God who punishes sinners, and secretly, if not blasphemously, certainly murmuring greatly, I was angry with God. . . . Nevertheless, I beat importunately upon Paul at that place, most ardently desiring to know what St. Paul wanted! (Luther’s Works, vol. 34, pp. 336–37)

comparing myself with others

I really appreciated Ryan's sermon on Luke 18:9-14 yesterday. One thing that particularly struck me was the point that the Pharisee compares himself with others. The tax collector is very different: "God, have mercy on me, a sinner." A clear view of God gives us a clear view of our own sin and this in turn delivers us from the desire to compare ourselves with others - there's no point!

detachment

Five essential truths:

• Life is hard
• You are not that important
• Your life is not about you
• You are not in control
• You are going to die

This is not the kind of message I hear very often! How about you? I feel there's something very wholesome about it, though.

Richard Rohr Adam's Return: The Five Promises of Male Initiation (New York: Crossraod Publishing, 2004) - quoted by Peter Scazzero in Emotionally Healthy Spirituality (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2006)

humility in the wrong place

"What we suffer from ... is humility in the wrong place. Modesty has moved from the organ of ambition. Modesty has settled upon the organ of conviction; where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed. Nowadays the part of a man that a man does assert is exactly the part he ought not to assert - himself. The part he doubts is exactly the part he ought not to doubt - the Divine Reason."

G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy (Garden City, NY: Image Books, Doubleday and Company, 1959, orig. 1924), p31 quoted in John Piper, Future Grace, (IVP: 1995) p88

worship for sanity's sake?

If worship involves the (re-) orientating of the worshipper around objective cosmic realities (such as the throne of God), and if this is indeed the truest "frame of reference", then is worship a necessary component of mental health?

""It has been generally agreed upon that true and full living is based on three components like the legs of a tripod: intrapersonal dynamics, interpersonal relationships, and a frame of reference." By "frame of reference" Powell means what others call "mindset," "worldview," vision of reality." *

* John Joseph Powell, Fully Human, Fully Alive: A New Life through a New Vision (Niles, Illinois; Argus Communications, 1976), p10, quoted in Darrell W. Johnson, Discipleship on the Edge, (Vancouver, Canada: Regent College Publishing, 2004), p129