nietzsche – Jesus @ 2 am blogs and podcast

What has Nietzsche to do with Christmas? And what has either to do with rock bands, HIV and clean water? In a word: hope.

Having just described generosity as one of the highest virtues of the church, one of the surest signs that a community is following Jesus, we turn now to the content of that generosity – what we have to give away. The list is lengthy, of course: resources, talent, energy, creativity… But there are a few gifts that only the church can give. And thus we have a special obligation to give these unique blessings in as much abundance as possible.

Today we explore hope – the sure and certain hope of resurrection to eternal life and the restoration of all things. For the biblical authors, hope is not a verb (to be hopeful), but a noun (the possession of those who recognize that the tomb was empty that Easter morning). Christians are not those who life with optimism. They are the ones who know how the last chapter of history is written and live in light of God’s already-determined victory. And as such, we carry on the mission of bot declaring and embodying that hope to the world.

In addition to a look at the book of Hebrews, we have a guest appearance from Jake Smith of the non-profit, Blood:Water Mission (an exceptional charity!) to give (one) very tangible look at how we can bring hope to hopeless places.

This is a sermon that was originally presented at Canvas (a Presbyterian church in Irvine, CA), November 30, 2014. To learn more about Canvas, click here!

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4538974168_1e44968ef7 — San Francisco Examiner, July 22, 1925

As we conclude this series in modern church history, we examine the intellectual challenges that confronted the church in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Perhaps the most obvious of these was the rapid progress of scientific discovery – things like James Hutton’s work in geology (radically redefining the age of the universe) and Darwin’s theory of evolution. And indeed these and other ideas provoked a wide variety of responses (perhaps the most famous of which was the “Scope’s Monkey Trial” of 1925). But the greater (at least perceived) threat came from the European higher critics. It was their questioning of the reliability of scripture with regard to theological matters that rocked the orthodox establishment.

One response to the higher critics was the adoption of five essential tenets of the biblical faith, quickly expounded upon in a series of 90 pamphlets titled The Fundamentals. Thoughtfully written, they circulated widely and those who shared their views came to be known as Fundamentalists (a term that has since, unfortunately, become a pejorative description of an anti-intellecutal conservatism).

These debates, of course, remain alive and well in the church at the turn of the 21st century. Even now state school boards debate whether creation science must be included in text books. And groups like The Jesus Seminar continue the project of the higher criticism.

Perhaps by knowing more of our past we will be able to make the most of our contribution to the community of faith and the mission of God in the world…?

NOTE: In the podcast I make reference to a lecture by Prof. Nate Feldmeth of Fuller Theological Seminary. The .mp3 of the lecture is available here.

Tag: nietzsche

Advent 2014, Part 1: Generous Hope

Church Hist. (Modern), Part 5: Darwin, Fundamentalism and the Challenge of New Ideas