I know high schools and colleges are scrambling to keep ahead of the AI phenomenon. When pastors are feeling lazy and it’s Saturday night, we too will be tempted to use the machine for our sermons. Like Aaron, we’ll just say we plopped in a few words and out popped this grammatically perfect sermon-ish thing. We have to resist. So pathetic.
Took me a minute. Was almost offended at first. Didn’t think my sermons were that bad…
Mr. Hegseth is on his way out, and that’s good for our country; but even more for Mr. and Mrs. Hegseth, and their family.
I wish everyone getting their Bonhoeffer heroics from That Man Metaxas and his movie project would instead read this excellent piece by James Nuechterlein from “The New Criterion.”
Concerning villains and heroes, the history that’s popular isn’t true. The ambiguous witness of Dietrich Bonhoeffer | The New Criterion
Since 9/11, America has lost any ability to say “no” to Security State’s violations of Constitution and extravagant demands of local fire departments.
Neither makes us more secure.
Well, what do we make of the man? (and thanx for sharing this link; it confirms much I have suspected for a while). To me, the point is that if he had not died in the way he did, and instead survived the war, he would have faded into irrelevance in the way most of the German theologians of the time eventually did. It also seems to me that there is a strong temptation affecting liberals and conservatives alike where Bonhoeffer is concerned, to cherry-pick what they (we) “like” of his work and ignore the rest.
I think you’ve said it well.
Thank you for this. Some extracts I found particularly helpful…
‘He began to suspect that there were strengths in American Christianity’s lived piety from which German theologians, for all their superior scholarly sophistication, had much to learn.‘
So true. Seems to be the main value in reading perceptive liberals. They seem to understand best what’s wrong with liberalism. Forsyth, Barth, Bonhoeffer…I’ve found them all helpful in this regard.
‘Theology constructed in extremis is not the theology that can sustain the church and its faith over time. Remove metaphysics from Christianity and what remains is no longer, in any intelligible sense, the Christian faith.’
Such an important reminder. Especially in light of the collapse if the CN movement. This is the chief value, for me at least, in studying the Reformed Scholastics. Their understanding of the human soul, their teaching on the process of sanctification, and their larger theological scaffolding is vastly superior to anything current among Reformed Christians today. And that despite the chaos of the days in which they lived. We’ve neglected the faith of our fathers to our own impoverishment.
‘As for Bonhoeffer himself, one can in good faith believe that he died in the grace of the second naiveté that beckons on the far side of skepticism. But in the shadow of his contradictions one does so, to echo the words of the service for Christian burial, in a less sure and certain hope than one would like.’
I’ve known Christians like this. They’ve dabbled in dangerous doctrine. Perhaps they themselves were saved through the fire, but those who came after them certainly would not be. Our theology matters. This is a very good warning to be extremely careful in our theological development.
Again, thank you for this article. Very helpful.
What we already knew abt NPR said/documented frm inside by 25 yr veteran. NPR lies. When lies r exposed, NPR refuses to issue corrections. Lies abt Russiagate, Hunter’s laptop, Wuhan…
Excellent indictment of libstream media I’ve Been at NPR for 25 Years. Here’s How We Lost America’s Trust.
Dr. Nicole said Schleiermacher may have been a true believer, but his students were destroyed.
That’s an interesting and helpful concept.
Also, what is that ChatGPT link? It says the conversation won’t load for me.
Sorry, it was a link to this summary on Schleiermacher (my emphasis):
Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834) was a German theologian, philosopher, and preacher often regarded as the father of modern Protestant theology. He sought to bridge the gap between Enlightenment rationalism and traditional Christian faith, emphasizing the importance of individual religious experience. Schleiermacher’s work laid the foundation for liberal theology, which integrates modern critical methods with theological inquiry.
One of his major contributions was redefining religion as the “feeling of absolute dependence” on God—a central awareness that connects humanity with the divine. In his seminal work, The Christian Faith (1821–22), Schleiermacher argued that theology should emerge from this religious experience rather than from strict adherence to doctrine or dogma. He also emphasized that Christ represents the pinnacle of God-consciousness, a perfect example of dependence on God that humanity strives to emulate.
His earlier work, On Religion: Speeches to Its Cultured Despisers (1799), addressed Enlightenment skepticism by presenting religion as a unique, experiential way of understanding the infinite, distinct from both science and ethics. This perspective sought to make religion relevant to intellectuals who dismissed traditional dogmatic Christianity.
Schleiermacher’s influence extends to modern theology, hermeneutics (interpretation), and the interplay of religion with culture and philosophy. He played a pivotal role in establishing the University of Berlin and contributed to various fields, including ethics, philosophy, and classical philology, through his lectures and writings.
For a more detailed exploration of his life and works, you can read sources like Britannica, Theopedia, and 1517.org.
It seems that God is much more tolerant of ambiguity than we are. It’s difficult to believe that Gen. 19 and 2 Pet. 2:6-8 are describing the same man, but there it is.
Perhaps we have a difficult time accepting that we and others are sinners. There is always a temptation to whitewash moral and/or theological ambiguity into sainthood or rationalize it into the acceptance of licentiousness.
Will not “go MAGA” in support of Mr. Hegseth. What’s best for his family & U.S. is to remove himself from consideration. There are MANY other men who have our commitments to reform military. Hegseth’s views are broadly shared among military leaders who could be substituted.
Late Hal Lindsey exquisitely milked God’s sheep back when eschatological visions/prophecies insanely profitable. Some reformed men still have Lindsey’s game plan but only make tens of thou$ands. Not hundreds of million$.
Learn frm history. False prophets rich but destroy souls.
Christian, we must remember God is Supreme, far above national unity. God is above all.
When PresObama condemns “political division,” what he’s really condemning is Christian citizenship in the Kingdom of God.
Since we fear God and love our neighbors, we despise any political unity with child slaughterers, sexual mutilators of children, warmongers, sodomites, etc.
To label Christian commitments “political divisiveness” is to demean us and our Sovereign God.
#nounionwithslaveholders/abortionists
Everyone wants to address the Northern Hemisphere’s catastrophic population decline through financial incentives. It will never work.
Marital love doesn’t decline b/c it’s expensive nor will it return because governments throw money at it. https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/06/asia/tokyo-government-4-day-workweek-intl-hnk
The wealthier people get, the fewer children they have. This has happened in country after country. So when you think about it, it’s kind of funny to assume that giving people money will result in them having more children.
Hal Lindsey’s approach to eschatology and the End Times (what I often think of as the Last Daze), was hardly new - it’s an approach going back well into the nineteenth century IIRC. His “genius” was to find a way to make money off it, a lot of money as events proved.
It is also one of the few things where Fundamentalists and Pentecostals are completely on the same page. Having grown up in the latter tradition, what this teaching eventually did was turn me into a near-complete agnostic on the topic! That is, I believe what it says in the Nicene Creed, and that is really about it 