tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121325693164358755.post143316318142932519..comments2023-05-06T08:19:26.226-07:00Comments on Sufficiency: The Jesus ProjectBob MacDonaldhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11335631079939764763noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121325693164358755.post-29537062413417044702009-01-27T20:34:00.000-08:002009-01-27T20:34:00.000-08:00Only my sisters have called me priceless! :)I prom...Only my sisters have called me priceless! :)<BR/><BR/>I promoted one of your questions to a post. Here's a quick reply to another. You write: i have no use for the eschatological portion of judeo-christian theology<BR/><BR/>I may be guilty of trying to reduce complexity too far but let me suggest that the writers of the NT were attempting to show the radical nature of Jesus' death. I don't think I am alone in thinking of the whole of Revelation as a meditation on his suffering.Bob MacDonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11335631079939764763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121325693164358755.post-90702685995204495472009-01-27T14:06:00.000-08:002009-01-27T14:06:00.000-08:00i am partial to partialbob, you are truly priceles...<I>i am partial to partial</I><BR/><BR/>bob, you are truly priceless. i may file the serial numbers off of this and use as my re-emerging blog title.<BR/><BR/>scottscott grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12334188123201041182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121325693164358755.post-53798613932191531302009-01-27T09:12:00.000-08:002009-01-27T09:12:00.000-08:00his metaphor is nicei am partial to partialwe have...his metaphor is nice<BR/><BR/>i am partial to partial<BR/><BR/>we have limited apprehension so how could we accept 'the whole thing' at once<BR/><BR/>but something more than nothing is known in the beloved Christ Jesus and we feel our way towards this narrow gate<BR/><BR/>that's why i am so much against confessions and inerrancy etc - the proponents presume to know to much <BR/><BR/>the real issue is to let oneself be known by the one who is inviting<BR/><BR/>there is plenty to address even with the little we are given to knowBob MacDonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11335631079939764763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121325693164358755.post-70712726655239763512009-01-27T08:46:00.000-08:002009-01-27T08:46:00.000-08:00crossan also talked about paul's 'justification by...crossan also talked about paul's 'justification by grace through faith' as 'justice by god's gift of self/spirit through acceptance/belief.' i think this is how you see it, is it not? your acceptance of the god/gift is grace through faith? the question came up in the session, can this be <I>partial</I> acceptance of the gift, or does one have to accept the whole thing? you can see where partial acceptance appeals to me. crossan gave the metaphor of grace-as-operating-system-upgrade: the same 'stuff' in one's life gets processed, but by a different, grace-oriented operating system. acceptance is where the question shows up on the monitor: 'download now--yes or no?' <BR/><BR/>peace--<BR/><BR/>scottscott grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12334188123201041182noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121325693164358755.post-68689303095871121942009-01-27T08:10:00.000-08:002009-01-27T08:10:00.000-08:00Hi scottI have enjoyed Crossan's work a great deal...Hi scott<BR/><BR/>I have enjoyed Crossan's work a great deal. I have heard him and talked to him. The allusive reference to Psalm 82 in my note is a reference to Crossan - it is his favorite psalm. I think he has captured a critical aspect of Jesus' work in this understanding of justice.<BR/><BR/>My experience of the judgment of Christ is that a violent second coming is a contradiction. But the image of suddenness should tip us off to be open to the unexpected in our faith. But - without faith - what will we do? Just explain things and say we understand? This seems too much our thing rather than the unexpected.Bob MacDonaldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11335631079939764763noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-121325693164358755.post-74167463302175332882009-01-27T07:08:00.000-08:002009-01-27T07:08:00.000-08:00hey bob—i had occasion this last weekend to partic...hey bob—<BR/><BR/>i had occasion this last weekend to participate in a seminar by dominic crossan, who used to be in on the jesus seminar. his session was about justice and the pauline letters. in the session he posed a context of diaspora jew paul inside jewish eschatological tradition, inside roman imperialism tradition. his contextualization was fascinating.<BR/><BR/>he posed a dichotomy of paths from war to peace: the imperial path, of war to violence to victory to peace; and the eschatological path, of war to non-violence to justice to peace. he implied that god was a necessary player in the escatological path; that peace through non-violence and justice wasn’t possible without god. he implied that the imperial path is what people do without god.<BR/><BR/>here’s what it did for me. i have no use for the eschatological portion of judeo-christian theology, so i have to find other metanarratives that resonate. i can’t agree with the necessity of god in any eschatological second coming form, especially in a triumphal form. the only way this can work for me is if the eschaton is the already-happened jesus event, precipitating the non-violent justice path to peace.<BR/><BR/>one of the reasons i stay glued to the jesus traditions as an agnostic is that i think that as a species, we are not going to make it if we can’t make this jesus tradition of non-violent justice path to peace the default, on individual levels, on community levels, on national levels, on global levels. i find no value whatsoever in judeo-christian triumphal theologies. i think a lot of the emerging church growth and wrestling is about these same issues, with belief (at various levels) in god and in jesus-as-god tossed in. <BR/><BR/>i can’t accept a violent second coming. i can accept a non-violent jesus event, and find great value within that tradition. the contextualization that crossan presented, from the perspective of a jesus seminar thinker, gives me a lot of richness to work from.<BR/><BR/>perhaps the jesus project will do the same for others.<BR/><BR/>peace—<BR/><BR/>scottscott grayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12334188123201041182noreply@blogger.com