Relationships and Community on Theology

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Challenge: Sum up Every Aspect of Theology & Church History

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Psalm 23:1-4, John 10:11-18, Luke 19:1-10, Luke 15:11-32, Ephesians 3:17-19, 1 John 4:10-11, Romans 8:38-39

Karl Barth arguably was the greatest theologian of the twentieth century. His twelve-volume Church Dogmatics, alone, consists of over ten thousand pages of systematic theology. Toward the end of his l...

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Author

Alexander Schmemann

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Our modern theology, which in many ways has ceased to be personal, i.e. centered on the Christian experience of "person," nevertheless - and maybe as a result of this - has become utterly in...

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Author

Michael Fishbane

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There is no mere world or matters of fact for covenant theology; there is always the wonder and duty to the concrete moment at hand, where God’s illimitable gift of life is given into our hands – to h...

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The Theological Roots of Apartheid

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Brenda Salter McNeil

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Did you know that apartheid in South Africa was based in large part on theological doctrines that were formed at Stellenbosch University in the 1930s and 1940s? Isn’t that chilling? Many of the intell...

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Brian D. McLaren

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We must never underestimate our power to be wrong when talking about God, when thinking about God, when imagining God, whether in prose or in poetry. A generous orthodoxy, in contrast to the tense, na...

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Author

Paul Pierson

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A theology which asserts that only the organized Church should be involved in mission, that theology has a very serious quarrel with history.

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Author

A.M. Hunter

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The New Testament makes it clear that the early Church’s message always …had two aspects—one theological, the other ethical: (i) the Gospel which the apostles preached; and (ii) the Commandment, growi...

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Innovation or Heresy

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

Keywords

Scripture

Ecclesiastes 7:10, Colossians 2:8, Matthew 9:17, 1 Thessalonians 5:21, Romans 12:2, Mark 7:8-9, Isaiah 43:19

It’s funny how sometimes members of the church can associate anything new with “heresy.” We often make the mistake of confusing technological innovations or scientific discoveries for changes to the g...

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Defining the Parish System

Author

Don Everts

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Jeremiah 29:4-7, Micah 4:3-4, Matthew 5:9 , Romans 12:18-21 , Psalm 34:14

This concept [the parish system] has helped Christians understand how interconnected all the pieces within a community are and the importance of pursuing the common good there. Jesus’ call to be peace...

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Author

Rick Love

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A positive theology of peace is not simply reactive, but proactive. It takes initiatives. It creates peace. It sees peace not as something to be achieved merely by refraining from war, but by taking p...

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Julie Canlis

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[Koinōnia] is at the heart of the Christian understanding of the triune God as a rich relationship not between individuals but between persons who indwell one another in a loving harmony of friendship...

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The Principle Crime of the Human Race

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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Scripture

Ezekiel 144:6, Colossians 3:5, 1 John 5:21, 1 Corinthians 10:14, Jeremiah 10:14-15, Matthew 22:34-40, Exodus 20:3

Tertullian was an early church leader (a bishop in Carthage) in North Africa. His voluminous writing and ministry have led many to acknowledge him as the father of Latin Theology/Western Theology. Ter...

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Your Body

Author

Christopher West

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Scripture

Genesis 1:27, Genesis 1:31, 1 Timothy 4:4-5, Colossians 1:16, 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 2 Corinthians 5:1

Think of your own experiences as a human being: your body is not just a “shell” in which you dwell. Your body is not just a body. Your body is not just any body. Your body is somebody—you! Through the...

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The Owner of the Universe

Author

Ben Witherington III

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Scripture

2 Corinthians 9:6-7, Luke 12:33-34, Matthew 6:19-21, Proverbs 3:9-10, Deuteronomy 15:7-8, Leviticus 25:23, Psalm 24:1

The biblical theology of creation is a negation of theories of private” property and “public” property, our theories of individual ownership and collective or governmental ownership. The biblical view...

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Kingdom-Based Coffee

Author

Jonathan Walton

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Scripture

Colossians 3:23-24, Galatians 6:9-10, Philippians 2:4, Matthew 5:16, Proverbs 31:8-9, James 1:27

Brandon and Faith Lee, who started Bird and Branch Coffee, are what faithful witnesses look like. When they sat down across from my wife and me, they had a dream to start a coffee shop that would serv...

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Two Ministers and the Rusty Old Can

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The Pastor's Workshop

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One particularly crafty, if not insidious way a “good works” righteousness can seep into our theology is by positioning faith as the pre-eminent work. We must never forget that faith itself is a...

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A Short History of Christian’s Fighting for Justice

Author

Justin Giboney

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Micah 6:8, Exodus 3:7–10, Isaiah 58:6–7, Luke 4:18–19, Romans 13:1–4, Psalm 72:12–14

There are also many historical examples of Christians faithfully using political means to fight for justice and righteousness. William Wilberforce: Politician and Abolitionist William Wilber...

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Author

Belden Lane

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Scripture

2 Samuel 7:null

Yahweh, unlike the mountain and fertility gods of the ancient Canaanites, refuses to be bound by any geographical locale. All of the 'high places' pretending to capture the divine presence mus...

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Author

W. D. Davies

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The witness of the New Testament is, therefore, twofold: it transcends the land, Jerusalem, the Temple. Yes: but its History and Theology demand a concern with these realities also. Is there a reconci...

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A 25 & 50 Year Martyrdom

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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R. Paul Stevens, Professor Emeritus at Regent College, was visiting the Wedding Church in Cana of Galilee with his wife Gail when a hilarious event took place. After introducing himself to the residen...

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Waking People up to Christ

Author

Bruce Larson

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Scripture

Isaiah 55:8-9, Jonah 4:1-11, Numbers 22:21-34, Matthew 9:10-13, Mark 2:23-28, Psalm 19:12-14

It takes a great deal of freedom and love to be therapeutic with a group. Many years ago when Emil Brunner, the great Swiss theologian, was lecturing in this country, it was reported that when he prea...

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The Politics of Ministry Book Review & Quotes

Author

Stuart R. Strachan, Jr.

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Scripture

Philippians 2:21

Picture this: you are just about a year into your first call as a minister. Everything seems to be going swimmingly. You caught up with a seminary friend over the weekend and you slightly brag about h...

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Sacred Space: Lessons from Ethiopia’s Church Forests

Author

William Rowley

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Too Busy for God? American work culture is all-pervasive. For many members of your congregation, it can be a real fight to get actual time off—and cell phones and the internet has made it possible to...

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Baal In America

Author

John M. Perkins

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I know most Americans today do not worship Baal, but when I look at the church in America, I fear that we have our own Baals that demand our worship. I see so many people bowing down before prosperity...

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Replacing Morality with Psychology

Author

Phillip Cary

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Christian morality has fallen on hard times these days. No one seems to believe in it, least of all Christians. Even the word “morality” is dropping out of our vocabulary—and I do mean the vocabulary ...

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God of grace, power and glory, and our

God of grace, power and glory, and our Heavenly Father: You raise up nations in your grace and holiness; and You bring down nations who go after and serve other gods of their own making. You are good–...

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Almighty and most merciful God, you

Author

George Adam Smith

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Scripture

2 Timothy 3:10-19, 2 Kings 22:8-20, Luke 24:13-35, Acts 8:26-40, Nehemiah 8:1-12, Romans 15:4

Almighty and most merciful God, you have given the Bible to be the revelation of your great love to us, and of your power and will to save us: grant that our study of it may not be made in vain by the...

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Creator God, you created us in your

Author

Austin D. Hill

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Creator God, you created us in your image. You are three in one. From before time began, you existed in perfect communion. Yet day by day, we choose not to live into your image. We choose division, po...

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I appeal to you, Lord, God of Abraham,

Author

Irenaeus of Lyon

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Scripture

Deuteronomy 6:4-5, John 17:2-3, Isaiah 45:5-6, Colossians 2:8, 2 Timothy 1:13-14

I appeal to you, Lord, God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob and Israel, you the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Infinitely merciful as you are, it is your will that we should learn to know you....

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Living God, help us so to hear your

Author

Huldrych (Ulrich) Zwingli

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Scripture

Psalm 85:8, Psalm 119:11, Colossians 3:16, Joshua 1:8, John 14:23, Romans 10:17

Living God, help us so to hear your holy Word that we may truly understand; that, understanding, we may believe and believing, we may follow in all faithfulness and obedience, seeking your honor and g...

relationships and community on Theology

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