3 New Posts and 3 relatively New Posts

Three of these were posted this morning, and then the other three were posted earlier in the week:
1. We're Living in a Mass-media World
2. The Didache
3. Designer Religion

4. N.T. Wright gives a lecture at the National Cathedral
5. Is "The DaVinci Code" a threat to Christianity?
6. New Orleans Vote Update

Living in a mass-Media culture

One of the media outlets that I find moderately frustrating is the United Methodist News service that seems to put out a steady flow of articles and editorials from a moderately to greatly left-leaning (politically and theologically) perspective. I find myself wondering "where is the diversity?"
BUT I ran across this UMNS commentary that, in addition to the ussual litany from a quasi-social gospel perspective (not that these things are unimportant), asks some really important and engaging questions about what it means for us as Christians concerned with truth and beauty to live in a mass-media culture. The catalyst for the discussion is of course, "The DaVinci Code." And some of the observations are quite engaging.

Didache

With all this talk going around about books that didn't make the canon, one that almost made it that you ought to read is the Didache says Christianity Today. The Didache comes from the late 1st or early 2nd century. In other words some of the apostle's may have still been alive and people who worked closely with them most certainly were. This is what the earliest of the Early Church was doing and saying. It is interesting to note that the Didache expressly forbids abortion. If you want to read a translation of the whole text (it isn't long) look here.

Designer Religion

I ran across this post via WesleyDaily and I really liked it: Designer Religion. He writes "we want a god who affirms us" so we make one up and convince ourselves it is the real God.

N.T. Wright gives lecture at National Cathedral

Anglican Bishop of Durham N. T. Wright was in Washington D. C. last Tuesday where he gave a lecture at the National Cathedral about his new book Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense which is being billed as a sort of "Mere Christianity for the 21st Century."

The lecture hit on many points including our society's inclination toward Gnosticism (even within Evangelical Churches), the DaVinci Code, and the relationship between the Resurrection of Jesus and the victory of the Kingdom of God as the real core of the Gospel message of the early Church (and a message that makes perfect sense when considered within the context of 1st Century Judaism), as Bishop Wright has argued consistently and passionately.

Those of us who were fortunate enough to attend this lecture had a wonderful trip and very much enjoyed wandering around the enchanting gardens surrounding the Cathedral and attending the sung evening prayer service (evensong) before the lecture.

N.T. Wright is sometimes compared to C.S. Lewis and, while that may be a bit of a misnomer since they are different sorts of scholars, Wright is an articulate spokesman for Classical Christianity that is vital in and for today's world, just as Lewis was a generation ago, and he challenges us to think about ancient things in enriching new ways.

Is the Da Vinci Code a threat to Christianity?

Some people are saying "Yes" and point to polls that show that 60% of those polled who HAD read the book believed some of its outlandish claims, such as Jesus' having children with Mary of Magdala, verses only 30% who had not read the book.

Certainly the book, and to a much lesser extent the film as well, calls into question some of the very foundational acts of the Church: the formation of the New Testament canon, the doctrine of the divinity of Christ and the Trinity as taught by the Nicene Creed and so forth. But since most American Protestant Christians don't know ANYTHING about these issues and just accept what they are told uncritically, maybe a movie coming along and raising a few questions (like "why THESE books in the New Testament?" or "why accept the teachings of the Early Church councils?") isn't such a bad thing, especially when the alternatives it supplies are really less attractive than classical Christianity anyways. We have been given a wonderful teaching moment. (I should admit that those are exactly the questions that have pushed me in the direction of a more traditional and "catholic" form of Christianity.)

The book by Dan Brown certainly presents a great deal of historical distortion as any Christian, Roman, or Medieval historian will tell you (regardless of their own faith commitments or lack thereof). The United Methodist Church's board of Discipleship has (like many other groups) issued a detailed rebuttal of certain claims that the book makes if you are interested. It seems to me that no matter how strenuously legitimate historians declare that the history presented by this novel is distorted, some people will believe it anyway either because they are hopelessly cynical about the legitimacy of the historians and "knowledge elite," or because they are seeking a justification for their already-present lack of faith in Jesus Christ as he is preached by the Church through the ages. The Da Vinci code then, isn't really the cause of skepticism in these cases, simply a convenient rallying point for those who already possessed it.

What should we do? Let's engage the questions! There are legitimate answers as to why the Bible contains some books and not others. The council of Nicea and some of the subsequent Early Ecumenical Councils need not be seen as a political hijacking of Christianity on the part of any Empire, but a legitimate work of the almighty and all-wise Holy Spirit in the Body of Christ. If we really believe that, we have nothing to fear from this or any other movie. If they gates of hell shall never triumph over the Church (Matt. 16), we can be assured that a handful of entertaining lies certainly cannot.

New Orleans Vote Update

Well, as you probably have heard, incumbent Ray Nagin won the election of mayor in New Orleans. I commented a few weeks ago, only half jokingly, that if "chocolate city" Nagin won re-election my faith in democracy as a viable political system would be destroyed since it would be apparent that people are simply too stupid to govern themselves. Well, I have stepped back a little bit from that: it probably isn't fair to judge an entire political system's value based upon a single election (however, it may be argued that a great number of elections in Louisiana and elsewhere also support this same conclusion).

As I have said before I do not believe Nagin is up to the task that stands before the city of New Orleans, but I am very hopeful that he will surprise me. I think it is important for those of us who are Christians to pray for him and to vigorously support some reforms and to oppose others. We must oppose any plans to create a "casino district" next to the French Quarter, as Nagin proposed just after the hurricanes, turning New Orleans into the "new Vegas." This would likely contribute to the rise of organize crime, the perpetuation of extreme poverty, and the further deterioration of and wholesome values in the city; and it would even detract from New Orleans' unique cultural identity. We must do whatever we can to lobby for the reform of the public schools and support projects that will encourage warmer race-relations in one of the most racially tense cities in the State. A stronger sense of community needs to be built here.

Now as you can see I don't have any concrete or specific ideas about how those reforms might take place (I simply don't know enough to make concrete suggestions), but I am sure people qualified to lead these reform movements are out there, and you might even know some of them, or be one of them.

New Orleans Vote

Well, the voters are out today in the Big Easy deciding who will be the next mayor of the city. Our options: incompetent and racist incumbant Ray Nagin, running on the "Chocolate City" platform, and long-time political insider and card-carrying member of the corrupt Louisiana political establishment Mitch Landrieu, whose father was the last white mayor of the city back in the 80s (and his sister is the US Senator from Louisiana Mary Landrieu). In my opinion neither one is REALLY what the city needs, though at least Landrieu is likely to be competent. An outsider from the political establishment with more wisdom and ability than Nagin (who is an outsider) is what we need to clean up New Orleans. The streets are covered in mud and debris, the police force is so corrupt one feels like he is in Mexico when he deals with them, and the schools are essentially some of the worst in the Nation. For all the terrible things of that the hurricanes did bring, they also brought something good: an opportunity like none seen in 150 years to bring new life and opportunities into the decedant city. We'll just see what happens...

Vatican Excommunicates 4 bishops

The Vatican has excommunicated 4 bishops in China; 2 of them were essentially appointed due to Chinese Government influence in the "official" (state-dominated) church, and the other two because they consecrated them without Vatican approval. My first reaction was something like "well the atheist, communist Chinese government has no buisiness appointing Roman Catholic bishops without Rome's approval any more than I have." After I thought about it, I found it ironic that there may be some parallels with what happened in England during the Reformation when the bishops kept consecrating Reform-ist bishops without Rome's approval and eventually broke from the Pope altogether. This latter example I considered a good thing. But I after I thought about it more I see that there really is a big difference between Reform-minded English bishops seperating themselves from a corrupt medieval Papacy for the sake of greater biblical fidelity on the one hand and an atheistic, anti-religious, anti-human rights, anti-justice, communistic Chinese regime appointing bishops in the Roman Catholic Church as a politcal power play on the other.

What to do with The DaVinci Code??

Here is a passionately argued critique of the Church's response to the upcoming DaVinci Code Movie. Some have said we should use this as an opportunity for evangelism. But this writer argues nobody is "buying into" the DaVinci Code because they are just seeking the truth, but because they simply trying to justify their rejection of Jesus Christ and his body, the Church. I think on at least this point he may be cloes to the mark. I also think he is right to say that it is a real shame if anyone should lose faith over this movie because (having read the book) the "theological" (I use this term loosely here) claims put forward are weak and self-contradictory. What should we do? Boycott? Protest? No, he says, we should go to the movies on DVC's opening night, just go see some other movie.

I don't know whether that is the right response, but this review did raise an interesting question in my mind. He says (rightly so) that this book slanders our Lord and mocks our faith and blasphemes our God. These are the reasons he thinks no Christian should lend it financial support for the sake of "engaging the culture." I was reminded that the Early Church was often slandered as well: they were called canibals (eating all that body and blood), and atheists, and other such things when brought before the Roman authorities. And they responded by blessing those who persecuted them, and by living as a community, a community of Jews and Gentiles, men and women, slave and free, all living together in such obviously love for one another - even to the point of sharing their possessions!! - that the Roman world couldn't help but take notice and eventually be won over. At the end of the day we will not "engage the culture" with the best and most eloquent words from the wisest minds, but rather with the power of the Spirit of God in our midst who is the Spirit of Love (eternal divine love between the Father and the Son within the eternal life of the Triune Godhead).

Interesting blogs worth reading

Here are a few of the interesting posts I just ran accross at Wesley Daily:

Wal-Mart Observations isn't it ironic that the same folks who are cursing Wal-Mart claim to be in solidarity with poor illegal immagrants?

Oh Say Can you Sing? thoughts about why we should change our National Anthem. (I must be honest here, I have always thought the current song both hard to sing and not particularly pretty or powerful).

The Chief benefit of the DaVinci Code: could this entertainment phenomenon reveal what our "Christian nation" really believes about Jesus?

The Bible and "inclusive language" only your seminary professor really cares?