I mentioned Reformed theologian Karl Barth some time back. Barth is one of my least favorite thinkers: any mind poisoned with Calvinism is a terrible waste. Why bother mentioning Barth? Well, he's flavor of the month with certain WCG ministerial types, poor deluded souls. Once you've been led up the garden path with Karl, your brain inevitably turns to mush and you lose contact with reality. This is clearly demonstrated by the quality of posts on the WCG's Surprising God blog - a kind of mutual admiration forum for the terminally deluded.
I'm particularly fed up with Barthianity at the moment, having just suffered a semester with a compulsory paper infused with his insidious influence. I don't mind a balance: a little Barth alongside a cross section of other voices, but alas there is an aftertaste of Presbyterian myopia on the faculty, and other traditions - other than that peculiar variety of Anglicanism that calls itself Evangelical - get second-class treatment.
More positive by far has been a paper on the Dead Sea Scrolls which has been truly fascinating, and once I recover from the examination, I fully intend to bore anyone silly enough to read it with an entry on some freaky parallels between Qumran and Armstrongism. You have been warned!
Meantime, this piece of artwork portrays the mighty Swiss theologian. It seems very apt.
10 comments:
Gavin,
Why the heck are you studying all this stuff? What are you trying to prove to yourself or what are you trying to learn?
"I fully intend to bore anyone silly enough to read it with an entry on some freaky parallels between Qumran and Armstrongism."
I'll be interested to read what you have to say here. I think it would be interesting, for example, to compare the way the Qumran group interpreted the book of Habakkuk with, say, "Malachi's Message."
Maybe there's a thesis topic here. There has already been at least one book-length study of David Koresh's biblical interpretation.
While not revealing the name of the current WCG minister, here is a sample of what Barfianity can do for ya!
"This really is His (Jesus) present world (Matt 28:18!), and that is why we have hope that people will even hear us when we Matt 28:19-20!! But everyone does NOT have to become one of us Christians to be fully included, and that is a lot of my point. I highly recommend Christianity, but on the inside of our humanity, people already deeply KNOW who they are, and our sharing will ring the bell that has already been ringing in their hearts since the day of their birth, and if we don't get to them (and we will get to many), they're already being reached by the best Educator possible, the Holy Spirit!! Acts 2:17!"
I highly recomment Chrisitianity? What a novel idea for a Christian minister. I'd like to meet all those unbelievers who know down deep who they really are. What bilge.
"This really is His (Jesus) present world (Matt 28:18!), and that is why we have hope that people will even hear us when we Matt 28:19-20!! But everyone does NOT have to become one of us Christians to be fully included, and that is a lot of my point. I highly recommend Christianity, but on the inside of our humanity, people already deeply KNOW who they are, and our sharing will ring the bell that has already been ringing in their hearts since the day of their birth, and if we don't get to them (and we will get to many), they're already being reached by the best Educator possible, the Holy Spirit!! Acts 2:17!"
This is an amazing Calvinistic cop-out! "People already know who they are?" Sounds like mainstream liberal Presbyetrians! Either you are a predestinationist or you are not. Is the mother church on the path of soft Calvinism? Why any kind of Calvinism? Gavin's opinion is right, Calvinism (no matter what your religious/philosophical/spiritual perspective) sucks.
Hey Gavin,
You might want check out my 2 cents about it at http://lifeafterwcg2.wordpress.com/2007/11/12/an-alternative-to-barth-and-calvinism/
Gavin,
I hate to repeat myself, but...
Why the heck are you studying all this stuff? What are you trying to prove to yourself or what are you trying to learn?
An answer would be nice...
"Why the heck are you studying all this stuff? What are you trying to prove to yourself or what are you trying to learn?"
Who are you, the Inquisition?
My reasons for getting up in the morning are as complex as the next person's, and I barely understand why I'm drawn to Science Fiction, let alone to getting a degree in theology. Both of course require suspension of disbelief, but I'm not going there, especially for anyone who hides behind "Anonymous."
Hey, life is a rich tapestry, don't you have some loose threads of your own to pick away at?
On the subject of Sci-Fi, I'm finally reading Philip Pullman's Northern Lights, soon to appear on the big screen as The Golden Compass. Great stuff... or d'ya think maybe I'm just trying to prove something to myself there too?
I don't know what it is about Calvinism that is so attractive to former legalists.
Calvinism's arrival to the post reformation WCG was as sure as gangrene to a diabetic leg. Not enough Life force circulating in that spiritual body. Truth never had a home there.
There is no such thing as "Liars for Jesus" or "The Lie that Sets you Free". All lies are meant to entrap - or at best misdirect.
Nearest I can tell it gives them that same tribal coziness Armstrongism provided, "I'm God's special chosen one, and your not".
I find the gospel of predestinarianism vapid and filled with self congratulations. And in the end, is that really so different than Armstrongism?
Calvinism is not so bad if combined with Hobbes-isms...
A Barth once a year is enough
Seamus
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