A Thinking Reed

  • John Wesley on slavery and human rights

    I’ve been reading Theodore Runyon’s The New Creation: John Wesley’s Theology Today, which aims to offer a synoptic account of Wesley’s thought and its relevance for the contemporary church. As the title suggests, Runyon argues that the notion of the renewal of creation is key to understanding Wesley’s theology. Specifically, it refers to the renewal…

  • Foreign policy and the Golden Rule

    Even though I argued in my previous post that liberals are under no particular obligation to support Ron Paul (e.g., vote for him), I do agree with those who say that he is raising important issues and has a perspective that needs to be heard, particularly with respect to foreign policy. In a recent post…

  • Vektor, “Tetrastructural Minds”

    If it had come out earlier in the year, Vektor’s “Outer Isolation” would undoubtedly have made it onto my “best albums of 2011” list. As it is, I’m enjoying starting 2012 with it. The over-the-top vocals won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but I think they’re a perfect compliment to the dizzying virtuosity of the…

  • What would it mean for progressives to “support” Ron Paul?

    There’s been a bit of back and forth recently in the left/progressive blogosphere about whether people who meet that particular description should “support” libertarian Texas Republican congressman Ron Paul’s candidacy for president. Andrew Sullivan, Glenn Greenwald, and others have expressed varying degrees of support for Paul’s candidacy, noting that his stances on civil liberties and…

  • Merry Christmas!

    I hope all those who celebrate enjoy the season! Blogging will be minimal for the next week or so.

  • From religious diversity to “confessional pluralism”

    In the final chapter of The Many Faces of Christology, Tyron Inbody looks at the issue of religious diversity. He considers the standard responses–exclusivism, inclusivism, and pluralism–but finds them wanting for familiar reasons. Exclusivism, in addition to resting on a questionable and selective interpretation of the biblical witness, greatly exacerbates the problem of evil by…

  • Ghost Brigade, “Breakwater”

  • Favorite music of 2011

    As always, these are based on what I listened to and enjoyed the most, not on an objective, “critical” take. Five metal albums: Anthrax, Worship Music Hammers of Misfortune, 17th Street Darkest Era, Last Caress of Light Red Fang, Murder the Mountains Cormorant, Dwellings Honorable mentions: Obscura, Omnivium; Argus, Boldly Stride the Doomed; Sinister Realm,…

  • Red Fang, “Hank Is Dead”

  • “Are you the one who is to come?”

    Tyron Inbody has a very interesting chapter on Christianity and Judaism in his Many Faces of Christology. With “post-Holocaust” theologies, he notes that the contention between Judaism and Christianity isn’t over Jesus’s teachings–which scholars now believe fell largely within the parameters of 1st-century Pharisaic Judaism. Nor is it over his death–which was not the fault…