A Thinking Reed

  • Redemption for the sake of blessing

    If the great theme of the Bible is one of blessing, it can’t be denied that sin, or curse, and redemption is an important sub-theme. The God who is Consummator is also Redeemer and Deliverer. So how should this theme fit into the canonical narrative that Soulen is proposing as an alternative to the traditional…

  • Blessing and difference

    In the second part of The God of Israel and Christian Theology, R. Kendall Soulen provides the outline of an alternative framework for reading the Bible that, he argues, avoids the supersessionism inherent to the traditional canonical narrative. Key to this is a reorientation of the narrative away from the drama of sin and redemption.…

  • King’s X, “Black the Sky”

    (Continuing my exploration of the King’s X back catalogue.) For their fifth studio album, King’s X took a slight turn from their signature progressive, soulful hard rock toward a heavier, more grunge-influenced sound. No doubt this was in part due to hooking up with storied producer Brendan O’Brien (Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, etc.). The result, 1994’s…

  • What you see is what you get

    Parts of the Internet are abuzz with some dumb comments made by filmmaker and lefty gadfly Michael Moore about Presdient Obama “governing like a white guy.” The racist nature of these comments aside, what continues to surprise me is how many people apparently thought they were electing a wild-eyed liberal when they voted for Obama.…

  • Supersessionism and the flight from history

    R. Kendall Soulen brings the first, critical part of his God of Israel and Christian Theology to a close with two chapters on early modern and 20th-century theology, respectively. In chapter 3 he examines the thought of two influential thinkers who tried to reconcile the core of Christian belief with the worldview of the Englightenment–Immanuel…

  • Don’t blog angry

    I’m sorry to see that Marvin is apparently hanging up his blogging spurs, although I understand and respect his reasons for doing so. Still, it’s a loss for those of us who’ve been edified by his writing but aren’t part of the academic or religious milieus where he plans to re-focus his energy. I have…

  • Friday Metal: Anthrax, “Madhouse”

    An oldie but a goodie, from the 1985 album “Spreading the Disease.” Their new album “Worship Music”–the first with singer Joey Belladonna since 1990’s “Persistence of Time”–comes out next Tuesday. I’m really looking forward to hearing it.

  • Supersessionism and the “deep grammar” of Christian theology

    I want to continue my summary of R. Kendall Soulen’s The God of Israel and Christian Theology (see previous post here). In chapter 2 Soulen looks at the traditional “canonical narrative” of Christian theology as it was formulated in the early centuries of the church and argues that it “inscribes the logic of supersessionism [i.e.,…

  • MLK, nonviolence, and the fusion of ends and means

    My recent visit to the newly opened Martin Luther King Jr. memorial here in D.C. prompted me to pick up Harvard Sitkoff’s 2008 biography, King: Pilgrimage to the Mountaintop. To my embarrassment, I actually don’t know a lot about the details of the Civil Rights movement or King’s life in particular. Sitkoff’s relatively brief (under…

  • Friday Metal: Heaven and Hell, “I”

    Heaven and Hell was the 2006-2010 reincarnation of the Ronnie James Dio-fronted Black Sabbath lineup. This tune comes from the Sabbath album “Dehumanizer.” This is from a live performance at Radio City Music Hall in 2007.