I just finished checking out the “Lens” blog from the New York Times. Today’s post is “On Assignment: Prayers in the Dark”, revealing some of the most horrific images I’ve ever seen (If you jump to the blog, you’ve been warned). Damon Winters of the New York Times says, “I’ve never seen anything like this, and I doubt I’ll see anything like this again. The scene at the morgue today was just utterly unbelievable.”
Like many people, I’ve asked myself why God allows something like this to happen? I was ashamed of Pat Robertson’s comments this week about God cursing the Haitian people. I’m sure it only confirms for many people that a Christian God is a vengeful God, bent on causing humanity to suffer for their sins. Do you know what came to my mind as I viewed those images? Something I once read in Elie Wiesel’s book, Night, based on his time in a Nazi concentration camp. One day he watches a young boy hanged by the Nazis. In his head Weisel hears, “Where is He [God]? Here He is–He is hanging here on this gallows.” Continue reading 'Where is He Now?'»
God, Moltmann, Religion, Suffering, Theology
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Crucified God, Elie Wiesel, God, Haiti, Jürgen Moltmann, Pat Robertson, Suffering, Suffering God, Where is God?
Jan Paulsen
Ryan Bell and I were having a discussion last week with some friends about whether or not the General Conference President of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Jan Paulsen, is a former student of Jürgen Moltmann. We’d heard rumors that Paulsen attended Universität Tübingen in Germany where Motlmann was a professor for many years.
We now have confirmation. Yes! Yesterday Ryan sent me an article he found by Paulsen, titled “Christ’s Healing in a Changing World”, where the president writes:
Quite simply, we cannot express our faith—our desire to imitate Christ—in seclusion; our values and our beliefs find their true meaning only within the context of human relationships. In the words of my former teacher Jürgen Moltmann, “Likeness to God cannot be lived in isolation. It can be lived only in human community” (J. Moltmann, God in Creation, p. 222). [italics mine]
You can read the entire article Adventist World. It’s worth the read.
Trinity by Andrei Rublev, 1425-1427
Earlier this week I posted the first part of my reflections from the 2009 Emergent Theological Conversation with Jürgen Moltmann in Libertyville, IL. Here’s the second part:
On Doing Theology:
1. “Truth is found in unhindered dialogue.”
According to Moltmann, Karl Barth wasn’t good at dialogue with people who didn’t share his presuppositions. The professor saw this as a weakness in Barth’s theology. Instead, Moltmann tried to develop his theology through dialogue with people on the outside. We are not just doing theology for Christians, we are doing theology for everyone, he told us (I’m paraphrasing). I wonder, how open I am to “unhindered” dialogue as a pastor? Where are my theological conversations taking place? Who am I in dialogue with right now? Am I always talking to people who think like me?
Continue reading 'My Moltmann Reflections, Pt. 2'»
Professor Jürgen Moltmannn visited Garett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, IL. prior to our conversation with him last week. The seminary has several videos you can watch of Moltmann, including his sermon, A Theology for Life, a Life for Theology. Note: I wish I’d thought of that title!
Tony Jones talks with Professor Jürgen Moltman
I thought I’d share some reflections from the 2009 Emergent Theological Conversation with Jürgen Moltmann last week—one of the best Emergent gatherings I’ve attended. Props to JoPa Productions and the First Presbyterian Church of Libertyville, IL., for making this happen. Our two days with Professor Moltmann gave me a deeper appreciation for this man … and he made me proud of my German heritage too!
Our time with the professor was sweet, as was the time we had in conversation with others. I made some new friends, also found some new friends to follow on Twitter. Speaking of Twittering, I thoroughly enjoyed the Moltmann Twub that was set up to micro-blog the event. You can still go back and read through all the Twubs, but I thought I’d take a few posts to share some of my favorite Moltmann Tweets and my own thoughts from the conversation. So here it goes …
Continue reading 'My Moltmann Reflections, Pt. 1'»
Tomorrow morning I’ll be heading to Chicago for three days of theological conversations with Jürgen Moltmann, arguably one of the most influential theologians of the last one hundred years. The event is part of the 2009 Emergent Theological Conversation (You can follow the conversation at the Moltmann twub).
I discovered Moltmann several years ago while working on my doctorate at Fuller Theological Seminary. His concept of the relationality of the Trinity was an enormous help in my work. I recall stumbling upon one of his sermons, The Triune God: Rich in Relationships, (You can read here at the Per-Cruem-ad-Lucem blog. I went back to the chapter in my dissertation where I referenced it. Here’s an excerpt about the “wondrous community” of the Trinity:
Continue reading 'A Conversation with Jürgen Moltmann'»
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I just finished checking out the “Lens” blog from the New York Times. Today’s post is “On Assignment: Prayers in the Dark”, revealing some of the most horrific images I’ve ever seen (If you jump to the blog, you’ve been warned). Damon Winters of the New York Times says, “I’ve never seen anything like this, and I doubt I’ll see anything like this again. The scene at the morgue today was just utterly unbelievable.”
Themocracy