Restoring Pangea - Latest Comments

Re: Trauma, Recovery, and Good Friday

Matthew Deal — Fri, 24 May 2019 05:17:47 -0000

https://uploads.disquscdn.c...

Re: Announcing the Good News Requires Renouncing White Privilege

mistel — Thu, 02 May 2019 20:20:51 -0000

White privilege is a social justice label invented by liberals. It invokes racism. Practicing Christians are not involved with social justice, except in order to expose it for the phony religion it is.

Re: Why El, but not Baal? The Emergence of Yahwism in Ancient Canaan

Jorge Ostos — Mon, 25 Dec 2017 15:46:40 -0000

Hi Nathan, These are awesome readings... Only a questions, can you tell me some things about the Smith's book? I'm very interested on it, and I'd like to buy it, I am kind of captivated by his thesis... Also, what about the Dr. Cross' book?

Re: God of the Damned

Brandon — Thu, 26 May 2016 11:59:37 -0000

Great, J. Are these pieces available? If not, can we work on some new ones so I can put them in my office?

Re: Greg Boyd and the Open View of God

Lily Anderson — Mon, 28 Mar 2016 14:44:44 -0000

TRUMP will be our next president

Re: Mary, the (un)credentialed mother of Jesus.

Mortal Clown — Mon, 29 Feb 2016 02:42:58 -0000

Yikes . Espying my own typo in my comment, may I kindly suggest a couple of minor fixes on the column: Autospell makes things look perfect before we have a chance to check. (Please add a 'g' to astounding.)

To wit, in all humility: Perhaps 'peaching' the good news is a viable way of transmitting it.
: )
And, as a woman who has struggled with both addiction AND addition, I'd still appreciate clarity in the fourth paragraph from the end.

Re: Mary, the (un)credentialed mother of Jesus.

Mortal Clown — Mon, 29 Feb 2016 02:37:38 -0000

Thank you for a simply remarkable piece on this business of credentials: I rarely thank people for making a sin (of mine) apparent. Until I read this, I thought this was something other folks did. My own lack of credentials is astoundin, which makes my insistence on it all the more comic - or tragic. Sign me, glad I stumbled onto this blog. Hope-mongers, unite!

Re: Podcast Interview with Dr. Craig Keener

Ben — Thu, 04 Feb 2016 08:07:33 -0000

Great, thanks for the details!

Re: Podcast Interview with Dr. Craig Keener

Nathan Smith — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 21:35:47 -0000

Hey Ben, I heard it from a colleague in India who had visited Thailand for a Worship Arts Conference last year. I believe there is a book that might have the story in it, but I'll have to check. He had heard about it firsthand from the people organizing the conference.

Re: Podcast Interview with Dr. Craig Keener

Ben — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 17:02:03 -0000

Thanks for the great podcast. I remember you discussing a culture who understood the Prodigal Son better if it were translated into a story about a Mother and Daughter. Can you remind me which culture that was? Is that story related in a book or other publication? Thanks again!

Re: A New Kind of Submission

Nathan Smith — Mon, 17 Aug 2015 01:18:23 -0000

Sorry to sound listy, but here's a few points to help from my research and practice:

1. Without any submission, we are in danger of
becoming our worst selves, but with too much submission we can never become our true selves. The balance is struck by embracing the maxim, "know thyself" alongside of "know God".

Nearly all wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists in two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves (Institutes, 1.1.1). - John Calvin

Calvin argued that one could not truly know God without knowing oneself and that one couldn’t truly know oneself without knowing God. Calvin acknowledged the obvious dilemma in saying, “which one precedes and brings forth the other is not easy to discern” (Institutes, 1.1.1).

Read more at http://www.christianpost.co...

2. When we truly submit to others, we are declaring
their value and rejecting the need for retributive ethics.

3. Voluntary submission of personal rights recognizes
the value of freedom for all, not just for oneself.

3. To be free is not merely to cast off one's
chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” -Nelson Mandela

At the end of the day submission to any earthly entity/person is not ultimate. You can always bow out and that is your right. Your choice to submit should have its reasons - no blind trust with broken humans. The role of submission to a community isn't that their is a hierarchy to follow but that we mutually submit for the sake of each other and our shared goal. Personal decisions that operate outside of the shared goals and values that end up being destructive to those shared goals and values is not submission. This can be true in spiritual/religious community or a non-religious community.

Submission to church elders requires their submission to you as well. It's not one way and it is not in all or even in most areas of your life. Anyway, I operate by the quote at the beginning - become your true self and if submission in a community requires you to forgo becoming your true self, then I would be very suspect of that kind of relationship because knowing your true self is the key to truly knowing God. If any form of submission doesn't allow you to flourish as a person, they are holding back you ability to know God and forgoing their right to lead and undermining their credibility as mature leaders who are tasked with helping you know God.

Re: A New Kind of Submission

Jennie B — Sun, 16 Aug 2015 23:38:33 -0000

So what is the balance then, between making decisions for ourselves and this submission? I'm speaking as a member of a congregation in relationship to elders/ church leaders.

Re: How my Faith Helps me Sleep at Night

Nathan Smith — Sat, 15 Aug 2015 00:02:41 -0000

This was so good to read. Michael, I was captured and transported by your narrative to many of my own memories. Profound work. Keep posting.

Re: Scolding Francis Chan? The Ironic Interview by Mark Driscoll & Joshua Harris

Dean — Wed, 10 Jun 2015 02:25:16 -0000

I was thinking the exact same thing about how ironic this interview was which is why I googled it and found you post. You can tell how stunned MD was to think that a celebrity pastor would willing walk away from his megachurch. This idea that maybe wealth, fame, prestige and power might be in conflict with the life that Jesus calls us to leave just completely goes over his head, MD can't even process it. How revealing!

Re: Does “White” Privilege Exist? Christian Discourse & Blind Spots at Moody Bible Institute – Part 1

Jesse Curtis — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 21:39:20 -0000

My mouth dropped to the floor at this: "My own grandfather was an immigrant from Canada who scrimped and saved as a dry cleaner in Detroit." I don't know the exact chronology of Dr. Litfin's family history, but that probably places his grandfather in Detroit in, what, the 40s, 50s? As such, Dr. Litfin unwittingly gave an example of the very concept he was writing against. What really puzzles me is why he hasn't realized that there's just a bunch of stuff here that he doesn't know. He's an expert in his field. Has it occurred to him that there are experts in other fields and he should read up before putting himself out so publicly in a field he's not conversant in? I highly doubt he has ever read Thomas Sugrue, Origins of the Urban Crisis, or David Freund, Colored Property, etc.

Re: Does “White” Privilege Exist? Christian Discourse & Blind Spots at Moody Bible Institute – Part 1

Nathan Smith — Thu, 23 Apr 2015 12:25:33 -0000

Jelani,

My first thought was to give him the benefit of the doubt and move in the direction of helping him to see through kindness, patience, etc. While that approach has its place, his letter was not only undeserving of that approach, I feel strongly that it deserved a much stronger response for the reasons I provided. Thanks for your affirmation. As an alumni, this is the tip of the iceberg in problems I perceived while there. Moody has many good traits, but this area is one of constant struggle for them and I'm just surprised this was even allowed to be discussed publicly. It's going to hurt their credibility a lot.

Re: Does “White” Privilege Exist? Christian Discourse & Blind Spots at Moody Bible Institute – Part 1

Jelani Greenidge — Thu, 23 Apr 2015 10:09:40 -0000

Also, I left a comment at the Moody Standard, suggesting that if they want to rescind the term white privilege, they should replace it with white fragility.

As one might imagine, that comment did not pass through their moderation filter.

Re: Does “White” Privilege Exist? Christian Discourse & Blind Spots at Moody Bible Institute – Part 1

Jelani Greenidge — Thu, 23 Apr 2015 10:07:01 -0000

Thank you. For seriously engaging with the topic and not letting Dr. Litfin off the hook for his blind spots and his defensiveness.

Re: “Summer Syllabus” Pt. 2 (Note Taking, Methods and Examples)

Nathan Smith — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 14:39:07 -0000

I have found that the more I do this, the more the paper is written before I ever get to the writing stage. At that point, I'm organizing the argument, bridging my independent thoughts/quotes and/or throwing entire quotes into the footnotes as supportive but not substantive info. I have tended to just put quotations around actual quotes and leave my thoughts unquoted. Your approach sounds more thorough and safe.

Re: “Summer Syllabus” Pt. 2 (Note Taking, Methods and Examples)

masthewitt — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 13:09:20 -0000

I had been using the cloud reader on my PC and it doesn't allow for copying. Downloading the app works. Thanks for the clue.

Re: “Summer Syllabus” Pt. 2 (Note Taking, Methods and Examples)

Michael Wiltshire — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 12:52:48 -0000

After I write the quotes from other authors in my doc for notes, I will also add my own thoughts by indenting under their quote and underlining anything that is written by myself

Re: “Summer Syllabus” Pt. 2 (Note Taking, Methods and Examples)

Nathan Smith — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 12:14:50 -0000

If I may highly recommend the work of putting quotes/commentary into a wor doc, I would do so. Highly effective method for paper writing.

The writing down quotes thing has worjked wonders for me. Two reasons. 1. We can go back to that same document and use the quotes again in further research just by copying abs pasting again. I typically write my added thoughts down when the wuote is being entered. These can turn into important paragraphs for the pAper later on.

2. When I'm forming the argument, the typing quotes/making notes thing allows me to print these notes off, color code them with a highlighter with each color representing a chaper or major section of the paper. Once every paragraph/quote has a color, I then start collating from all my books/articles and add the colored quotes together via copy paste to form the argument of each chapter.

It seems like a lot of work up front, but following Josiah's idea on this actually makes you write most if your paper before you even start the composition. As a professor, I am looking for students who have synthesized ideas and complentary or opposing authors.

Re: “Summer Syllabus” Pt. 2 (Note Taking, Methods and Examples)

Nathan Smith — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 12:12:32 -0000

Just get kindle for your computer, download purchased books and begin the copy and pasting.

Re: “Summer Syllabus” Pt. 2 (Note Taking, Methods and Examples)

masthewitt — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 12:11:02 -0000

That is quite meticulous. Wish I had been thinking along those lines 3 years ago. I've just started using OneNote to type up the quotes. Unfortunately, the ebooks I've gotten are Kindle and I haven't figured out how to copy and paste my highlights. I also have used a lot of library books to keep my book budget under control so that changes how I would do this. But there are definitely some great ideas. I just need to organize my own thoughts to figure out how I would color code things.

Re: “Summer Syllabus” Pt. 2 (Note Taking, Methods and Examples)

Michael Wiltshire — Wed, 15 Apr 2015 11:27:02 -0000

This was so awesome. Here is some of what I do--I think Nathan influenced us both because we have some things in common..

Writing in top of page: Headers for themes & Ideas

Writing in Sides of pages: My own thoughts & Critiques

? written in margins = I don’t understand what the author means, don’t understand the vocabulary, or something I need look up or come back to for any reason.

“Cf. p.17” works as a note to cross reference. That is, “there is similar idea on page 17” or “This picks up on an idea page 17 began to unfold”

Use back pages to create your own index that is customized my own interests.

Brackets [like this] are main points.

Underlined text within a larger bracketed section are good summary quotes.

Underlined text outside of brackets are secondary/interesting but not critical points.

Squiggly lines under words are key vocab or names of other authors the writer explicitly looks toward.

If I have to write extensively on a book, for a research paper for example, I will use colored tabs in a very similar way to what you’ve shown above and will always write a few pages of quotes per book. So if I am writing a final research paper on Acts for example, I will actually have topic headers (e.g. The use of Psalms in Acts, Lukan authorship, etc) and then write any quote from any author in that section. Then when I write the paper, I have three pages of notes form different authors which I have at my disposal. The idea of having a library of quotes however is something I never thought of and really wish I would have saved all of this stuff when I was finished!