Departures

It has become apparent that this blog in its current form has hit a rather big wall. After some reflection, I decided to stop posting here, for the time being at least.

However, I have taken up a new project, in a new setting. Related much more closely with my academic work, I have started my more official and more academic blog. This will be happening over here, at http://substancepromiseclaim.wordpress.com . While I will continue to reflect on issues relating to Church and Culture, this will (in the long term) provide a forum for discussion, and I will keep my rants to myself and find a different outlet for them.

Go and check it out...there will not be much new on here for quite some time...

this is quote-worthy...

"The less people have to say, the more zealously they must pro-legein, that is, precede what they should really say with excuses and explanations and adjustments." (Barth, Göttingen Dogmatics)

;-)

Barth on the exclusive claim of Christ

"...it is the common denominator which is accepted in every Christian statement, which marks every such statement as binding and urgent, and the ignoring or obscuring of which causes all such statements to lose their specific weight. It is certainly fashioned and proclaimed arbitrarily, and therefore exposed to reproach, if it is related to the position or opinion or intention of the man who represents it, or to the plans and enterprises and teachings and institutions of the Christian Church as a fellowship of such men, being thus used to declare the absoluteness of this or that form of what is called Christianity or the Church."

An Afterthought

So, the Easter weekend has passed, and - shockingly to some - the Pope has not addressed the abuse scandal in the Catholic in any homily. Seriously? The more I saw over the weekend from Rome, the more I started wondering what exactly those waiting for a comment really want him to say...because, this is getting ridiculous. No, it does not make it right, and less awful a crisis and crime - but what is people's center of attention? And even if he said something - it would be wrong anyway... so far, I have not seen anyone putting exactly forward what they want him to say.
Instead, Sunday's Urbi et Orbi Message contained references to, amongst others, the crises in Congo, in the Middle East, in Haiti, in Chile and speaking words of comfort to those affected by tragedies there - but, because, there was no reference to the abuse scandal, the homilies were "disappointing"? I am simply struggling with this view of the world - only because you have been wronged and are hurting extremely - which I am not dismissing nor diminishing - the world cannot suddenly in a Copernican Revolution start revolving around you...

As for an early (almost) April Fool's Day...

...I suggest this article. It starts as follows:

Headline: "Cross Ban in Trafalgar Square"

Then continues: "The Mayor of London has ordered a ban on Christian crosses in Trafalgar Square."

And then..."OK, you got me, he hasn't. But it wouldn't surprise me if someone alleged it right now, because evidence and reason don't seem to be playing much of a part in such allegations these days."

Well done for applying some amazing writing technique...

Read the full article here.

Hooray for Calvinism...

...apparently it is back. Although there is a fair bit of cynicism, irony linked with this statement. One blog that I am following said something along the lines of "hey, actually, Calvinism has never been gone, so it can't be back..." - that is probably true. The most hilarious tongue-in-cheek comment is, however, regarding Phyllis Tickle's assessment at the end of this article by Carl Trueman over here:

"Yes, Phyllis, you've rumbled us in your usual inimitable, original, well-documented, and incisive way. It really is all about you and your interests; and yes, you do represent a movement of semi-millennial importance, worthy to stand alongside the Aristotelian renaissance of the twelfth century, the Reformation, the Enlightenment, and the Pink Floyd reunion of 2005."

Sweet.

An interesting perspective...

...which is successful at not glossing over the terrible aspects of the abuse scandal, yet at the same time calls for fairness in the media and not blind bashing...these are the constructive voices that are needed...