David Congdon has put out the call for respondents in the upcoming Balthasar Blog Conference. There are still a lot of slots available for people to offer responses to the various posts that will be presented. Anyone who is interested should definitely head over and check it out. This has the makings of a great theo-blogging event, so if you have an interest in Balthasar, offering a response to one of the papers will certainly be worth the effort.
Daily Archives: February 19, 2008
Balthasar Blog Conference: Call for Responses
Posted by Halden
on February 19, 2008
1 comment
Stanley Hauerwas: “I am sorry to tell you…”
Posted by Halden
on February 19, 2008
17 comments
In the latest issue of the Princeton Seminary Bulletin, one of the articles is a lecture given by Stanley Hauerwas to their Forum on Youth Ministry. Now, of course picturing Hauerwas giving advice to blossoming youth ministers is funny enough. Fortunately, however we need no worry that his distinctive style was hampered by this rather unusual context for him to be speaking in. Here’s a priceless quote:
“I assume most of you are here because you think you are Christians, but it is not all clear to me that the Christianity that has made you Christians is Christianity. For example:
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How many of you worship in a church with an American flag? I am sorry to tell you that your salvation is in doubt.
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How many of you worship in a church in which the fourth of July is celebrated? I am sorry to tell you that your salvation is in doubt.
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How many of you worship in a church that recognizes Thanksgiving? I am sorry to tell you that your salvation is in doubt.
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How many of you worship in a church that celebrates January 1 as the “New Year”? I am sorry to tell you that your salvation is in doubt.
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How many of you worship in a church that recognizes “Mother’s Day”? I am sorry to tell you that your salvation is in doubt.”
Hauerwas will always be able to deliver the great lines to shock the unsuspecting and comfortable Christians that may cross his path. However, one of the very interesting things about his litany of everyday church heresies is the fact that with the exception of the issue of the flag, they are all issues related to the calendar. Perhaps this goes to the crucial point that how we mark time is, in the fullest sense an indicator of where our true allegiance lies. To my mind this is just another reason why an emphasis on the liturgical year must be recovered in evangelical churches.
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