Thoughts on Contemporary Atheism and Christianity

In case you missed it, I've recently posted a series of blogs over at Near Emmaus reflecting on the state of affairs between contemporary atheism and Christianity. There has been some good conversation in the comment sections of each post. If that kind of thing is your jam, go check 'em out:

• Part One: Introduction/Daniel Dennett's Breaking the Spell

• Part Two: Alister McGrath's Why God Won't Go Away

• Part Three: Personal Reflections/Conclusion

From United Methodist to Baptist to Anabaptist

Over on Near Emmaus Brian LePort has a great conversation going about his journey from Pentecostalism to Anabaptism. Brian sees parallels between his own experience and that of Greg Boyd, whose megachurch has recently undergone the discernment process of whether or not to join Mennonite Church USA. For more on Boyd's story, see the excellent video below.

In the comments section of Brian's post I added some of my own thoughts and experiences as a recent Mennonite "convert":

I grew up United Methodist, and over the course of the last five years found myself identifying with a wide array of traditions—Wesleyan, Episcopalian, three different kinds of Baptist, and even Quaker. But upon attending a Mennonite church, I was immediately overwhelmed with the sense that I was “home,” theologically, socially, and ethically speaking.

I only have two main critiques of the Mennonite church, and I assume these issues are present in the wider Anabaptist tradition, as well: 1) As you briefly touched on in your post, there is a definite bias toward “ethnic Mennonites” as opposed to us mongrel converts, although I have never been anything but welcomed and accepted at my particular church. 2) In my particular church, we often favor social liberalism over strenuous theological or intellectual reflection. I have been frustrated a lot recently with our church’s preference of Sunday morning “book studies” and “novel readings” rather than Bible studies and theological discussions. Because of our historical commitment to nonviolence and social justice, I find that Sunday school far more often than not engages nonfiction journalistic texts about race and incarceration in the U.S. rather than studies in cruciform hermeneutics. However, this may not be universal in the Mennonite church, let alone Anabaptism, and perhaps this is all just one Bible student calling the grapes sour because my Sunday school class doesn’t like to talk about the same things I like to talk about.

That being said, I never wanted to officially “join” a church until I began identifying as a Mennonite. I’m at home now, and regardless of my criticisms, I feel committed to my new identity and my new community of faith in a way that I have never committed myself to a church before.

Brian noted that he has experienced similar frustration with book studies at his own church. Maybe the problem isn't the church as much as it is two Bible nerds griping to one another.

It appears that Mennonite churches are experiencing an influx of young evangelicals who are fed up with crusty mainline denominationalism and are instead looking for something new. The question has now become, How is the Mennonite church going to deal with these evangelical "expats"?

For more on my own journey to identifying as a Mennonite, see my post on Near Emmaus, Why I Am A Mennonite. Do you have experience with the Anabaptist theological tradition and/or the Mennonite church? What was your journey to Anabaptism like?

Blogging My Thesis

If you have been wondering about my extended absence from blogging, head over to Near Emmaus to check out my latest post. I have been working on developing my master's thesis for the last couple months, and I've just finished the first draft of my research proposal. For those interested in that kind of thing, I encourage you to read my post and provide any constructive feedback that you are willing to offer.

Near Emmaus: "Blogging My Thesis: The Questions of Jesus in Luke"

Why I Am a Mennonite

For those who are interested, I've posted a little bit about my personal journey that led me to the Anabaptist/Mennonite faith over on Near Emmaus. Check it out, and while you're there, check out my friends' posts, as well, and be sure to keep up with the series:

1a. Why I Am An E/evangelical
1b. Why I Am A Catholic
1c. Why I Am A Mennonite

2a. Why I Am Not A Catholic
2b. Why I Am Not An Evangelical (forthcoming)

What Does It Mean To Be An Evangelical?

Brian LePort has begun an excellent discussion over at Near Emmaus on reasons behind one's choice to identify as Roman Catholic/Evangelical. Brian describes himself somewhat ambivalently as an "E/evangelical," characterizing evangelicalism as more of an ethos than a particular denominational affiliation. He has invited me to contribute a post from my newfound perspective as an Anabaptist/Mennonite, and I will be offering my thoughts sometime in the next few days.

I personally have great difficulty self-identifying as an evangelical, primarily because I feel that no clear definition of the term exists anymore. At one time, perhaps, evangelicalism was most readily identifiable as the Christianity of Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell, Oral Roberts, and others. But no longer. Now, Christians from John Piper to Rob Bell self-identify as evangelicals—with such a diverse range of adherents, what are the commonalities that might contribute to a working definition of evangelicalism?

In what tradition do you feel most at home? Why do you choose to identify with your particular brand of Christianity, either Roman Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical, Orthodox, etc.?

New Post(s) at Near Emmaus

My latest couple of posts at Near Emmaus chronicle my experience at the Central States Society of Biblical Literature/ASOR regional meeting last week in St. Louis. Take a look at my personal notes on the conference, if you're interested.

Part One (in which we find an interpretation of a Pauline polemic, an ancient Nazarene bathhouse, and a super-cool guy who uses science to study the made-up Q document)

Part Two (in which we find postmodern literary deconstruction, a guy in a centurion outfit, and the prophet Ezekiel's cuss words)

Interpreting the NT with Coins

My first post at Near Emmaus has just gone up, and I encourage you to go check it out, if New Testament interpretation is your thing. It involves ancient coins, Revelation, and the mark of the beast.

Hope that whets your appetite.

Numismatics: An Underutilized Tool for NT Interpretation?

Exciting Announcement!

As of this week, I will officially become a regular contributor at Near Emmaus, consistently ranked among the top ten biblioblogs on the web over the last couple years. I am incredibly excited to offer my thoughts via this well-established forum.

For those who are uninterested in New Testament biblical studies and theology, fear not! I will still be posting fairly regularly here at Everyday Revolutionary (although if you're not interested in New Testament biblical studies and theology, odds are great that you stopped reading my blog a looooong time ago).

Thank you all for reading and for sticking with this little blog over the last three years, and I look forward to posting more here in the future. I'm coming up on my 200th post soon, and to celebrate I plan to give away several books from my personal library. Stay tuned!