Week 7, Wednesday

"Hospitality gets its name from welcoming the stranger, yet when we practice hospitality who do we normally invite? We need to break the circle of the same by welcoming the uninvited. Undecidability is built into hospitality." - John Caputo

I really enjoyed this quote from Caputo. It resonates with the way we treat those outsiders and flows with the love your neighbor as yourself.

I also appreciated the conversation today about Caputo's undeconstructables. Although I don't know if I understand the distinction that make hospitality undeconstructable. It would seem that the church needs to first deconstruct hospitality and understand this is what the biblical image of hospitality is and the contextualize it in our present day context. Perhaps I need to think that the word undeconstructable in Caputo's usage is synonymous with the word non-negotiable. Therefore to say hospitality is undeconstructable is the same as saying it's non-negotiable. As Christians there are no exemptions towards offering hospitality.

Week 7, Barker Chapter 14

Cultural politics and cultural policy. This chapter brought up some interesting ideas as it relates to the role of the intellectual in cultural studies. I found the Gramscian view helpful as it identified "traditional" intellectuals and "organic" intellectuals. I think this becomes helpful as we attempt to understand who influences the formation of our cultural ideology. Gramscian thinking posits traditional intellectuals as the dominate force behind cultural hegemony. Whereas the organic intellectual organizes the counter-hegemonic class.

In reading this view from Gramsci it would seem that there is a push pull going on when it comes to creating a cultural hegemony. If we're to assume this model then it would also seem that both sides of the intellectual side must engage each other...for instance...if by Gramsci's definition churches are on the traditional intellectual side of things...then they need to identify their distance from the working class organic intellectual discover ways to bridge that gap and vice versa.

Week 7, Barker Chapter 13

Youth, Style, and Resistance. I think what was helpful in this chapter was understanding that Youth Culture resistance is taking place "inside the whale" or within capitalism and not outside of that arena. What seems to be happening is that instead of youth cultures out and out rejecting of capitalistic enterprises...MTV, coca-cola, Levis, playstation, have infiltrated youth culture.

In response, youth culture has used capitalism to support or resist these various enterprises and thereby used commerce to create their own set of signs, codes, identity.

Week 7, Bevans Chapter 7

The synthetic model begins with listening. It's the idea of finding basic patterns and structures and discovering the local theology. From there it's a matter of putting the basic themes that exist in the local theology into conversation with the basic themes of the gospels. I think Bevans makes a great point as he says that there is a real danger of "selling out" to the other culture.

As I critique and analyze and struggle with these various models of contextual theology I guess what I try to hold on to is that no matter which way you try to slice it...Jesus must remain at the center of our theology. I read an interesting devotional this morning by Frederick Beuchner.

Beuchner writes, "Jesus said, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me' (John 14:6). He didn't say that any particular ethic, doctrine, or religion was the way, the truth, and the life. He said that he was. He didn't say that it was by believing or doing anything in particular that you could 'come to the Father.' He said that it was only by him-by living, participating in , being caught up by, the way of life that he embodied, that was his way."

As we move forward with understanding and practicing these models, I just feel that this is something that we need to really keep in mind. I think it's when we lose sight of Jesus, much like Peter did as he stepped out onto the water and began to sink, and we begin to mistakenly think that it's more about us, we run into danger of sinking.

Week 7 Cobb Chapter 7

This chapter raised some interesting ideas as to how we're to understand the consequences of sin. I think Barker's analysis of how the Puritan foundations of this country relate to the "Jeremiad" cycles is really fascinating.

As Barker points out on page 215, "Jeremiah consistently advised that the people had to repent of their collective sins and change their ways if they hoped to be delivered from their enemies...They were in violation of this covenant, and consequently the anger of God had been kindled and calamity was about to overtake them if they did not repent and amend their ways. This idea that disaster falls upon those who refuse to repent and rectify their wrongs is the defining formula of the Hebrew prophets."

It's interesting to see how in the Jeremiad the covenant was used to explain early calamities as God's response to sin. It would seem that Puritan stubborn moral faith was a way of insuring the community would attend to their sin. In contrast, the Gothic script flows more with how the sins of ancestors transgress on the people today.

According to Cobb, in the Gothic script is centered less around an ever powerful God and more around the individual choices that we make and the effects those have on our future brothers and sisters. It would seem that God is rather absent in the Gothic script as it relates to sin.

Response to Joe's response

Joe, I feel a steel cage match coming on. Bundy and Hogan in the steel cage Wrestlemania 2 style was my favorite...although I think you could make an argument for the Superfly Snuka leap off the top of the 15 foot high steel cage on Don Moroco or Hell in a Cell with Mankind and Undertaker.

But anyway, good response to my response. I think we're hitting on the same level here and you're response covers what I was getting at, my main issue with the Praxis model is that "for some" its assumes a foundation or that they'll discover it in reflection.

I appreciate your inclusion of Matthew 22 when the Pharisee lawyer asks him which commandment in the law is the greatest and Jesus says, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself."

In my mind, the priority that Jesus lays out to the Pharisee lawyer is that we're to first love God with all our heart, soul, and mind. And then second to reach out and love our neighbor as ourselves. I'm no praxis expert, but to me, that runs somewhat contrary to the application of the praxis model.

Response to Joe's post Reflection: Week 7

I've been reflecting on the praxis model quite a bit this past week especially as I join a team in starting a new young adults ministry at our church. I have a heart for outreach and I really want this group to be outreach heavy. I think this praxis model has some tremendous benefits in helping the group move towards a place where this can be achieved. However, I do see a distinction in the way the praxis model plays out in our scenario and I don't believe the method and approach falls entirely inline with The Great Commission.

For me, the fundamental difference is in the method and approach of the Praxis model vs. the method and approach of Jesus' overall ministry. According to the praxis model we're called to action and our job is to go out and do outreach/service for the marginalized and then come back and reflect on the experience.

Now, going out and serving the marginalized certainly was the cornerstone of Jesus' ministry as exemplified in both his words and action. However, in Jesus' ministry, according to Matthew, the disciples first had to encounter and discover who Jesus was before they could be sent out to lift up the marginalized and spread the good news. Think about how this plays out in the chronology of Matthew's narrative...it's only after the cross and meeting the risen Christ that the disciples receive the call to action...The Great Commission.

I think there is a potential danger in creating a discipleship program that emphasis the praxis first through action without first spending time understanding why it is that we go out and serve. Without that foundation, I think that we can run into the problem where we're just doing "good works." Is God big enough to work in the situation regardless? Certainly. But I think it might be helpful to build that foundation before we go out to serve.

Week 6, Barker Chapter 12

I thought that there were some interesting ideas in this chapter about LA as the fortress city. I think that Barker's highlights of Mike Davis' apocalyptic vision of Los Angeles in his 1990 book City of Quartz is an eerie forecast of the 1992 LA riots. It's particularly interesting to see how our current downtown LA fits into this idea of cleaning out of the homeless, and cardboard tents, etc...I wonder what kind of obligation the new high rises, condos, hotels, and building projects have towards these urban natives? My guess would be very little. I'll be very interested to see what the outcome is in terms of LA Live and the regentrification of downtown LA. I appreciate Shields view that the city is not one and rather "a complex surface of activities and interactions." I think about how we should celebrate the diversity of voices within the postmodern city and understand that we're not defined or limited by our differences. If we can join together to do service, rally, and better our city perhaps we'll capture a true faith in action.

Week 6, Barker Chapter 11

In this chapter Barker discusses television and the role of the news. In his section on War News, Barker suggests, "President George Bush Snr.'s decision to stop the 1990-91 Gulf war short of a full scale invasion of Iraq was arguably a consequence of this fear that images of slaughter and fleeting Iraqi forces would turn public opinion against him" (Barker, p.320).

I think that Barker is completely overstating the power of the media in this particular situation. First of all, there is absolutely no basis for this claim. Show me where any person involved with the first Gulf War says that this fear of CNN cameras was a driving force in the pull out. I agree that the power of image has the ability to affect decisions in war time. But it's typically reactive and not proactive in nature.

I certainly think that the horrific images presented in war images such as U.S. soldiers dead bodies being desecrated after the Black Hawk helicopter crash in Somalia, the machete hacking deaths in Rowanda, the U.S. bodies being drug out of Viet Nam have all led to war time maneuvering. But in the first desert storm all we got was some shots of smart bombs hitting targets and rooftop shots of US carpet bombing.

Now with the advent of embedded journalism and instant technology perhaps we'll pull back the curtain on much more of the human tragedy that occurs with war. But part of the sad reality is that the major news providers are media conglomerates that are obligated to their other companies, advertisers, share holders, the FCC, and government. Perhaps it's time that journalists embed themselves outside of Walter Reed medical center and Iraqi hospitals.

Week 6, Bevans Chapter 6

"The praxis model of contextual theology focuses on the identity of Christians within a context particularly as that context is understood in terms of social change" (Bevans, p. 70). My understanding of the Praxis model and the way it relates to contextual theology is that it goes beyond seeing culture as simply religious values. Instead, it moves ahead and attempts to spark social change and action. The focus is on community and not individualism.

I think what I really struggled with, in a positive sense, after reading this chapter was how the praxis works out in practice. In the example near the end of the chapter, Bevans brings in the example of Asia and the Philippines and how in order for Christianity to catch a fire he writes, "If Jesus' identity is to make sense in Asia today, it will not be in terms of claims of metaphysical uniqueness but by way faith in Jesus empowers people - especially Asia's women - to work and struggle for justice and equality" (Bevans, p. 85).

I just think about how this is a really difficult proposition for the western evangelical Christian to own and put into action. I feel as if our Western society is so completely opposite this idea at this point. We've become complacent and completely individualistic. So how do we get there? I'm challenged by statements such as these that suggest Asia will only understand Jesus if it empowers people towards social change. Maybe this is why many non-believers here in the West don't believe as well...they don't see faith in action in those around them.

Week 6, Cobb Chapter 6

"Where your treasure is there your heart will be also." These are the words Jesus spoke in Matthew 6:21. Commodity fetishism is alive and well here in the US. This is part of our human nature that Walt Disney was able to capitalize on beginning in 1930 with the popular cartoon myths that he created.

In reading Cobb, it is clear that one of the fundamental theological questions in human nature is "Who are these humans that God has made?" I appreciated the parallels that Cobb draws between questions such as these and the replicants in Ridley Scott's Blade Runner. The perfect, unstoppable Cyborgs who are incapable of real human feeling and authentic emotion and desire to be made human. I think that Cobb makes a good point as he talks about how as humans we desire the seeming perfection and beauty of these robots. Yet, the irony is that these so called perfect cyborgs really want to be us and want to be human. This science fiction theme harks back to Frankenstein and the creation of the powerful man that becomes a monster. In the end, it all seems to be a dangerous trap over vanity. We can't control the process of aging and we must recognize it's a process of life. Perhaps if we recover a greater appreciation for the stages of life we can avoid these futile attempts to play God that can consume our time and resources.

Monday Class February 18th

I think that it's important after listening to the lecture today to understand that post-modern means different things to different critics. How do we define post-modern? Is it post-industrialization? Post-capitalism? Post-war? It would seem that post-modern is often misused to mean "new." I think that it's also interesting that in regards to the church and post-modernity, the shift from religion to spirituality is a move away from an institutionalized faith. How does this impact the way we understand church? Do we need to redefine church by attaching and favoring words such as traditional, mainline, emerging, and missional instead of using denominations?

Response to Todd's Images of God post

"I’m concerned with the attitude of how we experience music and story over propositional and rhetorical discourse. I’m imagining a musical/narrative discourse."

Todd, I think I understand what you're writing about...unless I'm trying to project my own ideas/questions on your post. But what would a musical and narrative discourse look like to you? Is it a situation where we free ourselves from labeling, defining, and finding a singular truth in music and story? Is that what we're trying to get away from? Does it become a situation where we just focus in on the experience? I think this is a really well written post and it has sparked lots of questions in my mind of what you're locking in on. I'd be interested to have you come at me another time and break it down in terms of what we're really getting at here and attempting to understand.

Week 6, Wednesday

I think what I found helpful today in our discussion of modernity was the idea that with modernity the world was broken up into spheres. Specifically, how this created a fracture between the church's relationship with art. It would seem that modernity was a product of post enlightenment thought and a response to the individual's rationality. I think this is helpful as we try to understand where and why the fractures occur between the church and art.

Week 6, Monday

The anthropological model was an interesting model to break-down today. What I enjoy about the class is having the opportunity to apply some of the theories to actual mission situations. In reflecting about these exercises I think that it might be an interesting exercise or perhaps helpful to have a singular case study for us to tackle in groups. This way we can focus our study and get different perspective from different groups on one situation. It's just a thought but it might be helpful in narrowing the scope and exploring some of the commonalities and differences in our approach. In particular, I was trying to think about how those of us can use these models and theories as a practical way of understanding, supporting, and partnering with those participating in world missions and churches in foreign lands.

Week 5, Barker, Chapter 10

In Chapter 10, Barker links cultural studies with feminism along lines of power, representation, popular culture, subjectivity, identities, and consumption. Barker also attempts to underline the parallels with how we see women represented in popular culture and how women are represented in our society. I think that Barker makes some excellent points as he draws on Meehan's study and outlines the most common stereotypes of women in popular culture. I also found it intriguing that there is considerable scientific evidence showing women are more verbal, co-operative and organized then men and that our brains are organized in different ways. It would seem that developing an appreciation for these differences might help us to gain new insight into members of the opposite sex and thereby become more productive and understanding as a group of people.

Week 5, Barker, Chapter 9

I appreciated what Barker wrote about racism as he makes the claim that we have to understand why societies have an incapacity to live with difference. I see this is as fundamental in developing an approach to understanding racism. In regards to rap music and the new ghetto aesthetic, I think that what we've seen is artists responding to the major areas of struggle and conflict within their culture. I don't think gangsta films and gangsta rap serve as some sort of broad stroke representation of the entire community. Rather, these art forms provide a commentary on some of the major issues that plague the black community. Representation is key and Barker goes to great effort to highlight positive black representation with the Cosby Show and Oprah. I think what's interesting is that with this upcoming presidential election we have the opportunity for the first time to see what America's response is to the idea of a black candidate and perhaps gauge just how alive racism is in this country.

Week 5, Bevans, Chapter 5

The idea of the anthropological model would flow from creating a contextual theology that does not rely on creating a predetermined message. Rather, one that works with the human presence of the culture to compliment the Gospel. As Bevans writes of the anthropological model, "Culture shapes the way Christianity is articulated" (Bevans, p. 57). I think it is also important to point out the major danger of this model which is that it falls prey to cultural romanticism. But overall, it would seem that the anthropological model is an important model of contextual theology in that it embraces the human nature of the culture.

Week 5, Cobb, Chapter 5

I thought the idea of what we learn from "God fiction" both in film and literature was quite interesting. The parallel that I found particularly relevant was using the social and historical context of the time in which the Book of Job was written.

Cobb writes, "Job was probably written late in the biblical period of ancient Israel, when Judaism had suffered the humiliation of exile at the hands of pagan nations, and at a time when its theological beliefs were in flux. The experience of exile had required a revamping of much of the Jewish understanding of God. We too live in a time of change in which we have lost many of our inherited theological certainties" (Cobb, p. 157 ).

I never really thought about the connections between the context of Job and the way we can come to understand various presentations of God in "God fiction". I think that as we move into a period that becomes more religiously diverse and pluralistic it's important to look to film and literature and culture to try and get a read of where we're at as a culture and what the ideas and questions are that the church needs to address.

Response to Aaron's blog Wednesday, Week 5

The commentary on Marx's knowledge or lack of knowledge of Christianity from class discussion also stuck out to me. I think that the Castro quote wasn't meant to mean that Marx never knew of the Sermon on the Mount. Castro uses the past tense saying Marx "would have" subscribed to the Sermon on the Mount because Marx was dead...not because Marx never knew of it. I appreciate your comments on how Marx was against religion as he saw it as an excuse to not work for justice in the here and now. I think that his hope was probably tied up in the government being the hope of the world. But I also wonder as a Catholic converting to Lutheran, where the Lutheran church dropped the ball? I haven't studied this very much but your comments seem to imply that the Lutheran church wasn't active in working for justice and I'm wondering how that was ties into the stance of the Lutheran church. Is this because church members thought the Kingdom wasn't here and now?

Week 4, Barker, Chapter 8

In reading this chapter I thought about the role of the enlightenment in relationship to the creation of identity. The shifting away from the enlightenment idea of the rationality of the individual to a post-modern identity whereby we're defined by many different and fragmented identities. After understanding this shift and seeing where our culture sits today in it's post-modern context, I think that we must discover how agency plays into this in terms of acting as an agent of change to make a difference. If we're to relate this to the role of the church being and agency in the community how does that play out in our post-modern context? How do we relate to others? How do we effect change?

Week 4, Barker, Chapter 7

This chapter helped me find a better understanding of the term post-modern. It would seem that the ideas of intertextuality and multi-genre form are two prime indicators of the post-modern form. I appreciated the examples that the author used in terms of The Simpsons, Miami Vice, and The Sopranos (3 of my favorites). I think if I had to add to the definition I would add that the characters in these programs or the voice of the show writer(s) also express a heightened sense of cultural awareness. Take a film such as Pulp Fiction where the characters and writer/director Quentin Tarantino, have an obvious affinity and reverential following of pop culture. This awareness seems to be a fundamental conceit of post-modern film and television.

Week 5, Wednesday

The class discussion on Marxism today was engaging as it related to Castro's quote about Karl Marx falling in line with the Sermon on Mount. However, I still have some fundamental problems with understanding how a pro-Marxist view might relate to Christianity in a larger sense once you start looking at how Marxism restricts individual freedoms. I understand that capitalism can be flawed and lead to abuses of the working class...the rich can get richer and the poor get poorer. Yet, I don't believe it's the economic system that is flawed. It's the individuals in the system who succumb to power and greed that create these inequities.

Week 4, Bevans Chapter 4

As I reflected on the Translational model and what that means to translate the meaning of doctrines into into another cultural context I thought about the role of "revelation" and how it's important to remember that revelations can both be "wholly culturally free" or "clothed in a culture that is divinely sanctioned" (Bevans, p.41). The point that I'm getting at is that even though the translational model is important and we need to strip the Gospel of its husk as we enter into mission with other cultures, I think it's important to temper it with the idea that God still has the ability to reveal himself free of that culture.

Week 4, Cobb, Chapter 4 Theological Tools

As I reflect on the Theological Tools that Cobb writes about I'm drawn to this idea of myth and what myths mean in our current context. Cobb writes that, "novelists, poets, filmmakers, and painters are reliable indices to the currently vital myths in a culture..." (Cobb, p. 123). He sites Mircea Eliade as a person who claims we have a mythic space in our subconscious that needs to be filled. He also claims that with religious myths on the wane we fill this space with other myths. This is an interesting proposition and I wonder what kind of repercussions this has on our religious identity as a whole. Have religious myths lost their luster? Is there a way to bring religious myths back into the consciousness? Or, is the result of moving into a more pluralistic society creating a loss of religious myth as a whole.

Week 5, Monday

Today we discussed the translation model. I thought about what this looks like in terms of stripping down to the "naked gospel." I'm still struggling to get my mind around this concept and figure out how this really plays out. If I understand correctly, it entails keeping the doctrine but totally removing the husk around the gospel. The husk is the particular social context and environment that each of us brings to our reading of the gospel. In order to use the translation model effectively, we need to adapt the context to the culture that we're speaking into.

Response to Harmony's Blog Week 4 Monday

Kester Brewin said, “If worship was about gifts, then what we brought to worship had to be integral to us, something meaningful from who we were.”

I appreciated your transition from the Brewin quote to your reflection on how this played out in your own experience growing up in the church. I think my personal experience has also been that the church, or people within the church, often do a poor job at setting up those in the congregation. I think that you're dead on when you say...

"I want to make sure, in my life, that I encourage people everywhere, not just in the church, to use their gifts."

Providing others with affirmation is a great spiritual gift and one of the most overlooked spiritual gifts in my opinion.