The Father's Spirit of Sonship

The Father's Spirit Of Sonship: Reconceiving The Trinity by Thomas G. Weinandy
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a reasonably short book with a single point. Because of the evidence of the Spirit's role in fashioning Jesus as the Son(in birth, ministry and resurrection), and because of the Spirit's role in fashioning believers as Sons, the Spirit's role in the immanent Trinity should be seen as the one in whom the Father begets the son. The begetting of the Son and the procession of the Spirit are different but inseperable. Weinandy goes a little further to say that the Spirit 'persons' the Father by fashioning the Son, and 'persons' the Son by being the love with which the Son loves the Father.
Weinandy reckons his conception provides a way through the filoque debate. I like the thesis, but I'm not sure the debate will end.
The only downfall of the book is its length. If you are convinced of his thesis, it is too long. If you are unconvinced, it will probably be too short. Take a look at David Hohne's 'Spirit and Sonship'

Other Christians are the cause of sin in the world: untested assertions and the consequence of ideas

A little furor has arisen over at the Gospel Coalition, over Jared Wilsons post on bondage and kinky sex.
In it, he approvingly quotes Doug Wilson, who argues that abandoning a clear authority structure in marriage (and sex in marriage) leads to that authority displaying itself in violence such as rape.
Of course, Doug Wilson puts it a little more colourfully.
There has been outrage at various aspects of this post. For me it exemplifies the kind of untested assertions Christian leaders are always making. This idea leads to that.. that idea leads to this. Often these kind of assertions just seem to be point scoring. That is, they say the reason there is sin in the world is because there are other christians who disagree with them.
So, Doug and Jared. Sexual violence and rape happen because of more egalitarian attitudes. Really? Really? It isn't because of the sinfulness of men? It isn't because people reject Christ and his way of love? Do you have stats on this? Can you run a control, where you have Christians with egalitarian views and Christians with complementarian views and see where sexual violence happens? Or as another control, a non-christian society with hierarchical structure and one without? Are there really such discrepencies in the rates of sexual violence that you can posit such a clear causal link?

On the flipside, egalitarian christians have responded "See! Complementarian views lead to condoning sexual violence!".
Now, the way Doug spoke of conquering and penetrating was unwise. In fact lets just say it was dumb. But as Jared has defensively pointed out, the thrust (excuse the pun) of Dougs point was against sexual violence, was for a vision of male power that is to serve and to love. Some of us may not like the way it was worded, but that is what Doug was getting at. And for the most part, I've found that complemtarian christians aren't really into sexual violence.

So here is a crazy thought. Perhaps sexual violence doesn't happen because of egalitarian or hierarchical views of the relationship between men and women. Maybe it happens because people are sinful bastrds.

And perhaps we should all pause before we pontificate on the consequences of ideas

John Williamson Nevin on the need for innovative religious services

"Let the power of religion be present in the soul of him who is called to serve at the altar, and no strange fire will be needed to kindle the sacrifice. He will require no new measures. His strength will appear rather in resuscitating, and clothing with their ancient force the institutions and services already established for his use. The freshness of a divine life, always young and always new, will stand forth to view in forms that before seemed sapless and dead. Attention will be engaged; interest excited; souls drawn to the sanctuary. Sinners will be awakened and born into the family of God. Christians will be builded up in faith, and made meet for the inheritance of the saints in light. Religion will grow. This is the true idea of evangelical power.

"But let a preacher be inwardly weak, though ambitious at the same time of making an impression in the name of religion, and he will find it necessary to go to work in a different way. Old forms must needs be dull and spiritless in his hands. His sermons have neither edge nor point. The visitation and no skill to make it of any account. Still he desires to be doing something in his spiritual vocation to convince others and to satisfy himself that he is not without strength.

"What then is to be done? He must resort to quackery; not with clear consciousness, of course; but instinctively, as it were, by the pressure of inward want. He will seek to do by the flesh what he finds himself too weak to effect by the spirit. Thus it becomes possible for him to make himself felt. New measures fall in exactly with his taste, and are turned to fruitful account by his zeal. He becomes theatrical; has recourse to solemn tricks; cries aloud; takes strange attitudes; tells exciting stories: calls out the anxious, etc. In this way possibly he comes to be known as a revivalist, and is counted among those who preach the Gospel 'with the demonstration of the Spirit and with power.' And yet when all is done he remains as before without true spiritual strength. New measures are the refuge of weakness."
from 'The Anxious Bench'


see a summary of it here

Change and the Elderly

It has long been noticed that older people don't like change. (sometimes this is more assumed than tested).
I have a hunch that it is about to get harder though.
 I have these two observations.

1. Bringing about change with those born in the 'war years', is like pushing a 100kg block of stone along the floor. You have to push really hard. They stick together. You move in small increments. And eventually you get there

2. Bringing about change with baby boomers is like pushing a 100kg block of jelly across the floor. If you push, they wobble, but don't move. If you push hard you are enveloped by the jelly. Then you thrash around a bit. The block disintegrates, some melts. It breaks into small isolated coagulations all over the place. The apparent lack of solidity, the apparent fluidity, the lack of form, makes it all the harder to budge.

Our churches are in for a blast of a ride in the next 10-20 years, as our elders slowly have no (set) liturgical tradition, but long for the 'contemporary' services of the 70's and 80's. Very, very few are going to move into the early morning prayer book services, which means all of us are going to have to learn to get along with a generation that (sometimes) didn't want to learn to get along with their elders.

Fun times