Quotes & Sayings


We, and creation itself, actualize the possibilities of the God who sustains the world, towards becoming in the world in a fuller, more deeper way. - R.E. Slater

There is urgency in coming to see the world as a web of interrelated processes of which we are integral parts, so that all of our choices and actions have [consequential effects upon] the world around us. - Process Metaphysician Alfred North Whitehead

Kurt Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem says (i) all closed systems are unprovable within themselves and, that (ii) all open systems are rightly understood as incomplete. - R.E. Slater

The most true thing about you is what God has said to you in Christ, "You are My Beloved." - Tripp Fuller

The God among us is the God who refuses to be God without us, so great is God's Love. - Tripp Fuller

According to some Christian outlooks we were made for another world. Perhaps, rather, we were made for this world to recreate, reclaim, redeem, and renew unto God's future aspiration by the power of His Spirit. - R.E. Slater

Our eschatological ethos is to love. To stand with those who are oppressed. To stand against those who are oppressing. It is that simple. Love is our only calling and Christian Hope. - R.E. Slater

Secularization theory has been massively falsified. We don't live in an age of secularity. We live in an age of explosive, pervasive religiosity... an age of religious pluralism. - Peter L. Berger

Exploring the edge of life and faith in a post-everything world. - Todd Littleton

I don't need another reason to believe, your love is all around for me to see. – Anon

Thou art our need; and in giving us more of thyself thou givest us all. - Khalil Gibran, Prayer XXIII

Be careful what you pretend to be. You become what you pretend to be. - Kurt Vonnegut

Religious beliefs, far from being primary, are often shaped and adjusted by our social goals. - Jim Forest

We become who we are by what we believe and can justify. - R.E. Slater

People, even more than things, need to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone. – Anon

Certainly, God's love has made fools of us all. - R.E. Slater

An apocalyptic Christian faith doesn't wait for Jesus to come, but for Jesus to become in our midst. - R.E. Slater

Christian belief in God begins with the cross and resurrection of Jesus, not with rational apologetics. - Eberhard Jüngel, Jürgen Moltmann

Our knowledge of God is through the 'I-Thou' encounter, not in finding God at the end of a syllogism or argument. There is a grave danger in any Christian treatment of God as an object. The God of Jesus Christ and Scripture is irreducibly subject and never made as an object, a force, a power, or a principle that can be manipulated. - Emil Brunner

“Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh” means "I will be that who I have yet to become." - God (Ex 3.14) or, conversely, “I AM who I AM Becoming.”

Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. - Thomas Merton

The church is God's world-changing social experiment of bringing unlikes and differents to the Eucharist/Communion table to share life with one another as a new kind of family. When this happens, we show to the world what love, justice, peace, reconciliation, and life together is designed by God to be. The church is God's show-and-tell for the world to see how God wants us to live as a blended, global, polypluralistic family united with one will, by one Lord, and baptized by one Spirit. – Anon

The cross that is planted at the heart of the history of the world cannot be uprooted. - Jacques Ellul

The Unity in whose loving presence the universe unfolds is inside each person as a call to welcome the stranger, protect animals and the earth, respect the dignity of each person, think new thoughts, and help bring about ecological civilizations. - John Cobb & Farhan A. Shah

If you board the wrong train it is of no use running along the corridors of the train in the other direction. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

God's justice is restorative rather than punitive; His discipline is merciful rather than punishing; His power is made perfect in weakness; and His grace is sufficient for all. – Anon

Our little [biblical] systems have their day; they have their day and cease to be. They are but broken lights of Thee, and Thou, O God art more than they. - Alfred Lord Tennyson

We can’t control God; God is uncontrollable. God can’t control us; God’s love is uncontrolling! - Thomas Jay Oord

Life in perspective but always in process... as we are relational beings in process to one another, so life events are in process in relation to each event... as God is to Self, is to world, is to us... like Father, like sons and daughters, like events... life in process yet always in perspective. - R.E. Slater

To promote societal transition to sustainable ways of living and a global society founded on a shared ethical framework which includes respect and care for the community of life, ecological integrity, universal human rights, respect for diversity, economic justice, democracy, and a culture of peace. - The Earth Charter Mission Statement

Christian humanism is the belief that human freedom, individual conscience, and unencumbered rational inquiry are compatible with the practice of Christianity or even intrinsic in its doctrine. It represents a philosophical union of Christian faith and classical humanist principles. - Scott Postma

It is never wise to have a self-appointed religious institution determine a nation's moral code. The opportunities for moral compromise and failure are high; the moral codes and creeds assuredly racist, discriminatory, or subjectively and religiously defined; and the pronouncement of inhumanitarian political objectives quite predictable. - R.E. Slater

God's love must both center and define the Christian faith and all religious or human faiths seeking human and ecological balance in worlds of subtraction, harm, tragedy, and evil. - R.E. Slater

In Whitehead’s process ontology, we can think of the experiential ground of reality as an eternal pulse whereby what is objectively public in one moment becomes subjectively prehended in the next, and whereby the subject that emerges from its feelings then perishes into public expression as an object (or “superject”) aiming for novelty. There is a rhythm of Being between object and subject, not an ontological division. This rhythm powers the creative growth of the universe from one occasion of experience to the next. This is the Whiteheadian mantra: “The many become one and are increased by one.” - Matthew Segall

Without Love there is no Truth. And True Truth is always Loving. There is no dichotomy between these terms but only seamless integration. This is the premier centering focus of a Processual Theology of Love. - R.E. Slater

-----

Note: Generally I do not respond to commentary. I may read the comments but wish to reserve my time to write (or write from the comments I read). Instead, I'd like to see our community help one another and in the helping encourage and exhort each of us towards Christian love in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. - re slater

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Academic Integrity in the face of Evolutionary Eviction by Evangelicals

A Search for Acceptance?
http://musingsonscience.wordpress.com/2011/08/11/a-search-for-acceptance/#more-768


Among those questioning the historicity of Adam and Eve are John Schneider, until recently a professor of Religion at Calvin College (he took early retirement in the wake of the controversy surrounding his article in PSCF). Dennis Venema, an associate professor of Biology at Trinity Western University in British Columbia who posts regularly at BioLogos, Karl Giberson, and Daniel Harlow, a professor of Religion at Calvin College and author of another controversial article in PSCF (discussed here in two posts: 1, 2).

Albert Mohler, President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Fazale Rana, vice president of Reasons To Believe, Ph.D. in Biochemistry, provide the counterpoint defending the traditional understanding of Adam and Eve as essential to the Christian faith.

The NPR story is fairly predictable. It emphasizes two widely separated extremes in evangelical thinking, but doesn’t have the time to really dig into the complexities of the discussions or the range of possible views. This is interesting, but not particularly informative. In the post today I don’t want to focus on the question of Adam – instead I would rather pose a related question for discussion.

Why do so many Christian scholars stick their neck out on this issue?

What is the motivation?

The end of the NPR story is what really caught my attention – and it is the aspect that I would like to highlight.
This debate over a historical Adam and Eve is not just another heady squabble. It’s ripping apart the evangelical intelligentsia.
“Evangelicalism has a tendency to devour its young,” says Daniel Harlow, a religion professor at Calvin College, a Christian Reformed school that subscribes to the fall of Adam and Eve as a central part of its faith.
“You get evangelicals who push the envelope, maybe; they get the courage to work in sensitive, difficult areas,” Harlow says. “And they get slapped down. They get fired or dismissed or pressured out.”
Evangelicalism is not content to devour the young – the middle-aged and elder statesmen are also fair game. I don’t think I could work at an evangelical school – not because I expect my faith to unravel, but because I would not be comfortable if required to conform my understanding of the faith by a statement and commitment that goes beyond the ancient creeds and a general appreciation for the authority of scripture. While theology certainly helps to inform my interpretation of creation, life, and purpose, we err when we declare for some reason or other that a fact can not be a fact because of its theological consequence. This was true in the day of Galileo and is true today.
“This stuff is unavoidable,” says Dan Harlow at Calvin College. “Evangelicals have to either face up to it or they have to stick their head in the sand. And if they do that, they will lose whatever intellectual currency or respectability they have.”

“If so, that’s simply the price we’ll have to pay,” says Southern Baptist seminary’s Albert Mohler. “The moment you say ‘We have to abandon this theology in order to have the respect of the world,’ you end up with neither biblical orthodoxy nor the respect of the world.”

Mohler and others say if other Protestants want to accommodate science, fine. But they shouldn’t be surprised if their faith unravels.
But is the problem really accommodation and a desire for acceptance? Did Pete Enns, Richard Colling, Dan Harlow, John Schneider, Darrel Falk, Bruce Waltke, Tremper Longman, and more, put their jobs on the line, in many cases losing them, because they valued the acceptance of the world, the intellectual and academic world, above all else? This suggestion, often repeated, is excessively cynical and damaging to both individuals and to dialog. It is method used to disparage individuals and remove the need for real conversation.

I agree with Dr. Mohler that if we say we have to abandon theology to have the respect of the world we will have neither. But that is not really the issue. The full context and intent of Dr. Harlow’s comment and this ongoing discussion is not to retain respect for the sake of respect, but to remain engaged in a sincere search for truth – God’s truth. If the evidence for evolution and a non-traditional view of Adam and Eve really is overwhelming – and I believe that it is – we have no choice but to go with the data. This isn’t a search for the acceptance of the world but a profound need to retain personal intellectual integrity. I am convinced that science, specifically evolution, and faith are compatible because I am convinced that both are true – we can and will work out the details.

The conversation is important, and worth taking a stand on, not to achieve personal acceptance and respect – but because the issue has caused so many to struggle with faith, lose faith, or refuse to consider faith.

Here we can quote St. Augustine:
If they find a Christian mistaken in a field which they themselves know well and hear him maintaining his foolish opinions about our books, how are they going to believe those books in matters concerning the resurrection of the dead, the hope of eternal life, and the kingdom of heaven, when they think their pages are full of falsehoods on facts which they themselves have learnt from experience and the light of reason? (The Literal Meaning of Genesis Ch. 18)
God is the God of truth and we should not fear to seek truth wherever it is found, and this includes scripture and it includes our pursuit of a scientific explanation and understanding of the workings of God’s creation. St. Augustine’s reflections in the passage from which the quote above was taken are particularly relevant – when more than one interpretation of scripture is possible, and more than one intent can be ascribed to the author, we should leave room for the ambiguity and let future study either confirm both or determine the truth.

Above all let us be governed by love. We need to avoid cynicism and the appearance of cynicism. Those who question the traditional view of Adam are not sacrificing all to seek the approval and respect of the world. Those who feel that the traditional view is a lynchpin of our faith are not out to win the approval of men, secure power, or appease donors. We won’t get anywhere if we disparage and distrust the motivations of others. Nor will we witness effectively to those outside of the faith or struggling with faith. This is a family discussion we need to have. It would be nice if we could model the discussion of a healthy and loving family as we move forward.

What do you think? What drives this discussion?

Can we agree to disagree and take our time working through the issues? Or is it essential to take a strong stand here and now, either for or against?

If you wish to contact me directly you may do so at rjs4mail[at]att.net
If you have comments please visit A Search for Acceptance? at Jesus Creed.




Monday, August 15, 2011

The Names of God in Scripture





(Click to Expand)



* * * * * * *


R e v e l a t i o n
Compiled by R.E. Slater


Old Testament  Genesis  Exodus  Leviticus  Numbers  Deuteronomy  Joshua  Judges  Ruth  1 Samuel  2 Samuel  1 Kings  2 Kings  1 Chronicles  2 Chronicles  Ezra  Nehemiah  Esther  Job  Psalm  Proverbs  Ecclesiastes  Song of Solomon  Isaiah  Jeremiah  Lamentations  Ezekiel  Daniel  Hosea  Joel  Amos  Obadiah  Jonah  Micah  Nahum  Habakkuk  Zephaniah  Haggai  Zechariah  Malachi


New Testament  Matthew  Mark  Luke  John  Acts  Romans  1 Corinthians  2 Corinthians  Galatians  Ephesians  Philippians  Colossians  1 Thessalonians  2 Thessalonians  1 Timothy  2 Timothy  Titus  Philemon  Hebrews  James  1 Peter  2 Peter  1 John  2 John  3 John  Jude  Revelation

 







YHWH = Tetragrammaton = The Hebrew name for God


Abhir The Mighty One
Father of Spirits (NT)
Attiq Yomin Ancient of Days
Father of heavenly lights (NT)
El Berith Covenanting God
Son of Righteousness
El Elyon Lord Most High
Stone Made without Hand
El Gibhor Mighty God
Tsaddiq Righteous One
El Olam Everlasting God
Tsemach Branch
El Mighty God
Wonderful Counselor
El Ro’I All-Seeing God
Yah My God
El Shadai God Almighty
Yahweh I AM
Eloah God
Yahweh Covenanting God
Elohim Mighty Creator
Yahweh Eloheenu
Everlasting Father
Lord God
First & Last Gaol Redeemer God
Eyaluth my Strength
Yahweh Elohim Lord God
God of Abraham, Isaac & Jacob
Yahweh Elohim Israel Lord of Israel
Yahweh Hossenu
God of our Fathers
Lord our Maker
Kadosh The Holy One
Yahweh Jireh my Provider
Kanna Jealous God
(Click to Expand)
Yahweh M’Kaddesh my Sanctifier
Magen God my Shield
Yahweh Nissi my Banner
Melekh The King
Yahweh Ro’I my Shepherd
Palet Deliverering God
Yahweh Ropheka who Heals
Prince of Peace
Yahweh Sabbaoth of Hosts
Shaphat The Judge
Yahweh Shalom my Peace
Yahweh Tsidkenu our Righteousness
The Angel of Lord
Yahweh Shammah who is There
Yeshua Savior God
Zur God our Rock
Holy Father


* * * * * * *


God’s Names in Scripture
Compiled by R.E. Slater


God the Father
Abhir The Mighty One
Attiq Yomin Ancient of Days
El Berith Covenanting God
El Elyon Lord Most High
God's Names written in OT Hebrew
(read from right to left)
El Gibhor Mighty God
El Olam Everlasting God
El Mighty God
El Ro’I All-Seeing God
El Shadai God Almighty
Eloah God
Elohim Mighty Creator God
Everlasting Father
Eyaluth God my Strength
Gaol Redeemer God
God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
God of our Fathers
Kadosh The Holy One
Kanna Jealous God
Magen God my Shield
Melekh The King
Palet Deliverering God
Prince of Peace
Shaphat The Judge
The Angel of the Lord
The Father
The First and Last
The Father of Spirits (NT)
The Father of heavenly lights (NT)
The Son of Righteousness
The Stone
Tsaddiq The Righteous One
Tsemach The Branch
Wonderful Counselor
Yah My God
Yahweh (YHWH) I AM
Yahweh (YHWH) Covenanting God
Yahweh Eloheenu Lord God
Yahweh Elohim Lord God
Yahweh Elohim Israel The Lord of Israel
Yahweh Hossenu The Lord our Maker
Yahweh Jireh The Lord my Provider
Yahweh M’Kaddesh The Lord my Sanctifier
Yahweh Nissi The Lord my Banner
Yahweh Ro’I The Lord my Shepherd
Yahweh Ropheka The Lord who Heals
Yahweh Sabbaoth The Lord of Hosts
Yahweh Shalom The Lord my Peace
Yahweh Shammah The Lord who is There
Yahweh Tsidkenu The Lord our Righteousness
Yeshua Savior God
Zur God our Rock


God the Son
Advocate (Paraclete)
Almighty (Pantokrator)
Alpha & Omega
Ancient of Days
Anointed One, Christ (Meshiach)
Bishop and Guardian of our Souls
Branch
Bridegroom
Comforter
Daystar
Deliverer
Beloved
Blessed and only Sovereign
Chief Cornerstone
Cornerstone
Emmanuel
Father
Father, Son & Holy Spirit
First Born
Firstborn of all creation
God (Theos)
Godhead (Theotes)
Good Shepherd
Great High Priest
Head of the Body
Head of the Church
Highest (Hupsistos)
Holy One
I Am
Image of God
Immanuel
Jesus (Y’shua)
Jesus Is Salvation (Y’hoshua)
Judge of the living and the dead King of the Jews
King of Kings
Lamb of God
Lamb Slain before the foundation of the world
Last (Second) Adam
Lord God (Adonai, Kurios)
Lord God Almighty
Lord Master (Despotes)
Lord of Lords
Mediator between God and man
Messiah
Only Begotten
Physician
Potentate
Prophet
Rabbi (Teacher)
Rock
Root of Jesse
Ruler of the earth (Adon, Adonim)
Savior (Soter)
Shepherd
Shepherd and Guardian of our souls
Shepherd of Israel
Shepherd of the Sheep
Son of Abraham
Son of God
Son of David
Son of Man
Son of Mary
Spiritual Rock
Suffering Servant
The Amen, the Faithful & True Witness
The Author and Finisher of our Faith
The Bright Morning Star
The Chief Apostle
The Lamb who is Slain
The Lion of the tribe of Judah
The Passover Lamb of God
The Pioneer and Perfecter of our Faith
The Root & Descendant of David
The Stone whom the builders cut
The Word (Logos)


God the Holy Spirit
Holy Spirit Advocate
Baptizer
Breath or Wind
Counselor
Comforter
Dove
Fire
Light
Oil
Sanctifier
Seven-Fold Spirit
Spirit of Christ
Spirit of God
Spirit of Grace
Spirit of Holiness
Spirit of Life
Spirit of Mercy
Spirit of Truth Strengthener
Water


* * * * * * *


EARLY CHRISTIAN SYMBOLS
Compiled by R.E. Slater




The "lamb (arnion) standing as if it had been slain" is also prominent in the Book of Revelation (5:6, and 30 times total).



Christians later used the Chi-Rho symbol (first two letters of "Christ" in Greek) as a monogram for Jesus.


The inscription place on the cross above Jesus' head said "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews" (John 19:19; cf. Mark 15:2-26; Matt 27:11-37; Luke 3-38), from which is derived the common abbreviation INRI (from the Latin "Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum").


The ancient symbol at the right contains abbreviations for the name "Jesus" and "Christ" (the first and last letters of each word in Greek), along with the verb "NIKA", meaning "to conquer, win, be victorious"; thus the phrase means "Jesus Christ is victorious".

But the best-known image is obviously the FISH.  The most common Greek word for "fish" is ICQUS ("Ichthus"), which the early Christians connected with the first letters of the words in the Greek phrase IhsouV CristoV Qeou UioV Swthr ("Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior).



~  Symbols of the Trinity  ~
Father, Son and Holy Spirit













* * * * * * *


Christianity: Symbols and Early History






Christian Symbols - Vol. 1



Where they talk about the Fish: The Holy Grail: The Key to Understand...

A few images from Roman catacombs: https://www.througheternity.com/en/bl...

A few Christian symbols explained: https://www.churchpop.com/2015/08/14/...

A mini article about symbols: https://www.oca.org/orthodoxy/the-ort...


"Christians as "Little Fishes" born in the waters of baptism
as fish are born in the waters of the sea"




The dolphin has been a symbol of Christ since the second century A.D. and is often depicted in early Christian art, particularly in catacombs. The dolphin is associated with love, tenderness, and grace, and also symbolizes the desire for knowledge. For early church fishermen, the dolphin is a symbol of Jesus Christ as a friend and deliverer to the "safer shores" of heaven.

* * * * * * *

The dolphin drawn with the boat was a symbol of the Church or its people being protected and guided by Jesus. The anchor is a sign that the Christian is unmovable and firm in his faith and the dolphin, representing Christ on the cross protects us on our journey.


The dolphin and Anchor





Representación de Peces y Ancla de Salvación
  

  

The Ichthus and the Infinity Symbol



* * * * * * *


God’s Name in Textual Phrases
From A to Z
Compiled by R.E. Slater

Ancient of Days
Accepted in the Beloved
Abba Father
Praise to the God who holds the Key of Life
Almighty
Author and Finisher
Advocate
Bread of Life
Bridegroom
Bright and Morning Star
Captain of our Salvation
Counselor
Creator
Christ
Cornerstone
Dayspring from on High
Deliverer
Door of the Sheep
Everlasting Father
Eternal One
Father of Mercies
Friend closer than a Brother
Friend of Sinners
God of all patience and consolation
Gracious
Head of the man is Christ
High Priest
I AM
(Click to Expand)
Immanuel
Image of the Invisible God
Jesus
Jesus Christ
Judge
Just One
King of Kings
Keeper
Lamb of God
Lover of our Soul
Lord
Light of the World
Man of Sorrows and aquainted with grief
Merciful High Priest
Master
Mighty God
Nigh unto all who call upon You in truth
Only Wise God
One in Whom we live and move and have our being
Physician
Prince of Peace
Precious
Promise / Covenant Keeper
Quickening Spirit
Resurrection and the Life
Redeemer
Reconciler
Ruler
Righteous Judge
(Click to Expand)
Rock
Savior
Spirit
Shepherd
Son of Righteousness
Truth
Thou God Seest Me
Touched with the feelings (pain) of our infirmity
Teacher
True Vine
Underneath are the Everlasting Arms
Understanding is limitless
Visit us
Very Present Help in time of trouble
Vengeance is Mine, I will repay
Victor
Word
Water of Life
Worthy to be Praised
Wisdom
eXceeding Greatness of
eXcellent Majesty
Yearn Over Us
Your Power Zealous to guard our bodies


For Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory forever.

We ask this in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,

Amen.



Jesus, Name above all Names