Almost finished

Okay, I'm almost finished with my term paper for the semester. It basically looks at the phrase, "works of the law" in Galatians, and I have learned so much from the work. I really think this has been the best term paper for me, educationally. It remains to be seen what the final form will look like, but the research has really shaped my understanding in a new way.

Basically, the research strongly indicates that what Paul is dealing with in Galatians is a group of Christian missionaries who profess belief in Jesus, but also believe that to fully enter the kingdom of God, gentiles had to become complete proselytes to Judaism. That meant taking on what were the markers for Jews in the first century, namely circumcision, the adoption of food laws, and Sabbath keeping. These are the works of the law, the things required by the law to remain within the covenant people. There was no understanding that these things "earned" a person salvation (the way this is taught in Sunday school), rather, they were signs of the covenant, responses to the grace God had poured out on Israel.

What Paul is very stubbornly insisting on is the sufficiency of faith in Christ to mark out a person as belonging to the covenant people. God wasn't trying to produce more Jewish converts, but in the messiah he was making available the means by which Gentiles, as Gentiles, could be a part of his covenant people.

My Brain's Top Shelf

In the library of my mind, there's plenty of clutter to go around. I like to keep one shelf clear though, with just a couple of volumes on it. I should make up some kind of a name for it...nothing comes now, but basically it's for those things that I'm working through mentally at the time. I kind of rotate through things that I'm really thinking on...community, peacemaking, social justice issues...whatever's stirring the water in the brain. Sometimes they get kind of wrapped up, sometimes they go back to the normal shelves, to be picked back up later.

Does anybody else do this? Somebody, please!

As per last post, I really want to use this blog to have conversations. So, it seems natural to maybe start out with a short list of what's on the top shelf. So, for what it's worth, here's what has risen above the clutter, at least for now. Peace.

The Future Form of the Church
Open Theism and God's Sovereignty
Church and State
Judaism and Christianity


Such Trivia...

Conversation Starters, (Or, "Conversation, for Starters")

I've seen books on conversation starters, ways to bring about the miracle of human discussion with a few pointed questions. I've usually seen them as tools for teachers or people involved with youth ministry. Without commenting on the usefulness of such devices, the existence of such published materials points us towards a couple of propositions, true or false. First, we may surmise that the publishers are reacting to a sort of felt need...conversation. Conversation is the most basic human connection possible, introducing us to the possibility that other people, maybe a little like us, exist. Somehow, that idea is inherently helpful to us, offers a little hope. Elvis sang, "a little less conversation, a little more action", but sometimes I want just the opposite, a little more conversation seems to me like a good thing.

Secondly, at least some people view conversation as part of the learning process. Fair enough, sometimes I don't really know what I think until I try to express it. Editing isn't a process of writing to me, it's a process of thinking. I have to let myself think out loud, then hear it and edit what I'm saying to something a little more coherent. Oh, the poor thoughts I've let fly in the first parts of conversations, before the editor even gets a shot to start working! Conversation additionally lets other people into the editors chair with me, opens up my perspective, and allows me to be challenged, confronted, or affirmed. That ain't so bad.

Here, I want to open up some conversations, gain some new people to talk too, have a little fun. I want to think here, grow here. And I want to invite you to do the same. So come on over, from time to time, and pull up a chair. Let's talk.