Technology, Theology, and Anything In Between

I’ve been very busy during the months of November/December, so that is why I haven’t posted since October.  There are many things in life that take priority over blogging.  I’m hoping to get back to a normal schedule of at least two posts per month in 2010.

This year, I studied many theological books and articles.  I always like reading material from a broad array of sources.  I discovered some interest in the following areas:  studying other denominations, Christian pacifism, and differing eschatological views from my own.

1. Other denominations

I really liked studying writings from a Lutheran perspective.  Some of them included writings from several Internet Monk posts.  I find that I’m just not into the new evangelical Christian subculture.  I attended a megachurch for a couple weeks while on vacation, and was not impressed.  While things were for the most part done very tastefully, I just couldn’t get into the whole rock band / theater atmosphere.  I guess I like worship more contemplative and reserved.  I’m finding it is hard for me to accept the Americanized version of Christianity which tells people that God will give you everything you want if you just believe.  I think of the Christians whose paths were marked by pain and suffering for Christ and His cross.  I started looking into Mennonites when we were on vacation near Lancaster, PA, which got me thinking about:

2.  Christian Pacifism

I’ve often wondered on and off over the years why the church doesn’t practice more of what Jesus actually said.  Being in a confessional church like I am, we place much emphasis on doctrine, which usually comes from the Epistles to the churches.  I think there is not as much talk about what Jesus said in many churches because what He said is hard, sometimes difficult to understand, and against what we are used to.  For example, in America, it is hard to find a “conservative” politician that is against any of the recent wars / proposed wars that we are waging.  In churches, just about every Christian I know backs the wars that we are fighting.  I wonder why in light of “Blessed are the peacemakers” that we are so pro-war.  Especially since as I understand just war theory, I’m not sure our current war(s) even fit within that.  I found that the Mennonites have a very rich tradition of non-violence, and some great theologians, such as John Howard Yoder.  I began reading his material, as well as others, and came to the conclusion that at least I would be a conscientious objector if for some reason I was drafted.  Due to my age it would probably only happen if there was a need for my technical skillset, which I hear is not beyond the question the way some members of congress have been talking.

3. Eschatological Views

I’ve had a growing discontentment with the view of eschatology I learned growing up and in college, dispensational pre-trib, pre-millennialism.  There are a few issues I see as issues in application of the system.  For example, during my childhood years, it was very strongly suggested that full-time ministry was the “best” vocation, and all others were second class.  I think some of this was due to the belief that we were in the “terminal generation”, as Hal Lindsey’s book is named.  The issue I see with this thinking is that probably many in fundamentalist and evangelical Christianity decided that they should withdraw from the larger issues of society, and become largely focused on themselves and only in matters of evangelism.  When I went to Bible college, the professors mentioned on more than one occasion that we needed more books written from the Fundamental Independent Baptist perspective.  The only problem is the movement discourages “scholarship” and higher learning.  The downplay of intellectualism is starting to reverse slightly, but it is still alive and well.  The real issue is that any respected Seminary is not going to line up well with the tenets of the Independent Baptist ideals, so one must “cross-pollinate” in order to do so.

I’m not sure where my eschatological views will end up, but I have a feeling there will be more people embracing amillennialism/postmillennialism/historic premillennialism, simply because they are getting tired of trying to figure out how long the “generation” in Mat. 24 is.  During the 1980s and 1990s when I read prophecy literature based on dispensational pre-tribulation pre-millennialism, the time interval since 1948 was starting to get large, and now it is larger still.  At what point is “this generation” going to be understood in an allegorical, rather than figurative sense.

So there  it is, 2009 in review theologically for me.  While I was busy this year, I found time to start re-thinking some of the beliefs that I’ve held for some time.  I am a firm believer that you must re-assess your beliefs periodically, as there are blind spots that we all have, and it is good to think about the greater impact that holding certain doctrines may have.  These are just my rambling thoughts this evening.  Over the course of next year, hopefully I will be able to write out in greater detail why I believe what I do, and will in those articles include a fair amount of references so you can dig deeper, and also to credit my sources.