New Wineskins and New Cloth

I got a good question from Lori I thought I would share:

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Today, I was reading the lessons for today, and I have always been confused by these 2 verses (21-22).  I don't understand how they go with the previous verses. Do you know how they go together?

Mark 2:18-22  
Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, "How is it that John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?"  Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them.  But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.  

"No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. If he does, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse.  And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, he pours new wine into new wineskins."
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There are a couple of different takes on those verses, but I don't have time to tell you all of them... So I will just tell you my take...

Just what was the philosophical justification of splitting the Church in the Reformation?

In response to my last post, Matt asks a great question:

I have one question: You mentioned that if the Catholic Church would have listened to Aquinas, Augustine and others the Reformation may have been avoided. However, many Protestants believe that a major part of what sparked the Reformation was the scholastic synthesis of faith and reason achieved by Aquinas and exaggerated by Averroes and Ockam. Some believe that the problem of the Reformation was caused by Aquinas's "secularization" of faith. What would you say about that? Just curious.

In response to Matt:

We fixed the wedding, now let's work on the marriage

Isaiah 62:5 ...As the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.

After a decade of self-study in historical and systematic theology, a year of graduate study of Christian history, and another year of graduate study in the history of doctrine, a thought has crystallized in my mind: The Protestant reformation largely fixed the problems of our "wedding" with Christ, but it is not sufficient to fix the marriage.  Let me explain...

Theologically Correct Bible Songs (part 1)

Part of a series dedicated to revealing the concrete effects of imbalanced theologies by re-writing hymns and children's songs as if the theology were actually true.  The songs are somewhat funny, obviously badly warped, and certainly nothing we would want to teach our kids or congregations.  And yet, I think they faithfully carry out the explicit logical conclusions of certain types of theology.  If the theologies are correct, and something that people can actually believe, then WHY NOT sing these songs?  But, if the songs are horrendous, how can we keep believing the theology that underlies them (even if in a kinder, gentler, more nuanced version)?

Enough logic.  On to the songs...

An Open Letter to Those thinking of leaving their Christian Traditions

This is a letter primarily to some of my good friends (you know who you are) who have expressed severe disenchantment with their own Christian Traditions, and are currently thinking of moving over to the Anglican, Roman, or Orthodox Communions.  But this letter is also for everyone who may be thinking about "jumping ship".  I want to begin with a quote by St. Paul:

"To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.  To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law.  To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.  I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings." (1 Corinthians 9:20-23)

Now let me tell a little story to illustrate the points I want to make:

How do you get "saved" in the Anglican Church?

This article was originally an essay in a booklet I am putting together called "Explaining Anglicans". But, today I read a wonderfully touching, yet insufficient, explanation of salvation from a fellow Episcopal youth minister. You can find it here.

Although I really, truly sympathize with the pastor who posted this article, I believe he frames the issue in an EITHER/OR debate: Either salvation is individual, other-worldly, and about doctrinal correctness (as in Fundamentalism) or salvation is communal, this-worldly, and about loving social justice (as in Liberalism). I think this is too simplistic. Salvation is rather both-and.

An Open Letter to the Republican National Committee

2018 Note: There are several things about this blog I really do not agree with now. Notably, I have long since evolved to embrace marriage equality, and see same sex marriages as equally and fully families that should be strengthened and embraced. I leave this up on blog as a monument to personal growth and change over time. 

I received an email on February 13th, 2006 from the Republican National Committee asking for feedback about the GOP.  Not letting any opportunity slip to tell someone what I think, I penned the following letter:

SOVEREIGNTY AND FREEDOM, HOPE AND HELL

Examining The Paradoxes Of Creator And Creation In The Light Of Ultimate Reconciliation Through Christ

Copyright © 2006 Nathan L. Bostian

Out of all of the doctrines of the Christian faith that cause problems for both believers and those who are yet to believe, the doctrine of hell seems to create the most problems.  The traditional view that hell is the last word God gives to the unrepentant, even if hell is a self-chosen reality, seems absolutely horrific if God is as loving and powerful as Christians say that He is.  How could God be anything like a loving Father if He is content to give up on any of His children, and allow them to suffer forever.  Wouldn't He keep reaching out to them if there was any possible way to reach them?  And if anything is possible with God (cf. Mat 19:26), is there ever a reason for God to stop reaching out?  Why then is hell apparently God's last word to a significant portion of humanity?

Or is it?

Needle Pricks, Crocodile Tears, and Divine Providence

I think I learned something about God this morning.  At 9am it was time to take my daughter to the doctor for her 15 month checkup.  My wife is a teacher with a very structured daily schedule, and since I am a youth minister with a completely variable schedule, I usually get to take our daughter to the doctor.  I do not like going to the doctor.  I hate getting my blood drawn, and I hate shots. But I have found out that there is one thing I dislike more than getting a needle stuck into me.  It is getting a needle stuck into my daughter.

They don't get it but maybe they will someday

I just switched over media players on my computer, and I am tidying up my music collection.  You find some strange and wonderful things when you do that.  I found an album on my hard drive by a band called "Concrete Blonde".  They are an L.A. club band with a hard edge to them.  I loved them in high school.

I stopped listening to them because they are blatantly anti-Christian.  It is clear from their lyrics that some person(s) who claimed to be Christians hurt some of them very badly when they were younger.  Concrete Blonde was also into the "Anne-Rice-Interview-with-a-vampire-dark-goth-vampire" thing in the early 90's.

They have great lyrics.  Passionate, painful, haunting lyrics.  Angry lyrics.

Last night I began reading Anne Rice's new novel, "Christ Our Lord".  She used to be a bitter anti-Christian for the same reasons that Concrete Blonde still is.  Anne Rice was deep into the dark-voodoo-vampire thing in New Orleans.  She is now a passionate believer in Jesus Christ.  If you doubt it, read the last 17 pages of her novel.

I wonder if the same thing that happened to Anne might happen- by God's grace- to Concrete Blonde as well.

A good debate on spiritual gifts

Hey folks. I am participating in a really good discussion with the boys over at Fide-O about whether or not the Spirit has ceased giving the gift of "prophecy" and other spiritual gifts (called "cessationism"), or whether the Spirit continues to give these miraculous gifts (called, guess what, "continuationism").

I am on the continuationist side of things, and I think my arguments are better than theirs (no surprise here). But, they like their arguments too. And, they bring up a lot of good points and a lot of problems associated with the use and abuse of spiritual gifts. Definitely worth reading.

Go see what we have to say at:

The introductory article (filled with good links too):
http://fide-o.blogspot.com/2006/01/oops-holy-spirit-messed-up.html

Where the discussion gets a bit better:
http://fide-o.blogspot.com/2006/01/schizophrenic-god.html

God tricked me into reading it again...

At one of my Pre-Christmas Youth Minister gatherings we had a "book exchange" instead of a gift exchange.  I love and hate book exchanges because while there is a great chance of getting introduced to a great author that someone else treasures, there is also a great chance of getting stuck with a book that has been stuck, un-read, in a drawer by someone's toilet for the last three years.

But, one of my good friends, Molly, is a very literary and spiritual soul, and usually brings good books.  So, I looked forward to stealing her book as soon as possible.  She is also a Henri Nouwen fanatic.  I read most of a small book by Nouwen in college, and it just didn't do anything for me.  I though He had three strikes against him: He was Catholic (which I had no taste for at the time), he was Canadian (still not sure about them), and he did not teach in what I considered a very "Biblical" way (I was, at the time, a fundamentalist-ish Bible Church Christian who believed that good teaching came in the form of Biblical proofs, using Biblical prooftexts, constantly saying "and the Greek/Hebrew of this text really says...", while throwing in a funny and relevant illustrative story every now and then).

So, while what he said was nice and didn't seem heretical, it just didn't speak to me.  I never finished the book.

Gig'em Bevo

Greetings my friends from that other University in Texas!

I just wanted to say congratulations from the Texas Aggies on your incredible victory over Southern Cal to win the National Championship. You did a fantastic job, and your quarterback is a pretty good guy, considering he isn't an Aggie (maybe he should have been...). It is good to see that Texas is teaching all of those weenies in California what real football is all about.

I have attached a commemorative picture celebrating your achievement. Gig 'em Bevo!