The (Lieben)GOOD LIFE

I am working on a monograph that wrestles with the way in which the identity, prerogatives, mission, and privileges of Israel are applied to the addressees of the letter of 1 Peter, whom most scholars agree are predominantly if not exclusively Gentile in makeup. One of the most common ways that scholars make sense of the way in which Israelite identity is being appropriated by Gentiles in 1 Peter,  is to speak of Israel as a metaphor. In other words, in the letter of 1 Peter, they say, "Israel" is being used as a metaphor (or the controlling metaphor) for the church and its mission in society. Some argue that using Israel as a metaphor is problematic, even imperialistic, while others seem rather indifferent to the enterprise and consider it to be benign in nature. I am not going to weigh in on this at this time, but this common move to refer to what is happening in 1 Peter as metaphor, coupled with the wide range of reactions that scholars have regarding the usage of metapho...

 In the rhythm of the academic year, summer is often a time for me to reflect upon the craft of scholarship and/or teaching. I recently discovered a book called  Show Your Work:10 Ways to Share Your Creativity and Get Discovered by Austin Kleon (thanks, Luke Tallon). While it is written for artists and writers, it wasn't hard to make connections with the craft of scholarship. Here are a few takeaways from the book, which I have translated into my world of biblical and theological scholarship: 1. Creativity is not the product of a lone genius. Great ideas, profound insights, compelling questions,  unexpected connections come from engagement with others (and not just in books). Good scholarship comes from social interaction. Kleon encourages us to make the most of collaboration, especially with the capabilities of the Internet. I would add to his observation that it is helpful to pay attention to the contributions and questions of non-scholars, things that people in the...

This is a rough draft of my introduction to a new graduate course we are designing at LETU, "Understanding Christian Vocation". This course is about vocation , a word that is unfamiliar to some, and often misunderstood because it has a variety of meanings that are tangentially related. For example, sometimes we use the word as a synonym for occupation or profession. If someone were to ask you what your vocation was, you might reply “I am a doctor”, or “I am a lawyer”, or, or “I’m a high school English teacher”, or “I am a soccer coach”. At other times the word can be turned into an adjective and attached to other words: vocational training, for example, refers to an educational program that focuses on acquiring the specific skills necessary for employment in a particular craft or trade such as an auto mechanic, a hair stylist, a plumber, a dental hygienist, or an electrician. Traditionally, the point of calling this kind of schooling vocational training often was to...

In 2018, approximately 20 million students attended a university or college in the United States. Research suggests that this batch of college students is as diverse as has ever been in this country. And yet, even though these 20 million students bring with them as many different perspectives, backgrounds, and experiences, they nevertheless all share one thing in common: they all come to college to find their place in this world . This quest to find one’s place in the world comes in the form of a number of different questions (sometimes subconscious) that students ask as they step onto the campus: Who am I? Why am I here? What is the point of life? Is there a point to life? What am I going to do for a living? Who will I marry? (Will I ever marry?) Who will my friends be? (Will I make any friends?). What is a good life, a life well-lived? This is part of what makes being a university professor so exciting. We get to intersect with students at this foundational stage of ...

In his Theological Anthropology: A Guide for the Perplexed , Marc Cortez underscores that in the long-standing debate about what "image of God" means, most agree that the term has to do with humans "reflecting" divine reality in some form or another.  As he traces the history of that discussion (the structural image, the functional image, and the relational image), Cortez notes that the challenge comes when we try to explain more precisely what is reflected, where this is reflected in humanity, and how this reflection actually takes place. In his assessment, the nature of the imago Dei remains an important and unresolved issue in contemporary theology.  Cortez does his part to offer a way forward by characterizing the imago Dei as "representational presence". But what is it that is being represented? 1. As image-bearers, humans represent the presence of divine reality in symbol while at the same time affirming a real difference between the tw...

Made to Be Priests? Two New Testament texts characterize the ministry and accomplishment of Jesus Christ as enabling us to become priests who offer ourselves in service to God. In fact, more can be said. Given the strategic placement of these two texts in their respective larger literary contexts, both authors seem to suggest that “priesthood” is the core identity and responsibility of those who have been liberated by Jesus and called to join Him in His mission of loving the world. “ As you come to [Jesus], a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2.4-5; see also 1 Peter 2.9) “ To him [Jesus] who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. ” (Revel...

According to Schmemann, our distorted views of what life is for, of what the world is for, derive from an improper understanding of what a human being is for: "The first, the basic definition of man [read humankind] is that he is  the priest . He stands in the center of the world and unifies it in his act of blessing God, of both receiving the world from God and offering it to God--and by filling the world with this eucharist [thanksgiving], he transforms his life, the one that he receives from the world, into life in God, into communion with him. The world was created as the 'matter', the material of one all-embracing eucharist, and man was created as the priest of this cosmic sacrament." (pg.22)  Schmemann looks to the Garden as the archetype for how humans abandoned their first and basic calling as priests: "The fruit of that one tree...was unlike every other fruit in the Garden: it was not offered as a gift to man. Not given, not blessed by God, ...