All selected posts from the past

Am I sure that I am saved? How do you consider yourself a evangelical - what are the parameters that you use to define that in your life? I have not for instance seen you quote or refer to your relationship with Jesus.... (05/06/2006 - 11:29 | 42 comments)
Post-eschatology and 2nd century church identity - clarification sought... Hi Andrew et al, I’ve been trying to keep up with the various threads and debates re: your ‘post-eschatological’ perspective and to relate your ideas to what I’ve... (30/03/2006 - 13:58 | 12 comments)
Brian McLaren and preterism There has been a surfeit of eschatology on this site recently, and I imagine that many are wondering how this all helps the emerging church. To make matters worse, we are beginning to see some sort... (31/01/2006 - 16:57 | 17 comments)
The resurrection of those in Christ This post continues discussion of the resurrection of those in Christ from the ‘Prophecy and realism’ thread, particularly in response to comments by kingjames1. Briefly, the assumption... (31/01/2006 - 16:04 | 12 comments)
Prophecy and realism Hi Andrew, I too have enjoyed the interchange.  What I appreciate about your reading of the texts is a strong concern for the redemptive-historical context, as well as the... (24/01/2006 - 03:20 | 51 comments)
How context contextualizes the language of hell The thread on the jealousy of God has again raised a number of important questions about how we construct the context within which we endeavour to interpret the teaching of Jesus and the apostles. It... (17/01/2006 - 13:49 | 22 comments)
Christianity - the only way? As a spin-off from the "Word of God?" thread I would like to canvass opinions about religious pluralism. Here is an excerpt from that thread which I find very... (05/01/2006 - 13:30 | 32 comments)
Some thoughts on the definition of 'emerging church' The vigorous debate between the Orthodox/Catholics and the ‘emerging church’ that has been going on recently (see below for the links), which has been at times very illuminating and at... (16/12/2005 - 01:46 | 8 comments)
Serving Others: An Evolution of Motivation Thousands of people fill the streets of the city. The mood is festive, the scene chaotic. Music and laughter mingle with animated conversation and the cries of children to create the cacophony that... (24/11/2005 - 02:14 | 1 comment)
The marks of a renewed theology In view of John’s and Richard’s very pertinent non-complaints / non-criticisms in the ‘Was Jesus’ baptism a trinitarian event?’ thread, it might be a good idea to try... (03/11/2005 - 18:24 | 13 comments)
Life After Death What does the emerging church think about the possiblity of life after death? All "scientific" evidence appears to point to the simple fact that when we are dead we are dead and that is it... (31/10/2005 - 21:19 | 46 comments)
Is religion any good? I listened to Alister McGrath speaking at LICC earlier in the week on Richard Dawkins (pictured) and the meaning of life. I have a sneaking admiration for Dawkins and his teasing, tendentious... (12/10/2005 - 10:52 | 12 comments)
What Jesus did NOT die on the cross for With this post I would like to invite people to engage in the question of the meaning of the death of Jesus. I have been growing up with a very calvinistic (Jesus died as a ransom for our sins)... (06/10/2005 - 23:30 | 68 comments)
Jesus is not God Almighty In private emails between Peter and myself, the subject of the divinity of Jesus came up. I suggested that it would be a good idea to publish a post summarising our exchange and inviting further... (05/09/2005 - 13:01 | 57 comments)
Is Jesus Even Relevant? In the closing chapter of JESUS AND THE VICTORY OF GOD, N.T. Wright acknowledges that locating Jesus within his second-temple Jewish world includes the risk of making him irrelevant.My question... (31/08/2005 - 05:04 | 36 comments)
A narrative/historical approach to emergent theology A vastly expanded attempt to take on board, critique and modify a narrative/historical approach to emergent theology What is being proposed? A narrative/historical account of the people of God,... (17/06/2005 - 10:26 | 25 comments)
Summary - and a surprising conclusion? I’d appreciate some sort of summary of the arguments put forward so far on this forum topic (Homosexuality and the new creation). 1. As I see it, Andrew began by advocating an acceptance of... (08/04/2005 - 18:05 | 23 comments)
Homosexuality and new creation I would like this website to model a way of doing theological reflection and debate that gets beyond the old trench warfare manner of disputation. This is not going to be at all easy to do. As soon... (04/04/2005 - 12:40 | 54 comments)
Can a Christian Support War? It seems to me that since the dominant image of Christianity in the US media is of right-wing Christians who predominantly vote Republican, one would think that this group would generally be in... (20/03/2005 - 06:50 | 32 comments)
End of Days.... I’d be interested to know from contributors to OST just what their various stances are with respect to End-Time teaching. I was brought up in a pre-tribulation, pre-millenial doctrinal... (10/03/2005 - 05:15 | 50 comments)
A committed monogamous homosexual versus a slave owner Consider two people, Jack and Fred. Jack is in a committed monogamous homosexual relationship of 10 years while Fred owns 10 slaves. As is the custom at the time, Fred works his slaves in chain... (06/03/2005 - 21:02 | 45 comments)
The Rainbow Community and the Emerging Church I’ve recently read the thread about sex before marriage and I’m interested in pursuing a slightly different question. The relationship of romantic and sexual relationships to covenant is... (27/08/2004 - 00:20 | 22 comments)
The motivation of the emerging church... I have been looking at the emerging church and its postmodern agenda for the last few days and I am concerned on an issue of motivation. Is the impetus behind the emerging church movement... (18/02/2004 - 09:28 | 15 comments)
Imago Dei in Emerging Theology One theological question that emerges from the story of humanity is, “to what extent has the imago Dei been corrupted as a result of the fall of humanity?” Or stated positively, “... (12/02/2004 - 01:48 | 10 comments)
Critical-realism and postmodernism The ‘emerging church’ project is an experiment in new forms of church. The question of what ‘church’ is, however, cannot be resolved sociologically or experimentally.... (19/01/2004 - 20:45 | 9 comments)
What is 'emerging church'? The phrase ‘emerging church’ will undoubtedly mean different things to different people and I will only offer a tentative definition here, chiefly for the benefit of those to whom it... (22/11/2003 - 18:46 | 24 comments)
Embracing Christian community as social agency There is nothing new about the societal conflict which forms the backdrop for those attempting to be and do church in the inaugural years of the twenty-first century. What is new is its volume and... (21/11/2003 - 00:36 )
Statements of faith The doctrinal core of evangelicalism has traditionally been preserved in ‘statements of faith’ such as the following, which is the UCCF Doctrinal Basis… (17/11/2003 - 13:22 | 19 comments)
10 principles for reading the Bible in a postmodern context Implicit in these principles is a process of deconstruction followed by reconstruction. Deconstruction is necessary because there are certain ‘invisible’ structures present in our... (03/09/2003 - 18:15 | 4 comments)
The problem of a universal metanarrative One of the central difficulties that we face in devising a postmodernized theology is the need we have to assert an overarching metanarrative. I came across the problem in Robert Webber’s book... (03/09/2003 - 18:15 )