Like Minded Deviants

Episode 8 – Response Ethics to the Divine Act (Grace)

In this episode we begin to address the problems (of evil) that we looked at in previous episodes.  If we take our previous conversations seriously, we will notice we are a bit stuck – in fact, if left to ourselves, we seem completely screwed.  There seems no way out – our systems are fallen, our cosmos and the world we live in has fallen and, perhaps most daunting, we ourselves are deeply cracked, broken, and we represent a huge part of the problem.  What can we do?

The good news is, we have not been left to ourselves.  That is the whole point of the story of God, the one centered on the birth, the life, the death, and the resurrection of the God-man, Jesus.  The incarnation where God became human represents a costly move on God’s part, as we already have said, an antidote that we hope (and we believe) matches the gravity and depth of the problem.  God acted first – in undeserved mercy and grace toward the whole mess, in a costly manner with skin in the game; thus, there is nothing we must or even can do to add to that, except to respond to the acts from God in Christ in a way that matches God's extravagant risk in the face of evil and death.  In a word, if God acted in such an unreserved way and then extended an invitation to us, the only response we now owe to God is to act toward others in the same way God acted toward us. 

 In short, we must ‘...act in a way that shows who we now are, who we have become, what it is that God has done for and in us.’  We must radically include others in our company because God radically included us in God’s company.  That is the pattern – a model that sets the tone for everything we will say in future episodes in this series.  We have a word for what we are looking for – the term is ‘Christomorphic’.  We try to define and unpack this odd word in this episode, in a way that hopefully gives us a picture of what God has done for us and in us in Jesus.

Texts:

• David P. Gushee & Glenn H. Stassen, Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context. Second Edition, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2016 (ISBN: 978-0-8028-7421-4).
• Donald A. Hay, Economics Today: A Christian Critique. Vancouver: Regent College Publishing, 2004 (ISBN: 978-157383284).
• Stephen Charles Mott, Biblical Ethics and Social Change. Second Edition, New York: Oxford University Press, 2011 (ISBN: 978-0199739370).
• David F. Wright, editor, Essays in Evangelical Social Ethics. Exeter: Paternoster Press, 1979  (ISBN: 978-0199739370). 

Readings: 

• ‘Law & Prophets: Authority and Scripture’, Gushee & Stassen, Chapter 3
• ‘Using the Bible in Ethics’, I Howard Marshall in Essays in Evangelical Social Ethics, Chapter 2
• ‘God’s Grace and Our Action’, Mott, Chapter 2

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Join us for our first (of many) Bonus Episodes. This time we connect for lower key/more relaxed conversation, what we like to call, the conversation after the class--and this time in a much-enjoyed bar talk! So please, go grab a drink and join us!

As a bonus episode, we want these to be informed by YOU, so let us know what you think while we have some fun and take a few liberties with the format of these episodes! So check out our contact info below and send us your ideas and we may try a few! 

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Epicurean Redux: The Pathetic God?!  We take a renewed look at the Epicurean dilemma: what needs to give?  Is God loving but not powerful?  Is God powerful but not loving? Neither loving or powerful?  Is there another option?  How does this Christian God suffer the existence of evil?

• Richard Bauckham, God Crucified : Monotheism and Christology in the New Testament. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm B Eerdmans Publishers, 1999 (ISBN: 978-0802846426)
• Richard Bauckham, 'In Defence of the Crucified God,' Evangel: The British Evangelical Review 9:1, 13-16,  1991.
• David J. Bosch, 'The Vulnerability of Mission', Baptist Quarterly, 34:8, 351-363, 1992 (DOI: 10.1080/0005576X.1992.11751898).
• David P. Gushee & Glenn H. Stassen, Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context. Second Edition, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2016 (ISBN: 978-0-8028-7421-4).
• Donald A. Hay, Economics Today: A Christian Critique. Vancouver: Regent College Publishing, 2004 (ISBN: 978-157383284).
• Stephen Charles Mott, Biblical Ethics and Social Change. Second Edition, New York: Oxford University Press, 2011 (ISBN: 978-0199739370).

Readings: 

• 'God Crucified: The Divine Identity Revealed in Jesus', Bauckham, , Chapter 3
• 'In Defence of the Crucified God,' Bauckham, Evangel: The British Evangelical Review
• ‘The Vulnerability of Mission ’, Bosch, Baptist Quarterly
• ‘Biblical Faith and the Reality of Social Evil’, Mott, Chapter 1

**Also Check out our BONUS EPISODE!  Bar Talk: The conversation after class (and on-tap)!**

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Web: lmdpod.buzzsprout.com
Email: [email protected]

Evil is not merely personal; it is also systemic and structural and outlives us all.  Wickedness is tied to and enshrined in our laws and governmental structures.  What should God do about that?  What should we do about that?  What does all of this mean for those of us who wish to be good?

Texts:

• David P. Gushee & Glenn H. Stassen, Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context. Second Edition, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2016 (ISBN: 978-0-8028-7421-4).
• Donald A. Hay, Economics Today: A Christian Critique. Vancouver: Regent College Publishing, 2004 (ISBN: 978-157383284).
• Stephen Charles Mott, Biblical Ethics and Social Change. Second Edition, New York: Oxford University Press, 2011 (ISBN: 978-0199739370).
• WH Vanstone, The Stature of Waiting. First Edition, Fayetteville, NC: Morehouse Publishing, 2006 (ISBN: 978-0819222114).
• Walter Wink, The Powers That Be: Theology for a New Millennium. New York: Doubleday, 1999 (ISBN: 9780385487528).

Readings: 

• ‘Biblical Faith and the Reality of Social Evil’, Mott, Chapter 1

Contact Us!
Twitter: @PodLmd
Facebook: facebook.com/LMDPod
Web: lmdpod.buzzsprout.com
Email: [email protected]

Evil is bigger than humanity - seeing as how there is a cosmic side to evil, how should we fit that into our theology?  Here we take a broader look at the brokenness of creation and the problem this presents for those of us who wish to stand before a just God.

Texts:

• David P. Gushee & Glenn H. Stassen, Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context. Second Edition, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2016 (ISBN: 978-0-8028-7421-4).
• Donald A. Hay, Economics Today: A Christian Critique. Vancouver: Regent College Publishing, 2004 (ISBN: 978-157383284).
• Stephen Charles Mott, Biblical Ethics and Social Change. Second Edition, New York: Oxford University Press, 2011 (ISBN: 978-0199739370).
• Walter Wink, The Powers That Be: Theology for a New Millennium. New York: Doubleday, 1999 (ISBN: 9780385487528).

Readings: 

• ‘Biblical Faith and the Reality of Social Evil’, Mott, Chapter 1

Contact Us!
Twitter: @PodLmd
Facebook: facebook.com/LMDPod
Web: lmdpod.buzzsprout.com
Email: [email protected]

We’ve got a problem that is bigger than evil.  We look around and evil exists - but what do we do with God in the face of evil?  This episode dives rather deeply into this dilemma that has haunted thinkers for millennia.  If there is evil, how can a loving God stand by?  If there is evil, how can a powerful God be loving?

Texts:

• David P. Gushee & Glenn H. Stassen, Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context. Second Edition, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2016 (ISBN: 978-0-8028-7421-4).
• Donald A. Hay, Economics Today: A Christian Critique. Vancouver: Regent College Publishing, 2004 (ISBN: 978-157383284).
• Stephen Charles Mott, Biblical Ethics and Social Change. Second Edition, New York: Oxford University Press, 2011 (ISBN: 978-0199739370).
• Walter Wink, The Powers That Be: Theology for a New Millennium. New York: Doubleday, 1999 (ISBN: 9780385487528).

Readings:
‘Biblical Faith and the Reality of Social Evil’, Mott, Chapter 1

Contact Us!
Twitter: @PodLmd
Facebook: facebook.com/LMDPod
Web: lmdpod.buzzsprout.com
Email: [email protected]

In the West, we have long been taught that truth is found in objective, universal data points, independent formulas and equations.  Christian theological views of truth challenge that assumption, with storytelling serving as the bedrock of what we can and should know.

Texts:

• David P. Gushee & Glenn H. Stassen, Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context. Second Edition, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2016 (ISBN: 978-0-8028-7421-4).
• Donald A. Hay, Economics Today: A Christian Critique. Vancouver: Regent College Publishing, 2004 (ISBN: 978-157383284).

Readings: 

• ‘Christianity and Economics: Biblical Foundations’, Hay, Chapter 1
• ‘Blessed Are You: Virtues of Kingdom People’ and ‘Moral Structure in the World: The Form and Function of Moral Norms’, Gushee & Stassen, Chapters 2 & 4

Contact Us!
Twitter: @PodLmd
Facebook: facebook.com/LMDPod
Web: lmdpod.buzzsprout.com
Email: [email protected]

Welcome to the Like Minded Deviants (LMD) Podcast!

In this episode, Jon-Michael, Lindy, and JSF talk through what LMD is, why they are passionate about this project, and what is to come.

• David P. Gushee & Glenn H. Stassen, Kingdom Ethics: Following Jesus in Contemporary Context. Second Edition, Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2016 (ISBN: 978-0-8028-7421-4).
• Donald A. Hay, Economics Today: A Christian Critique. Vancouver: Regent College Publishing, 2004 (ISBN: 978-157383284).

Contact Us!
Twitter: @PodLmd
Facebook: facebook.com/LMDPod
Web: lmdpod.buzzsprout.com
Email: [email protected]