Rob Witham

Will Samson has an interesting post today following up on recent news of the US prisons restricting access to religious books in prison. By the way, don’t we live in America? Someone correct me if I’m wrong…

Almost two weeks ago I wrote about the new Bureau of Prisons policy that is removing all religious books except for a government-approved list (original story here). I could say something smarmy and passive-aggressive like, “Boy, I am so glad we elected a true religious conservative to the White House.” Or possibly I could ask, “How did someone so publicly aligned with the One who spoke against fear come to be ruled by fear?” But I will avoid those thoughts as they might cause controversy.

Will Samson

Apparently prisoners will still be allowed to maintain five books of their own choosing though. Will then ponders which books he would bring to prison while religious liberties were being eviscerated.

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Will Samson has a thoughtful post on the emerging church movement and the industrial, institutional church model.

“Ironically, industrialization, fostered by a Protestant spirit of capitalism, is driving globalization across the globe, leading to an increased pluralization, both of cultural and religious expressions, in America. This could be leading the Church to a time of thoughtful consideration as to what it means to claim the name “Christian” when there exists such a wide array of religious and cultural choices.

Yet this is also the kind of thoughtful reflection we may not find from those most captive to the industrial model of Church that has dominated American Protestantism in the late 20th and early 21st Century. This may be due in part to the paradigmatic adherence required of one who earns income from a particular model. Or, the lack of reflection may be as innocent as the blindness that comes from spending so much time thinking about a structure or idea in one particular way…”

Will Samson

The entire post is worth checking out. Will always brings an interesting sociological perspective to his observations on the church.

Theology is important. Vitally important. Good theology, or orthodoxy to use a popularly rediscovered term, is the framework that keeps us out of all sorts of trouble.

Unfortunately, anyone who has ever read a theology book understands the suggestion of theology as a sleep aid. Theological writing tends to be dry, dull, and unimaginative. This is not because of the content, however. The content is (or should be) thrilling.

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Scot McKnight delivered an interesting lecture on the gospel at an InterVarsity gathering. McKnight’s lecture is available as an mp3 download. I just finished listening on the audio recording. Some of the highlights follow.

According to a recent Barna survey, there are as many as 20 million American Christians who simply do not see involvement with the local church as being the primary source of spiritual formation. A European poll reports that 125 million Christians worldwide are not connected to any particular local church. That number is expected to double in upcoming years.

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I have made several posts recently that referenced Thoreau’s writings. I have no evidence that Thoreau was a Christian though he did have some concept of God. Some of his material is fairly secular and hardly consistent with discipleship. Nonetheless, Thoreau has some interesting ideas that make for interesting conversation. Thoreau offered this reflection on voluntary poverty:

“None can be an impartial or wise observer of human life but from the vantage ground of what we should call voluntary poverty.” (Thoreau, Economy)

This is an interesting observation and an idea that is not unique to Thoreau. The ancient Greek philosophers often embraced similar ideas regarding voluntary poverty. Various Christian scholars and theologians have also embraced voluntary poverty as spiritually valuable.

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