Author: Jonathan Dodson

“That God is spirit, generally, does not mean simply that he is not material but that he is able to encompass both what we call spirit and what we call matter. To have spirit is to be open to the other – God, the human other and the world; to be spirit, as God is, is to be able to cross the boundary between creator and creature, even to the extent of God the Son’s becoming identical with Jesus of Nazareth by the power of the Spirit.”

 

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[1] Colin Gunton, Act & Being: Towards A Theology of Divine Attributes (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2003), 115.

At least 20 people have been shot to death at Virginia Tech University. Apparently there were two gunman, shooting from two different buildings. See the WP article and pray for justice and redemption as you read. Here is a timeline of U.S. school shootings. Is it just popluation density that attracts these gunmen to schools?

Consider reading Evil and the Justice of God.

When it comes to creating cultural resistance to the gospel, Hollywood is often a player. There are many talented and upstanding actors and actresses, producers, directors, and so on…so don’t hear what I am not saying. The creativity that whirls around L.A. is remarkable. However, Hollywood is also the face of American Christianity to the world. Places with state religions, like India and Iran, view America as a nation of state religion, though we are most certainly not.  In the eyes of the Rest, the U.S. is a Christian nation.

Richard Gere’s culturally insensitive sweeping and kissing of Shilpa Shetty just throws another log on the fire of non-Western peoples perception of immoral Christianity (see article). What are we to do? Denounce all of Hollywood? Write off Richard Gere?  Gere is a Buddhist, so he has no claim to Christianity, but Buddhist cultures (some are in India) also look down on public display of affection. One wonders just how Buddhist Gere is and how Christian Hollywood he is?  A good question for us to ask ourselves.

How are we to respond to these issues? Do you see a wise way forward?

It appears that Wright’s book on theodicy, “the justification of God” as it pertains to evil and suffering, is gaining more and more attention this side of the pond. Chuck Colson recently added Evil and the Justice of God to his recommended reading list to Breakpoint readers and Wilberforce followers.

R. C. Sproul just offered a review at Reformation 21. I offered a few comments on this post. What are your thoughts?

See also Carson’s helpful review.