Under the Sun Blog

edited October 2014 in General Announcements
http://underthesunblog.com

This blog is about the joy of Christ, the offense of Christ, and the unexpectedness of Christ. It’s about being, and hopefully staying, Christian in the twenty-first century. It’s part theological reflection, part assessment of the present and future of Christianity, and part sharing of our personal struggles. It aims to provide a forum for the creative re-thinking and re-imagining of what it is to be Christian today.

This blog engages two issues:

- the need to develop new ways of speaking about who Christ is, what he has done, and why anyone should care today;

-the need to maintain a space for self-critical, open, and completely honest discussion about what it means to be Christian, what the church is (and isn’t), and what the church is (or isn’t) doing.

These concerns are, of course, perennial. They have long been debated in the theological academy and addressed by ecclesial leaders. Yet we see a need for engaging them in a more informal setting. We do not occupy positions of authority. We are not getting paid to write this. We do not have a vested interest in a particular “party line.” We do, however, share a sense of concern, and even alarm, about several aspects of contemporary Christianity. We think that time is ripe for frank, informed, non-partisan discussion about who we are and where we are going.


How is this all going to work?

We come from different backgrounds and have different emphases and interests. David senses the need for a root-and-branch reform of fundamental ecclesial teachings and structures. Maria searches for non-traditional ways to speak about Christ that remain true to both the offense and joy of his gospel. Tim wants to look critically at how contemporary churches engage with the world and with politics.

We do not agree on everything. Our personal “corners” reflect this diversity of substance and style. But we do share a few key “imperatives” that inform and guide our discussion:


1) Keep Christ and his gospel central
2) Let “imperial Christianity” go
3) Let’s be real, not ideal
4) Let other Christians be Christians
5) Don’t confuse Christian witness with political ideologies

Comments

  • I have serious reservations. 2 out of 3 of the blog's authors are not even Orthodox.
  • edited October 2014
    I thought the "Jesus is a failure" article was going to be one of those thought catalog type articles with the very extreme title like "why alcoholism is good" and it gives like an extremely twisted article with a completely off topic solution.

    But it wasn't. Or maybe I misunderstood it?
  • @EsmoEpchois

    The article had no actual conclusion/solution, it just described a so-called 'problem'. So I don't know what her conclusion is going to be, and whether it's going to be off-topic or not.

    In any case, I really dislike the aims of the blog, they are completely unOrthodox. I welcome the input of others, eg @minasoliman
  • edited October 2014
    I'm interesting to see why those who are not Orthodox left Orthodoxy. All 3 had something in common: Lutheran backgrounds and Orthodox seminary education. It can at least help us understand whether their conversion and then eventual fallout was because of their inability to accept Orthodox teaching or whether the parishes they were in had some problems as well.

    So I'm personally subscribed
  • Really surprised and disappointed to hear that Maria is attending a Lutheran Church now. 


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