tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5858095098873962176.post5556761053210412508..comments2023-11-02T03:11:41.970-07:00Comments on Revolution In The Spirit: Black Megachurches and the African American ReformationStevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15872089652770490896noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5858095098873962176.post-21024211220766808232008-05-08T21:38:00.000-07:002008-05-08T21:38:00.000-07:00maybe that's not that different. .maybe that's not that different. .Joel Hamernickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01400640434055859385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5858095098873962176.post-87167100529670174102008-05-08T21:36:00.000-07:002008-05-08T21:36:00.000-07:00Steve,As someone who was and in some way is still ...Steve,<BR/><BR/>As someone who was and in some way is still in the Reformed tradition I read this a bit differently. I think that the true heart of Reformed theology naturally embraces not only the gospel but what Nicolas Wolterstorff calls "World Formative Christiantity". <BR/><BR/>This type of theology naturally embraces CCDA principles but is found primarily in churches emanating out of southern presbyterianism! (Churches that espoused excuses for slavery). Now that is ironic to me. . . <BR/><BR/>So the voices in the article are not only bringing truth key to the black church but are an incarnation of a voice that the white church needs to be legitimate. <BR/><BR/>So if the black church needs the gospel-truth witness the white church needs the "we actually live out what we believe" witness that these Afro-voices bring with the message. Interesting stuff. <BR/><BR/>I followed the links from that article and ended up listening to Mark Noll lectures at princeton on Race, Religion and Politics. . . fascinating!Joel Hamernickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01400640434055859385noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5858095098873962176.post-35185886988660105222008-05-08T10:48:00.000-07:002008-05-08T10:48:00.000-07:00Yeah, JoelI'm kind of surprised, too. I thought ma...Yeah, Joel<BR/><BR/>I'm kind of surprised, too. I thought maybe because it was so long!<BR/><BR/>I was particularly encouraged by the article because it seems to balance the needs of racial justice with reformed theology and thinking. Those two paradigms can get polarized in our polarized world, and they need not be.<BR/><BR/>I was also encouraged because the article confirms what I have been sensing for some time: There is a movement across racial lines towards a more holistic and biblical approach to the Christian faith and practice. A true reformation of Evangelicalism, if you will, albeit on a small scale. <BR/><BR/>I have thought for some time that for true reformation and revival to happen, it must be informed both by specifically urban people and people of color, urban or not. <BR/><BR/>Of course, I do not exclude at all non-urban people in that statement, nor do I exclude Caucasians! It's just that true reform in our day, if it's initiated by God, will represent all the people in the body. <BR/><BR/>I have felt for some time that a lot of the theology and practice in the Black church has been outside the pale of what I would consider truly biblical.<BR/><BR/>However, the white church is even worse in a lot of ways. The doctrinal statement sounds good (as it does in many a Black church), but it is neither believed nor practiced. That is NOT orthodoxy. <BR/><BR/>The minority church's demand for justice perhaps is finally being heard in some small ways, but it is increasingly being informed by a thorough theology and not simply a reaction to injustice and marginalization. I'm not implying that there never was any good theology behind the push for racial justice, I merely think that it has not always been balanced. <BR/><BR/>That this reformation is being birthed in the black theological community and at a gressroots level, and that it can be embraced by thinking white people, is very exciting to me.Stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15872089652770490896noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5858095098873962176.post-60893691348235764572008-05-08T07:34:00.000-07:002008-05-08T07:34:00.000-07:00Steve, I am a little surprised there hasn't been a...Steve, <BR/><BR/>I am a little surprised there hasn't been any discussion resulting here. My theological convictions are largely reformed so I have much to agree with the direction of Carter et al. I think that the critique is needed of mega churches that are prosperity oriented explicitly, but feel like the white churches are almost as prosperity oriented implicitly. <BR/><BR/>I also feel like the article probably overly romanticizes the role of a couple of young men. I am always a bit leery about this type of writing that sets them on pedestals. . . yet at the end of the day I am with them on the movement for Christocentric ecclesiology.Joel Hamernickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01400640434055859385noreply@blogger.com