Irenaeus of Lyons (one of the Church Fathers), writing somewhere between 174-189 A.D., notes in his work “Against Heresies”:

“Whatsoever [the magistrates] do to the subversion of justice, iniquitously, and impiously, and illegally, and tyrannically, in these things shall they also perish.”

Sit with that for a moment.

#politicaltheology #christianity #theologidon

Being a #Christian inevitably means discomfort in this world. #Jesus proclamation of the kingdom entailed #tribulation and the #cross bearing (John 16:31; Matt. 16:24). He offers comfort, but never says we won’t suffer. Why?Because following him means #Nonconformity with the ways of this world (Matt. 24:9). This is a missing element in much Gospel #proclamation today.

@theologidons @theology #theology #theologidon

Humans have long incorporated drugs into their spiritual lives, and a religion scholar reminds us to look at #history to understand their significance.

“Like us, people thousands of years ago experienced pain and pleasure, euphoria and death. Like us, they sought to understand reality and their place in it. The use of drugs in these experiences was not universal, but it was not uncommon either – especially in religious life.”

#religion #theologidon
https://theconversation.com/drugs-and-religion-have-been-a-potent-combination-for-millennia-from-cannabis-at-ancient-funerary-sites-to-psychedelic-retreats-today-208415

For my personal study and devotion, I’ve been writing little devotionals about God’s attributes. So far I’ve written one for each of these:

Goodness
Wisdom
Sovereignty
Faithfulness
Grace

Which one should I do next? What’s your favorite attribute of God?

#Christianity #God #Theology #BiblicalStudies #Theologidon

It is concerning that it seems common for theology and seminary students to be taught Biblical languages without corresponding teaching in linguistics and translation theory.

This leads to damaging views that translation is about finding one-to-one equivalents, that Biblical words just sat around with English equivalents tied to them and that it's Biblical and that it's viable to view scholarship as the sole or main entry way to spiritual knowledge, as if those who didn't go to seminary are less than those who did.

Sadly, I have come across people who have attended seminary and end up with those views. I hope they are less common than they seem.

Would it be possible for seminaries to pull in a linguistics and/or translation module and summarise what the Bible demonstrates about translation?

#theology #theologidon

Is there a reason why theologians write like that? They even do it when they're writing for ordinary people.

If you don't know what I mean, grab a theology book and see how often you read:
- dense nounification of verbs like "the becoming", "being", "othering", "being the Church", etc,
- adjectives that sound like the product of Greek classes like "salvific", "pneumatological",
- Older English terms in the middle of sentences like "the mire", "despond", "thou".

I'm used to academic waffle but theology, which talks about God who deliberately went out of the way to be understood and to talk in words everyone, even the uneducated could understand, should maybe set the example for clarity and concreteness.

#theology #theologidon