tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-193379282024-03-07T19:44:35.279-07:00The Ramblin' ManMusings about theology, pop culture, biblical studies, politics, and other stuff.Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-74025628646587547622010-04-07T06:21:00.011-06:002010-04-07T07:38:38.298-06:00The Truce of God 3: “Illusions of Peace”The "illusions of peace" Williams speaks of concern peace either as escape from engagement with the other, or as an equilibrium which fears real engagement lest war break out. The former is typified in the hippie movement of the sixties; the latter by the nuclear detente ensured by the Cold War. In both cases the casualty is language, which ceases to be communication woven into genuine human Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-80354125149000132072010-04-07T05:50:00.005-06:002010-04-07T07:55:01.825-06:00The Truce of God 2: “The Truce of God”“The truce of God” was instituted by the Cluny monastery in medieval times. It sought to restrict the fighting amongst Christians to three days per week. Sound ridiculous? Well, that’s the point: Christians taking communion and then turning and fighting each other is ridiculous (25). “When King Henry II refused to give the kiss of peace at Mass to Thomas Beckett, he was a better theologian than Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-24682176227333553752010-03-31T03:51:00.008-06:002010-03-31T05:28:09.649-06:00The Truce of God 1: Fears and FantasiesThis is the first in a series of summary reflections on Rowan Williams' classic The Truce of God. This work was originally written as The Archbishop of Canterbury's Lent Book, 1983 (when Robert Runcie held the See), and was revised in 2005 during +Rowan's early tenure. I'm essentially posting my own notes on each chapter, along with reflections on how the book seems fresh and relevant now, and Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-35050743734192597592010-03-24T03:01:00.003-06:002010-03-24T03:14:59.846-06:00Prayer and PoliticsIn his new book, The Politics of Discipleship, Graham Ward gives an interesting reflection on prayer and politics. A bit of background first. There are two important things about the church for Ward: (1) it is deeply implicated (“hardwired into”) in the world. “Whatever action the church undertakes, whatever proclamations it makes, is located in the world’s time and spaces, its histories, its Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-59583124647602051172009-08-10T10:49:00.005-06:002009-08-10T12:28:19.648-06:00Hauerwas on PoliticsI would have thought that by now the charges of "sectarianism" levelled against Stanley Hauerwas would have abated, especially in light of his recent work. But I keep hearing the charge, especially from "public theologians"--including those with whom I'm spending the first six months of 2010. Hauerwas, they say, wants to disengage the church from the public for the sake of preserving the church'sStephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-80172688419247481252009-07-26T17:53:00.011-06:002009-08-10T11:59:21.142-06:00"Africa Towards Hope and Dignity"This was the theme of the keynote of Rev. Dr. André Karamaga, General Secretary of the All African Council of Churches on June 25. Karamaga, an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church of Rwanda, suggested that this theme could fruitfully be explored by taking account of the possibilities represented by the churches of the continent. Indeed, the development of Christianity in post-colonial Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-12065774077599549652009-07-24T17:31:00.016-06:002009-08-01T10:23:55.588-06:00"An Economics of Enough"This was the title of Denise Ackermann's keynote at the Theological Society of South Africa meeting on June 25. Ackermann is a well-respected South African Anglican feminist theologian, founding member of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians, and mentor to many of my friends. I have to be honest, though. When I saw the title of her lecture I immediately thought, "well, I've heard 'Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-17993188576620331072009-07-08T07:56:00.009-06:002009-07-08T21:59:15.055-06:00A "Communal Wafer"?That's how one popular culture expert on CBC Radio described the funeral of Michael Joseph Jackson. One of the throng watching the proceedings in a Toronto plaza claimed, "Only Michael could bring the world together." Many agreed with this sentiment, perhaps best expressed in the Anthem "We are the World" sung at the climax of Jackson's memorial service yesterday. Yet others cynically disparaged Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-18660871014810175382009-07-07T06:34:00.003-06:002009-07-07T06:37:14.831-06:00Update on Dandalahttp://www.mg.co.za/article/2009-07-07-ditch-the-bishop-and-take-a-standI fear this expresses a growing view among COPE supporters, and I'm sad for the Bishop who deserves better than to be "ditched."Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-61255629642018461252009-07-01T05:10:00.007-06:002009-07-02T03:56:49.473-06:00John de Gruchy: A Christian HumanismThe opening keynote of the Joint Religious Societies’ Conference at Stellenbosch University (left) was given by my doctoral supervisor, Prof. John de Gruchy. John was co-founder of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Cape Town, founding editor of the Journal of Theology for Southern Africa, and an internationally respected Bonhoeffer scholar. He’s written more books than I Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-6242021959903495952009-06-23T08:41:00.001-06:002009-06-23T08:43:19.261-06:00Rowan Williams on "Refuge"In light of the postings on Central Methodist, I thought this reflection might be appropriate:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1J3aAe5oOQStephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-21578712049519131422009-06-19T06:29:00.009-06:002009-06-19T07:28:11.662-06:00“We are Dying”J.L. Zwane Memorial Church has Aids.This Presbyterian congregation runs a series of impressive programmes reaching out to members of the Guguletu community striken or affected by this pandemic. The pandemic has reached staggering proportions in South Africa’s townships, with Guguletu itself having an HIV-positive rate of 29 percent (http://www.thesenumbers.com/faqs.html).But J.L. Zwane is not Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-46027266107117723132009-06-16T08:13:00.003-06:002009-06-19T07:25:59.325-06:00Mvume Dandala: A Christian In OfficeWithout question, Mvume Dandala has been one of the most widely respected church leaders in South Africa's recent past. A Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church from 1996 to 2003, and most recently General Secretary of the All Africa Council of Churches, Dandala is best known outside the church for mediating an end to the violence between ANC and Inkatha supporters in Johannesburg's hostels. HeStephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-27039859358973380602009-06-13T05:05:00.015-06:002009-06-19T07:26:42.724-06:00“Like Grass Through Cement”There’s something uniquely South African about the aesthetic of many important public sites here, in which the materials of the old are used to construct the new. Take the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg (right), which our group visited last Friday. When the Justices discussed the site for the new Court in the mid-1990s, they decided on the old Braamfontein jail, in which the notorious Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-12117382046873025082009-06-11T05:25:00.005-06:002009-06-19T07:29:14.342-06:00Enfolded in a Warm Blanket of Singing and DancingAs we approached the township of Tembisa, the change in scenary was jarring. We’d passed the sprawling developments on the outskirts of Johannesburg, illustrated with bulletin boards praising progress and promising a glowing future life (the streets of “Egoli” paved with gold). But there was not much of that visible here. The same matchbox houses we saw in Soweto, with the occasional more Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-63600653836042917682009-06-08T12:07:00.002-06:002009-06-19T07:29:53.270-06:00Update on Central MethodistThe following evening (after our visit), as the same throng was moving toward the church, a waste management truck under contract to the City of Johannesburg drove past them and sprayed them with sewer water. The case is under investigation.Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-4118161754534703722009-06-08T11:03:00.006-06:002009-06-19T07:38:42.774-06:00From “Fashionable Church” to “Den of Iniquity”“The place resembled a train station. People were seated on rows of wooden benches, mounds of blankets, with heaps of clothes and bags next to them. Some blankets, spread on the floor, were makeshift beds, taking up the interior of the church. Inside the chapel, more people were lying on the floor. Even the pulpit was occupied. Several women prepared to go to sleep under the pulpit.”So begins an Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-58021916871789870502009-06-07T11:13:00.002-06:002009-06-19T07:32:32.666-06:00Public Theology: The South African ExperienceSome of you may know that I won the lottery a few months back--along with 18 or so others (see pic below for a snapshop of our first meeting) from across Africa and North America--with an all-expenses paid trip to South Africa to study Public Theology. The seminar is sponsored by the Nagel Centre at Calvin College, and facilitated by Bob and Alice Evans of the Plowshares Institute. The idea is toStephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-36517748908463286602008-04-18T12:09:00.007-06:002008-12-09T07:34:06.825-07:00"That School Where You Can't Be Gay" #2Well, the presence of King's in the news over the Delwin Vriend case has indeed (as I suspected it would) continued. Last Sunday, Vriend himself weighed in in the Edmonton Journal, stating that (1) King's is a publically funded institution (a fact that, according to him, is "hushed up") but without "public accountability"; (2) King's did not have, neither atStephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-32320386456966191532008-04-08T08:20:00.008-06:002008-04-08T11:37:30.490-06:00"Les Canadiens Sont La!"We emigrated from the UK in 1967 (I was seven) and we settled in Toronto. The Leafs were the champs that year. But from the first time I saw them I was hooked on Les Canadiens. Maybe it was the colourful uniforms (bleu-blanc-et rouge as compared to the drab blue and white of the Leafs); maybe it was the passion of the fans (the Forum had an organ, a bugler named "Dutchy", Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-60110361371838553382008-04-04T12:29:00.014-06:002008-04-05T09:20:17.555-06:00"That School Where You Can't be Gay"I'm gonna get on the soapbox.It's been a frustrating week. I teach at King's University College, and we've been in the news every day from Sunday till today (and who knows about tomorrow and the next day). In 1991, Delwyn Vriend was dismissed from his position as a lab instructor at King's, ostensibly (at least this is the way the media puts it) "for being gay.Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-61549056782807761512008-03-24T12:14:00.012-06:002008-12-09T07:34:07.300-07:00"The Body and Blood of Christ"... To GoOkay, so I said I was going to blog again. I thought of all kinds of profound topics to reinaugurate it: resurrection of Jesus as God's laughter, the ambivalence I feel about praying for the troops in my church, my thoughts about an upcoming trip to South Africa, my eager anticipation of the April 4 restart of Battlestar Galactica, etc., etc. Well here's theStephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-57879792753671273252008-03-22T16:14:00.000-06:002008-03-22T16:15:25.901-06:00Hold it... wait... I think there might... yes indeed... be another entry blog coming soon!Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-27771240087126030652007-07-10T17:28:00.000-06:002008-12-09T07:34:08.143-07:00Zionist Offerings and Resistance to CapitalismWhile listening to Geoff present his work to our Seminar on liturgy as resistance to capitalism, I was put in mind of Robin Petersen's analysis of the South African Zion Christian Church. Robin was a brilliant young theologian, full of promise, who has now dropped off the scene. His work has given me several cues for my own analysis of South African Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-58068165290139543012007-07-09T22:10:00.000-06:002007-07-09T22:16:00.695-06:00The Worst Liturgical Innovations in the History of the Church...... is offered in honour of the Calvin seminar reaching its halfway point. Enjoy!http://faith-theology.blogspot.com/2006/07/new-poll-worst-liturgical-invention.html(None of these tops the Puppet Eucharist, though several come close.)Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0