tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-193379282012-01-30T04:38:18.435-07:00Musings about theology, pop culture, biblical studies, politics, and other stuff.Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.comBlogger551100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-74025628646587547622010-04-07T06:21:00.011-06:002010-04-07T07:38:38.298-06:00

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-80354125149000132072010-04-07T05:50:00.005-06:002010-04-07T07:55:01.825-06:00

“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-24682176227333553752010-03-31T03:51:00.008-06:002010-03-31T05:28:09.649-06:00

This 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-35050743734192597592010-03-24T03:01:00.003-06:002010-03-24T03:14:59.846-06:00

In 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-59583124647602051172009-08-10T10:49:00.005-06:002009-08-10T12:28:19.648-06:00

I 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's

Stephen 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

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

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-17993188576620331072009-07-08T07:56:00.009-06:002009-07-08T21:59:15.055-06:00

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-18660871014810175382009-07-07T06:34:00.003-06:002009-07-07T06:37:14.831-06:00

http://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-61255629642018461252009-07-01T05:10:00.007-06:002009-07-02T03:56:49.473-06:00

The 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-6242021959903495952009-06-23T08:41:00.001-06:002009-06-23T08:43:19.261-06:00

In light of the postings on Central Methodist, I thought this reflection might be appropriate:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1J3aAe5oOQ

Stephen 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

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-46027266107117723132009-06-16T08:13:00.003-06:002009-06-19T07:25:59.325-06:00

Without 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. He

Stephen 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

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-12117382046873025082009-06-11T05:25:00.005-06:002009-06-19T07:29:14.342-06:00

As 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-63600653836042917682009-06-08T12:07:00.002-06:002009-06-19T07:29:53.270-06:00

The 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-4118161754534703722009-06-08T11:03:00.006-06:002009-06-19T07:38:42.774-06:00

“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-58021916871789870502009-06-07T11:13:00.002-06:002009-06-19T07:32:32.666-06:00

Some 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 to

Stephen 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 at

Stephen 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 the

Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-57879792753671273252008-03-22T16:14:00.000-06:002008-03-22T16:15:25.901-06:00

Hold 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-27771240087126030652007-07-10T17:28:00.000-06:002008-12-09T07:34:08.143-07:00

Zionist 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-58068165290139543012007-07-09T22:10:00.000-06:002007-07-09T22:16:00.695-06:00

The 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.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-26473507475885272962007-07-09T21:44:00.000-06:002008-12-09T07:34:08.562-07:00

Calvin SCS —Summer 2007—Day 5July 2, 2007Reading: Cavanaugh, W. T. 2004. Discerning: Politics and reconciliation. In The Blackwell Companion to Christian Ethics, S. Hauerwas and S. Wells, 196–208. Malden, PA: Blackwell.Link to PDF of my presentation.CP: Could this be narrated as searching for eucharist (nation-building 1) and finding eucharist (nation-building 2)… but the eucharist that’s found

Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-89078919227788171742007-07-09T05:58:00.000-06:002008-12-09T07:34:08.956-07:00

Calvin SCS —Summer 2007—Day 4June 26, 2007Reading: Charles R. Pinches, A Gathering of Memories: Family, Nation, and Church in a Forgetful World (Brazos, 2006).Main points in Pinches' (CRP) presentation from his handout:1. "The moral life is not fundamentally about choice or achievement, but rather about response to gifts received. We receive who we are from those who have gone before us, and

Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-19861330216555601252007-07-02T16:37:00.000-06:002008-12-09T07:34:09.193-07:00

Welcome to the United StatesWhen I deplaned in Denver last week, this was one of the first things I saw...No comment necessary (but feel free).

Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-70262211438614221662007-07-02T16:12:00.000-06:002008-12-09T07:34:09.306-07:00

Calvin SCS —Summer 2007—Day 3June 27, 2007Text: Smith, A. D. 2003. Chosen peoples. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press; Hauerwas, S., and S. Wells, eds. 2004. The Blackwell companion to Christian ethics. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub.John's summary: Smith says reports of the death of nationalism are premature. Nationalism is persistent. There are certain elective affinities between religion

Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-61487766349926288042007-07-02T15:40:00.000-06:002008-12-09T07:34:09.441-07:00

Calvin SCS —Summer 2007—Day 2June 26, 2007Reading: Anthony Marx, Faith in Nation (OUP, 2005)Note: Here begins a daily account of our Seminars in Christian Scholarship seminar on Liturgical Identities: National, Global, and Ecclesial. Members of the seminar are identified only by initials. The notes are my own and doubtless reflect my own particular understanding or lack thereof. Caveat lector!

Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-1176145971365946442007-04-09T13:08:00.000-06:002007-04-10T09:54:04.200-06:00

Risen Indeed!Yesterday I heard a scintillating sermon that literally had me on the edge of my seat. Eileen+ (our parish priest) started by noting a headline in the Edmonton Journal about a local passion play: “Bringing the Easter Story to Life”, then saying (after wryly observing the propensity newspaper headlines have for misconstruing the stories they report) that this is precisely

Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-1166489098499905532006-12-18T17:26:00.000-07:002006-12-20T12:30:21.546-07:00

Back on tbe BlogMy Mum's a big Oprah fan, and Im a big Bono fan. So when today she played me a tape of Oprah shopping with Bono at the launch of the Red campaign in Chicago, we both should have been pleased. Now I've been an admirer of Bono for about 25 years. I don't for a moment question his motives, and realize that having seen the Aids crisis in Africa close-up he's willing to make a

Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-1148684786585991802006-05-26T16:59:00.000-06:002006-11-07T08:38:39.940-07:00

I'm still around!! The end of the semester has left me a little too breathless to blog. I've now just finished teaching my first spring semester intensive course and am getting ready (once I mark the final exams) to teach the second. (Note to self: never do this back-to-back again!) In the meantime, when I'm not teaching, preparing lectures, marking, or sleeping, I'm amusing myself by watching

Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-1143156857300493192006-03-23T16:21:00.000-07:002006-03-27T21:12:02.473-07:00

Rejoicing... though kinda qualifiedThis morning I woke to the sound of British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw announcing that the Christian Peacemaker hostages had been freed by a multinational military operation.What wonderful news to hear of the release of James, Harmeet, and Norman! And wonderful too that the "operation" was carried out without violence, though I'm not sure that this was done to

Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-1142626343480415582006-03-17T13:01:00.000-07:002006-03-17T13:40:27.983-07:00

The Apostle of Ireland... AKA St. Patrick. This is the day each year I trot out my Guinness shirt and green trousers in aknowledgement of the Christianization of the land of my birth. The form of Christianity that developed in Ireland after St. Patrick continues to hold great appeal to me and to many others around the world. Few realize the role of the Irish scholars in medieval monasteries who

Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-1142116719105131002006-03-11T15:30:00.000-07:002006-03-11T15:57:21.220-07:00

Counting the cost and paying the priceI was deeply saddened by the news that Tom Fox's body had been found in Iraq today. Sometimes the phrase "blessed are the peacemakers" can become so cliched. It is read as "blessed are the idealists" or more negatively "blessed are those too scared to fight." But real peacemakers live in the in-between spaces. They are those who interpose themselves in

Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-1142033333975988142006-03-10T16:22:00.000-07:002006-03-10T17:09:10.910-07:00

The Secular Religion of Blair and BushThe fact that my lenten discipline includes things with screens means that my blogging is going to be a little sparse till Resurrection Day (though thankfully there are also little resurrection days, aka Sundays in Lent...). The following op ed piece comes via Jamie Smith's blog, and represents a nice example of theologians of the Radical Orthodoxy tribe

Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-1140824152891167812006-02-24T16:30:00.000-07:002006-02-24T23:24:10.156-07:00

Ich Bin Ein NewfoundlanderYou'd have to be a stone not to have been moved by the victory of the Gushue rink at the Olympics today, or the scenes in St. John's afterward. Thanks, boys, for making all our days.

Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-1140743704586374642006-02-23T18:04:00.000-07:002006-02-24T16:08:39.916-07:00

A PostModern Celebration of DisciplineWith Lent just around the corner, many Christians turn to the question of Lenten disciplines (click here for a fabulous resource). Relatively few, however, see such disciplines as political practices that both constitute and substantiate a Christian selfhood. In this regard, Jamie Smith offers Michel Foucault as a somewhat unlikely ally (perhaps akin to

Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-1140645428686537602006-02-22T14:52:00.000-07:002006-02-23T01:02:25.153-07:00

Now that it's over...... and Canada has crashed out of hockey at the Olympics [sniff], folks up here may be trying to figure out what to watch on TV to fill-out reading week. Well just in time comes Tyler Williams and his essential movies of 2005 for theologians.At any rate, watching them is probably more edifying than listening to the sports pundits make excuses--though I find that hard to

Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-1140410547972309052006-02-19T21:30:00.000-07:002006-02-21T00:12:56.006-07:00

The Agnostic Christian Reformed ChurchOne of my students is "co-founding-pastor" of The Agnostic Christian Reformed Church, a new group on MSN. Here's the manifesto: "We do not aim at a conclusion but an opening. We do not seek a closure but an opening up." - John D. Caputo Welcome to this group, I suppose. The Agnostic Christian Reformed Church was an insidious and nebulous idea, forged by

Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-1140206436999795972006-02-17T12:47:00.000-07:002006-02-19T21:26:22.080-07:00

BonhoefferI haven't blogged on Dietrich Bohoeffer's 100th birthday, though it has been on my mind. Showing the excellent Doblmeier documentary to my students last week made me think afresh his relevance for our time. I have blogged on Rowan Williams, and just noticed his opening address to the International Bonhoeffer Congress. It dovetails nicely with the theme of the last couple of blogs here:"

Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-1140041550824613682006-02-15T14:51:00.000-07:002006-02-15T19:24:47.553-07:00

"How to be a Global Village Idiot"Ever since his provocative article on "The Wars of Religion and the Rise of the State" found its way into my dissertation about ten or so years ago, one of my favourite writers in the tradition of Radical Orthodoxy has been William T. Cavenaugh of St. Thomas University. With Daniel Bell Jr., Cavenaugh is rethinking Liberation Theology for our present context,

Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-1140035926652860632006-02-15T13:26:00.000-07:002006-02-19T21:25:23.516-07:00

The Liturgy in Transformation: A ClarificationIn my last post, I'm afraid I may have created the impression that liturgy needed to be legitimated in terms of something outside of itself (its role in forming a worldview, its statement to the culture about power and truth, its contesting of the political, etc.). That would be wrong. I worship God because, as a creature (in the words of the Book of

Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-1139899817204169292006-02-13T23:21:00.000-07:002006-02-15T03:50:56.316-07:00

TransformationOK: so this is the sort of word that folks in my circles love to throw around. In fact, it's the favoured self-description of the neo-Calvinism that has played such an important role in the development of my understanding of Christianity. "The Transforming Vision" is, it turns out, a Reformational/neo-Calvinist version of the biblical worldview. And I happlily embraced (and continue

Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-1137812213478216872006-01-20T19:53:00.000-07:002006-02-07T01:59:01.860-07:00

Back (finally!)It's been a long time between blogs and I've lots to write. For now, check out this link to a hilarious video that asks the musical question: what if the Federation had a starship with an all-Scottish crew?Click to watch: Scottish Star Trek

Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-1133668292254427912005-12-03T20:09:00.000-07:002005-12-12T04:16:17.496-07:00

Best Artificial Life FormWell we've had some debate on this blog over the best starship captain on Star Trek. But who can forget that other staple of the Star Trek universe (and the most theologically interesting): artificial life forms. That's right: from nanites to exocomps to the Enterprise itself, we've seen a plethora of forms of humanly created life (which often wind up so heavily

Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-1133570985167048972005-12-02T17:44:00.000-07:002005-12-02T18:00:05.526-07:00

Pray for Christian Peacemakers in IraqI've just received the following from Louise Slobodian at CPJ:Citizens for Public Justice is responding to the call from Christian Peacemaker Teams to write statements of support for their organization and, particularly, their four colleagues held in Iraq: James Loney, Tom Fox, Norman Kember and Harmeet Sooden.CPT is asking organizations to distibute these

Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-1133542891844273142005-12-02T09:47:00.000-07:002005-12-02T17:44:22.040-07:00

"Living in God's Time"Many Christians are rediscovering the significance of the liturgical year. A great aid in this is a liturgical calendar, one which is tied not to our seasons of spring, summer, fall, and winter, but to the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost. For several years, I've ordered a fabulous calendar from University Hill Church in Vancouver, BC. (

Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-1133226367706228922005-11-28T17:46:00.000-07:002005-12-02T18:12:00.046-07:00

Here we go againI've just heard the news that Canada's Liberal Government has fallen and we'll be going to the polls in January. This was not unexpected, of course, especially after Bono denounced Paul Martin's lack of action on increasing foreign aid before U2's Ottawa concert this weekend (the kiss of death from the world's biggest Rock star).Seriously though... Last Friday I woke up with the

Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-1133200680534479692005-11-28T10:45:00.000-07:002005-12-02T17:57:04.306-07:00

The Best Starship CaptainMy friend Sylvia has weighed in on the Starship Captain question: "Surely there is no debate! Those of us who live daily with the intertextual echo of 'Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.' know that there is no captain that ever has or ever will reach the stature of Picard." But for my money, it's gotta be Sisko, in spite of the lack of intertextual echoes. Hell, you’ve got the man

Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-1133112081984637742005-11-27T10:14:00.001-07:002005-11-28T09:41:24.200-07:00

Ramblin' Man... is, of course, the piece that opens Steve Martin's 1977 comedy debut album, Let's Get Small.

Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-1133109920072848752005-11-27T09:28:00.000-07:002005-11-27T14:01:42.970-07:00

First Sunday in AdventThe season of Advent is here, preceded as usual by the advent of Christmas trees, colourful lights, and the ubiquitous flyers and TV ads proclaiming "shop early, shop often." I used to think that this "glowing" of capitalism-manufactured joy was at least convergent with the true Spirit-given joy of the season. After all, when the light recedes in the Northern hemisphere, and

Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-1133076928965550092005-11-27T00:35:00.000-07:002005-11-28T18:17:36.333-07:00

Here's a photo of me playing guitar at All Nations CRC, Halifax in 2004. All Nations was my home church for four years. I was playing Villa Lobos' Prelude no. 2 and my fingers got horribly cramped. Ouch. Photo by Laura Breukelman.

Stephen Martinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03705819485045114741noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19337928.post-1133074318606178832005-11-26T23:50:00.000-07:002005-11-26T23:51:58.606-07:00

Welcome to my first attempt at blogging. This is an experiment I've looked forward to with eagerness and fear. Do I have anything meaningful to contribute to the blogsphere? Will anyone pay attention? What happens if people pay attention? That's the fear part. The eagerness part is, well, becoming involved in conversations about things I care deeply about, and learning from the perspectives of

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