Post Category → James Emery White

Question ^ Thought 4 September 23rd, 2016!

Question ^ Thought 4 September 23rd, 2016!
Hello Friday from Charlotte!
1. Question – When you stay up late and talk what do you talk about?
2. Thought – When I was 18 and in college, we used to sit up late at night and talk about important things: God, death, good, evil, meaning, love. Now when we get together with friends, all we ever talk about is what the kids are doing, what’s on sale at the mall, and who Notre Dame is playing in football this week. Could you come and speak to our group and maybe help us to start talking about the big issues again?”
We all need to start talking about the big issues again. (Serious Times by James Emory White)
“I see no reason why the decay of culture should not proceed much further.” (T.S. Eliot)
Be safe and always -Scan-Focus- and Act-when necessary. Do not text and drive. Read 2!
rem – “I’ve never let my schooling interfere with my education.” (Mark Twain)
Question & Thought & ANDs.

Question & Thought for September 19th, 2016!

Question & Thought for September 19th, 2016!
Good Monday Morning!
1. Question – Are ethics and morality are things of the past?
2. Thought – Vol. 12, No. 73

A recent article in The Atlantic had an arresting title: “Students’ Broken Moral Compasses.” The author, a high-school English teacher, lamented the absence of character education in the classroom.

And chronicled its great need.

He tells of presenting the following scenario to his junior English students:

Your boyfriend or girlfriend has committed a felony, during which other people were badly harmed. Should you, or should you not, turn him or her into the police?

The class erupted in commentary, universally agreeing on one thing: loyalty to their friend was paramount. Not one student said they would “snitch.” They were equally united in their lack of concern for who was harmed in this hypothetical scenario.

The teacher then worked overtime to help expand their thinking about who and what is affected in various ethical dilemmas, and why it matters. In the end, he asked, “Do you think you should discuss morality and ethics more often in school?” The vast majority of heads nodded in agreement.

Engaging in this type of discourse, it seemed, was a mostly foreign concept for the kids.

The article brought to mind something I wrote about in my book A Mind for God.

Kay Haugaard, a professor in Southern California, reported an experience in The Chronicle of Higher Education that she could only describe as chilling.

Her twenty students were discussing Shirley Jackson’s short story, “The Lottery,” which is found in numerous literary anthologies designed for students.

Set in a small town in rural America, the townsfolk gather for a seemingly innocent ritual deemed critical for the well-being of the crops and the community, of which the center of attention is a lottery. Mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, come forward to draw pieces of paper. As they draw their paper, anxiety; as they find it blank, deep relief. Suddenly, the story reveals the frightening reality that the draw is for a human sacrifice. In the end, a woman draws the slip of paper marked by a black spot. Stones are gathered; she is circled, and killed.

Even her small son had pebbles in his hand.

When the New Yorker first published the essay in 1948, it was met by a storm of outrage. The story’s moral – the danger of “going along” in blind social conformity – was repugnant to the generation that had stood up to Hitler.

Times change.

On the warm California night that brought chills to Haugaard, her class registered no moral response at all.

“The end was neat!” one woman offered.

“If it’s a part of a person’s culture… and if it has worked for them, [it’s okay],” another suggested.

“At this point I gave up,” wrote Haugaard. “No one in the whole class of twenty ostensibly intelligent individuals would go out on a limb and take a stand [even against] against human sacrifice.”

So yes, students today have broken moral compasses.

But God help us if we feel the answer is throwing moral education into the school curriculum.

The place to throw it is into the home before they get there.

James Emery White

 

rem – “I’ve never let my schooling interfere with my education.” (Mark Twain)
Question & Thought & ANDs.

Question & Thought for August 13th, 2016!!!

Question & Thought for August 13th, 2016!!!
Good Saturday Morning!
1. Question – What are the best ways to reach the unreachable?
2. Thought – Vol. 12, No. 59

 
In their book, America’s Four Gods, authors Paul Froese and Christopher Bader draw on the Baylor Religious Survey and Interview project to determine the extent to which people believe: 1) God loves the world; 2) God judges the world; and 3) God engages the world.
 
From this, they suggest that the American public can be split into four theological camps in terms of their belief about the nature of God:
 
1.  The Authoritative God (a God who is both engaged and judgmental)
 
2.  The Benevolent God (a God who is engaged, yet nonjudgmental)
 
3.  The Critical God (a God who is judgmental but disengaged)
 
4.  The Distant God (a God who is nonjudgmental and disengaged)
 
Which “God” is most popular?
 
According to the study:
 
1.  31% believe in an “authoritative” God.
 
2.  24% believe in a “benevolent” God.
 
3.  24% believe in a “distant” God.
 
4.  16% believe in a “critical” God.
 
5.  5% are atheists.
 
For those attempting to engage the culture for the cause of Christ, this is a pivotal study to explore. And to consider. When you speak or teach on God, you must have in mind the varying understandings of God in the minds of your listeners.
 
Most Christian pastors and teachers would assume an authoritative God, and rightly so – that is the majority opinion. It is also the dominant belief of those who were raised in the church. Of those embracing the view of an authoritative God, 22% went to church several times a week as a child. This was true of only 16% of those embracing a benevolent view, 8% of those holding to a critical view, 5% of those who believe God is distant, and 4% of atheists.
 
Little wonder that 47% of all Evangelical Protestants hold to an authoritative or benevolent view of God. Among Roman Catholics, this drops to 30%, and among Mainline Protestants, it drops to just 18%.
 
My experience would suggest that the authoritative view of God, while active among the churched, is far from being dominant among the unchurched. There you find the benevolent, critical or distant views of God in full play.
 
And the more someone is unchurched, the more the scale slides from authoritative to benevolent, benevolent to critical, critical to distant, and finally, from distant to someone who has embraced an atheistic worldview.
 
All to say, those of us wishing to engage our culture for Christ must learn to speak to each of these perspectives.
 
If God is simply benevolent in their minds, then we will need to make an apologetic for His authority and demands. They embrace Christ as Forgiver…they will need help with Christ as Leader – and to see that the two are inseparable.
 
If God is simply critical in their thinking, then they will need to be introduced to His love and grace. They will hear a call to “get in line,” but they also need to hear their name uttered as beloved son or daughter.
 
If God is distant, then whoever is attempting to speak into their lives will need to understand they are addressing “functional” atheism. God is irrelevant to their life and thought, and He will need to be unmistakably exploded in their heart and mind.
 
If God does not exist (to them), then we must make a case for His existence in a manner that pushes Him forward into their thinking in ways that will begin the journey from disbelief to belief; to that point where they imagine a God who is, at the very least, there.
 
The goal is to help everyone journey toward the God who is not simply one of four American ideas, but who is,
 
…well, God.
 
James Emery White
 
 
Sources
 
Froese, Paul and Christopher Bader. America’s Four Gods: What We Say About God – and What That Says About Us (Oxford University Press, 2010).
 
Editor’s Note: This blog was originally published in 2010.

 

I did some truck driving recently. So I had an opportunity to sit above the majority of people driving. I know you know this, but I would say over 50% of the folks on the road are looking at these stupid phones. I wish they’d go-away. I never thought seat-belts would become national law – but they did. Something needs to be done about this dangerous habit.
Okay, read on! August and the start of football – September and October and the beginnings of Autumn – November and elections and Thanksgiving? Good stuff!!!
rem – I had no knowledge that I had no knowledge.
Question & Thought & ANDs.

Question & Thought for August 5th, 2016!!!!

Question & Thought for August 5th, 2016!!!!
Good Friday Morning!
1. Question – What are the best ways to reach the unreachable?
2. Thought – Vol. 12, No. 59

 
In their book, America’s Four Gods, authors Paul Froese and Christopher Bader draw on the Baylor Religious Survey and Interview project to determine the extent to which people believe: 1) God loves the world; 2) God judges the world; and 3) God engages the world.
 
From this, they suggest that the American public can be split into four theological camps in terms of their belief about the nature of God:
 
1.  The Authoritative God (a God who is both engaged and judgmental)
 
2.  The Benevolent God (a God who is engaged, yet nonjudgmental)
 
3.  The Critical God (a God who is judgmental but disengaged)
 
4.  The Distant God (a God who is nonjudgmental and disengaged)
 
Which “God” is most popular?
 
According to the study:
 
1.  31% believe in an “authoritative” God.
 
2.  24% believe in a “benevolent” God.
 
3.  24% believe in a “distant” God.
 
4.  16% believe in a “critical” God.
 
5.  5% are atheists.
 
For those attempting to engage the culture for the cause of Christ, this is a pivotal study to explore. And to consider. When you speak or teach on God, you must have in mind the varying understandings of God in the minds of your listeners.
 
Most Christian pastors and teachers would assume an authoritative God, and rightly so – that is the majority opinion. It is also the dominant belief of those who were raised in the church. Of those embracing the view of an authoritative God, 22% went to church several times a week as a child. This was true of only 16% of those embracing a benevolent view, 8% of those holding to a critical view, 5% of those who believe God is distant, and 4% of atheists.
 
Little wonder that 47% of all Evangelical Protestants hold to an authoritative or benevolent view of God. Among Roman Catholics, this drops to 30%, and among Mainline Protestants, it drops to just 18%.
 
My experience would suggest that the authoritative view of God, while active among the churched, is far from being dominant among the unchurched. There you find the benevolent, critical or distant views of God in full play.
 
And the more someone is unchurched, the more the scale slides from authoritative to benevolent, benevolent to critical, critical to distant, and finally, from distant to someone who has embraced an atheistic worldview.
 
All to say, those of us wishing to engage our culture for Christ must learn to speak to each of these perspectives.
 
If God is simply benevolent in their minds, then we will need to make an apologetic for His authority and demands. They embrace Christ as Forgiver…they will need help with Christ as Leader – and to see that the two are inseparable.
 
If God is simply critical in their thinking, then they will need to be introduced to His love and grace. They will hear a call to “get in line,” but they also need to hear their name uttered as beloved son or daughter.
 
If God is distant, then whoever is attempting to speak into their lives will need to understand they are addressing “functional” atheism. God is irrelevant to their life and thought, and He will need to be unmistakably exploded in their heart and mind.
 
If God does not exist (to them), then we must make a case for His existence in a manner that pushes Him forward into their thinking in ways that will begin the journey from disbelief to belief; to that point where they imagine a God who is, at the very least, there.
 
The goal is to help everyone journey toward the God who is not simply one of four American ideas, but who is,
 
…well, God.
 
James Emery White
 
 
Sources
 
Froese, Paul and Christopher Bader. America’s Four Gods: What We Say About God – and What That Says About Us (Oxford University Press, 2010).
 
Editor’s Note: This blog was originally published in 2010.

 

I did some truck driving recently. So I had an opportunity to sit above the majority of people driving. I know you know this, but I would say over 50% of the folks on the road are looking at these stupid phones. I wish they’d go-away. I never thought seat-belts would become national law – but they did. Something needs to be done about this dangerous habit.
Okay, read on! August and the start of football – September and October and the beginnings of Autumn – November and elections and Thanksgiving? I hope anyway. – December – December – December, 1st is 107 days away.
rem – I had no knowledge that I had no knowledge.
Question & Thought & ANDs.