I believe that our faith should be grounded in Scripture as it is applied in our current cultural context. I agree with Dr. Bolger that we must evaluate the things that we as the church oppose due to the “gospel”. Often we avoid being associated with certain aspects of society because of the layers of [...]
Week 10 – Monday
I have often heard about Christ’s ministry as “countercultural”, but I like how Dr. Bolger puts more of an emphasis on Christ’s non-conformed ministry within culture. I think this is a subtle yet important distinction to make as we attempt to mimick Christ in our current context. Our goal is not to be countercultural to [...]
Week 9 – Wednesday
We spoke more about the emerging church in class today. It was interesting to hear about the differences in the terminologies of “emerging” or “emergent” and the different definitions that are given by different groups of people. Also, it was helpful to understand the the concept of the emerging church in light of what the [...]
Week 9 – Monday
This class period was especially helpful for me. Since I first came out to California a couple of months ago I’ve come across the idea of the emerging church several times. I’ve heard some great things about it from some and some negative things from others. I’m interested in looking deeper into this issue and [...]
Week 8 – Wednesday
As a citizen of Brazil and the U.S., there are certain issues with which I have to deal that do not play into the lives of most others. I am constantly doing things to satisfy both governments’ requirements. I want to remain faithful to both in order to reflect on official paper the makeup of who I am – Brazilian and American. [...]
Week 8 – Monday
In class we saw how the interchangeability between terms of “church” and “kingdom” has proven to be dangerous throughout history. If the kingdom is supposed to be embodied in the church, then I can see how many people will not want anything to do with the kingdom of God. The church in its present state [...]
Week 7 – Wednesday
Dr. Bolger made a very interesting point in class today. He suggested that the counter-cultural actions of Jesus are the ones that we are to take seriously into our own context. Following Jesus is not a matter of wearing sandals and walking or riding donkeys everywhere. Those are the things we would be doing regardless of whether [...]
Week 7 – Monday
The movie today spoke clearly on how Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingdom of God was just as much political as it was religious. I think it is a great reminder that our own proclamation of the Kingdom should also be political. It is a topic that has really interested me recently. Scriptures tell us that authority is established by God, [...]
Week 6 – Wednesday
As we spoke in small groups about the Trinitarian approach to issues in poscolonialism, I feel like I gained new insight to the topic for my final paper. I will be talking about the issue of race in the U.S. and in Brazil. As we discussed the issue, it became clear that division was the problem. [...]
Week 6 – Monday
Bolger said that the church doesn’t have a mission; rather, the mission of Christ creates the church. This is a great statement. I think it is truly evident in that every area of study within the church (Christology, Ecclesiology, Eschatology, Anthropolgy, Culture, etc.) originates in missio Dei. I think this is a humbling thought, as [...]
