I watched all but about the last fifteen minutes or so of this special last night. I went into it looking for things that I didn't like about it, to be perfectly honest. I have to admit, it was much more even-handed than I thought it would be.

One of the main things that I think they got pretty close was the misconception among the Jews of the time about what the Kingdom of God actually was. The Bible talks about even the disciples expecting political reform from Jesus -- even after the resurrection.


So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."
(Act 1:6-8 ESV)

They were STILL waiting for the political reform. This was a common misconception of the day, and the program dealt with it rather well, I thought. They DID, of course, venture into the typical 'How reliable are the Gospels', 'Did Jesus claim to be the Messiah?', 'When were the Gospels written?' terrain, and the answers they gave reflected the more liberal scholarship that the show still focused on -- even though there were more moderate and conservative scholars on the program this time.

I was nervous as they started talking about the Resurrection of Christ. This is the one thing that programs like this usually head straight toward the liberal end of the spectrum. John Dominic Crossan didn't let me down here, with his insistance that Christ wasn't even burried, much less raised from the dead. His opinion was in the minority, though, with most of the interviewees firmly sitting on the fence -- "something had to have happened, but I don't know what".

Something DID happen. Something that transformed eleven firghtened men, who were hiding for their lives, waiting for someone to come and haul them off the jail or worse, into an international missionary team that helped transform the world. Within 100 years of Christ's death, the news had spread throughout the known world. Within 300 years, the Empire that had tried so long to silence the Christian voices had made Christianity it's official religion. These men saw Christ, alive.

The biggest problem I had was with the whole Paul vs. the apostles debate. YES, Paul argued with Peter and James. Both men ended up taking Paul's side in the arguement, though (Acts 15). Were there occasional disagreements? Absolutely. These are human beings we are talking about. They had different ideas about what direction the church should go in. And THEY couldn't just sit down with a Bible and look up verses -- they were WRITING the Bible. Ultimately, both sides agreed, though -- we have a common tradition of orthodoxy back very early in church history.

And of course, the old 'Gnostic Gospels' arguement was trotted out again. WHEN are people going to realize that we are rehashing debates that took place almost 100 years ago? The fad died out in about 1910 or so, and it will again, when people realize the poor historiography that is involved. Late date anything that you don't like, early date whatever you do, hope nobody notices. The Gospel of Thomas is authoritative, even though nobody ever mentions its use, but the four canonical Gospels are suspect, even though we have evidence of their use as Scripture from before 170AD. The Gnostic writings represent 'true Christianity', because that is what WE want Christianity to be.

I think this is the biggest problem I have with the 'historical Jesus' searches. Everyone ends up finding, to quote the old song, "their own, personal, Jesus". We have a little box, and that is what our idea of Jesus fits into -- no matter what other 'facts' we find. We can, as the Jesus Seminar does and Thomas Jefferson did, pick and choose what statements we want to believe Jesus made -- let's get rid of everything except the social activism stuff, especially anything that says Jesus about being the son of God. When we start on that road, it's very easy to make Christianity to be anything we want it to be.

I think Paul's teaching about women was a little misrepresented. As usual, they focused on what Paul wouldn't let women do, and not on the specific things women were supposed to do. We tend to do this a lot, even with our gifts and skills. Someone who can sing beautifully will sit and wish they could teach. Teachers want to be able to play instruments. Instrumentalists want to be able to preach. And on and on. We're never satisfied with what God has given us to do -- we always want the other guy's ministry. Paul NEVER said, as was stated in the program, that women were supposed to sit down and shut up. They were given specific roles in the church -- roles that men couldn't do. Lydia and Priscilla are two perfect examples of women who were instrumental in founding the church, who Paul relied on to a great degree. They NEVER are mentioned in discussions about Paul's supposed chauvanism.

They ignored Paul's theology because they don't think the Bible has any relevance to today's world, or even much beyond his own time. They water down his message and Christ's teachings so there is no call for repentance and no fear of judgement. Simply love everyone -- that's what Jesus said. They forget that Jesus was quick to let people know what they were doing wrong. Even the adulterous woman was commanded "Go, and sin no more". Jesus called her a sinner!

All in all, though, it was an interesting program. I learned a bit, and got angry a bit -- but not as much as I thought I would.

Just a few observations:
I was mysitifed about the people they talked to in the Vatican. "What do you know about St. Paul?" I was waiting for someone to say "Well, it's a nice city, but I like Minneapolis better". Where did they GET these people???

I'd heard the soundtrack was upsetting people, but I kinda liked it. Hey, they played dcTalk!

Is it just me, or does John Shelby Spong look a LOT like the Emperor in the Star Wars movies. I think I'd be concerned if my spiritual advisor looked like a Dark Lord of the Sith, but that's just me.

Wow. That was a lot of writing. If you're still reading this, thank you for sticking with me.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 08:09 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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This was written in this article by Al Mohler, President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. The article is a great read in and of itself, but this quote seemed really relevant in light of some of the scholars on the ABC show last night.

'Looking back on the whole project of liberal theology, L?demann offered an amazing reflection: "I don't think Christians know what they mean when they proclaim Jesus as Lord of the world. That is a massive claim. If you took that seriously, you would probably have to be a fundamentalist. If you can't be a fundamentalist, then you should give up Christianity for the sake of honesty." ' (thanks to Ryan at pccboard).

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 08:08 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Ok, I mentioned yesterday that I was playing in a golf league. Tonight was the first night, and we had a team scramble, Texas rules. For the many of you who don't understand what I just said: each person hits a drive, then we take the best one. Everyone hits the next, take the best one, and so on until the little ball ends up in the hole. Texas rules means that every person on the team has to contribute a drive -- so the best person on the team doesn't end up playing the whole round for the team.

I haven't touched a club since October, right before I had hernia surgery -- and it showed. I DID sink a 30 ft. putt for eagle on the second par 5 though. I'm going to be doing some major practicing before next Monday, when the league competition starts up.

[edit] Ok, I thought about going ahead and posting my reaction to the ABC special, but I'd rather take the time and post something well-thought-out than just throw something up to get ahead of everyone, so that will STILL be, as I said, tomorrow. I'll probably have a new Today in Church History entry up as well, just so you all know.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 11:45 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Ok, I found a better link than I gave below -- check this one out. It's a bit more even handed, I think.

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Everybody and their TV network is talking about Glorious Appearing, the last in the Left Behind series. So why not me?

I've read the series, up to Desecration. My in-laws are buying the series for me in paperback, so I'm going to be a bit behind as far as plot line goes. Although, if you think about it, we know how the story ends.

That is, we do IF you have studied your pre-trib, pre-mil eschatology. If you haven't, those two links are a starting point.

The problem with eschatology is that there is no one position that we can call, with 100% accuracy, orthodox. The dominant view in the United States right now is pre-tribulation, pre-millenial -- that is, Christ will rapture His Bride (the Church) before the Great Tribulation (the trib in pre-trib) starts, which is before the Millenial regin of Christ (the mil in pre-mil). That is the view that the books support. The Rapture signals the start of seven years of misery on Earth (the Trib). At the end of seven years, Christ and the Church come back and whoop up on the forces of Evil, and rule the Earth for 1,000 years (the Millenium).

So from the start, people familiar with this eschatological scenario have known what was coming next. That's why the series has been a REALLY easy read for me. I could sit and say "OK, that's judgement #1, so next we have THIS happening", all through the books. No suspense. The characterization was a bit dull -- I have a real problem with Rayford as the leader of these people. I don't think he's qualified. Every time he starts barking instructions, I wonder "Who died and left this schmuck in charge?"

I also have a hard time getting theology from a work of fiction. This book is pure speculation, and should be treated as such. It's a fun read, it's an easy read, but I can think of a LOT of other resources to go to if you want to study end-time prophecies.

I can understand the big part of Evangelicaldom that feels left out by Left Behind. These are the mid-tribbers, the post-tribbers, the post-mils, the amils, and all the pan-mils. If you're confused by these terms, this is a pretty good reference to start out with. They're not usually sympathetic to Christians over there, notwithstanding their name, but they offer some good basic info on this subject. Pan-millenialism is the belief that it'll all pan out in the end, that whenever it happens, it'll happen, and that we have more important things to do than sit on our mountain and wait for Christ to come back. I tend toward that position, though I usually say I'm mid-trib if someone asks me.

I snuck a look at Glorious Appearing in the bookstore tonight. It ends rather ominously, with a quotation reminding us that Satan comes back at the end of the 1,000 years. I smell another book or two (HOPEFULLY they don't plan on writing about the whole Millenial Reign!).

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 08:22 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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John W. Whitehead at Razormouth has written something that should be required reading for Christians during an election year. It reflects some of what I've written before.

We spend too much time thinking that a political party is going to save the country. The Democrats won't do it, the Republicans have been a disappointment for the most part, and the horde of 3rd party candidates that have been courting Christians have no clout at all. We need to be concerned with how our nation is run; we need to make sure that the best candidate is elected. But we aso need to wake up to the fact that the only answer to society's problems is Jesus Christ.

Too many abortions? Christ can change peoples hearts, and lifestyles, so that abortion isn't needed anymore. That is the America I look forward to -- a nation where abortion doesn't happen, NOT because it's illegal, but because people don't need it anymore. Gay marriage got you upset? Christ can change lives -- I've seen it happen. Too much crime? More police aren't the answer; the Son of God is the answer.

If Christians would get off the sofa, and start putting some shoeleather to their prayers -- actually trying to make things happen, rather than wringing their hands and moaning about how "someone should do something", this nation would be in a LOT better shape. We say we believe that Christ has the power to change lives -- maybe we should start living like we believe that.

Until we do, nothing is going to change.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 12:17 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Think I'm gonna do this every so often. I love church history -- I'm studying to be an ecclesiastical historian, so I guess that's a good thing. And there's a LOT we can learn by studying the history of the Church.

Today is Mordecai Ham's birthday.

Who?

He's only one of the most important evangelists in history!! Not just because he won thousands to Christ (which he did). NOT because of the great revivals he lead. Primarilly, because of one man that he influenced. One life he was able to change. One soul he saw the Holy Spirit bring to Christ.

One day in 1934. A meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina. Ham probably noticed nothing special about that meeting. But Billy Graham, who was sitting in the crowd at that meeting, made a declaration of faith that would literally change the world. Mordecai Ham is unknown to many people, although he was a great evangelist -- one who would stay in an area for months after a revival, meeting needs and discipling converts. But through his faithfulness to the calling of the Holy Spirit, he was able to impact a life that would go on to impact millions.

Ham probably never knew the impact he had. Just like many of us -- we do the things God has called us to do, and often never know if we've made a difference in anyone's life. We'll never know, in many cases, until we arrive in heaven. That's why we shouldn't do things for our own glory, but do all for the glory of God.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 09:21 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Today, I'm sharing a couple of my favorite Webcomics. For the uninitiated, these are comic strips which are primarilly published on the Internet. (I say primarilly because many of them are now offering anthology books of surprisingly good quality.) I started reading a couple of these things a year or so ago -- now I'm up to reading 15 different strips, some updated daily!

Sluggy Freelance -- an amazing strip, which has been going strong since August of 1997!!! That's close to SEVEN YEARS, folks! The storylines are incredible, and the characters are memorable -- highly recommend. You better have some time to sit and read the archives, but it's worth it!
Kevin and Kell -- I just started reading this one; it didn't take me long to get hooked! This has been running since September of 1995! Almost NINE YEARS! I haven't made it through the whole archive yet, but it's going to happen soon. Also well worth the read!

I've got more, but that should whet your appetite for now.

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Monday night, Peter Jennings and ABC are going to be hosting Jesus and Paul: The Word and the Witness. It starts at 8pm eastern, and it will run for 3 hours.

I'll be honest -- I didn't watch the Search for Jesus thing that ABC and Jennings did four years ago. I'm not optimistic about what the popular media says about Jesus, or the founding of Christianity. I've seen too many specials that rehash old arguements about historical reliability of the Gospels, the supposed suppression of the Gnostic writings, etc. With the popularity of The DaVinci Code, this has ony gotten worse. (I'm working on a fuller treatment of this subject for my web site. I may put some excerpts here, when I get something I'm happy with.)

A lot of things have changed, though, in the last four years. I've gone from a marketing major to a seminarian (some people won't see a difference there ...). I've had a radical change of direction in my life, and I really think I need to see this special. So, assuming that my golf league is over by then, I'll be watching Jennings on Monday night. And Tuesday, you all get to read my rant right here. Aren't you lucky?!

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 05:41 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Until I modify the template I'm using, I'm going to post a few "Links of the Day" each day. Once I get the modifications done, I'll probably just put them at the top of the right-habd column of the page each day.

If you enjoy The Onion, check out these two sites:

Lark News
The Holy Observer

Be careful, though. If you don't have a sense of humor, you may not appreciate either site. You also might not like it if you happen to find yourself in one of the articles. I don't always agree with what the sites are trying to say, but they CAN show things that we do in a different light. And they're both pretty funny!

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Ok, I just finished reading this, and I can't resist commenting. Now Christians must allow people who do not share their basic beliefs to join their organizations? I know this is in England, so they don't have any legal protection under a constitution like we have in the States, but this seems REALLY foolish. (Besides, the folks in England have no problem commenting on stupid things they see here, so I'm just returning the favor.)

Next thing you know, the campus Jewish student organization will be required to include neo-Nazis in their group. The local Nazi group will have to have a rabbi at their meetings. These sounds ridiculous, and they should! This isn't a social club -- this is a group of Christians who meet together. They have a statement of faith that many Christians in the US wish they could live up to, and now they are being required to choose between violating their beliefs and disbanding their organization.

There is a global culture of tolerance, that says everyone should allow everyone else to do whatever they want to. This idea flies in the face of any form of Biblical Christianity (remember, Jesus told the woman 'Go, and sin no more', NOT 'Go on your way, you're doing fine!'). It amazes me that any nation that claims to be enlightened can force people to violate deeply help beliefs in this way.

For those of us in the States, we need to pay attention to what is happening at Hull. Because it has happened here before, and it will happen again.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 04:46 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Ok, minor thing, but I've added a Comments feature courtesy of Haloscan. So PLEASE feel free to leave me comments on whatever you read here. If I didn't want to know what everyone thinks about what I write, I wouldn't have spent the minute it took to add this feature.

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I haven't seen the movie yet. I've heard all about why I should, and I probably will in the next week or two. But of all the reasons I've read NOT to go see the movie, I think that this one by Frank Schaeffer is probably the most intelligent and best thought-out that I've heard.

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Well, I'm taking the plunge. Welcome to View from the Pew, a daily (I hope) look into the random ramblings of an evangelical Christian.

In this blog, I hope to give some commentary on current events, a little theological discussion, a little rant about my day, a little humor -- in other words, a little bit of everything. My main idea behind this is to give ongoing content to the people who stop by my web site (wkelly.org), since I haven't been getting that updated very often. The blog, on the other hand, is easier to update, so I'll be able to do more frequent updating here. I haven't forgotten the other site (I'm paying for it, after all), but the things I want to put there go beyond the whole 'instant post/blog/commentary' thing. I plan on putting more scholarly things over there -- this is where I'm going to just hang out.

I had planned on hosting this on my own site, but I can't figure out the FTP settings for my DotEasy account. If anyone knows that, PLEASE let me know!! The way things stand, I won't even be able to see this blog from work, because of the filtering system that the school uses.

I'm not going to do the whole biography thing right now. If I'm doing this blog thing right, you'll know a lot about me soon, just from reading the blog. Suffice to say, I'm 36, married, and have an adorable daughter who is 2 1/2. You'll see pictures of her here, most likely.

That's it for the intro -- stop by tomorrow about this time for some real commentary.

Posted by: Warren Kelly at 08:39 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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