Experimental Theology

"The nombre of the words passyth my witte and al my understondyng and al my mights..."

One more reflection as the spooky season comes to a close.

As this year's spooky season comes to a close, I wanted to revisit three posts I shared last year, pulled together and reedited here, about why I think Bram Stoker's Dracula is one of the greatest Christian novels ever written.

Throughout this series, I have been exploring the idea of "transplant shock" and how it helps us understand the challenges facing spiritual formation in low-church Protestant spaces.

One more contrast between the soils of spiritual formation.

"Wilt tho seen in hir how thou art lovid?"

The next contrast between the soils of spiritual formation concerns ascetical and penitential practices versus therapeutic and affirmational spirituality.

The next contrast between the soils of spiritual formation I want to consider concerns synergism versus monergism, how we think about divine/human agency.

Another instance of transplant shock concerns the contrast between monastic and domestic/vocational forms of life.

This post is really just a continuation from the last one, where we contrasted how spiritual formation is experienced within soteriological visions that emphasize either sanctification or justification.

"Lo, how I lovid the" Chapter 24 of Julian's Revelations is a lovely chapter, worth sharing in full.

A critical issue regarding spiritual formation in Protestant spaces concerns how spiritual formation relates to soteriology.

The next contrast between the soils of spiritual formation—the historical origins in Catholicism/Orthodoxy versus low-church Protestantism—is communal versus individualistic.

Okay, let's work through the list I shared in the last post.

Over the summer I did some teaching in DMin courses on spiritual formation, and in those courses I used my "transplant shock" metaphor.

"Al the Trinite wroute in the passion of Criste" In Chapter 23 Julian continues with her ninth showing, the delight of the Trinity in Christ's passion.

I did a quick word study of the Greek word πᾶς, which is translated as "all."

Four years ago, I shared a series of reflections upon what I call the “chicken and egg problem” in spiritual formation.

What constitutes a livable worldview?

The book of Ruth is a lovely story about small acts of fidelity and care.

"if I myht suffre more, I wold suffre more" In Chapter 22 of Julian's Revelations we reach the ninth of her sixteen showings.

I expect you know who I'm talking about when I say "the 81%."

In the last post I raised the question about whether Bebbington-style evangelicals who are egalitarian, and who aggressively resist the label "evangelical," should be called "evangelical."

Bonnie Kristian, in In Defense of Evangelicalism: A Response to Its Cultured Despisers, rightly understands the definitional conundrum posed by “evangelical.”

On Substack Notes, I shared that I had read Bonnie Kristian's In Defense of Evangelicalism: A Response to Its Cultured Despisers.

"And I was full mery" Since Chapter 16 Julian has been meditating upon Christ's passion.

This will be my last post reflecting upon Jordan Hillebert's reading of Henri de Lubac in his book Henri de Lubac and the Drama of Human Existence and how de Lubac navigated between the views Hillebert calls intrinsicism and extrinsicism.

As I described in the last post, I resonate with Jordan Hillebert's reading of Henri de Lubac in his book Henri de Lubac and the Drama of Human Existence because it confirms how I have attempted to navigate between the views Hillebert calls intrinsicism a…

We've taken a slow walk through Jordan Hillebert's reading of Henri de Lubac in his book Henri de Lubac and the Drama of Human Existence.

One more post before I turn to some of my own reflections, continuing to share Jordan Hillebert's reading of Henri de Lubac in his book Henri de Lubac and the Drama of Human Existence.

"the love of Hym was so strong whych He hath to our soule" In Chapter 20 of Julian's Revelations, she turns back to a consideration of Christ's pains.

In the last post we described Jordan Hillebert's reading of Henri de Lubac in his book Henri de Lubac and the Drama of Human Existence.

As I mentioned at the end of the last post, in attempting to push back upon the extrinsicism he saw at work in "two-tiered" Thomism, de Lubac has generally been viewed as an apostle of intrinsicism, the view that nature is "always already" graced.

To recap, in his book Henri de Lubac and the Drama of Human Existence Jordan Hillebert describes two problematic views concerning the relationship between nature and grace.

In his book Henri de Lubac and the Drama of Human Existence, Jordan Hillebert describes Henri de Lubac's vision of the relation between nature and grace as an attempt to "avoid both the Scylla of extrinsicism and the Charybdis of intrinsicism."

"in whych God assignyth no blame" As I said last Friday, we're staying in Chapter 19 of Julian's Revelations this week because I want to draw attention to Julian's first description of her distinctive anthropology.

Having introduced Henri de Lubac and his account of the natural desire for the supernatural, let's turn to Jordan Hillebert's analysis in his book Henri de Lubac and the Drama of Human Existence.

I've written about Henri de Lubac and his thinking on nature and grace, the relation of the natural to the supernatural, before.

Having described yesterday the significant role of dreams in Scripture, my mind naturally turned to the ubiquity of visions in the Biblical narrative.

I was reading through Job and reached Chapter 33, a part of Elihu's response to Job.

"I lerid to chose Jesus to my Hevyn" There are two different things I want to reflect upon in Chapter 19 of Julian's Revelations.

To recap.

Having set out Søren Kierkegaard's description of the self in the last post, I want to turn to some of his reflections on the topic that I found so illuminating.

I've been reading The Sickness Unto Death by Søren Kierkegaard and was struck by his reflections regarding possibility and necessity in relation to the self.

This religion so great in miracles, in men holy, pure and irreproachable, in scholars, great witnesses and martyrs, established kings - David - Isaiah, a prince of the blood; so great in knowledge, after displaying all its miracles and all its wisdom, rej…

"Here saw I a gret onyng betwyx Christe and us" In Chapter 18, Julian shares how the entirety of creation comes to sympathetically suffer with Christ at the time of his death.

This summer I taught two different DMin courses in spiritual formation.

In 2018 our Bible class at church was studying the Holy Spirit using Jack Levison's book Fresh Air: The Holy Spirit for an Inspired Life.

I've been reading the letters of J.R.R.

What do we think about when we think about Jesus?