Currently, I am three years into a four year doctorate in systematic theology under the supervision Dr. Notger Slenczka at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin. I'm pretty much interested in what everyone else is, namely, the concept of lex semper accusat and the debate over the usus legis operate within the theologies of Robert Jenson, Gerhard Forde and Oswald Bayer ;-) Between my graduation from Washington & Lee University in 2000 and Trinity School for Ministry in 2007, I worked for FOCUS (Fellowship of Christians in Universities and Schools) in Baltimore and Vero Beach, FL. An avid schnitzel eater and sometimes yodeler, my wife Liza and I (and our Great Dane, Raleigh) currently live in Vienna, Austria where I am the curate at Christ Church Anglican/Episcopal. You can hear "All the Gospel that's fit to preach," on my ITunes Podcast: Pelican Pie.
Forgiveness Has Risen: The Easter Sermon of St. John Chrysostom
If any be pious and a lover of God,
let him rejoice in this fair and radiant festival.
If any be a faithful servant
let him enter into the joy of his Lord.
If any be weary with fasting,
let him now enjoy his payment.
If anyone has labored from the first hour,
let him receive today his just reward.
If anyone has come after the third hour,
let him now be thankful that the feast is at hand,
If anyone has waited until after the sixth hour, let him not be anxious, no loss shall be his own.
If anyone has tarried until the ninth hour, let him draw near also, shedding…
Horton and Tigers and Bears: NYC Conference 2012
via Flikr Jen and Tony Bot
When people are first introduced to the distinction between Law and Gospel, there is often some hesitancy towards it because of what it seems to imply, i.e., that the speaker is against the law. This concern, that somehow the law will be dismissed, evokes more fear and trembling in people than just about any other. Interestingly, this fear is exposed on both the “right” and the “left” of the theological spectrum. For example, some people are all too ready to reject the “law” insofar as it applies to areas of traditional morality, but mention to…
NYC Conference 2012: Become a Theologian with Mike Horton
This year’s Mockingbird Conference–April 19th-21st—marks our 5 year anniversary, and it is fitting, in many ways, that our main speaker is Dr. Michael Horton. As I’ve already mentioned here, Dr. Horton has been one of a few “voices in the wilderness” for many years whom we can only hope to, ahem, mock. Within modern Christianity, there are few people who seem to embody the theological vision behind what we are attempting to do through our discussion of culture, movies, music, sports and Whit Stillman, i.e., connect the message of the historic “faith once delivered,” with the actual lived lives of…
Horton Hears a Mockingbird: NYC Conference 2012, Do Yourself A Favor
It is hard to overstate how excited we are about this year’s Mockingbird conference main speaker, Michael Horton. Through his work as the Professor of Systematic Theology at Westminster Seminary in Escondido, Ca, editor of Modern Reformation and host of The White Horse Inn radio program, he has encouraged, educated and inspired countless people around the world to, in the words of the apostle Peter “be prepared with a ready defense for the hope you have within you” (1 Peter 3:15). I can think of few other people whose work and ministry more embodies the intention of…
Beyond Imperatives: A Must Read on the Law
via Flikr Jarod Carruthers
There is an amazing post entitled “Luther on Law” over at our good friend Tullian Tchividjian’s blog which is written by another good friend of Mockingbird, Jono Linebaugh. As many of you know, there has been an ongoing discussion about the relationship between law and gospel over at the Gospel Coalition. Recently Jono was asked to give some insight into how Luther understood the relationship, and he nails it. Fundamentally–following the blessed Gerhard Forde– whatever “lutheranism” has become, it can most generally be understood as a way of understanding the role of the law and gospel with…
Michael Horton’s The Christian Faith: A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way
[Update 1/10/12: We are very pleased to announce that Michael Horton will be the keynote speaker at this years Mockingbird Conference in NYC!]
I thought the title should go ahead and communicate what I thought from the outset:) Almost 10 years ago now, I read a lecture by Rod Rosenbladt called The Gospel for those broken by the Church, which introduced me to him, Michael Horton and the other members of what is known as the White Horse Inn radio show. In no small way, the aims of this show—to bring together people of different confessional and even theological commitments who…
The (A)Peal of Maundy Thursday
by terraplanner via flikr.
If you are part of a church that is celebrating Holy Week, then chances are you will be going to a Holy Thursday or Maundy Thursday service today. This is a service where there is a celebration of the institution of both the Lord’s Supper or Eucharist, and the mandatum, or “new covenant.” This Latin word mandatum, the first in the Vulgate’s (the Latin New Testament) rendering of John 13:34, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another,”–is the…
The Palm Before The Storm
Good morning to you all! I’ve just returned from a theology conference in York where the topic, in recognition of this being the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible, or Authorized Version, was HOLY WRIT: Authority and Reception. As with all conferences of this type, there was a wide variation in papers and presentations, but the balance that was being struck, or at least being sought after, was one between viewing the bible as containing static information on one hand or timeless religious ideal on the other. People have recognized that the bible must play more of a role…
The Law of the Book
. . . and the Book of the Law: “For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Gal. 3:10
Oprah and the Real American Idol
I ran across an fascinating interview on Salon.com with Kathryn Lofton–Assistant professor of American studies and religious studies at Yale– who is the author of Oprah: The Gospel of an Icon. The interview is entitled “Worshiping at the church of Oprah Winfrey.”
The interview begins, “In the past quarter-century Oprah has become shorthand for self-help: a spiritual guide, a confessor and a warm shoulder for her adoring American public. Now in the final season of her revolutionary daytime talk show, Oprah’s pronouncements have become the Word to live by for a staggeringly diverse audience. In fact, you could argue she…
That’s Bound To Help: The Strange World of Precommitment Devices
Over at Slate, there is a fascinating look into the lengths people will go to protect themselves against, well, themselves. In an article entitled, “The Odyesseus Option: How “precommitment devices” will force you to lose weight, stop drinking, and not sleep with that jerk on the first date,” Daniel Akst introduces us to a future where the myth of human progress will finally become too expensive to maintain. I can’t think of better reading in preparation for our upcoming conference, because whatever the practical (and sometimes, no doubt, safety) benefits to “pre-commitment devices,” this can’t be our only hope. Here…
"Christmas," a poem by John Betjeman
The bells of waiting Advent ring,The Tortoise stove is lit againAnd lamp-oil light across the nightHas caught the streaks of winter rain.In many a stained-glass window sheenFrom Crimson Lake to Hooker’s Green.
The holly in the windy hedgeAnd round the Manor Housethe yew Will soon be stripped to deck the ledge,The altar, font and arch and pew,So that villagers can say‘The Church looks nice’ on Christmas Day. Provincial public houses blazeAnd Corporation tramcars clang,On lighted tenements I gaze Where paper decorations hang,And bunting in the red Town Hall Says ‘Merry Christmas to you all’ And London shops on Christmas…
Fa la la la law…: Enjoying the Commercialization of Christmas
Call me old-fashioned, but I don’t have a big problem with the (so-called) “commercialization of Christmas.” The world’s economy has to be based on something, and that it rests on a season where people are, ostensibly, buying gifts for others, well, it could be worse! To hear some people, you’d think that attempt to express relationships (or lack thereof) in material terms was invented by Hallmark, but they seem to ignore the long history of giving gifts to pay homage, respect and even, yes, love (gasp). What’s more, we have gifts enshrined in the very Christmas story itself, and given…
There’s Something About Mary
For those of you who do not live in overwhelmingly Roman Catholic countries, today was probably a normal workday; however, whether they know it or not, the people of Austria who were celebrating der Rhuetag, can thank Pope Pius IX and his 1854 pronouncement ex cathedra regarding the obligation of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. According to David Mills over at First Things, this Marian Dogma declares that:
the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ,…
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Rutger-Jan Heijmen: *Conan's...