Mike King

"God beautifully created human flesh" - Resurrection of the Son of God Part 12

During Lent I'm sharing a series of thoughts and summaries from reading N.T. Wright's The Resurrection of the Son of God. They will be from the second half of the book dealing mostly with the New Testament Narratives...

Tertullian argues that God created the material world and humans with bodies and  it was an excellent thing. He believed that God beautifully created human flesh, which is a ‘co-heir’ of the soul. He clarified that when Paul spoke negatively about the flesh he was speaking of the actions of the flesh not the substance of the flesh. About Paul’s statement flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom, Tertullian believes that it is not speaking against bodily resurrection but about the works and mindset of the flesh, which denies God and God’s ways. God will change the flesh without destroying the substance of the flesh. Tertullian believed the human body would be restored to perfection. Chapter Eleven, Page 511-2

Bleep, bleep, bleep...

Click for details on Thursday's KC Emergent Cohort gathering.

“How does semen turn into a human body?” - Resurrection of the Son of God Part 11

During Lent I'm sharing a series of thoughts and summaries from reading N.T. Wright's The Resurrection of the Son of God. They will be from the second half of the book dealing mostly with the New Testament Narratives...

Justin Martyr who lived from 100-165 AD, is the first Christian thinker to write full-length books.  He was a philosopher before his conversion to Christianity.  He continued teaching and practicing philosophy with a Christian worldview.  He held that Christianity was the truth.  He tried to build a bridge for the pagan to believe.  He said that the pagans were on their way but they were only seeing signs and clues until they fully discovered the truth of Christianity.  He points out that pagans who embrace necromancy is an example that the soul continues after death.  He suggests that to believe in the truth of Christianity isn’t such a far distance for those who believe in necromancy.  He defends resurrection by the logic that seemingly impossible things happen all the time, for example, “How does semen turn into a human body?”  Chapter Eleven, Page 500-1

Hotel Rwanda

Recently, Vicki and I went to the movie Hotel Rwanda.  All I could do after the movie was come home, go to my office (my sacred space) and lay face down on the floor.  In April of 1994, the Rwandan president was assassinated and within 100 days between 800,000 and 1,000,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered by Hutu extremists.  While this was happening, North Americans were obsessing over the O.J. Simpson trial, willingly oblivious to the genocide happening under the nose of the United Nations and the rest of the world.  Brian McLaren recently wrote an article called The Passion of Hotel Rwanda.  Brian says, "A year after Mel Gibson's movie, I found an even more Christian film, one that most Christians are ignoring."  This article is a must read.

Pictures from the Desert...

Pictures from St. Andrew's Abbey in the high desert of Valyermo, California.

For more pictures click here

The "Medicine of Mortality" - Resurrection of the Son of God Part 10

During Lent I'm sharing a series of thoughts and summaries from reading N.T. Wright's The Resurrection of the Son of God. They will be from the second half of the book dealing mostly with the New Testament Narratives...

Ignatius of Antioch writes repeatedly about the resurrection.  He points often to the bodily resurrection of Jesus to counteract the belief the Docetists held that Jesus was not actually a human being.  They believed that Jesus only ‘seemed’ to be human and that neither, his flesh or resurrection was real.  Ignatius held that Jesus was fully human and that his resurrection was bodily.  In his letter to Smyrna, Ignatius writes, “For I know and believe that after the resurrection he was in the flesh.  And when he came to the people around Peter, he said to them, ‘Take, handle me and see, that I am not a bodiless phantom’ (daimonion asomaton).  And at once they touched him, and believed, being mixed together with both his flesh and his spirit.  For this reason they scorned even death, and were found to be above death.  And after his resurrection he ate with them and drank as a fleshly being (hos sarkikos), even though he was spiritually united to the father.”  On this basis Ignatius declares the importance of the coming resurrection of the followers of Jesus.  He called the Eucharist the ‘medicine of mortality.’  Chapter Eleven, Page 484-85

A week in the Desert

I'm in Salt Lake on my way back from a week in the desert at the St. Andrew's Abbey in Valyermo, California.   St. Andrew's was established by monks who were expelled from China in 1953 by the communists.  The purpose in my time at St. Andrew's was to gather with five others designated by Youth Specialties to prayerfully consider ways to nurture the spirituality of youth workers.  At present this group is being referred to as the Soul Shaper Board, while we are considering a more permanent name.  We spent much time in prayer, the scripture, solitude and dialogue with each other trying to discern what the Holy Spirit might stir up in us to birth concerning the shepherding of youth workers.  Some of the things we are discussing - Spiritual Retreats, Pilgrimage, Books and other resource, developing spiritual direction networks, etc.  More later...

Resurrection of the Son of God Part 9

During Lent I'm sharing a series of thoughts and summaries from reading N.T. Wright's The Resurrection of the Son of God. They will be from the second half of the book dealing mostly with the New Testament Narratives...

“The New Testament itself speaks, if not with one voice, certainly with a cluster of voices singing in close harmony.  All the major books and strands, with the single exception of Hebrews, make resurrection a central and important topic, and set it within a framework of Jewish thought about the one god as creator and judge.”  Resurrection, for first-century Christians, springs out from second-Temple Judaism, yet with important modifications and much new meaning.  Christian resurrection stands drastically distinct from pagan concepts of life after death.  Wright points out the uniqueness of Christian resurrection in contrast to Judaist and pagan concepts by stating five major modifications concerning resurrection within Christian theology.  (1) Resurrection for the Christian was a central focus.  This is not true in Judaism and especially not true in pagan beliefs.  The spectrum of beliefs concerning what life after death looked like was very broad in Judaism, even broader in paganism.  Christianity, on the other hand, was very homogenous in its beliefs concerning resurrection.  (2) The split of resurrection into two events chronologically – the resurrection of Jesus, followed later by the resurrection of God’s people.  (3) The ‘transphysical’ nature of the resurrected body within Christian theology. (4) Christians based much of their resurrection beliefs on Old Testament scriptures; however, they avoided other texts that had life after death content.  (5) In Judaism the core metaphor for resurrection found in Ezekiel 37 is not found in early Christianity and instead, replaced with other metaphors.  Chapter Ten, Page 476-78

Resurrection of the Son of God Part 9

During Lent I'm sharing a series of thoughts and summaries from reading N.T. Wright's The Resurrection of the Son of God. They will be from the second half of the book dealing mostly with the New Testament Narratives...

Revelation 21 and 22 are full of beautiful new creation imagery. The renewed Jerusalem with trees of life growing on the banks of the river running through the city, will be the home of people who will engage with the creator to fulfill God’s plans throughout all of God’s realms. Death will no longer be the enemy of God’s resurrected, renewed people, clothed in incorruptible, immortal flesh. Chapter Ten, Page 475-76

Resurrection of the Son of God Part 8

During Lent I'm sharing a series of thoughts and summaries from reading N.T. Wright's The Resurrection of the Son of God. They will be from the second half of the book dealing mostly with the New Testament Narratives...

Continuing on his theme of de-Westernizing our perspectives, Wright opens a discussion of resurrection from the book of Revelation. He looks at the last two chapters and declares that you can’t get the its all about going to heaven when we die motif out of the text. Clearly, the heavenly city comes down to the earth from heaven. Heaven and earth are united in Gods’ new creation. This newly created location is the place where God and God’s people will dwell forever. Chapter Ten, Page 470