theo|digital

On my quest to settle into a theological stream of thought that recognizes my roots in evangelicalism, but has become too uneasy with many of its claims, Vanhoozer articulates helpful thoughts. This was from my summer reading for a chapter in my thesis that surveyed some current proposals in the doctrine of scripture:

To mention the gospel and theology in the same breath is, of course, to raise the question of “evangelicalism.” So-called Evangelicals are not, of course, the only Christians interested in the gospel. Yet their self-designation signals their ambition: to be people of the gospel. …

What began as a reform movement in confessional orthodoxy has become a “movement” in its own right, complete with institutions that often simply ape their surrounding secular culture. … Practices that owe more to managerial, therapeutic, consumerist, and entertainment cultures increasingly characterize Evangelical churches, so much so that they are in danger of becoming the de facto, if not the de jure, authority for the Evangelical way of life. Jesus himself remains popular, to be sure, his cruciform way, less so.
…
Canonical-linguistic theology represents a way beyond the debilitating stand-off between propositionalist and nonpropositionalist modes of conceiving revelation, Scripture, and theology. Evangelicals have been quick to decry the influence of modernism on liberal theology but not to see the beam of modern epistemology in their own eye. The present work articulates what an evangelical theology with a postpropositionalist Scripture principle and an ear cocked to the postmodern condition should look like.

From The Drama Of Doctrine: A Canonical-Linguistic Approach To Christian Theology

Uh, take that St. Louis…

Chicago has overtaken the Cardinals … though not in baseball.


The city has wrenched the Guinness World Record for “most people wearing Groucho Marx glasses” from an event held by a St. Louis Cardinals minor-league affiliate in Springfield, Mo.


The sparkling new record of 4,436–now verified by Guinness–was attained July 21 during a screening of the classic Marx Brothers movie “Duck Soup” at the Chicago Outdoor Film Festival in Grant Park, the Mayor’s Office of Special Events said Tuesday. The previous record of 4,077 was set in 2007.


“We are a city of many firsts, and I hope this is one of many records yet to be broken in the City of Chicago,” Mayor Richard Daley said in a statement.  More

The latest issue of Innocent Words is out today, including my review of Brooklyn-based Anthem In.

Today is also my first official day of classes, and I’ve already mentally moved to writing arcane run-on sentences in academic style. It’s always hard to make the shift. I’ll probably have to come back with the editing pen and cut out all those illegal contractions and pop-culture references. Sigh.

Anyone meet Benson Hines when he was at University of Illinois?

Google Opt Out Feature Lets Users Protect Privacy By Moving To Remote Village

Head over to Innocent Words to see my review of Aimee Allen’s album A Little Happiness.

And it’ll be nice to get the blog back in gear soon.

Because I haven’t been in the rhythm of reading and writing, my blog has suffered during the summer out here at LT. Thought I’d have more time to post, but instead, I just dropped the habit as a not-unhelpful respite.

I can’t believe I leave Colorado LT in 2 days!

The return to Illinois and Chicago will be welcome, albeit a shock in temperature and humidity.

I still am planning on getting back on the blog. So I’ll be here. Just give me a little longer to get my act together.