THE TRUTH WE SEE

Barry -
We've really got to converse more! I'm not a frequent table & fire reader/poster, cause there is just way too much for me to keep up with. I tried it for a while, but found it too hard for me to keep engaged.
BUT, your "fives" list is full of greatness, and I especially echo your booklist and wanted to respond to you!
I haven't read _Kierkegaard Anthology_ or _Resident Aliens_ but I have the rest and would higly consider putting them on my own list (perhaps coming soon to thoseawake.com).
I admire your blog posts and think it's amazing your going for a PhD out at Wheaton. I hope all is well for you and your family this season.
peace,
-shaun

Thanks for the encouragement, Shaun. I've been a fan of thoseawake for a while now. As I said a few weeks back on bloguss, any blog with Wendell Berry quotes is okay by me.

*Resident Aliens* is a very thought provoking book on church and culture. Hauerwas is one of the most entertaining and provocative theologians around. He's the son of a Texas brick layer who was trained at Yale, wears cowboy boots, and cusses like a sailor. He now teaches at Duke. He doesn’t think you can be a Christian and not be a pacifist (not a proposition I agree with, but one I’ve had to wrestle with a lot since I started reading his stuff). He spoke at the Emergent Theological Conversation a few years back and I think you can still download the audio files at the emergentvillage website.

If you're interested in checking out Kierkegaard, I recommend *Provocations: The Spiritual Writings of Kierkegaard*. The definitive anthology is called *The Essential Kierkegaard*. The one I listed is not the best one, but was definitely the most influential on my thinking.

Great! Thanks.
I'll start by checking into _Resident Aliens_; he sounds intriuging. I am trying to read through a lot of Wendell Berry here lately, and everything I read is thought-provoking.
I'm also reading _Mealtime Habits of the Messiah_ by Conrad Gempf (recommended on the tallskinnykiwi blog a while back). He's a prof at the London School of Theology (I'm learning) and I'm finding it a refreshing book - with a twist.

Anyway, after reading McLaren, I began to think that seminaries and Theology schools were stuck somewhere "else," but obviously there are many great things going on around the country and the world! All I've been exposed to here is IBC's connection with DTS ... and I think I've gotten used to the ideas, the jargon, etc. (can I say that?). I've thought about going to seminary, but without going to DTS, I don't know how to start "looking."
I might be looking for something a little different, if you know what I mean.

Barry -

Like the lists idea. I have to comment on Jurgen Moltmann. Remember the article I sent your way? Moltmann had some interesting thoughts on Christians participating in violent revolutions (Religion, Revolution, and the Future). He also, if I remember correctly, was somewhat in favor of Liberation Theology...I may be WAY off there, but I believe he was somewhat associated with this "marxist" interpretation of the gospel.

I'd be interested in any further thoughts you might have on him in the future if you have time.

Nate

Oh, one more thing. I just wanted to say that your lists are indicative of the diversity of opinion within the Church. Hauerwas and Moltmann, I think would disagree on the use of violence, yet both are professed Christians.

I haven't ready any of Hauerwas's work, although I was made aware of it when researching the Church's take on violence and government. He published "The Peaceable Kingdom" which I'd like to read sometime.

Nate

s.o.,

We need to hang out and talk seminary sometime. I’ll be in town for Christmas, though I’ll be pretty busy working on my dissertation. If nothing else, maybe we can exchange emails on the subject.

Nate,

My choice of Moltmann for my “fives” list has more to do with an interest in his biography than with an endorsement of his theology. As I mentioned, he’s one of the most important theologians of the latter half of the 20th century and I think his story is very interesting. He’s one of the few WWII era theologians still living (though his theological contributions came well after WWII). I’ve only read his most famous and important book, *Theology of Hope.* I do know that he has expressed sympathy with liberation theologians and that they have found great inspiration from his work. This comes from his insistence that Christians should never be satisfied with this world and its social structures, but should strive to see the justice that will characterize the eschaton realized here and now (thus, his ‘Marxist leanings’ influenced by the philosopher Ernst Bloch and his *Principle of Hope*).

You’re right to note that Hauerwas and Moltmann are very different. Hauerwas’s focus (based upon the influence of the Anabaptist tradition) is on radical faithfulness rather than social transformation. He is perhaps the most compelling voice advocating Christian pacifism writing for the church today. I think *Resident Aliens* is the best entry point into his work. I think you’d love it. Check out the amazon.com reviews.

Barry-

I didn't mean to imply endorsement of all views, but rather merely asking for further comments on the man. :-)

If books published could be used as an indicator, I'd have no doubt he was influencial, but your additional comments have sparked an interest in reading into him further.

I'll check out Resident Aliens...always looking for good books to read in the future.

Thanks,
Nate

p.s. Don't tell anyone, but I've got a blog in the works, after some prompting. ;) I'm going to try and polish up the previous article/discussion piece I sent you for starters, well, perhaps after I do my 5's.