Theological Musings

t’s time for another personal update because the last week has been such a whirlwind of sudden developments and surprises that I don’t even know which end is up right now.  And suddenly, life is extremely different than I thought it would be right now!  Don’t worry, it’s all good.

Many of you who read this blog may remember last year that I went through an agonizing six-month process of applying for, interviewing for, and getting turned down for a music director position at Barter Theatre in Abingdon, VA.  At the time, it seemed like a dream job, and it was one that I really wanted.  However, in a close race between me and one other person, they ultimately chose the other person.

Fast forward about six months to June of this year, and I get an email from the guy they hired, asking if I would join him in playing for one of their shows that they were doing with two keyboards.  I was surprised at how willing I was to do it, considering how disappointed I had been to not get the job in the first place.  But my heart had healed, and I gladly decided to make it work.  (It involved some negotiations with the University where I normally work during the school year because a handful of matinee shows would interfere with a commitment I had already made there.)

We made arrangements for how it would all work timewise, and Barter was kind enough to offer me a room to stay for those nights that I didn’t want to make the 90-minute drive back home after a late show (evening shows don’t start until around 8:00 PM).  All seemed settled, and everything was fine.  It would be fun to play a show there, and hey, the guy that took “my” job seemed really nice.

Then, about a week-and-a-half ago, he called me.  It seemed that he had an assistant music director who is not real strong on the keyboard, and they were wondering if maybe I could start a bit earlier than expected and play for some rehearsals, too.   Sure, why not?  So I agreed to that.

And then Sunday a week ago came.  A frantic email.  The assistant music director had left town without telling anyone.  Just cleaned out his room and left.  He was supposed to be music directing a show on his own.  They weren’t sure how they would cover everything.  They would call me Monday with more info.

Monday came, and a phone call.  Would I music direct the show the assistant was supposed to music direct instead of playing the show I was originally hired for?  Or would I like to music direct the show I was originally hired to play and the music director would pick up the other show?  I opted to just take the show the assistant had bailed on.

Now, it was looking more like two months of work instead of five weeks.  That’s cool.  But since it’s going to be more work than I had anticipated, maybe we should figure out a way for the whole family to be up there more.

So I googled “short term rentals Abingdon, VA” and contacted a place that specialized in fully-furnished rentals for short term use (i.e., corporate/business travelers).

And then Tuesday came.  Another phone call, a new offer.  Five months.  Finish out the season.  Music direct two shows, plus play in the original one I had been hired for, assist in other rehearsals, etc.

With a five-month contract, we definitely needed to find a place to stay up there.  We’d only need to be here in Boone one or two days a week, but the rest of the time I’d be working up there, so it made sense for us all to be up there most of the time.

However, I was waiting on some income from work I had done several months ago — income that I didn’t expect to receive until late August.  We would wait until those funds came in, and just try to get by with being apart some until then.

Tuesday afternoon, however, I had a meeting with the people for whom I had done that work.  And much to my surprise, they handed me a check for the amount I was owed!  We could rent a place right away!

Wednesday, I went up there for my first rehearsal, and we met with the agent I had contacted regarding a rental.  We looked at two places, and the second one was perfect. Three bedroom, two bath, nice quiet location less than two miles from where I’d be working.  It’s fully furnished, all utilities included, everything supplied including appliances, cookware, lawncare, internet access…  Wow!  And the price was within the range we had thought we could afford.

I went back for rehearsals Saturday and Sunday, and even though our lease was not to begin until today, the agent gave us a slightly smaller place to stay the night free of charge!

Today, we head back up there and will “move in” to our new place.  We’ll continue to rent this house in Boone and will be here probably Sunday nights each week, and maybe Monday nights as well.  But most of the week, we’ll be hanging out in beautiful and charming Abingdon, VA while I work for the theatre that once chose someone else over me.

It’s going to be a fun and action-packed five months.  The music director is a great and fun guy, and we hit it off immediately.  The theatre management told me that they had a very tough time deciding between him and me and now they feel like they have “the best of all worlds”.  I don’t know about that, but I do know that I’m very happy to have this job!

And through all of this, I have been absolutely amazed at the way in which our Father worked out all the details in such rapid fashion.  His provision has been timely and abundant, and the quickness with which all of this happened is amazing considering how many pieces needed to fit into the right place for everything to work.

I can still honor almost all of my commitments to the University throughout the semester, thanks to Barter’s eagerness to help work out a schedule that allowed that.  And I get to provide for my family while doing what I love doing!

Soooo…I’m not sure when I’ll be able to post again as the next few weeks will be hectic in the whole transition, but you’re used to waiting for my posts anyway, aren’t you? ;)  At any rate, you now know what I’m doing while you’re waiting!

Until next time,

steve

t’s hard to believe that today marks three years since I started this blog!  I had no idea at the time I started it that I would enjoy such wonderful conversations with such a diverse group of readers.

While posting here has been sporadic at best in the past year, there have still been some really stimulating conversations, and some of you have really helped me think through some potentially difficult topics.

Thank you to all of my readers and commenters for making these three years a fun ride.  While I’m busy with other ventures (like podcasting and a not-yet-ready-for-publication joint blog with my wife, as well as our foster/adoptive experiences and my regular musical work), I do hope to continue to spark some interesting discussion here on this blog.

In the meantime, may our loving Father richly bless each of you on whatever journey you find yourself.  And may you find yourself growing deeper and deeper in an understanding of his love and the freedom that comes from life in him.

Until next time,

steve

ome of you might remember my good friend Raborn Johnson.  Ray and I have been friends for quite a while now.  For about 2 1/2 years, we have been meeting regularly — almost every week — at local restaurants for breakfast or lunch, and to share the journey together.

Many times in the past, blog posts by either of us have been sparked by the discussion that ensues in those times together (many of them lasting more than 2 hours).  For over a year, another good friend Tom has been joining us, too.  And sometimes when his schedule allows, frequent commenter “ded” (David) has joined us, too.

For a while now, Ray and I have talked about how much fun it would be to capture those times together to share with others.  Neither of us really knew anything about podcasting, nor did we know exactly how best to bring those discussions to others.

Instead of trying to actually record our conversations in a noisy restaurant, however, Ray and I have decided to start recording podcasts in a more controlled environment, but with the same type of conversations that take place in our weekly get-togethers.

So, I am excited to announce the start of a new podcast, with its own website:  Beyond the Box.  You can listen to the podcasts right there, if you want, on each post.  If you prefer to use iTunes to download them and listen there or on your iPod, the feed you need to subscribe to in iTunes is http://www.beyondtheboxpodcast.com/?feed=podcast.

Each episode (we intend to post a new episode weekly, if possible) runs about 30 minutes.  Our first episode, entitled What Is the Box?,  gives a pretty good idea of what you can expect.

Fun? It is for us, and I hope so for you, too.  Challenging?  Maybe, maybe not.  Controversial?  Probably.  But it’s not much that you haven’t already read on this blog in the past.  Instead of reading posts that have been thought out, edited, and refined, you’ll hear two guys just thinking out loud about some of the topics that pertain to our journey.

Comments on each post are more than welcome, and I hope that some of you will be listening regularly and giving us feedback as we bring the discussion to you in a new way for us.

We invite you to join us on the journey…beyond the box!

Until next time,

steve

any of you who know me, or who have been reading this blog for some time, know that I often struggle with just accepting the “party line” explanations about things. For me, it’s not good enough to say that “So-and-so stated it this way”, regardless of the reputation of said So-and-so. Their testimony might (and probably will) bear weight on the topic, if it is corroborated by others, but on its own, it doesn’t carry enough weight to convince me.

This has been part of my frustration with many theological topics. There seems (to my mind) to be a lot of just quoting other theologians out there. Theologian A quotes Theologian B in support of some point. Theologian B is actually just parroting Theologian C, however. So when Theologian A then turns to Theologian C as additional “evidence”, I get skeptical. Sometimes, it can even turn out that Theologian C quotes Theologian A, and the circle is complete.

One such topic that frustrates me is the topic of inerrancy. Now, please understand that I’m not bashing the idea of inerrancy. I think there may, indeed, be quite a bit of merit to it. However, I’m struggling with understanding the importance of that particular doctrine. More importantly, I’m struggling with the fact that both inerrancy and inspiration almost always carry a disclaimer with them that says that those characteristics are only certain “in the original manuscripts”. In other words, documents that appear to no longer exist. So what does it really buy us? If we leave that loophole open, how important is the doctrine, and of what use is it?

What frustrates me, as well, is the fact that the doctrine seems to not really be defended very clearly. A lot of presuppositions are brought to the table. Now, I realize that we all have presuppositions. But what frustrates me is when those presuppositions are 1) not recognized as such, and 2) treated as if they were already proven. Sometimes the presuppositions are so strong that “evidence” given is not evidence at all, or might even contradict the conclusion.

Recently, another blogger linked to a book edited by Norman L. Geisler called simply Inerrancy. It is actually a compilation of 14 papers written by different theologians. In the chapter entitled “The Early Church Through Luther”, Robert D. Preus begins with the following statement (pp. 357-358):

That the Bible is the Word of God, inerrant and of supreme divine authority, was a conviction held by all Christians and Christian teachers through the first 1,700 years of church history. Except in the case of certain free-thinking scholastics, such as Abelard, this fact has not really been contested by many scholars. Of course, many of the early church fathers and an even greater proportion of the medieval theologians did not directly address themselves to the subject of biblical authority. The former simply assumed the doctrine of biblical authority on the basis of an understanding of Scripture that was shared by both Tannaite Judaism and the early Christians. The latter developed a notable lack of interest in biblical studies and in seeking answers directly from Scripture for questions and concerns of the day….

But just as we can establish Scripture’s teaching of its own divine origin and authority on the basis of what is assumed rather than what is explicitly articulated there, we can clearly delineate the doctrine concerning Scripture held by the Christian church and its theological leaders from postapostolic times through the Reformation era…. On no other point do we notice such unanimity….

Here is a chapter that purports to give evidence that the church has always believed in inerrancy. For additional weight, the author also throws in “supreme divine authority” as something that was supposedly believed.

But does anyone else see the problem with the “evidence”? Here’s the premise again:

That the Bible is the Word of God, inerrant and of supreme divine authority, was a conviction held by all Christians and Christian teachers through the first 1,700 years of church history.

Now, one would expect this to be backed up with a plethora of evidence. This is a bold statement, and one which apparently warranted its own complete chapter in this book. But right after making this claim, the author then states:

Of course, many of the early church fathers and an even greater proportion of the medieval theologians did not directly address themselves to the subject of biblical authority.

Huh? This “conviction” was “held by all Christians”, and yet many of the writings we have don’t even directly address it? How can we know that it was held, then? Furthermore, with regard to the early church fathers, he goes on to say:

The [early church fathers] simply assumed the doctrine of biblical authority….

How can we know this? If a collation of writings from various authors in a particular period of time do not address a particular issue, how can we know that they “assumed” anything?? Oh, but it gets better! Don’t forget the medieval theologians who supposedly believed in the divine authority of Scripture unanimously as well.

[They] developed a notable lack of interest in biblical studies and in seeking answers directly from Scripture for questions and concerns of the day….

I’m sorry, but that doesn’t sound like biblical authority at all to me! How can one claim that a group of theologians believed a certain point when 1) they didn’t address it, and 2) they actually demonstrated evidence of moving in the opposite direction?!? A “notable lack of interest” in actually studying the Bible and/or seeking answers from it hardly indicates a profound belief in its inerrancy or divine authority.

The author appears to recognize that a lack of actual evidence might cause one to doubt his conclusion. So, he then uses an analogy that is supposed to make us feel better about his lack of evidence:

[J]ust as we can establish Scripture’s teaching of its own divine origin and authority on the basis of what is assumed rather than what is explicitly articulated there, we can clearly delineate the doctrine concerning Scripture held by the Christian church and its theological leaders from postapostolic times through the Reformation era….

I’m not even sure where to start with this paragraph. How can we “establish Scripture’s teaching” about anything if it’s not stated? We can do this “on the basis of what is assumed”? Assumed by whom? And what are the parameters on these assumptions? This is “argument from silence” at its worst and in awful proportions — and is the primary evidence given in support of a thesis!

Further, the notion that we can “clearly delineate the doctrine concerning Scripture” from people who, by the author’s own admission, didn’t even address the topic is ludicrous. Again, this is argument from silence. “They didn’t address it, so we can assume that they must have believed a certain way about it.”

Am I missing something? Does this make sense to anyone else??

And finally, the author concludes with this preposterous statement:

On no other point do we notice such unanimity….

I am speechless. Unanimity?? On an issue that is not addressed? Sadly, this is what seems to pass in evangelical circles as “proof” for something. It appears to be nothing more than coming to the table with one’s mind already made up about the conclusion, no matter what the evidence — or lack of evidence — might show.  Surely we can do better than this, can’t we?

Until next time,

steve

oday is Christy’s and my fourth wedding anniversary!! I can’t tell you how happy I am being married to Christy. She is not only my wife, but my very best friend.  Every day of my relationship with Christy is a reminder of just how awesome our Father’s grace is.  It is a reminder of his love for me.

Christy, thank you for four amazing years of marriage together. I look forward to the next four, the next fourteen, the next forty…however long we remain in this life. Thank you for being who you are and for helping me be who I am.

I love you!