So Pete Rollins book How (Not) To Speak Of God arrived in the post this morning from Amazon. Pete is one the guys who will be speaking/facilating/conversing/being at the Celtic Soliton Sessions in Feb, and I was keen to read the book before the conference. It’s a pretty deep, heavy book I have to admit!
In the introduction Pete gives a really useful definition (the best I’ve heard so far) on what the emerging movement actually is…
“The term ’emerging Church’ has also been used to describe this diverse community. While it is a useful term, the word ‘Church’ can be quite misleading, since the movement is not so much developing a distinct religious tradition within Christianity, but rather is re-introducing ideas that help to both revitalize already existing religious traditions and build bridges between them. It is not then a revolution that is in the process of creating something new but rather one that is returning to something very old.”
I also very much like this quote from the first chapter:
“The only significant difference between the aesthetic idol and the conceptual idol lies in the fact that the former reduces God to a physical object and the latter reduces God to an intellectual object.”
It helps me to understand why God would say in Ecclesiastes that “much study wearies the body”… theology and thinking and discussing are important… but living it out is more important! Is it possible that all our theorising about God could actually just be trying to put him into a box, one into which he does not fit?
OTHERS:
Andrew Jones, Jonny Baker, Scot McKnight, Adele
Emma, i hope you will post more on your thoughts on the book when you are finished. It is a FANTASTIC book and you are so lucky to attebd the Celtic Solition sessions. Are you in N. Ireland? i an a friend of Pete’s from my time of living and working with YWAM in N. Ireland. i now live in Virginia. Take care! Pax, Adele
Adele, I will no doubt be blogging more as I work my way through it! I am originally from Northern Ireland, but I moved to Glasgow, Scotland in Sept to study at university. I’m excited about Soliton and meeting some of these guys to put faces to blogs/books/conversations already had!
Cool! i look forward to your thoughts. What are you studying at Uni? Wher ein NI are you from? i lived in Closkelt near Banbridge. i am hoping to visit Glasgow this year to meet and hang with some other blogger buddies. Maybe we can meet too! i will be checking out your blog regularly now! Have a fantastic weekend! Cheers! Adele
I’m studying maths and computer science at the University of Glasgow. Born and raised in Ahoghill, just outside Ballymena. Yea it would be great to catch up with you when you’re in Glasgow! Take care!
Fellow Scott bloggers you should check out:
1. http://nanolog.blogspot.com/
2. http://weebeautifulpict.typepad.com/
Cheers!
Adele
P.S. Thanks for stopping by my blog and visiting and posting a comment!
living it out is definitely more important, you’re so right, Emma.