Prodigal Kiwi(s) Blog

Jacques Ellul: Essential Spiritual Writings

A so-called lay theologian whom I have very much appreciated over the years is Frenchman Jacques Ellul (1912-1994). I have a number of his books and like the look of Orbis’ Jacques Ellul: Essential Spiritual Writings (in their Modern Spiritual Masters series), which was published this time last year (May 2016). Ellul can be a little difficult to read, but I personally think he’s now more relevant than ever. If you haven’t read Ellul I recommend that you start with this book. And, if you like Ellul, and haven’t already, I highly recommend another lay Episcopal theologian, William Stringfellow.

Book Description

“Thomas Merton is one of many who were deeply influenced by the work of Jacques Ellul (1912-1994), a French philosopher and lay theologian. A remarkable thinker and prophet of the twentieth century, he wrote over fifty books on a range of topics: law, history, sociology, theology, even poetry. Jacques Ellul: Essential Spiritual Writings is the first anthology of his work and provides an ideal work for those encountering Ellul for the first time as well as those already familiar with his thought.

Throughout his work Ellul spoke out against the "idols and myths" of the modern age, including technology, politics, materialism, and violence. His prophetic critique of modern civilization won an appreciative audience far beyond Christian circles. Yet this was only one half of a project that drew deeply on his Christian faith.

For nearly every sociological book he wrote, Ellul would write a theological or spiritual counterpart. And yet this other half of his work has received relatively little attention. This volume corrects the balance, highlighting spiritual gems on prayer, hope, and universal salvation. His call to reject the worship of the state and to embrace nonviolent activism has an abiding relevance and urgency, particularly in these times of protracted war and violence, gaping economic inequality, and enormous suffering.”

Contents pages (PDF) of both books attached below:

Download Jacques Ellul - Contents Page

Download William Stringfellow - Contents Page

Karen Ward: Many Years Ago

When I first started blogging over 13-years ago (or maybe longer), I had a real hope that the types of creative, risk-taking, and imaginative conversations (and consequent experimentation) that the content of Karen’s article (and her experience at the Church of the Apostles) represents would also occur within a NZ Anglican context, as indeed it was in the CofE (Mission-Shaped / Mixed-Economy / Fresh Expressions / Nu-Monastisicism etc.)

At that time, in NZ, Baptists had been, or were, at the forefront of experimentation and risk-taking, not in their entirety, but in pockets. There were experiments in Alt-Worship (for example, Mike Riddell, and Mark Pierson @ Cityside) and church planting (Steve Taylor, Graceway), all of which stimulated my imagination while at the same-time nourished my own commitment to a sacramental Jesus-following journey.

Baptist’s in NZ were also at the forefront of important research into Church Leavers. Alan Jamieson published a book-length distillation of his PhD (in Sociology) thesis that was called A Churchless Faith: Faith Journey’s Beyond the Churches (the NZ edition had a slightly different subtitle. Here is an article which summarises some of Alan’s key findings. His complete PhD thesis can be found here).

Alan followed this up a few years later with Church Leavers: Faith Journey’s Five Years On, which was co-written by fellow Baptist Minister Jenny McIntosh, and one of their then congregation, Adrienne Thompson who was and is a practising Spiritual Director. Wellington Central Baptist (while Alan and Jenny were its Ministers) also sponsored Spirited Exchanges.

While it could have been happening, I was (and largely remain) completely unaware (it never came onto my radar) of any similar outpouring of research, creativity and experimentation within a NZ Anglican context.

In those years, I found stories from NZ (Baptist), Australia, the UK and the USA deeply exciting and hopeful. Feelings that bubbled up as I reflected following a conversation with Len Hjalmarson a couple of weekends ago. Feelings now tinged with sadness, all these years later.

When I started blogging Karen was similarly blogging and sharing something of her journey and the journey of the Church of the Apostles. It was inspiring, and I found pioneering stories and experiments from Karen, and others in Australia, the UK and USA, for example Kevin Rains was experimenting, within a Vineyard context, with a more sacramental approach to being church in downtown Cincinnati (Vineyard Central). The story of that experiment was told in a 2001 issue of Vineyard USA’s excellent but now defunct publication Cutting Edge, pages 2-7. That issue was themed around “Churches Outside of the Box” and also featured another big influence on me, Church of the Saviour which was then pastored by its founding-pastor Gordon Cosby, pages 10-17 & 20.

I have lost touch with where Karen Ward is, or what in fact has happened to the Church of the Apostles, but I re-read the attached and linked to article this morning, and the content still resonated, written as it is out of an Episcopalian context. The article was first published in the Winter 2010 issue of the Anglican Theological Review, and it still gives voice to the hope I once had.

Here’s an excerpt:

“…My name is Karen Ward and I’m the Abbess and Vicar at Church of the Apostles, Seattle, a six-year-old mission of the Diocese of Olympia, Washington. Because around 70 percent of our church membership are people in their twenties, we are often called an “emerging church” or “young adult church.” When we describe ourselves we say we are “an intentional, sacramental community in the way of Jesus Christ.”

There is no mention of young adults, and nowhere on our website or in any of our literature do the words “young adult” appear. The Episcopal Church is at a missional crossroads, which Brian McLaren calls “the Episcopal moment.” If we can embrace missional change and renew our identity, purpose, and participation in God’s mission, many more young adults will join with us, and perhaps in droves…”

You’ll find the link to the online article (PDF) here.

Download Karen M. Ward - Back to the Future

JI. Packer

One of my earliest Anglican Theological heroes was JI. Packer (b. 22/07/26). While I might now on a few things differ with Packer. I’m still so very grateful for his formative influence. His Knowing God remains a classic and thoughtful introduction to Christian belief and thinking. While other books from those years may have been sold over the years, Packer’s have remained on my shelves.

Earlier this month Regent College published a short written interview with him. You’ll find it here. Excerpt, talking about the Anglican studies programme he’s teaching:

“…To start with, I’m heavily committed to Anglicanism. I really do think that the Anglican heritage is the richest in Christendom. And I hope in this course to persuade others that that is so. It’s a very great pleasure to be sharing the wealth of that heritage with others.

The Anglican Heritage course generally has a small number of students, between 10 and 15, which allows for a higher degree of real conversation and discussion in the classroom. I’ve taught it a few times before, and I always tell the students that what I’m trying to do is to give them the feel of Anglicanism as a heritage. That’s important, because Anglicans are very heritage-conscious: much more so than some of the other denominational traditions.

The Anglican heritage is complicated, because various theologians have exerted pulls in different directions, and that sometimes bewilders folk. So I try to sort them out. And because I hold such a high estimate of the Anglican heritage, I expect to enjoy myself explaining it. It’s always fun to explain something that you think is very valuable and that you want to share…”

I was also recently looking through this book: Anglican Evangelical Identity: Yesterday and Today (Regent College publishing, 2009). It comprises two separate publications brought together in one edition. Packer writes one half of the book, while NT. Wright writes the other. And, again, while I might differ from both on a number of points, especially around the interface between gospel in culture; how we live into and out of the biblical text; how we engage with other religious, psychological / ethical, and philosophical traditions; and the need for not just orthodoxy (right belief), but also orthopathy and orthopraxy.

“…What does it mean to be an Anglican? And Evangelical? Can these two identities be held together with integrity? Where the church seems to be fragmenting, how should we relate to the rest of the Anglican Church?

Thirty years ago two influential Anglican thinkers, J.I. Packer and N.T. Wright, addressed these questions in short and provocative Latimer Studies. Their work remains stimulating and important, and is republished here for a new generation, with fresh prefaces from each author reflecting on recent developments.

"The Evangelical Anglican Identity Problem" (Packer, 1978) addressed Anglican evangelicals who were unsure whether it was warrantable to continue as Anglicans.

"Evangelical Anglican Identity: The Connection Between Bible, Gospel & Church"(Wright, 1980) builds upon Packer's study, addressing Evangelical attitudes to the church.

"A Kind of Noah's Ark?" (Packer, 1981) had in view clergy and laity who were baffled and discouraged by the continually broadening spectrum of tolerated unorthodoxies within the Church of England, and in particular the hesitations felt by young men called to be pastors who were unsure whether it made sense to pursue their vocation as Anglicans.

All three pieces were thus tracts for the times, but are astonishingly relevant today…”

 

Sarah Coakley and the New Asceticism

I’ve long had a very high regard for the thinking and writing of Sarah Coakley, in particular her more accessible essays and reflections, for example (Prayer as Divine Propulsion, parts 1 and 2.) I have the majority of her books too, but at the stage of life I’m in its always a challenge making the needful time, when not tired, to read them in a focused, thoughtful, and indeed prayerful way.

One book I don’t have is one that I had on order a few years back. Its publication, presumably, was delayed and then the order was cancelled. Its now back in my book basket: The New Asceticism: Sexuality, Gender and the Quest for God (pub. 5^th November 2015)

“Each chapter of The New Asceticism concentrates on a contentious issue in contemporary theology - the role of women in the churches, homosexuality and the priesthood, celibacy and the future of Christian asceticism - in an original thesis about the nature of desire which may start to heal many contemporary wounds. Professor Coakley is as familiar with the Bible and the Early Fathers as she is with the writings of Freud and Jung, and she draws heavily on Gregory of Nyssa's theology of desire in what she proposes. She points the way through the false modern alternatives of repression and libertinism, agape and eros, recovering a way in which desire can be freed from associations with promiscuity and disorder, and forging a new ascetical vision founded in the disciplines of prayer and attention.”

Table Of Contents

Introduction

1. Pleasure Principles: A theology of desire
2. The Woman at the Altar
3. Other Voices Other Worlds: Homosexuality
4. Trinity Prayer and Sexuality
5. Deepening Practices: Ascetical and Mystical Theology

Mark Vernon has a useful review of the book here, excerpts from which follow:

“…It's a journey through the narrow gate, for sure. The shadow of love's dream is a nightmare, because it continually runs the risk of not getting what it wants, and so forcefully taking what it wants. That's why, in Christian terms, the possessiveness of love must be transformed into the pattern of Christ's love…

…Coakley's work is important because it goes to the heart of what we need to address in Christianity today - not just the problems faced by the church, but what might make Christianity attractive in a culture that yearns for the spiritual dimension and yet doesn't consider that the church has anything substantial to offer it. That's because, in many of the church's current manifestations, it doesn't. But the deep wisdom about desire that's in the tradition, and is always longing to be reawakened, can stir us all anew.”

Christianity and Māori Art and Architecture’

I’ve enjoyed listening, over the last couple of days, to three lectures delivered in July 2013 by Prof. Jonathan Mane-Wheoki (Ngāpuhi/Te Aupouri/Ngāti Kuri). Thanks to Jason Goroncy for highlighting them. The lectures were delivered under the title of ‘Toi Karaitiana: Christianity and Māori Art and Architecture’, and were the inaugural biannual Albert Moore lectures.  

Lecture 1: From Samuel Marsden to Frederick Bennett: Te Hahi Mihinare (23 July 2103 [Video; Audio]

Lecture 2: From Patoru Tamatea to Ralph Hotere: The impact of Catholic spirituality and iconography (24 July 2013) [Video; Audio]

Lecture 3: Regret and resistance – The Crucified Tekoteko (25 July 2013) [Video; Audio].

Interesting Conversations: Two Episcopalians and a Catholic

I used to be a regular listener to The Forum conversations during Alan Jones’ tenure as the Dean of Grace Cathedral. He retired in 2009. 

Since then the new Dean (Jane Shaw) has put her own spin on The Forum and it’s been nice to listen again, in recent weeks, to some of the back-catalog of fascinating interviews. 

Three in particular stood out. The first two stood out because I’ve regularly read and been deeply challenged by the books they have written over the years. While the third was a person I’d not come across before: 

First up, Alan Jones himself, in conversation on the 22^nd April 2012. The conversation was recorded under the title, The Church in the World. 

Secondly, James Alison, talking on the 13^th November 2011. The conversation was recorded under the title, Broken Hearts and New Creation: Intimations of a Great Reversal. 

And thirdly, Stephanie Spellers, talking on the 30^th October 2011 under the title: Anglicanism Remixed: Embracing our Traditions and Embracing The Other. 

Pursuing No Career, and a Perspective on Ordination – William Stringfellow

“I had elected then [in my early student years] to pursue no career. To put it theologically, I died to the idea of career and to the whole typical array of mundane calculations, grandiose goals and appropriate schemes to reach them…. I do not say this haughtily; this was an aspect of my conversion to the gospel…. 

“[Later] my renunciation of ambition in favor of vocation became resolute; I suppose some would think, eccentric. When I began law studies, I consider that I had few, if any, romantic illusions about becoming a lawyer, and I most certainly did not indulge any fantasies that God had called me, by some specific instruction, to be an attorney or, for that matter, to be a member of any profession or any occupation. I had come to understand the meaning of vocation more simply and quite differently. 

“I believed then, as I do now, that I am called in the Word of God … to the vocation of being human, nothing more and nothing less…. Within the scope of the calling to be merely but truly human, any work, including that of any profession, can be rendered a sacrament of that vocation. On the other hand, no profession, discipline or employment, as such, is a vocation.”
 


—William Stringfellow, A Keeper of the Word: Selected Writings of William Stringfellow (Eerdmans, 1994), pp. 30-31. 

“I would be damned if I would be a priest. That was what I decided. I would not be a priest and, moreover, I would spend my life refuting any who suppose that to be serious about the Christian faith required ordination. I would be a Christian in spite of the priesthood, in spite of all the priests” 

– William Stringfellow, A Second Birthday, p. 82).

The Spiritual and the Religious

“…To discover who I am I need to discover the relation in which I stand to an active, prior Other, to a transcendent creator. I don’t first sought out who I am and then seek for resources to sustain that identity…” 

- Rowan Williams, 2008. 

More here. 

The Wideness of the Sea: Women Bishops in the Church of England – A Review by Steve Taylor

My pre-order should just about be here. My friend Maggi Dawn’s latest publication – Like the Wideness of the Sea: Women Bishops and the Church of England (2013 / 96 pages) – a very timely and “classy” publication written against the backdrop of the Church of England’s decision that women priests in it’s church cannot be Bishops; a deeply sad decision made all he more sadder for me because in this country, in this part of the Anglican Family, women can be, and are serving as bishops. 

I can’t speak highly enough of Maggi’s writing – she has a wonderful gift – and I’m very much looking forward to this latest addition to the books she’s written; all of which are compulsory reading for me. 

Meantime, another good friend, Steve Taylor (who’s books / articles are also a compulsory read for me), has penned a very positive review from England. 

Here’s an excerpt: 

“…[Maggi] outlines a theology of waiting, as a spiritual discipline embedded in the life and liturgy of the church. She argues persuasively that waiting includes times when God waits for us to act. She mounts a cultural critique of English ‘niceness’ and the damage done when truth and justice are smothered in platitudes. In other words, at times waiting is the most sinful response to a situation of injustice.

Third, it tells a story, of being a woman in ministry. It is a story Maggi Dawn is eminently suited to write, being one of the first woman priests to train in the Church of England. It is harrowing to read, a story of a church that has found ways to behave badly, in deeply sexist patterns, and the damage this has, and is, causing. It made me ashamed to be a male and should mean some corporate Anglican work at Colleges and denominationally on safe workplace environments. One result is the loss of enormously gifted people from the church and the reduction of the full flourishing, both of individuals and churches. The body of Christ is being harmed.

It is wonderfully written, concise and cohesive. It moves smoothly between theology, literature, spirituality and experience. The title is a case in point, elegantly referencing the books key interpretive metaphor, the struggles in the Church of England, place in Maggi’s sense of call and her current location. It is very classy writing…”

You can read Steve’s complete review here. Also, a short video of Maggi talking from Yale about Women Bishops and the Church of England. 

Priestly Presence in Contemporary Culture

Today I want to feature Rowan William’s thoughtful epilogue the interesting collection of essays published under the title Praying for England: Priestly Presence in Contemporary Culture. For a number of reasons I have an interest in the role of the priest in the midst of priestly community in the midst of a wider culture and context; indeed in particular places. 

On might hope that Williams, in the coming years, might reflect more on the role of the priest, and of priestly communities in the midst of contemporary Western Culture. And these themes in relation to contemplation / spirituality and mission in Western Culture. 

Williams begins, “All societies have maps; they give you messages about where you fit in; in relation to each other and in relation to the landmarks that are scattered around the territory of social life…”

Later he writes: 

“…Priesthood is over and sacrifice is now unnecessary. That is what the Christian gospel says, at first sight: Jesus has offered his life ‘once, only once, and once for all’ and the distinctive anxieties of religion are behind us for ever. More specifically, this is what the Reformation reaffirmed, with some violence, in the belief that the Church had in effect reinstated a system of priesthood where none was needed, thus compromising the uniqueness of the action and suffering of Jesus in his crucifixion… 

But in fact this represents a damagingly limited reading of the gospel. It is not that the categories of priesthood and sacrifice have been evacuated of meaning: they have been drastically reimagined…” 

The full epilogue (PDF) is attached below, courtesy of this site.

Download Rowan Williams - Epilogue to 'Praying for England' - 2007