I was listening to Krista Tippett’s interview with Martin Marty[1] the other day. In it, Marty referenced the Niebuhr brothers, Reinhold and H. Richard. They were prophetic voices in the culture, he said. They weren’t much good at the more affective parts of religion like leading worship, he thought, though they did write some prayers; it was their prophetic voice, speaking with power and eloquence for justice and truth, that made them important theologians.

Traditionally we Adventists have talked about the Sanctuary in our echo chambers of Sabbath School classes, our literature and sermons and except for the now ubiquitous Heschel quote and popular evangelical critique, most folks don't know how the wider world of theology relates to the sanctuary.

The thoughtful blogger at The Kairotic Word writes:

I know that many Adventists - including David Larson and Trisha Famisaran - have had the opportunity to meet and work with theologian John Cobb, Jr. while at Claremont.

I had the pleasure of talking briefly with him at the AAR meetings and found him to be a polite and very witty man - a world famous theologian who didn't mind the awkwardness of a bunch of graduate students standing around a little tongue-tied.

In these short clips, Dr. Cobb discusses some key theological concepts rooted in a careful textual reading of scripture.

The Faithfulness of Jesus vs. Faith in Jesus

Rev. Yvette Flunder describes a process of faith that moves beyond having all the answers to living the questions.

At Adventist Today, Cliff Goldstein writes:

It was one of the hardest things in the world for me to become an SDA. I had to totally revamp my entire view of reality at the most fundamental level possible. I pretty much had to admit that the intellectual and cultural foundations of my first 23 years of existence were, well, flat-out wrong.
. . .

God is Not

God is not your grandfather

who looks a little like Santa Claus,

the white beard who never-the-less

knows when you have been naughty or nice.

God is not an over-stuffed teddy bear

good for hugs when you weep

for all that your hands have broken.

Nor is he Thor, sitting on peak of your roof

thunderbolt ready, waiting

for you to mow your lawn on Sabbath.

Nor is he a she—an earth mother

skipping along the road dispensing

cabbages and oranges from her

cornucopia over-flowing

with all things great and small.

Pastor Ryan Bell writes:

Today we started a new sermon series at the Hollywood Adventist Church called "Working for Life." For six weeks we'll be exploring and building a theology of work together. If you want to follow along from a distance you can subscribe to our podcast (click here).

AP:

Believing that the universe may contain alien life does not contradict a faith in God, the Vatican's chief astronomer said in an interview published Tuesday.

The Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, the Jesuit director of the Vatican Observatory, was quoted as saying the vastness of the universe means it is possible there could be other forms of life outside Earth, even intelligent ones.

Over on the Process Theology post by David Larson some comments were made about Radical Orthodoxy that I wanted to expand on.

In order not to side-track that interesting conversation this is being posted on its own... and believe me, despite what it might look like, I've tried to cut out the technical jargon!