I Confess ...

In keeping with the "Confessions" meme doing the rounds (staring with Peter Leithart), I thought I would offer my own Confessions:

I confess that sometimes my academic work has caused my faith to feel purely cerebral and my learning sometimes puffs up into pride. Thus, I am grateful for the Anglican Prayer book, the Word of God, my local church, my colleagues, my students, and the convicting power of the Holy Spirit for making sure I finish the race set before me.

I confess that I really, really don't like Rudolf Bultmann. I find his brand of existential Deism nauseating and I think his scholarship oscillates between brilliant and banal.

I confess that I'm learning to love Karl Barth (shhh, don't tell Ben Myers).

I confess that Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, is Lord of all. This is the gospel and the testimony of the early church - all else is commentary.

I confess that N.T. Wright woke me from my dogmatic slumbers and showed me a world that I had never seen before, whatever his failings, I am most grateful for this.

I confess that only two good things came out of the seventies - Me and the musical Evita!

I confess that the greatest lessons in grace, love, sin, and forgivness that I have learned came from no text book, but from marriage and parenthood.

I confess that Calvin was (pretty much) right.

I confess that I spend far too much time writing and reading about the Bible rather than reading the Bible itself and obeying what it says.

I confess that I am weary of those who define the faith so narrowly and then try to tell lay persons that they themselves are the true gatekeepers of orthodoxy. I confess that I am equally weary of those who treat Scripture as if it were a cook book where one can pick and choose recipes as one likes.

I confess that when Richard Bauckham leaves St. Andrews, I will be the shortest New Testament scholar in Scotland (sigh!)

I confess that Ben Myers and Joel Willitts are two of the people that I have the closest academic comaraderie with.

I confess that New Testament scholarship must strive for historical accuracy, theological acumen, and be placed in service of the Church.