Earth(l)y Christianity

Post 2


In the first post, I explained that the purpose of this blog is to advocate a more worldly view of Christianity than most people, Christians included, have generally held.

Of course, the term "worldly" in this context can be (mis)understood in various ways. Some may suspect me of planning to put the world before God, of loving the world before or even more than God. Others may expect a form of theological liberalism that has capitulated to a secular version of Christianity. Or perhaps you may wonder if I’m going to throw all caution to the wind and advocate a very "worldly" lifestyle that in effect becomes a new religion of idolatry that worships, the world, culture, materialism.

None of these expectation will be fulfilled. I am, in fact, an orthodox Christian who does not fall for any of that stuff. But neither am I your average Liberal or Evangelical. I am—oh, horrors!—a Calvinist of Kuyperian stripe. As we go along, you will discover that this means a more Biblical and more positive orientation towards the world. In the meantime, if you cannot contain your curiosity, you can consult the Kuyper page on my website SocialTheology.com. There, of course, you can also read about my own background, interests, writings, etc.

Another term for "worldly Christianity" is "earth(l)y Christianity." A dictionary check of this "two-in-one" word tells me that both "earthy" and "earthly" fit the stuff I plan to share with you. Not sure which I would choose, were I forced to do so. In short, this blog will be strongly oriented to the affairs of this world, will have an earth(l)y feel without denying the reality or great importance of the spiritual. I will be interpreting this world from what might be called a spiritual perspective.

For the first few posts I will be sharing with you some of my thoughts on Genesis. The reason is that this first book of the Bible provides us with some basic perspectives that will underlie future posts. At this point I am not sure just how far I will go with that. It is quite possible that this series will be interrupted by posts about current or other events that grab me.

These meditations have originally appeared under the title The Prophet Moses for Today: 366 Social Biblical Meditations, addressed to the people and culture of Nigeria, where I spent some 30 years. If you’re Nigerian, I think you will be delighted at these morsels of food for thought from home. If you’re from anywhere else, I think you will find them refreshing, interesting, sometimes humorous, but always palatable.

See you next time. Or as the Northern Nigerian Hausa would say, "Mu kwana a nan"—let’s sleep over it here.

Introducing "Worldly Christianity"

"Worldly Christianity" will seem like an oxymoron to many readers, but that's what this blog is going to be about. And if it is not an oxymoron to you, it is an unusual subject. You can do a google on the most obscure subject and find thousands of entries. When you google this subject, you only get just a little over 200! Now that spells obscurity!

I am not the first to use the term. The most famous user is Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German anti-Nazi theologian who paid for his stance with his life. He may have coined the term first. At least, several posts refer to him as the source. In my case, it came as a re-invention that naturally grew out of my Christian worldview.

To be honest, I was shocked when I typed in the term as the name of this new blog. I fully expected the name already taken. Lo and behold, it was still available. No one has registered it as a blog name. I had the same experience some years ago when I chose "SocialTheology" as the name for my website (still there). If there is anything about Christian theology, it is its social ramifications. Yet, no one had claimed it! If there is anything about Christianity, it is its worldly nature. Yet no one has claimed it until now for a name! Now, both of these parallel experiences say something about empirical Christianity, and it ain't purty.

Well, on this blog we're going to explore and expound things about the worldly nature of Christianity. Posts may contain relevant Biblical meditations or comments on current events or contemporary discussions. Occasionally perhaps quotations from others who say it better than I might. Most Biblical meditations will be lifted from a book I published some years ago with the title The Prophet Moses for Today: 366 Biblical Meditations. I'll tell you more about that book later.

You can find out more about me from my website SocialTheology.com.

I also plan to start a blog on Christian-Muslim relations. If you have a suggestion for a catchy name for such a blog, feel free to pass it on to me. Check it out at the temporary (?) title of "Christmus--Christians&Muslims."