Philip Clayton on The Resurrection, Trinity, Eschatology & the Predicament of Belief

Summary: UPDATE: Book Party Info HERE   Homebrewed Christianity is thrilled to share the first piece of audio from the Emergent Village theological conversation with philosopher and theologian Philip Clayton.  Even more than that we are pumped to announce our first Homebrewed Christianity Theo-nerd Book Party March 15th!  BUT FIRST… you can’t imagine how thought provoking this podcast is.  Philip Clayton gives his first public talk about his newest book The Predicament of Belief which he recently published with friend and President of George Washington University Steven Knapp.  As conference coordinators Bo and I challenged Phil to press Process Theology to address those three theological concepts that make most liberals run – the Resurrection, the Trinity, and Eschatology – and he agreed! Not only is the presentation engaging and provocative but the challenge to speak credibly about our faith is a challenge Philip and Steven see impacting the church.  Here’s how they put it in the book… When church leaders can no longer presuppose a securely shared fabric of beliefs, they rely increasingly on extrinsic motivations: professional musicians, high-tech services, attractive social programs, and the like.  The trouble is that reflective persons recognize that such initiatives are no longer tied to compelling and persuasive beliefs about what is ultimately the case.  When those beliefs become merely metaphorical or poetic–or worse, when one finds oneself using language one no longer believes but vaguely feels that one ought to believe–one begins to wonder about the raison d’etre of the entire institution and its practices.  Is it surprising that many have the sense that (in John Cobb’s words) “what we do and say does not seem to be terribly important.” (HT: Scot) Since this was a live event the beginning of the podcast may be hard to follow as Phil is commenting on a collection of rather humorous pictures of Jesus but at minute 14 to the end it is straight out theologizing.  In this podcast you will hear Philip address… * Divine Action, the Jesus Seminar, Peter Rollins and the Resurrection * Christological uniqueness, particularity, kenosis, and adoptionism * Religious Language, the reality of God, and spectrum of certainty * Self-giving love and feminism * Religious Pluralism There was a good summary and lack-luster critique here.  Robert Cornwall reviews the book but wants more Easter bells.  Thomas Jay Oord is reading the book & you should too as part of the Theo-nerd Book Party.  Here’s the deal.  I mailed out copies to a number of Deacons who signed up to blog about the book and will sharing those posts when they come in.  But even if you didn’t get a copy (too much demand!) you can still participate in the fun! How? (glad you asked) 1) Read the book, blogs, kindle it, and of course listen to the podcast. 2) Call-in or Email us your questions for Philip! (JUST CLICK THE Mic IMAGE on the RIGHT SIDE OF THE HOMEPAGE & TALK) 3) Attend the Theo-nerd Book Party March 15th.  We will host this LIVE & STREAMED event at Philip’s house in Claremont, CA.  We will post the info and stream on the Homebrewed Christianity Facebook Page so ‘like’ it and get ready!