in order that i might be linked

i have friends who are jerks.  

jerks in so far as they will not link my blog to their blogs because i don't "update enough."  

as if there is some unspoken amount of posts that is the fixed rule, and i do not abide by unsaid rule.  

oh well.  i love my friends anyway :-)

I'm auditing a class with Dr. Harmon @ Campbell Div. because he will be leaving at the end of this semester.  The class is called God and Humanity (how do yo cover THAT in a semester??), but the focus of the class is on Trinitarian theology.  

don't be confused - trinitarian theology is not some sect or offshoot of 'orthodox' theology or something like that.  rather, trinitarian theology is just a means of focusing on the concept of the Trinity in the context of theological reflection.  

as i've been doing the readings and reflecting on class time and such, i've come to a few conclusions.  

1) we do not teach the Trinity well in our churches

2) we do not explore the Apostolic Fathers or early Church Fathers enough

3) the 3 things that do not get adequate teaching time in the church context are: sex, money, and the Trinity.  

for some reason, we (and when i say we i guess i mean evangelicals) just assume that sexual education will spontaneously occur in the course of a marital relationship...  which leaves our adolescents and young adults to struggle on their own.  we also just assume that everyone knows how to handle their money in ways that please God... which is a very dangerous assumption given the context of our consumer-driven communities!  and lastly, we assume that everyone must understand the Trinity since we sing hymns about it (sometimes) and the pastor always baptizes in the name of 3 persons... but if we ask a 'typical' layperson to explain the Trinity and how that concept affects our relationship with God, what will you get?  

if you get ANYthing, you get the regurgitated version of things the pastor has implied, sort of.  I'm willing to guess that the majority of our congregations  (again, speaking of evangelicals) are unable to articulate the doctrine of the Trinity.  

did you know that Phillips, Craig, and Dean don't believe in the Trinity?  that there is an entire denomination of Christians who are borderline heretical (depending on how important you decide the Trinity happens to be)?

i'll leave you with Augustine's response to our dilemma - another dilemma!

"anyone who denies the Trinity is in danger of losing their salvation - but anyone who tries to understand the Trinity is in danger of losing their mind"

here's looking forward to Pastor Brad teaching on the Trinity in the coming months (which he was planning before i found out about this class's content), and our church beginning to explicitly wrestle with this doctrine and its implications for our faith.