Exorcism and Deliverance

I and some friends have been talking about evil spirits and exorcism recently. All of us are theological students and some of us are wondering why our college does not offer any course on evil spirits and exorcism. It's not so much that we want to study them for the sake of studying them. But it's more for us to be prepared for dealing with such cases in our daily lives. (Btw, I had a few encounters with (evil?) spirits in my college.) One problem is that the Scripture doesn't provide us with adequate guidelines on how to do exorcism or how to differentiate demonic possession from psychotic disorder. So, I heartily welcome this forthcoming book entitled Exorcism and Deliverance. (h/t Sze Seng) I believe this book will be a very helpful resource for the Church to be better equipped for such ministry.

No One Is Looking for Love?

My random thought on Valentine's Day:

Premise 1 : No one is looking for an unlovable life partner to love.

Premise 2 : Love means loving the unlovable.

Conclusion : No one is looking for love.

Agree?

An Interview with Keith Ward

Keith Ward talks about faith and reason, theology and philosophy, new atheism, and his own personal experience with God.

Professor Keith Ward Part 1 from CPX on Vimeo.

Professor Keith Ward Part 2 from CPX on Vimeo.

Professor Keith Ward Part 3 from CPX on Vimeo.

Professor Keith Ward Part 4 from CPX on Vimeo.

Torture and Eucharist

I can hardly hear good news from my country Indonesia. I've come to a point where I feel numb upon hearing horrible news like a violent attack on an Islamic sect on Feb 6, 2011, followed by church burning in Temanggung, Central Java. (Btw, it's curious that Al-Jazeera doesn't report the second incident at all.) It's not my intention to try to find out or discuss whom to blame for these horrendous incident. If there is anything that I can think of (as I said earlier, I feel numb...), it is to realize the very presence of torture within Indonesian society. Even though Indonesians do not live under an autocratic regime, torture is still very much REAL. It is something which Singaporeans (I'm using Singaporeans as an example simply because I currently live in Singapore) will probably never understand. I recall how a Singaporean teen, whom I led in a Bibly study, had a difficult time to understand the word "persecution" when we tried to study biblical passages which talked about being persecuted for Christ. To him, "persecution" is merely a word without any correspondences whatsoever to any reality outside the word itself. He can't relate to it at all. So, it becomes meaningless.

Reading all these horrendous news reminds me of the torture which Christ chose to undergo. By willingly undergoing such an atrocious torture, he overturned the logic of torture. Torture caused Christ to suffer. But Christ's suffering brings life to all who believe in him and are willing to suffer and die for him and therefore live in him. This is celebrated in the Eucharist. The Eucharist is an antithesis of torture. As William Cavanaugh, theologizing from within the context of the Pinochet regime in Chile, has eloquently put it,

Torture creates fearful and isolated bodies, bodies docile to the purpose of regime; the Eucharist effects the body of Christ, a body marked by resistance to worldly power. Torture creates victims; Eucharist creates witnesses, martyrs. Isolation is overcome in the Eucharist by the building of a communal body which resists the state’s attempt to disappear it.

Wrightian Smith and Smithian Wright?

It is intriguing that James Smith and N.T. Wright seem to end up in the same place although they arrive there from quite different trajectories. Smith has been emphasizing the importance of practice as a "location" of a religion (where and how religion is to be found and recognized) and how practice is utmost important in shaping the religious identity of the members. This emphasis stems from his theological anthropology, following Augustine's footsteps, that human beings are NOT primarily thinking beings. We are defined primarily by what we love instead. "Human beings are lovers," Smith argues. And love takes practice. In a similar vein, Wright argues, "Love is not our duty. It is our destiny." Yet this destiny is not something which comes automatically. It takes hard work. In other words, love takes practice. He is, of course, speaking out of the framework of "grace alone" and "faith alone." So, you can heave a sigh of relief. Wright is NOT a Pelagian!
Check out these lectures by Smith and Wright. I bet you will not disagree with me that, to some extent, Smith is a Wrightian and Wright is a Smithian.

Symposium 2011 - Plenary Address - James K.A. Smith from CICW on Vimeo.

After You Believe - N. T. Wright from Redeemer Video on Vimeo.

China's Dirty Secrets: No Gain, No Pain

People say: "No pain, no gain". I think the other way round is also true: "No gain, no pain". Check this video out and you'll know what I'm talking about.

The Backbone of Spirituality: Bible Reading, Prayer, Eucharist

N.T. Wright shares how he keeps his spiritual life fresh. To him, the backbone of spirituality is Bible reading, prayer, and Eucharist. I guess most Protestants would agree with Wright on Bible reading and prayer. But only a few would not disagree with him on the Eucharist.
Do we realize that most Protestant churches, at least in Asian context, do not celebrate the Eucharist in their weekly worship service? If the Church does believe that the Eucharist is indeed one of the most fundamental things which radically distinguishes the Church, as the people of God, from those outside God's covenant, isn't it hypocritical mind-boggling if she doesn't celebrate it in her worship services for some vague practical reasons?
John Calvin would agree with Wright that the Eucharist is food for the soul.

Now, if anyone should ask me how this takes place, I shall not be ashamed to confess that it is a secret too lofty for either my mind to comprehend or my words to declare. And, to speak more plainly, I rather experience than understand it. Therefore, I here embrace without controversy the truth of God in which I may safely rest. He declares his flesh the food of my soul, his blood its drink [John 6:53 ff.]. I offer my soul to him to be fed with such food. In his Sacred Supper he bids me take, eat, and drink his body and blood under the symbols of bread and wine. I do not doubt that he himself truly presents them, and that I receive them.
Institutes 4.17.32

N T Wright: how do you keep your own spiritual life fresh? from krish kandiah on Vimeo.