Once while traveling in Greece, I had a conversation with a fellow student which ended up boiling down to the old debate between Calvinism and Arminianism. Luckily, it remained a polite & enjoyable discussion, nobody got labled heretic or worse. My conversation partner may have been wrong, stupid, and committed to the most absurd doctrine ever conceived, but at least he was civil. Nice guy. I'd have him over for coffee and roast heretic any day. My memory isn't perfect, but he may actually be the first one who spurred me on to read some NT Wright.

Rarely do these kinds of interactions truly 'end,' they usually just stop, when one party is worn down by mental exhaustion. This particular conversation, however, had a very definite conclusion which was acknowledged when we together made this realization:

"Myths do for Catholics what clever theological explanations do for Protestants. They put that 'necessary' hedge around the Cross so that it’s not too offensive."

The Debate continues...

If you're posting comments that aren't getting published (and one of you is...), see the new "Commenting Rules" page, now available from the main menu. Yes, I'm behind on responding to the Soteriology Debate. Hoping to get to it soon... FYI, The debate is NOT open for comments while in progress, but with Turretinfan's permission, I'll add a post for open commenting at the conclusion of the debate.

Check out the new "Debates" Link on the main menu for a look at the very first Beyond Fundamentalism debate, this one on the subject of Monergism vs. Synergism.   Get the RSS feed on the debate here.

It's been a long time since I've seen a movie worth recommending, so I'm thrilled to be able to encourage you to find a way to see The Nines. (Rated "R" for language, some drug content and sexuality. I'm pretty sure there was no nudity, which may be a key point for getting some of my readers to see an "R" film.)

If you're in LA, New York, or Austin, you'll be able to see it sooner than most. Take advantage of that. This is a movie that can provoke some great conversations about life, theology, and creativity.

Need some help processing? Read this rest of this post for some hints based on my take on the movie. They aren't necesssarily spoilers, but I'd recommend watching the movie without bias first anyway.

Check out the new BHT link on the main menu. That page lays things out just like the BHT home page with a few notable exceptions:

1. Here you can leave comments, even anonymously.
2. Here you can help organize the conversations with free tagging. Please do!
3. If you click one of those tags, you get a list of tagged posts sorted earliest to latest, all threaded like!

http://andthencomestheend.wordpress.com/2007/08/29/more-thoughts-from-alastair/

The following was written as the first page in an attempt at a new paper journal a few months ago. The journal ended up with only 4 or 5 more entires before degrading into nothing more than seminar notes and daily to-do lists. Please let me be clear: These comments represent the feelings of a particular moment, not the established beliefs resulting from a thorough inquiry.

The first comment over at this screenwriting blog talks about what's wrong with movie sequels, but the point equally applies to Christian Fundamentalism. It's the desire to answer every question that kills it, along with the drive to out-do ones self or ones opponents. My Catholic brethren did this along time ago with the Immaculate Conception: "Not only was Jesus born sinless, so was his Mom!" So was your mom... and a bag of chips.