Today I caught the last day of Brian McLaren’s appearances in Melbourne.
This morning and this afternoon were at Tabor College. Brian started the day by giving us a basic introduction to the three worlds we find co-existing and struggling with one another: premodernism, modernism and post modernism. It was helpful to reflect on the challenge the conservative Islamic nations and religious institutions see in the dominant modernist culture as seen in the United States. After lunch we explored the implications of moving into a post-colonial paradigm. He explored with us stories of Christian collusion in colonialism in Rwanda and in the United States. Our challenge is not to lay blame with previous generations, but to learn from their experience so that we can honestly and courageously work differently now.
This evening was hosted by Forge Missional Training Network at Retro Cafe in Brunswick St. Brian talked about the challenge of rethinking the heart of the gospel around the life and teaching of Jesus. What would happen if we stopped interpreting the ‘kingdom of God’ solely in terms of life after death and began to cooperate with God’s dream or economy right here on Earth?
It was good to see Forge mending the bridges that were damaged last year during the release of Don Carson’s book, “Becoming Conversant with the Emerging Church’. Brian’s returning next year to speak at one of the Forge summits. It would be good to see if we can arrange a gathering in Queensland.
This morning a colleague and I presented a reading report on feminism and postmodernist approaches to doctrine. We were given the challenge of presenting the insights of Mary McClintock Fulkerson as outlined in her chapter in the Cambridge Guide to Postmodern Theology, edited by Kevin J. Vanhoozer.
Mary’s an academic theologian based at Duke Divinity School, Duke University, in Durham, North Carolina. She’s known for her 1994 book, “Changing the Subject: Women’s Discourses and Feminist Theology” in which she explores the complexity of recent studies on the experiences of women. Of particular interest to me were her reflections on the differences between Presbyterian and Pentecostal women. Her next book, “Traces of Redemption: Theology for Worldly Church”, will focus on doctrine of the church in light of racial diversity and differently abled.” She’s a minister with the Presbyterian Church (USA).
Not only is Mary an academic. She’s also a partner in the establishment of Third Reconstruction Institutes in which academics and grass roots activists continue the work of the civil rights movement in the United States.
As a class we were looking for ways in which Mary’s work critiques the limitations of modernism.
At the beginning McClintock Fulkerson makes it very clear that feminist theology began and continues with a liberation hermeneutic. In many ways feminism has been its own form of postmodernism. She recognises that the ‘mainstream’ of feminism has been dominated by white Euro-American middle class women and has overlooked or attempted to assimilate the voices of those calling themselves womanist (African American) and Mujerista (Hispanic). And then of course the voices of Asian Americans, women in Africa and Asia, the voices of lesbian feminists. McClintock Fulkerson is clear that she speaks as a white middle class academic woman.
Mary chooses three themes from postmodernism that resonate with the liberation hermeneutic of recent feminist theology:
1. Instability of the subject.
2. The Unsayable
3. Liberative Implications
Mary points out that early feminism, in its critique of male-dominated society, often called for or attempted to describe a ‘unified natural woman subject’. Likewise the choice of sexism as the primary sin has flattened the differences and oppressions linked with racism, class exploitation and heterosexism.
Postmodernist feminist theologians have critiqued the capacity for anyone to categorise and describe the experience of women without reference to broader experiences. Foucault’s poststructural work reminds us that signifying does not refer to a fixed, external reality. The experiences of both women and men continue to be transformed by relational experience.
Finally Mary refers to the growing edge of feminist theology as it engages with a vision of liberation that goes beyond gender and explores economic and political transformation.
This afternoon I listened to Martin Robinson’s presentation on revival at the recent Generous Orthodoxy conference. I downloaded the podcast from Conversatio Fide. It’s a 29 mb file that has a bit of airconditioning hum in it - but I managed to hear everything Martin says.
Martin challenges the hope held out by many speakers that if we pray we’ll cross a threshold and that evangelism and discipleship will be much easier. He unpacks the ‘revival myth’ by looking at the impact (or lack of impact) of the 18th Century revival in Britain. He points out that the diaries of Wesley indicate a continual struggle to connect with the people of Britain. In terms of numbers the Wesleyan revival was actually quite small. Christian leaders in England continued to struggle with declining church attendance and anational lawmakers that paid little attention to matters of faith or morality. The reality faced by people in the middle of a revival was continued hard slog.
The architecture of a revival (as outlined by Martin):
1. Weird and wonderful behaviour - as in Toronto Blessing. I thought of the review of revivals written up in John White’s book, “When the Spirit Came in Power“.
2. The development of new denominations designed to cater for the new fervour and behaviour.
3. The impact of fervour on mainstream churches and leaders.
4. The development of partnership between churches as they engage in community transformation.
Martin finishes his presentation with two alternative scenarios for the year 2050:
1. Christians have continued to become so separated from the world that they have become something of the past that people want to leave behind, along the lines of Zoroastrianism.
2. Christians have engaged in their communities as ‘future makers’ in ways that have inspired others to follow suit.
The presentation continued with dialogue with members of the conference.
Martin was born in India of missionary parents. His father became a church planter, initially in Scotland and then later in England. Martin trained for the ministry in his late teens and early twenties, with the Associated Churches of Christ, I believe. His first church was in inner city Birmingham. That congregation helped to plant a number of congregations and Martin became the minister of one of those church plants in suburban Birmingham. In 1987 he went to work for the Bible Society, initially as Church Growth Consultant and more recently as Director of Mission and Theology. Martin left the Bible Society in August 2002 to become the National Director for Together in Mission.
Mary’s an academic theologian based at 
Martin challenges the hope held out by many speakers that if we pray we’ll cross a threshold and that evangelism and discipleship will be much easier. He unpacks the ‘revival myth’ by looking at the impact (or lack of impact) of the 18th Century revival in Britain. He points out that the diaries of Wesley indicate a continual struggle to connect with the people of Britain. In terms of numbers the Wesleyan revival was actually quite small. Christian leaders in England continued to struggle with declining church attendance and anational lawmakers that paid little attention to matters of faith or morality. The reality faced by people in the middle of a revival was continued hard slog.
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