Dave Tomlinson
We have two ways of viewing the future: nostalgia or imagination.
Do we choose between accommodation or resistance?
How do we view Christianity as a historical religion (a. it’s historical…leave it alone! / b. it’s historical in that it is part of the historical process)
Progressive Orthodoxy (next book from Dave Tomlinson) – really, this is just orthodoxy (proper); yet, these terms just carry too much baggage along with them. Orthodoxy in its very nature is progressive.
“You have to change to stay the same.” Dave T.
Rowan Williams: “What is Catholic Orthodoxy?”
Rigid/Regressive Orthodoxy (what many people think of when they hear Orthodoxy):
this is a closed set, a metanarrative, total, complete, it’s a “done deal.” There is nothing to add to it. This is a pre-packaged monologue. Some interpretation is permitted.
Progressive Orthodoxy: Orthodoxy as a tradition of shared speech/symbols. A tradition that invites and only exists within conversation. Orthodoxy as conversation: a recognition in this, that we have perspectives on truth, which is not so much a statement about truth, but more about the level to which we can know it.
My position is ontologically realist – and epistemologically relativist.
The Bible: “The Bible Bash” – a context in which people engage in the Scripture in meaningful ways. Trying to get people to engage in the Bible – with the belief that through this, God may speak to us important ways.
“the world behind the text” / “world o/t author”: with the right efforts, we can get back to the times, understand authorial intent, etc. However, we are finding that our ability to do that is very limited.
“the world within the text”: reading the Bible as literature
“the world before the text”: (reader response hermeneutics)