Comments on: The Manifesto http://blog.likeafire.net/2008/05/10/the-manifesto/ His word is Thu, 16 Oct 2008 06:43:43 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.1.2 By: BrianW http://blog.likeafire.net/2008/05/10/the-manifesto/#comment-23662 BrianW Mon, 12 May 2008 02:24:36 +0000 http://blog.likeafire.net/2008/05/10/the-manifesto/#comment-23662 Maybe in 80 years we'll see <i>An Emergent Manifesto</i>. I have avoided secular feedback on this and some of the feedback I haven't avoided seems mixed. Personally, coming from an "evangelical" background, the "why" was pretty clear to me. I liked the definitions of what the public square should and shouldn't be and calling out the slide into pawnship of one political party or another. "Evangelical" was necessary because that term is the contact point with the culture at large. It is a perfectly good (and biblical) word that was perverted because some who latched onto it didn't carry it well. Kinda like the word "gay." Or "conspire." You should see a therapist about your Hybels/Willow issues. It ain't healthy. Maybe in 80 years we’ll see An Emergent Manifesto.

I have avoided secular feedback on this and some of the feedback I haven’t avoided seems mixed. Personally, coming from an “evangelical” background, the “why” was pretty clear to me. I liked the definitions of what the public square should and shouldn’t be and calling out the slide into pawnship of one political party or another.

“Evangelical” was necessary because that term is the contact point with the culture at large. It is a perfectly good (and biblical) word that was perverted because some who latched onto it didn’t carry it well. Kinda like the word “gay.” Or “conspire.”

You should see a therapist about your Hybels/Willow issues. It ain’t healthy.

]]> By: Paul http://blog.likeafire.net/2008/05/10/the-manifesto/#comment-23663 Paul Mon, 12 May 2008 02:28:43 +0000 http://blog.likeafire.net/2008/05/10/the-manifesto/#comment-23663 Thanks for the comments. I am currently seeking a therapist, hopefully one who can dispense meds. I think I have anti-establishment issues. Thanks for the comments. I am currently seeking a therapist, hopefully one who can dispense meds. I think I have anti-establishment issues.

]]> By: Matthaeus Flexibilis http://blog.likeafire.net/2008/05/10/the-manifesto/#comment-23731 Matthaeus Flexibilis Wed, 14 May 2008 15:20:55 +0000 http://blog.likeafire.net/2008/05/10/the-manifesto/#comment-23731 Hey, Paul. I hear what you're saying about terminology. Yet, to come up with still another label (cf. Red-letter Christian, etc.) doesn't seem to be the cure for what ails us. They define the term "Evangelical" with respect to its historical origins and modern circumstances, and they aim to rehabilitate it from its pejorative connotation in the media and elsewhere. I can live with that. To me, the most important thing about this manifesto is the part about religion in public life. It rejects both the reclusive attitude of earlier conservatives and the Falwellian-Dobsonian-D.JamesKennedian Religious Right. The latter seeks to "reclaim" a Christian Nation from the top down rather than the bottom up and makes little room for those of other faiths or no faith at all. The Manifesto, by comparison, charts a wise path into the (necessarily pluralistic) public sphere without trying to answer every the question. Here's some press coverage by an often incisive secularist: http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2008/05/the_evangelical_manifesto.html http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2008/05/the_evangelical_intellectuals.html Hey, Paul. I hear what you’re saying about terminology. Yet, to come up with still another label (cf. Red-letter Christian, etc.) doesn’t seem to be the cure for what ails us. They define the term “Evangelical” with respect to its historical origins and modern circumstances, and they aim to rehabilitate it from its pejorative connotation in the media and elsewhere. I can live with that.

To me, the most important thing about this manifesto is the part about religion in public life. It rejects both the reclusive attitude of earlier conservatives and the Falwellian-Dobsonian-D.JamesKennedian Religious Right. The latter seeks to “reclaim” a Christian Nation from the top down rather than the bottom up and makes little room for those of other faiths or no faith at all. The Manifesto, by comparison, charts a wise path into the (necessarily pluralistic) public sphere without trying to answer every the question.

Here’s some press coverage by an often incisive secularist:

http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2008/05/the_evangelical_manifesto.html
http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/georgetown/2008/05/the_evangelical_intellectuals.html

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