New Op-Ed: Ive been extremely disappointed at the discourse over the deaths Michael Brown and Eric Garner in the mainstream press and within the Protestant space (including Calvin-loving evangelicals). Eric Garners wife said that she believed race was not a factor in his assault and death. I believe her. Eric Garner became a non-person that day; thats why his breathing didnt matter. Most Americans can only assert that #BlackLivesMatter but they cant tell you *why*. Black lives matter as a slogan is throwing sand into wind unless we can explain why. Whats more important is #WhyBlackLivesMatter. Blacks lives matter because black people are persons--thats been the struggle since 1619 on this countrys soil. If you cant explain *why* black lives matter, your protests wont bring about any sort of structural change in law enforcement or in America in general. Martin Luther King, Jr. knew this, but todays protestors arent starting there. This is why I want to have a conversation about why black lives matter. And for you conservative evangelicals who want to use, it all starts with the gospel jargon, American history proves you wrong. Knowing the gospel and believing the gospel does not, and never has meant, that people are going to have good applied theological anthropology. Jonathan Edwardss applied theological anthropology is a terrible model, for example, as he dehumanized the slaves he owned. Evangelical Presbyterians and Baptists in the South for more of US history have been terrible models applied theological anthropology as Southern Baptists and Southern Presbyterians promoted slavery, endorsed the Curse of Ham and supported Jim Crow on biblical grounds. The gospel does not magically translate into right applications of human dignity in Western Christianity. In many cases, if you dont point people to anthropology people will not understand the difference the gospel makes in civil society. Lets have a more dynamic and robust conversation that includes multiple doctrines and principles in the Christian tradition. . . .
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 16:45:06 +0000
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