Introduction “You can go to camp this summer.” This beautiful sentence filled my hearing in the spring of 2002. These were words that I had been waiting to hear ever since my brother attended San Juan Bible Camp a couple years before and I heard his tales of fun, friends, and fabulous food. Little did I know that what I was going to experience would not just define the summer of 2002 for me but would hook me on camp... Read more
The conflict in the story begins with stereotypical Barbie losing her “barbieness” and becoming more human. Her feet are now flat, she no longer floats, and she has thoughts of death. These are imperfections that could not be further than the image of Barbie. After consulting the “Crazy Barbie,” she has to choose whether to be transported to the real world and find the young woman who shares her connection or stay home and ignore the existential feelings and changes she is going through. The choices are symbolized by high heels (her previous life of blissful pinkness) or birkenstocks (the crude flat-footedness of the real world). Reluctant to change and at the insistence of Crazy Barbie, she accepts her journey. Read more
“Dr. Cameron, I have a question. How do we know that we are on the right side?” While “sides” is a bad way to think about it, I understood what my eighth-grader was asking. He wanted to know how he could have the assurance that believing in the God of the Bible, the Christian God, was correct while he was drowning in an ocean of religious options. Read more
What used to be a single position of leadership in the church, the pastor-theologian, is now two separate and often disconnected positions. It is not my desire to pin blame on anyone one party for this problem. Rather, it is the goal of this post to examine historically the relationship between academic theology and the church. It is my hope to recover an ancient vision of the pastor-theologian for both the church and the academy today. For, when one suffers, both suffer. What follows is a brief reflection on the historical connection between the church and the academy Read more
If you have been involved in theological dialogue, chances are that one of your debates has become heated. Maybe even including personal attacks. It may have even escalated to the point where you no longer speak with the person you were conversing with. When I began my Master’s degree my professors began to model for me and teach me what it looks like to have healthy theological dialogue. What follows in this post are five of the many lessons my professors taught me about healthy theological dialogue. Read more
Introduction How would you describe your grandparents’ home? I imagine you would vividly remember how it smelled and the memories of holidays spent there, as well as the relationships you built. Sometimes we may not even realize these feelings and memories exist within us until we can no longer visit that place. During my college years, some of my friends’ parents sold their childhood homes and downsized. When my friends returned home, they felt that something was wrong. The new... Read more
In this introductory post to "The Stained Glass Syllabus" column I begin to explore the bifurcation of the church and the academy. After establishing this as a problem I situate the theme of this column within that context. In other words, this column will sit in this gap between the church and the academy and work to mend this bifurcation. Read more
The Stained Glass Syllabus
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