Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, alleluia!
It may sound a little strange, but I’m finding it helpful to create a dictionary in order to understand myself. So, after a Holy Week hiatus, here are the definitions of some words that I’ll be using in upcoming posts. I’ll also create a tab at the top of the blog for your convenience.
Inclusivism
Support of all belief systems except those that promote exclusive beliefs or doctrines.
Reductionism
Theory that complex ideas or concepts can be broken down into essential components. Ironically, theological liberalism and fundamentalism are both reductionistic: liberalism reduces Christianity to core ethical acts or values, while fundamentalism reduces Christianity down to non-negotiable doctrines. As the twin daughters of reductionism, liberalism and fundamentalism prove themselves compatible toward utilitarian ends.
Systematic categories
Word placeholders, or shorthand for systematic theology. Examples: sin, grace, justification. Systematic categories can be misused as übervalues.
Templating
Applying übervalues in a discussion or debate in order to silence dissent. Übervalues are never expressed to in order to gain adherents, but rather to force a predetermined conclusion.
Twentieth-Century Project
The attempt by late nineteenth through early twenty-first century Lutheran theologians to salvage and/or make relevant Lutheranism by accommodating, in varying degrees, contemporary science, philosophy, history, sociology, and culture. Philosophical influences of the Twentieth Century Project stretch back to the eighteenth century and the Enlightenment, which sought to establish human reason as the preeminent source of authority. As reason has collapsed into emotionalism and the promotion of pleasure in the post-modern era, the Twentieth Century Project is is no longer an effective means to address and positively influence culture. In short, the Twentieth Century Project is dead.
Übervalues
Meta-ideals disconnected from rational scrutiny and grounding in the natural realm. People appeal to meta-ideals but reject rational inquiry into their basis because they are “self-evident.” In the secular realm, we extol concepts such as truth, justice, equality, and so on. While these ideals have a basis in reason and corporeality, they can be misused to serve alternative ends. Templating the übervalue of equality for example, once could attempt to redefine marriage as the legal recognition of two persons who are in love with each other regardless of their sex, as opposed to the traditional concept of marriage, namely, the legal recognition of a life-long union between a man and a wife for the purpose of procreation and mutual aid.
Human sexuality: By templating the übervalue of equality same-sex union advocates have argued that it is an inequality for two adults, who love each other, regardless of their sex, inability to procreate, and concurrent health and stability issues, to marry each other.
Theology: In theological discourse, übervalues frequently are frequently derived from systematic categories, that is, word placeholders that have a common appeal to a diverse audience within a particular communion. So, for example, those promoting same-sex blessings and the ordination of homosexual clergy in same-sex relationships appeal to conscience as an übervalue endorsed by Martin Luther.
