Confessions of a Seminarian

Lost in Translation, Part 2

Last week, I wrote about the challenge of communicating relationally in the blogosphere. Now I will discuss the importance of applying this same principle in understanding the Christian faith.

Disclaimer: I do not believe Christianity can be fully communicated in this medium, but I do believe that some understanding can be obtained with hard work and patience. I certainly do not hold to an agnostic epistemology (belief that one cannot know truth or knowledge). However, there are relational limitations to this medium.

In truth, I am ecstatic to be confronted with these limitations! Here’s why…
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A New View on Worldview

Worldview thinking has been on my mind lately. Maybe it’s been on yours?

I’ve been reading Naming the Elephant: Worldview as a Concept by James Sire (also author of The Universe Next Door). Sire became convinced that his definition of “worldview” was insufficient, and so he reworked it, wrote this book, and put out a new edition of The Universe Next Door. This book really struck a chord in me because I had a definition of “worldview” similar to Sire’s old one.

Everyone has a worldview. It may be a true, somewhat true, or false. Odds are, all our worldviews have many flaws. I used to think of a worldview as fundamentally a set of presuppositions. I believed worldview thinking was something mostly considered by professors in their “ivory towers.” But while a worldview certainly includes this, Sire’s new definition pushes against those boundaries:

“A worldview is a commitment, a fundamental orientation of the heart, that can be expressed as a story or in a set of presuppositions (assumptions which may be true, partially true or entirely false) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously, consistently or inconsistently), about the basic constitution of reality, and the provides the foundation on which we live and move and have our being” (122)

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Christian Stereotypes

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVwE6JUcH-I&eurl=]

Many people that I have had conversations with in person or in the blogosphere have a distorted image of what Christians believe, how they act, and how they interact with those who believe differently than they do. This video is a fun look at why that may be. Some issues that are brought to light by the two Christian shows captured in this video will be discussed in the next two entries I make over the course of the next week or two, so stay tuned. For the full length, original versions of the videos I borrowed, you can find them here:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8274583680980043774&q=vintage+21&total=175&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=1

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2910527690395612393&q=war+on+everything&total=4443&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=1

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5469244831587327869&q=farting+preacher+4&total=44&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0

Lost in Translation Part 1

I have come to have a renewed appreciation for the “glass ceiling” that limits relationships in the blogosphere. Yes, we can exchange ideas, beliefs, and opinions with many to spare, yet it is a different story when we cannot be so personally invested in relationship. Because of the limits to personal interaction, there is a limit to shared experience as well. And while we exchange “ideas,” we do so in a sterile environment, bereft of the richness and depth of experience each of us has to offer.

A friend of mine was recently talking about how she was able to put 8 years of learning French to use at work. Her employer often deals with another company in Canada. While they normally have an English option, they received an email that was entirely in French, so her co-workers called her over. She sat down and started reading the email, some of it out loud. She explained that for some reason, this company couldn’t respond at this time, they weren’t there anymore, etc. She was excited that she could understand what they were writing and hadn’t lost many of her hard-earned skills.

Towards the bottom she realized that it was an automatic “out of office reply” sent by the system. Read more »