Tweet

Duke Kwon

20 Jul, 7 tweets, 4 min read

This essay is intended to be more than a response to one review. It’s also not just an essay about reparations. It is also an attempt to address one important reason why the Reformed and evangelical tradition(s) has repeatedly, across centuries, thefrontporch.org/2021/07/sancti…

found itself in collusion with the worst embodiments of white supremacy in America even while presuming its orthodoxy at each juncture. The answer, we believe, is found in its methodology—its culturally captive mode of theological reasoning/application— thefrontporch.org/2021/07/sancti…

and the implicit theology it engenders. It is one that centers white cultural concern, performs the basic impulses of white supremacy. It masquerades as sound—and mere—theological reflection. thefrontporch.org/2021/07/sancti…

We argue that these tendencies are not unique to DeYoung. He is simply a representative and heir of this tradition in which these culturally informed methodological impulses are embedded. And his review, thefrontporch.org/2021/07/sancti…

though perceived as an expression of a theological project, is actually expressive of a cultural project that ever seeks to justify itself on theological grounds. We firmly believe that if we do not learn to recognize this methodology thefrontporch.org/2021/07/sancti…

and disabuse ourselves of it—and challenge the promulgators and sanctifiers of it—its tragic effects will continue, and Reformed evangelicalism will serve not merely as an inert presence in our racially broken world but as an obstruction to its healing. thefrontporch.org/2021/07/sancti…

@esaumccaulley

While our particular focus is reparations, this broader theme appears to overlap w. the important work of others who've addressed manifestation of the church's cultural captivity, e.g. @esaumccaulley @kkdumez @socofthesacred @ndrewwhitehead @robertpjones. thefrontporch.org/2021/07/sancti…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

More from @dukekwondc

Duke Kwon

@dukekwondc

21 Jul

1/ I’d like to offer a some responses to several of the questions raised by Rev. DeYoung in his review. Some critics are suggesting that we focused on methodological concerns in our essay b/c we—intimidated by his arguments—had no substantive response. We predicted this reaction:

2/ Again, this is false. As explained, we regularly engage these questions & study them; they warrant sustained reflection. But we also believe DeYoung's methodology shapes/distorts many of his questions. This is why we sought to expose and critique his method first and foremost.

3/ What follows, then, are brief and provisional responses to some of DeYoung’s critical assessments. Importantly, they are offered against the backdrop of our previous essay. We continue to reflect on these questions & others, and invite you to do the same with curiosity & hope.

Read 67 tweets

Duke Kwon

@dukekwondc

18 Jul

Deep basketball thoughts:

• Booker is very good at basketball

• Giannis is not good at free throws

• The Suns like playing at home

• The Bucks need to score more points, and stop the Suns from scoring so much, if they want to win

• When your team starts a game making all of their shots, eventually they will regress to the mean

• When a player misses all his free throws, eventually he will regress to the mean

Read 4 tweets

Duke Kwon

@dukekwondc

4 Jun

1. You have heard it said that restitution is required only if *specific* victims of theft can be identified. But I say to you, this is simply not true according to historical Protestant (and especially Reformed) ethical thought.

2. Baxter, for example, explains that "public oppressors, who injure whole nations, countries or communities" are bound to make restitution (CD). He cites as examples unjust judges, oppressing landlords, and deceitful tradesmen, who repeatedly steal from nameless multitudes.

3. Further, those who are guilty of theft but cannot locate their victims are still required to relinquish the stolen goods by returning them to God. And the best proxy for God in this scenario is THE POOR, says Watson, Ridgley, Beveridge, Baxter, et al, based on Num. 5:8.

Read 6 tweets

Duke Kwon

@dukekwondc

1 Jun

The response of local White clergymen to the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre:

Rev. C. W. Kerr, First Presbyterian Church:

Rev. Harold Cooke, Centenary Methodist Church

Read 6 tweets

Duke Kwon

@dukekwondc

30 May

@pmatzko

Appreciate @pmatzko's analysis of the "neo-fundamentalist view of America" re: racial justice. Indeed, the extent to which even avowed "apolitical" evangelical leaders go out of their way to defend the sanctity of America and its history is ... notable. s/1398744012836769793?s=20

But there is no way forward without a sober recognition of the complexity of American history and American church history — their virtues and vices, faithfulness and failures, what Mark Noll calls its mind-boggling "co-mingling of contradictions, antinomies, and paradoxes."

@DavidAFrench

In light of this, I appreciated the perspective shared by @DavidAFrench this morning: "Remembering our nation’s virtues helps give us hope. Remembering our sin gives us humility. Remembering both gives us the motivation and the inspiration necessary to repair our land."

Read 5 tweets

Duke Kwon

@dukekwondc

24 May

8 lessons about the Unity of the Spirit from Ephesians 4:1-16:

1. Unity is a Christian priority. It is an essential expression of our call to Christ (v. 1). Christ himself prioritized our oneness in his prayers (Jn 17:11). Unity is not optional for followers of Christ.

2. Unity is a human impossibility. It is "of the Spirit" (v. 3)—supernaturally produced and given by the Holy Spirit. As such it is not based on natural affinity—common interests, culture, politics, personality. The church is an assembly of recovering "natural enemies" (Carson).

3. Unity is a mark of maturity. As the body is built up in unity of faith, the church becomes "mature" (v. 13), "no longer children" (v. 14). A splintered and divided church is an immature church. It is also a vulnerable church, subject to false teaching and deception (v. 14).

Read 15 tweets

Support us! We are indie developers!

This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Too expensive? Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal Become our Patreon

Thank you for your support!