Hazelnut Notes is a blog site and a resource for information on the topics of contemplative activism, postmodern religion, and public theology. These topics are accessible via the links in the menu above.
Blog topics include individual spirituality, religious practice, Christianity, and the nexus of religion, science, and social science, public theology. Specific blog categories are available here:
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Recent posts:
- A Short Overview of Christian Ethics according to Roger CrookSummary of excerpts of An Introduction to Christian Ethics, 5th edition by Roger Crook CHAPTER 5: BIBLICAL ETHICS Jesus Jesus’s ethical teachings are usually framed in terms of the “ideal pattern of human relationships” while also recognizing and being sensitive when the ideals are almost always unmet. (77) He was not legalistic. “Had he legislated,
- Kathryn Tanner’s Systematic Theology: AN OUTLINE AND QUESTIONSThis is an outline of Kathryn Tanner’s Jesus, Humanity, and the Trinity (2001), an early version of a more detailed systematic theology that she outlines in Christ the Key (2010). I included the points that were of interest to me; all errors are my own. INTRODUCTION “In order to witness to and be a disciple
- Thoughts and Reflections on “the Fathers of the Church” by Mike AquilinaAssorted thoughts and reflections based on a recent read of The Fathers of the Church: An Introduction to the First Christian Teachers, 3rd edition (2013) by Mike Aquilina, presented in no particular order: St. Justin Martyr recorded what Christians were doing around 150 CE in their Sunday worship services. It’s impressive how, two thousand years
- “Christianity and the New Spirit of Capitalism” by Kathryn Tanner: an argument for a wholesale reorganization of economic lifeI recently read Kathryn Tanner’s Christianity and the New Spirit of Capitalism (2019, Yale University Press). Her argument, in short, is that modern finance-dominated capitalism creates patterns of thought and behavior in human beings that are antithetic to some very basic principles of Christianity. For example, Tanner argues that modern capitalism incentivizes humans to equate
- Ruminations on Existentialism: tentative agreements and disagreementsIn my attempts to get a handle on the key schools of thought within ancient, modern, and contemporary theology, I’ve often read that certain theologies (especially Kierkegaard) have roots in Existentialism. After enough encounters with this label I figured I should familiarize myself with it. So I read Existentialism: A Beginner’s Guide by Thomas E.
