Preaching Against the Powers with Fleming Rutledge
My wife has been giving me a hard time since the onset of Crackers & Grape Juice. "You are a bunch of *cough* almost-semi-middle aged *cough* white guys taking to old white men." First, my apologies to Todd Littleton, Tony Jones, and Brian Zahnd, I do not think you're old. Second, we hear you Allison and it's time to rectify the situation.
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Fleming Rutledge is a preacher and teacher known throughout the US. Her latest book, The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ, has challenged me so much (academically & theologically) that I am embarrassed to say that I am barely out of the introduction and into the meat of the book. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that she is a native of my new home in the Tidewater region of southeastern Virginia.
If you read much of Jason's blog during Lent then you know the level of obsessive crush he has on Fleming. I warned her from the beginning to guard her home address.
In all seriousness, being able to connect with people I know from their published and online work is the best part of this podcast so far. It's not very common that we can reach out to those we are learning from to clarify or dig deeper on a topic.
We began the conversation with inclusion, specifically as it relates to our (Jason & I) United Methodist contexts. Everyone knows the big-to-do that the General Conference was, and how divisive the topic of human sexuality and LGBTI inclusion has been in the UMC.
Fleming takes inclusion to task by explaining how our obsession with inclusion has more to do about patting ourselves on the back rather than welcoming in the other person.
While you might not agree with that spin on it, she makes a damn good argument for how talk of inclusion has lately focused more on us rather than welcoming them.
Be on the lookout for part 2 of the conversation where she takes on N.T. Wright's opposition to apocalyptic thought. It should hit iTunes next Tuesday! And I promise, I've begun editing the conversation we had with N.T. Wright and those will be hitting iTunes in the beginning of June.
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Click the image below and subscribe to the Crackers & Grape Juice Podcast. We promise to provide you with theological conversations without stained glass language. In the queue we have interviews with Fleming Rutledge, N.T Wright, Scot McKnight and even a live event at the VA Conference of the United Methodist Church's Annual Conference.
