I can admit that my last post (which I literally wrote in fifteen minutes) was not my greatest, but it wasn’t my worst either. I received the following comment (on that post) from a guy in Viet Nam named 金老师 (Mr. King per google translate). Typically, I would just spam a comment like this, because that’s what it deserves. But in this case my anonymous critic has apparently been reading me for many years (maybe). I wanted to underscore Mr. King’s comment because it represents the sort of rubbish I am uninterested in getting online. But let’s deal with a few of his problems with things I have written, and the way I write (according to him). Before we do that let’s read what Mr. King had to say to me:
“maybe my blog isn’t the one for you. I am political, and so are you. If you cannot admit that, as a Christian, you’re a Docetist. Love you.”
It’s truly inscrutable that with a quote from Torrance on the side panel alongside with your tormented angst with Barth’s personal life you wrote this comment. You probably don’t have time to or even need to know who subscribes to your blog especially one who has followed you for long enough not to toss away perusing it due to your inscrutable rants. Six years old (not interested in checking cuz it doesn’t matter) you made inscrutable rants about Enns (which certainly doesn’t match his views then and especially nowadays) Why continue to follow? Church history is very messy with tons of mud slinging (anathemas) . If you can’t admit this, as a Christian, you are inscrutable. “Love you” (sarcasm cuz lots of folks write this ) I prefer to gain a lot of benefits from your Theological posts even though I might not agree at times. I might be wrong but I seem to recall that you nearly had a life threatening situation which made me anxious that you wouldn’t be able to continue writing. Obviously everyone has a political view including Barth, Moltmann (who differed from Barth ) et al. However, your blog is much more useful than tossing it due to inscrutable rants that might seem to be a foghorn for a particular political view.
Mr. King, apparently, finds my posts on politics to be something of an ‘inscrutable rant.’ They might be inscrutable to him because of a language barrier (clearly his first language is not English); cultural barrier; political barriers; so on and so forth. The point, though, is that Mr. King clearly does not like my politics; and so, he labels anything I write on the subject as an inscrutable rant. Indeed, I realize many of my other readers might agree with Mr. King, in regard to my politics. All I can say, particularly in the current climate, given its unprecedented gravitas is: TOUGH.
But Mr. King was not content to rant me out, he also has been harboring other ills towards some of the things I’ve written; not to mention a particular issue I’ve had to deal with in regard to Barth and Charlotte Von Kirschbaum. 1) He asserts that I have misrepresented Peter Enns on Scripture. My response to that: no I haven’t. My basic premise is that Enns is simply repackaging German higher criticism for young and impressionable 21st century minds; AND HE IS. But I never think about Enns anymore, so this hardly resonates with me. 2) He doesn’t think I understand the messiness of church history. But I do. In fact, if I wagered a guess, I’d say Mr. King stole that sentiment from me, since I frequently refer to the messiness of church history (I typically refer to that in the context of speaking about the relationality that theology is). 3) Mr. King apparently doesn’t like my dry sense of humor. My “love you” reference was intended to inject a sense of levity relative to what I had written just prior. Oh well. 4) On my tormented angst in regard to Barth and Charlotte. I actually don’t feel tormented. Instead, it is a matter of working through a serious moral failure of a theologian I highly respect. Most biblically oriented Christians would grasp that sort of struggle; apparently Mr. King does not share this same sort of biblical orientation. 5) ‘Everyone has a political view.’ Okay, great.
Let me clear about something: this is my blog, and I’ll rant however I want; when I want; about whatever I want. I will write about politics, theology, Mickey Mouse, in whatever style I like. My accountability is to God in Christ alone, not to a single soul online. I have followed that principle ever since I started blogging in 2005. I don’t REALLY know you, and you don’t REALLY know me. So, get what you can from I write, and reject what you want from what I write. I don’t owe you anything, and you don’t owe me anything. The only approval I care about comes from God, and has already come from God in Jesus Christ. Whether you the reader approve of me makes absolutely zero difference to me. If you feel like I’m being too aggressive toward you, my anonymous readers at the moment, that’s not my intention. My intention is to once again clear the air about how I view my blogging. I’m thankful to have people read me, particularly those who appreciate what I have to say in regard to my witness to Jesus Christ. But I will dump you almost immediately if you come at me like Mr. King. We live in a huge world, and I make no pretenses in thinking that this medium has capacity to do anymore than it is actually capable to do. I have made some personal contacts through my blogging over the years, but those are rare. I have a very very small group of people, in real life, who I would allow myself to be accountable to; but there is nobody online who will ever fill that role for me. Ultimately, if my writing (sometimes it is stream of consciousness, because, unless you forgot, this is a blog) irks you, to the point that it clearly has, Mr. King, then don’t read here. If you want to continue to read here (which I can’t stop), then don’t comment. Mr. King is now banned from commenting. In fact, I’m about to completely pull the plug on all commenting, since I rarely get comments. I appreciate Richard Bridgan’s encouraging comments; and then also, when Trevor F. comments. I don’t always need agreeable comments, but I certainly am not open to the sort of gratuitous slop Mr. King flung my way.
Hopefully, if you read here, you’ll continue to benefit from what I write. My blogging has slowed down relative to my past blogging days. But, typically, I hope to always magnify Jesus Christ in what I write. That’s my aim; that’s my theology. Solo Christo