Steelers, Bills, and Jets win big in Week Four

Let’s take a break from all things dense and worrisome and consider the gridiron (though for this Browns fan there’s a fair share of football-related worry in my life). These are some of the things I see happening in Week Four of the NFL season (can you believe we’re about a quarter of the way through the year?).

Home team is in CAPS:

Browns over BENGALS, 23-19   Brady Quinn will pass for 200-250 yards in relief duty, and Braylon Edwards comes across as interested in football as the Browns squeak by a team even worse than they are.

Broncos over CHIEFS, 27-20   Ironically, the Chiefs’ porous defense contains Denver’s insane offense better than anyone has this year. (You know how sometimes your neck tenses up when you make a prediction that is tough to defend? Maybe I’m the only one. Anyway, I’m feeling that.)

TITANS over Vikings, 30-24   Toughest game to call this week. I could see some points being scored on defense for both teams. Kerry Collins is a liability, but I’m more concerned with Adrian Peterson’s health.

SAINTS over 49ers, 34-23   This one would be a blowout if Drew Brees had more of his weapons in tact. Injuries considered, the Saints still march on.

JETS over Cardinals, 38-24   Everyone who’s not wearing Cardinals red will be pulling for Brett Favre to keep the Jets in the thick of what looks to be an exciting AFC East race. New York has been trying to establish a strong running game. But they’ll save that crusade for next week. It’s all Favre and the long ball in this one.

Packers over BUCCANEERS, 20-12   Good showing by the Pack’s defense carries their offense through in this one, as Brian Griese comes back down to earth after last week’s 67-pass utopia.

Falcons over PANTHERS, 17-14   Mike Smith takes the Michael Turner train for another upset win.

Texans over JAGUARS, 26-16   Matt Schaub saves his job. Or maybe Steve Slaton saves Schaub’s job.

DALLAS over Washington, 31-24   I went back and forth on this game before the season, and I’m still feeling uncertain. I like Jason Campbell, but I don’t trust him yet – at least not enough to pick him on the road against the Dallas D.

Chargers over RAIDERS, 21-17   Lane Kiffin will relish the day when he can look at Al Davis and say, “You’re not the boss of me!” That day is coming soon. Oh, and this just in: Norv Turner still wants us to know that Ed Hochuli blew the call in Denver, and Norv’s not happy. We get it. 

Bills over RAMS, 41-17   Yet again, we circle the wagons! The Rams can mix things up all they want, and say what they will about playing inspired football. Heart is a key to winning, but so is talent. The Bills have it. The Rams? Not so much.

Eagles over BEARS, 17-16   Donovan McNabb gets by playing hurt in front of his home town fans. Kyle Orton will play in such a way that leaves Bears fans wondering when Philly’s rising back-up, Kevin Kolb, might send McNabb to the Windy City to wrap up his career. (My guess is never, and they have an Andy Reid-generated man-crush to thank.)

STEELERS over Ravens, 35-17   The Steelers were humiliated by the Eagles last week. Does Mike Tomlin look like someone who takes well to humiliation? Lots of “Fast” Willie Parker in this one.

 

We’ll see how things shake out.

More Marv morsels.

I posted a quote form Marv Wilson’s Our Father Abraham yesterday which supported some of the things I’ve said about allegorical understandings of Scripture being a result of a religion, Christianity, becoming more about Hellenism than its Jewish roots (and Jewish Scripture, Jewish Savior, etc.). I also explained the connection between a theology of synergy (a component of free will rather than determinism, humans working in coordination with God) with a narrative understanding of Scripture and a linear, Hebraic understanding of history (which differs from a circular Greek perspective).

Again, a morsel from OFA that reiterates the point.

“Unlike some of their neighbors, the Hebrews did not hold to a circular concept of history tied closely to the cycles of nature. Hebrew history was not a monotonous, purposeless, and eternal cycle of happenings. Nor did the Hebrews view life as a race toward death in which one desperately seeks to escape from the clutches of time. The Hebrew concept of history did not embrace any ‘blind, meaningless outcome of a fortuitous conglomeration of atoms, or the ever-recurring expression of uncontrolled and uncontrollable cosmic force, of fate or dearth [quoting Davies].’ Rather, in sharp distinction, the Hebrew view of time and history was essentially linear, durative, and progressive. In short, it was going somewhere; it was en route to a goal, a glorious climax at the end of the age. The consummation of history in the age to come will see nature transformed through the removal of evil from the earth.”

Southern Baptists stiff-arm publication over gender issue

Good article from Jonathan Merritt on the Neue website today. “Behind the Counters” is a quick look into LifeWay Christian Resources, a Southern Baptist bookstore, banning GospelToday because the publication was featuring too many female pastors. 

The story made enough waves to get picked up by CNN.com. Merritt’s piece is basically news journalism – not a lot of conjecture – but the story is interesting because it’s another example of this “small” issue in Christian life/theology coming to the forefront again and again. I’m left wondering how small or trivial the matter really is. It sure seems like telling a person that she can’t respond to God’s call on her life on the basis of genitals is not a small issue so much as the type of thing that would have the Apostle Paul turning red.

Marvin Wilson on Hellenistic Christianity and allegory

The other day I touched on why allegorical interpretation of Scripture is not only dangerous and wrong, but the result of Hellenistic influence on the Church (the circular view of history, held by Greeks, lends itself to allegorical reading). 

Today I came across a great quote from Marvin Wilson on this very subject. It’s too good not to share.

“In allegory, the Old Testament could be made a ‘Christian’ document. Through their efforts to spiritualize, typologize, and christologize the text, the early Church Fathers were able to find abundant Christian meaning in the Old Testament. Christ, or New Testament thought, was read into, rather than out of, the biblical text in some of the most obscure places. Accordingly, Iraneus, Origen, Augustine, and others developed a system of allegorical exegesis that had the disastrous effect of wrenching the biblical text from its plain historical meaning.”

- Marvin Wilson, Our Father Abraham 

Hellenism or true faith: a great quote from Abraham Heschel

“The vital issue for the Church is to decide whether to look for roots in Judaism and consider itself an extension of Judaism, or to look for roots in pagan Hellenism and consider itself an antithesis to Judaism.”

- Abraham Heschel, The Insecurity of Freedom

Three surprise stories that will alter the NFL season

We’re only three weeks in, but the 2008 NFL season has already offered an irregular amount of curveballs. Coming in the form of torn ACLs, wacky owners (that would be you, Al Davis), and the emergence of quarterbacks young (Aaron Rodgers and Jason Campbell) and old (Kurt Warner), shock value is becoming the expectation around the league.

While many surprises are making for better Sunday television (Michael Turner breaking out in Atlanta, the phenomenal success of rookie head coaches, and the hourly monitoring of Lane Kiffin’s job status), some of the shocking new stories will have an impact which lasts through the regular season and into January.

Here are three of those season-altering tales:

The Tom Brady effect has New England in danger of going from first to worst.

After losing their Mr. Everything midway through the first quarter against Kansas City in Week One, the Pats find themselves entrenched in the Matt Cassel era, which is off to a rocky start to say the least.

Yes, New England is 2-1. Yes, they beat the rival Jets. But the dink-and-dunk passing game they utilized to win in New York was only good for one win. The NFL is a league of adjustments, and opponents can cover New England’s short passing game and dare Cassel to beat them deep. Clearly that was the case in Miami’s 38-13 drubbing of the Pats.

Buffalo looks dominant. Miami has instilled a culture of winning and a two-headed monster at running back. The Jets seem poised to fight their way to a winning record. Which leaves open the possibility that New England, undefeated in the regular season a year ago, could finish in the basement of the AFC East.

What a difference a quarterback makes.

Buffalo and Tennessee are the new Indy and Jacksonville.

Okay, I actually did see this one coming (I predicted a very strong year for the Titans, and was off and on about the Bills taking their division with a Week 17 win at home versus New England). But that doesn’t take away from the double-take we all find ourselves doing when there’s a major shift in the power balance of a division or conference. 

Through the decade, Indianapolis has been the cerebral team of the NFL, with Peyton Manning performing with the precision of a surgeon while checking defenses at the line of scrimmage. While the Colts have been accused of playing soft (though that subsided once they crossed the hump and won a Super Bowl), they’ve never been accused of mental weakness.

Who’s outsmarting the league this year? The Buffalo Bills, with their Ivy League-educated head coach and quarterback. Trent Edwards is completing 70-percent of his passes in an offense that is based on a power running game and a passing attack of calculated risks. Dick Jauron has his team playing heads-up ball in every facet of the game, including a defense that is held together by an undersized-but-intelligent linebacker, Paul Posluzny.

Buffalo has won against strong coaching (Seattle), on the road (Jacksonville), and coming from behind (Oakland). If they continue to combine their headiness with hard-hitting defense and a power running game, who is going to stop Buffalo?

One of the teams the Bills defeated, Jacksonville, has a reputation for being the AFC’s smash-mouth team (alongside a Pittsburgh team that was out-muscled by the Jags in last year’s playoffs). Jack Del Rio’s club has been known to bowl people over on both sides of the ball. Their punishing defense and two-headed ground attack have made them the biggest threat to Indianapolis’ entitlement to the AFC South crown.

While Jacksonville’s struggles early this season can be partly attributed to an offensive line that is tarnished with injuries, it appears that Jeff Fisher’s Tennessee Titans have committed identity theft – becoming the new AFC South team to boast a rattling defense and double-team running game.

With Chris Johnson, the explosive rookie from East Carolina, playing the role of Maurice Jones-Drew, and LenDale White finding his niche as a between-the-tackles, short-yardage back, the Titans can win without a glitzy passing assault.

Pacman who? The Titans have fully recovered from the loss of troubled defensive back Adam Jones, with a defensive unit that is complete from the front seven to the secondary. Kyle Vandenbosch and Albert Haynesworth anchor a defensive line that is equally terrorizing to the run and pass.

Like Jacksonville in the past few seasons, the challenge for Tennessee will be to establish a mistake-free passing game that factors into the offensive scheme just often enough to keep their opponent’s safety out of the box.

Denver looks like the league’s next great offense-only team.

While New Orleans and Cleveland were possible preseason favorites to win plenty of 38-35 games this year, it is Denver that looks like the best equipped to win those “I dare you stop us” contests this season.

Jay Cutler is healthier than ever after addressing his Diabetes, and stud wide receiver Brandon Marshall has found an adequate second fiddle in Eddie Royal, the small, quick rookie out of Virginia Tech. Toss in Tony Scheffler, an above-average receiving tight end, and the classic Mike Shannahan zone blocking scheme that allows any running back (this year it’s Selvin Young) to run for 1,200 yards, and the Broncos have an offense that can cause fits for any defense in the league.

Denver is 3-0, and the NFC division on their schedule this season is the South, so a 12-win season is a realistic hope for Broncos fans.

Good lines from Dunn and Wright

Wright: So, let me cut to the chase. I’d really like you to tell me how that comes out for you at the moment in relation to those several passages, three or four at least in Paul, where he talks quite explicitly about a final judgment according to works. Now, whenever I mention anything about a final judgment according to works, somebody pops up like a jack-in-the-box and says that I’m going soft on justification by faith. What do you do with all that?

 Dunn: This is right. I get the same rebukes thrown at me: “Ah, you’re going down the Pelagian route! You’re a semi-Pelagian!” I just have to say, there is this emphasis in Paul on judgment according to works. He expects his converts to do good, to produce the fruit of the Spirit, the harvest of righteousness. He hopes to be able to present his converts before God’s throne, the throne of Christ, “irreproachable,” “blameless,” “mature,” “perfect.” If your only theology is that the believer is a sinner, as much a sinner until the day he or she dies as from the day of conversion, you’re missing out that whole dimension.

I don’t disagree with the fact that we always remain sinners, and every time we come to God we come as sinners, but there is this other dimension of Paul that has to be taken seriously, and if you don’t take it seriously, you’re just ignoring large chunks of Paul’s letters.

Some of my own thoughts in relation to this quote:

1. It seems like the Pelagian card gets played a lot – not just against these guys, but elsewhere. From my understanding, the difference between Pelagianism and semi-Pelagianism is so great that we’d be better to have entirely words for the categories. And Charles Finney should get a third category all to himself.

2. What Dunn says about tagging the believer with the sin label rings true. How can the believer remain in the sludge of sin through his or her Christian journey without becoming a testimony to the impotence of Christ’s work? Obedience in the Way of Jesus should lead to significant transformation.

3. John Wesley’s reservation toward a theology of total depravity was subtle but necessary. Wesley confessed humanity as radically depraved – avoiding the temptation for exaggeration, hyperbole, and false certainty that lured some theologians before him. Depravity is obvious – look around – but a theology of total depravity does not reconcile well with the point of Eden and the message of the Resurrection. To Wesley, God’s prevenient grace allows depraved people to pursue and desire Him, even before a saving experience of Christ. For Wesley, God’s grace is even more powerful than Adam’s fall, and for every contribution to brokenness thereafter.

 

Best time of the year

It’s finally here.

The funniest serious thing I’ve read all week

This morning I was reading through a January 2008 article by Sally Morgenthaler, titled “RetroWomen: The Rise of Gender Fundamentalism.” While the entire article is worth reading (she has a lot of good thoughts), the portion of the article that blew my mind had to do with Mark Driscoll and his clones up in Seattle, and their views on gender roles. One person quoted in Morgenthaler’s article compares it to the view of women held in Islamic Fundamentalism, which makes me wonder: if one of things that the US Army boasts of when talking about progress in the Middle East is the liberation of oppressed women, when is the Army going to storm Seattle?

Here a portion of the article:

At MarsHill Church in Seattle (a congregation of mostly twenty and thirty-somethings), women are regularly encouraged to leave education and professional careers behind, embrace homemaking, and do their part to repopulate their godless city with Christians. In a recent Salonmagazine article, one attendee, Judy, reflects on her choice:

“Judy no longer reads secular books or speaks to her old friends. She is now a deacon at Mars Hill and is responsible for planning the weddings held there, which always include a biblical explanation of marriage and gender roles; each year Mars Hill averages about one hundred marriages between couples within the congregation, all of whom must agree with (the doctrine of wifely submission). Between her marriage ministry, the women’s Bible study she runs, her two small children, and taking care of her husband and her home, Judy says she doesn’t have time for many relationships anyway, and when she starts to home-school her kids soon, her time will be even tighter. ‘It’s not what I ever imagined…or even what I ever wanted, but it’s my duty now, and I have to learn to live with that.’”

Evidently, Seattle isn’t the only city Mars Hill Church is targeting for its fundamentalist message about women’s roles. According to the article, Senior Pastor Mark Driscoll wants to take this message of extreme role-ism to the rest of the nation, and is using a large, influential church planting group to do it.

I guess it’s time for Americans to duck-and-cover. You can read the entirety Morgenthaler’s article, here.

“What in the name of me is going on here?”

The Jesus videos are kind of old news, but every now and then I meet someone who hasn’t seen them, which makes it worth posting them here. (Plus they have decent replay value if you watched them awhile back.) Anyway, a church in North Carolina (I believe) did all of the voice-overs to make some good points about popular misconceptions of Christ.