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Living + Hope: Lecture from Dr. Tony Campolo

Living + Hope addressed the complexities surrounding HIV/AIDS and what people can do to help those suffering from the virus. Through New Wine’s engagement with the pressing issue of HIV/AIDS, people were convicted to help the millions who are suffering from HIV/AIDS and be compassionate towards them. Guests at the conference included REACH Ministries, who “through the love of Jesus, extends compassionate care to those affected by life threatening illnesses and situations, focusing on the most isolated, children infected with HIV/AIDS and their families,” Dr. Tony Campolo, Honorary Chair of REACH Ministries, Todd Korthuis, M.D., Director of the HIV Program at the Oregon Health and Science University.

“Jesus was and is theologically conservative and compassionately liberal. U2’s Bono calls AIDS the modern day leprosy. God’s Son came down to earth to transform hearts and heal lives. We must seek to be his hands and feet today. We must reach out to those with modern day leprosy—those so often despised, misunderstood, and abandoned by the church and broader society. We must follow Jesus.” – Dr. Paul Louis Metzger

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Living + Hope: A Conference on HIV/AIDS

Living + Hope addressed the complexities surrounding HIV/AIDS and what people can do to help those suffering from the virus. Through New Wine’s engagement with the pressing issue of HIV/AIDS, people were convicted to help the millions who are suffering from HIV/AIDS and be compassionate towards them. Guests at the conference included REACH Ministries, who “through the love of Jesus, extends compassionate care to those affected by life threatening illnesses and situations, focusing on the most isolated, children infected with HIV/AIDS and their families,” Dr. Tony Campolo, Honorary Chair of REACH Ministries, Todd Korthuis, M.D., Director of the HIV Program at the Oregon Health and Science University.

“Jesus was and is theologically conservative and compassionately liberal. U2’s Bono calls AIDS the modern day leprosy. God’s Son came down to earth to transform hearts and heal lives. We must seek to be his hands and feet today. We must reach out to those with modern day leprosy—those so often despised, misunderstood, and abandoned by the church and broader society. We must follow Jesus.” – Dr. Paul Louis Metzger

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The Empire of the Empty Shrine: American Imperialism and the Church

This essay explores how the kind of emptiness or openness that lies at the heart of liberal capitalism has an unfortunate tendency to lend itself to the kind of constant expansion characteristic of empire. This emptiness and openness furthermore has a way of creating new forms of idolatry. The essay draws on the work of Andrew Bacevich to give an historical analysis of how the strategy of openness has lent itself to American imperial ambitions since the late 19th century. There follows a theological critique of empire based on a reading of Exodus 19-20. The essay concludes with some suggestions for how Christians should think about their primary political allegiance.

Click HERE to view the full article, response and rejoinder.

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Response to William T. Cavanaugh

This article is a response to “The Empire of the Empty Shrine: American Imperialism and the Church” by William T. Cavanaugh. Webb argues that theologians need to be careful about intervening in economic analysis without a sufficient understanding of how capitalism creates wealth. Moreover, he argues that globalization, understood as a process of opening markets and expanding opportunities for freedom, can be interpreted providentially as a means for Christian evangelization. One can believe that the United States is playing a significant role in that plan today without believing that the United States is “the bringer of salvation to the world.” Finally, the essay seeks to illuminate the understanding that the church should, unlike Cavanaugh writes, pressure the political to conform to basic Christian truths, if and when that is possible. The church should use the political to advance Christian virtues, if the process of doing so does not damage those virtues.