The Hogs: Week 9

Three words for the Arkansas Razorbacks today: Avoid looking ahead.

Next Saturday, the Hogs travel to Columbia, SC, to take on the #20-ranked Gamecocks of South Carolina. It will be a tough road contest against the only team to beat the Alabama Crimson Tide so far this year.

But that's next Saturday. Tonight, the Vanderbilt Commodores come calling to Razorback Stadium. Now Vandy is not having a good year, and Arkansas is a three touchdown favorite to win. Arkansas may be shorthanded, though - QB Ryan Mallett and WRs Greg Childs and Joe Adams have all been dealing with injuries that could either limit their effectiveness or sideline them entirely.

Arkansas needs to make sure it doesn't get caught flat-footed. Vandy beat the Hogs in Fayetteville when they came to town a few years ago, and the following year the Hogs only managed to pull out a 21-19 squeaker of a win. Plus, the one SEC win that Vandy has to its credit this year was on the road against Ole Miss.

The Hogs ought to win this game handily, but something about it worries me. Let's just hope Coach Petrino and his crew have got the players focused on the task at hand. Here's the info...

Last week: Arkansas 38, Ole Miss 24 (My pick: Arkansas 42, Ole Miss 28)

Arkansas' Overall Record: 5-2 (Me: 6-1)

Today's Game: Arkansas Razorbacks Vs. Vanderbilt Commodores

Location: Razorback Stadium - Fayetteville, AR

Prediction: Arkansas 35, Vanderbilt 21

Reason:
Yes, the Razorbacks have some injuries at their skill positions. And yes, there's always the danger that they'll get caught looking ahead to the South Carolina game. But this is a weak Vanderbilt team coming into town to play an Arkansas squad that is good even without every player at 100%. I'm not sure the Hogs will win by the three TDs that the current line suggests, but I do think they'll get the victory.

"America's Best Theologian"

I recently came across the Time Magazine article from 2001 that named Stanley Hauerwas as "American's Best Theologian."

If I remember correctly, Hauerwas responded to the recognition by saying something like, "'Best' is not a theological category."

The irony of such a distinction by Time will not be lost for those who are familiar with Hauerwas' perspective on the Christian faith. To paraphrase something he might say, the Church should be a more determinative category for Christians than America.

If you'd like to read the article, it is available at this link.

--------------------------------

Other links:

Stanley Hauerwas' memoir, Hannah's Child, was published earlier this year. Hauerwas wrote an essay for the Huffington Post about his most recent book which you can find here.

There is also a very recent video interview with the Guardian (UK), which is available at this link.

Fighting an Illiterate Church

Do we have an illiterate church?

I don't mean illiterate as in not being able to read and write.

No, I mean illiterate as in not knowing the basics of the Christian faith.

Dan Dick has recently written an excellent article on this very issue. He sees Christian illiteracy as showing up in four areas: prayer, stewardship, evangelism, and Bible. And in his view, there is little good in trying to plant new congregations or revitalize existing ones without attention to these core areas of our faith.

"In our fever to grow, get new people, build more buildings, pay our bills and keep up with the newest 7 Steps, 12 Keys, 40 Days programs," Dick writes, "we have drifted from the basics. We have cultivated a Christian culture of biblically illiterate, nominally connected, scarcity-minded non-evangelicals."

In Dick's experience, the problem isn't a lack of hunger on the part of the laity. On the contrary, he finds that they consistently wish they knew more about the Bible, prayer, and the calling of discipleship. They simply don't have anyone teaching them.

There's a significant part of Dick's commentary that is aimed at the clergy. And rightly so. The whole ministry of the church should not be loaded on the backs of the elders and deacons of the church, of course. But as the pastoral leaders, it is up to the clergy to actually lead.

Teaching the essentials of the faith should be a primary component of all pastoral leadership. We do way too much in the church that amounts to little more than playing at dolls. There are great riches of the Christian tradition which could be utilized as a means of grace if we would but teach them to our laity.

And you know what? The better trained and formed our laity become, the more they will be willing to step forward in leadership roles to help nurture discipleship in others.

If you haven't read Dan Dick's commentary, you really need to do so. Find it at this link. And feel free to offer your comments!

Note: Dan Dick blogs at United Methodeviations.

The Hogs: Week 8

It's Hogs v. Rebels Today

Sometimes it's better to be wrong than right.

Believe me, I wish I had been wrong about the Arkansas-Auburn matchup last week. Well, actually I was wrong in a way. But only about how high the ceiling on scoring would be. The final tally was Auburn 65, Arkansas 43 - in a game that set the SEC scoring record for games finished in regulation. 

The Hogs ought to be able to win every time out when the offense puts up 43 points. It either shows how far our defense still has to go to be a real SEC-caliber squad, or else it shows how unstoppable Auburn QB Cam Newton really is. (Of course, it could be a combination of both.) 

Then again, Arkansas was victimized on two calls that replay officials refused to overturn. One resulted in an Auburn TD and the other led to a TD in short order. Take those away and the fourth quarter might have happened very differently. But as it was, our backup QB Tyler Wilson - who had played heroically in place of an injured Ryan Mallett - tried to do too much and threw a couple of interceptions. In the track meet of a game the two teams were playing, that was simply too much to overcome.

Now it's time to leave the past in the past. We need to look forward to what is possible for the balance of this season. There will be no trip to Atlanta for the SEC Championship Game, but the Razorbacks can still improve quite a bit over last year's Liberty Bowl invite. If they win out, a Capital One bowl invitation is not out of the question. A more likely 9-3 finish would certainly earn them a Cotton Bowl berth. That would be a big step up for the program in Bobby Petrino's third year as head coach. And considering the kind of grit Tyler Wilson showed last Saturday and the fact that most of our skill position players on offense are underclassmen, we'd be primed to keep moving ahead in Year 4. (That's assuming Mallett enters the NFL draft after this year, which I think is likely.)

Today's tilt at Razorback Stadium brings an old familiar face into town: The Hogs are taking on the Houston Nutt-led Ole Miss Rebels. Houston Nutt was the Arkansas coach for a decade, leaving after the 2007 season for Oxford amid a storm cloud of controversy that stretched back over the previous two seasons. He's gotten the better of his old team in his first two tries as coach at Ole Miss, including a 30-17 victory last year. And the connections between Arkansas and Nutt continue to linger in the minds of coaches and players on both sides - a fact shown in a good article earlier this week from the AP.

Nutt's luck will run out today. The Hogs will be looking to get back on course after the defeat last week, and Ole Miss doesn't have near the personnel that Auburn did. Plus, Nutt's teams do consistently bad in conference road games against quality opponents (something that was always incredibly frustrating when he was the Arkansas HC).

I felt pretty sure we were going to get beat last week, and we did. I feel just as sure that we are going to come out on top this weekend. I'll pick us by a couple of TDs, and if I had more confidence in our second-half offense, I'd call the margin of victory even wider. Here's the details... 

Last week: Arkansas 43, Auburn 65 (My pick: Arkansas 28, Auburn 35)

Arkansas' Overall Record: 4-2 (Me: 5-1)

Today's Game: Arkansas Razorbacks Vs. Ole Miss Rebels

Location: Razorback Stadium - Fayetteville, AR

Prediction: Arkansas 42, Ole Miss 28

Reason:
This year's Rebels have looked uneven at best. Losing to I-AA Jacksonville State is a sign that Nutt's team has got significant personnel issues. QB Jeremiah Masoli might be better than Nutt's other options, but he hasn't been the savior-figure some thought he would when he transferred after getting booted off the Oregon football team. The Hogs, on the other hand, are playing at home with a double desire to win: to get back on track after the track meet-loss at Auburn, and to beat Nutt himself before a home crowd after two straight years of losses to their former coach. The margin may well be wider than 2 TDs. I think Arkansas is going to come hard out of the gate and not look back in this one. Hogs win big.

Hope and Resurrection in Chile

I posted about the rescue of the 33 Chilean miners a few days ago when all of the men made it back up to the surface.

This story has really stayed with me, though. So I've used a column space in the United Methodist Reporter to reflect on it in a little more depth. You can access the online version of the column at this link.

One of the things that is so remarkable to me about this story is how different it is from the kind of fare that usually captures the world's attention. Disaster is usually the stuff of compelling news - whether natural or man-made.

But not this time. This time, disaster was averted and a happy ending really did come about. Like Lazarus, those men came up out of the earth not dead but very much alive.

If only we focused our news cameras - and our attention - on stories of hope & resurrection more often.

Distributing Qur'ans - A Christian act?

A recent news story caught my eye. The Massachusetts Bible Society has recently announced that it will purchase and distribute copies of the Qur'an - the holy book of Islam - to Muslims in prisons, hospitals, homeless shelters, and other locations.

The Massachusetts Bible Society claimed originally to be undertaking the project as a way to distribute two Qur'ans for every one that would be burned in the planned demonstration by the Rev. Terry Jones and his congregation at the Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida. Rev. Jones ended up deciding against burning any Qur'ans, yet the the program of the Society has moved forward anyway.

[Before I wade any deeper into these troubled waters, let me say this at the outset: The whole issue raised by Rev. Jones' intended book burning is volatile and complex, and it calls for Christians to reflect on it with an appropriate level of sensitivity while also practicing rigor in the way we think about inter-religious dialogue and our own faith witness.]

The Authority of Scripture
Like most Christians, I am categorically opposed to the kind of book-burning that the minister from Florida was planning until he was persuaded otherwise. It does not seem to me that intentionally inflammatory actions like destroying the sacred text of another religion can do anything for the Christian witness to the truth of the gospel. Even beyond that, it strikes me as an act of extreme symbolic violence. And violence - whether symbolic or actual - is simply counter to the love we find in Jesus Christ (and with which we are called to love one another).

My opposition to such actions doesn't mean that I think it is an acceptable Christian practice to evangelize by purchasing and distributing another religion's sacred text, though. In fact, I think it is a fundamentally incoherent act - and by that, I mean "incoherent" for an evangelistic organization whose proclaimed mission it is to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Part of this simply has to do with how we view Scriptural authority - both related to our own Bible and any other religion's scripture (including the Qur'an). If we confess a canon of Scripture that we understand to be the definitive revelation of God, and if we believe that other claimed revelations of God that are contained in texts and themselves assert to be authoritative are thereby false or at least deeply flawed, then it makes no sense to evangelize by distributing those other texts as Christian people. To "evangelize" is to spread the good news. If we do not believe the Qur'an contains the good news (i.e., the gospel), then why would we give it to anyone - Muslim or otherwise?

Ah, but what about the issue of compassion? I imagine that's the response some would use to counter what I'm saying about evangelism: It's not evangelism, it's compassion, they might say. It's a sign of our peacefulness and of our desire for hatred to not be associated with anything Christians say or do.

And here's the way I would respond to that: I agree that Christians should not hate; I agree, moreover, that Christians should be peacemakers. But to suggest that the only way - or even the best way - to show compassion and practice peacefulness is for one group of Christians to pass out Qur'ans when another group burns them is to posit a zero-sum game where one does not exist. There are plenty of other ways Christians can show compassion toward Muslims other than doing their missionary work for them. And to persist in such activity even when not a single Qur'an was burned by the Florida pastor and his church is to take the reasoning of the zero-sum game and extend it to even more bizarre lengths. ("Well, he didn't burn the Qur'ans and so our professed need to give out new Qur'ans no longer holds, but we are still convinced it is the right thing to do.")

Even more bizarre is some of the reasoning offered on the Mass Bible Society's website. They say, for instance, "As people of the Book, we are joined to Islam and Judaism in a special way and as an organization that has sought to put that Book into people's hands for 201 years, we cannot stand idly by while the sacred text of a sister religion is burned as our beloved Bibles once were ... For 201 years we have given the Bible to those without access. In response to Rev. Jones['] despicable act, we are prepared to give two Qur'ans for every one that Rev. Jones burns."

Leaving aside for the moment that Rev. Jones' "despicable act" never occurred, how does it follow that a Society whose mission is understood to be the distribution of the Christian Bible should feel compelled to distribute the sacred book of another religion and one - moreover - that believes much of what is claimed about Jesus Christ in the New Testament is false?

Muslims as a rule take their own Scriptural text very seriously. And I would guess that few, if any, Muslim organizations would even consider passing out Christian Bibles - regardless of how many got burned in some other location by Muslims not affiliated with them. In fact, if I were a Muslim and read about the Massachusetts Bible Society's program, I'd find it incredulous. How can you take a people who claim to be constituted by the revelation of God contained in a particular holy book seriously under those circumstances?

A Better Option: Scriptural Reasoning
Those concerned with the way adherents of different religions should treat one another (and one another's sacred books) should take a look at the practice that Peter Oochs at the University of Virginia and many others have been developing over the past couple of decades. It's called Scriptural Reasoning, and it intentionally brings together Jewish, Christian, and Muslim believers so that they can spend time reading carefully with one another. (Oochs himself is Jewish.)

In Scriptural Reasoning, the idea is not that we sink to the lowest common denominator and toss out those parts of our holy books that are at odds with one another. On the contrary, those involved with this practice don't shy away from the tough issues at all. The Scriptural Reasoning website describes the kind of interaction that goes on between Jews, Christians, and Muslims as akin to the biblical idea of the "Tent of Meeting."

I have a close friend who has engaged in Scriptural Reasoning groups with Oochs, and he has told me how remarkable it is to see what happens when the adherents of the three Abrahamic faiths get together in this kind of forum. The conversations can be pointed and even argumentative, but they are conducted in an environment of mutual respect and good will. That's responsible interreligious dialogue, in my opinion.

Citizenship and Discipleship: There's a Difference
It's interesting to me that - as of this posting - the running story about this whole issue on the Massachusetts Bible Society's website still features a photograph of a book being consumed by a raging fire. And the story continues to be entitled, "They Burn One, We Give Two!" This is the case, despite the fact that nobody burned anything at all. And even though the original impetus for the "Burn One, Give Two" program no longer holds, the Society's updates continue to use it as the reason for their activity.

Dr. Stanley Hauerwas at Duke Divinity School is a theologian famous for his aphorisms. I have heard him say on many occasions that "The story of Christian ethics in America is not about Christianity; it's about America." There are a lot of Hauerwas' core convictions about theological ethics wrapped up in that sentence, and he unpacks them in numerous ways in his many publications. At least one of those convictions is this: American Christians typically take the socio-political structures and norms of life in a liberal democracy (America) much more seriously than they do their professed faith (Christianity). And that shows up in what they are willing to say, what they are willing to do, and how they are willing to live.

The program of the Massachusetts Bible Society might well mark its members as good Americans in this regard. But it doesn't mean that there's anything coherently Christian about what they're doing. That's probably the sign of an organization that has either stopped thinking rigorously about its theology (as opposed to its citizenship) or doesn't have a strong enough ecclesiology to allow it to think intelligibly about its form of life as it is constituted in distinction to other options available in society at large.

Or it could be a combination of both.

The Hogs: Week 7

What to make of the Arkansas Razorbacks?

With a an overall record of 4-1 and an SEC conference record of 1-1, the Hogs are ranked #12 in the nation in this week's AP poll. The only loss came in a 24-20 heartbreaker against Alabama, who was ranked #1 at the time. The Hogs have got one of the most prolific passers in college football in QB Ryan Mallett, and he's got a stellar group of receivers to whom he can throw on every down.

So why doesn't anyone feel confident about Arkansas? Just take a look at the AP poll, for instance. The Razorbacks were actually ranked #11 last week, went out and beat a solid Texas A&M team at a neutral site location, and then proceeded to fall in the rankings to the #12 slot they occupy now.

But you know what? I don't blame the sportswriters for punishing the Hogs in the rankings. With the ability Arkansas has got on both sides of the ball, they should have beat the Aggies by 3 TDs. (And that's exactly what I said in my post last weekend.) Instead, they struggled mightily in the second half and had to rely on a stingy defense in order to leave Dallas with the win. Anyone watching the Hogs in the second half last week would not have thought they were looking at a Top-15 team. And now they've got to go on the road to take on the undefeated, #7-ranked Auburn Tigers.

That dismal offensive second half against Texas A&M wasn't an isolated incident, either. Since getting past the cream puffs of the schedule, Arkansas has struggled offensively in the second half against every one of its higher-calibre opponents: Georgia, Alabama, and Texas A&M. Frankly, we're pretty lucky to have gone 2-1 in those last three games. We just as easily could have gone 0-3 in them.

The good news at this point in the season is that the Arkansas defense seems much improved and only getting stronger as the season wears on. That's the best takeaway from the game last week against the Aggies. Whether that defense is good enough to stop QB Cam Newton and the Auburn Tigers today remains to be seen.

The bad news for the Hogs right now is really two-fold:

1) Our running game is still way too anemic. The game RB Knile Davis turned in last week was encouraging, but we're going to need a lot more where that came from.

2) Ryan Mallett seems to keep losing his focus in the second half, leading to our offense grinding to a halt.  Now I don't want to put too much of our second-half woes on Mallett's shoulders, so don't get me wrong. We have had way too many dumb penalties, and plenty of Mallett's passes have simply been dropped by his receivers. But Mallett is in his second year as the Arkansas starter and his fourth overall year of college football. We keep hearing that he's one of the great ones, and the great ones find a way to make their teams better.

As I see it and with things as they stand now, we're not likely to get to 10 or 11 wins this year. We play Auburn, South Carolina, and a resurgent Mississippi State on the road; all that plus the always-dangers LSU Tigers coming to Little Rock (and seeming to catch every break they need this year) means the Hogs have got a tough road ahead of them in the remaining 7 games on the regular schedule. They need to be firing on all cylinders to finish up with better than an invite to the Liberty Bowl.

So that's a long and tortured way of saying that I just can't predict a Razorbacks victory today. I got that "Oh, no," gnawing sense of anxiety in my stomach by about Tuesday of this week. That's never a good sign. So without further adieu, here's the prediction...


Last week: Arkansas 24, Texas A&M 21 (My pick: Arkansas 42, Texas A&M 21)

Arkansas' Overall Record: 4-1 (Me: 4-1)

Saturday's Game: Arkansas Razorbacks Vs. Auburn Tigers

Location: Jordan-Hare Stadium - Auburn, AL

Prediction: Arkansas 28, Auburn 35

Reason:
After consulting with the Littlest Hog, we've both decided we can't pick the Hogs in an SEC road game against a quality opponent right now. As much as it pains both me and her to predict an Auburn victory, we're following the same logic we did going into the Alabama game a few weeks back. In that week's post, I said I was going to keep picking the Hogs until they gave me a reason to do otherwise. (They were undefeated and had just pulled out a tough victory on the road against Georgia at the time, if you'll remember.) Well, now the Hogs have given me just the kind of reason I was talking about. They can't seem to put together a strong second half against anybody of consequence, and now they're going down to Auburn to face one of the most dangerous QB's in the country. Cam Newton is a guy who can beat you with his arm or his legs, and he's got OC Gus Malzahn directing his offense. All that just means that the Hogs are going to need to pack their lunch. 'Cause win or lose, they're gonna be in the thick of it all day long.


I hope I'm wrong -- I hope Arkansas figures out its running game and that Ryan Mallett hits his targets as well in the 3rd and 4th quarters as he does in the 1st and 2nd. But I can't say I feel great about it in the leadup to kickoff. So come on, Hogs - Prove me wrong!

[BONUS: There was a great post earlier this week by ESPN writer Chris Low that compares the two QB's for today's game - Arkansas' Ryan Mallett and Auburn's Cam Newton. You can find Low's article at this link.]

Leadership - What does it take?

My new column in the United Methodist Reporter engages the first of the "Four Areas of Focus" that make up the current connection-wide ministry emphasis of the United Methodist Church. You can find the column at this link.

The Four Areas of Focus call for the following as the collective emphasis of the UMC's ministry:

1) Developing principled Christian leaders for the church and the world;

2) Creating new places for new people by starting new congregations and renewing existing ones;

3) Engaging in ministry with the poor;

4) Stamping out killer diseases by improving health globally.

When I read those four statements, I've got to admit that I'm not sure they are the specific ones I would have chosen if I were going to state definitively how our church should be marshaling its resources. (Or at least I'm not sure I would have worded them in the same way.)

But that said, the four areas do have a lot to recommend them. For one, they certainly name four great needs with which practically everyone can agree. And for another, they are specific enough to be understandable but broad enough that they can be contextualized in different ministry settings. My sense is that the Council of Bishops and Connectional Table leadership that developed the four areas were looking for just that quality: guiding ideas that individuals, congregations, and annual conferences could get behind while framing them within their own local contexts.

I am personally attracted to the first area of focus - leadership development - for a number of reasons. A lot of it probably has to do with my primary setting in ministry right now, which is at Duke Divinity School. As I work toward finishing my Th.D degree in historical theology, I serve as a preceptor (that is, teaching assistant) and instructor in the seminary's spiritual formation program. In those roles, I get to see a lot of students in our M.Div program as they work out their sense of vocation both academically and pastorally. These are the church's future leaders. And I've got to say, the quality of students I see and the eagerness they have to be in ministry for the sake of Jesus Christ both give me a great sense of hope about the church's future.

Then again, I don't think there is any easy formula to good leadership development. That's what my column is about. As always, your feedback is welcome and encouraged.

33 Miners, Alive and Well

News outlets are reporting that the last of the 33 trapped Chilean miners has now been rescued. After their 69-day ordeal spent almost a half-mile underground, all the men are now safely back out in the open air. (Thanks be to God!)

If you haven't been following this story, you should check out a story or two about it (here's one about how each of the men emerged from the mine, and here's another one about the remarkable Phoenix capsule that was used to ferry the miners up to the surface).

The miners' ordeal is a testament to the strength of the human spirit and the ability to form community in the most desperate of circumstances. Their underground prison did not apparently descend into some kind of "Lord of the Flies" nightmare. Far from it, in fact. The men rationed food and water until more could be delivered to them. They cared for one another. And they looked to God for strength and hope.

I cannot imagine what their experience must have been like. But in one indication of how trying it was for some, see this story where rescued miner Mario Sepulveda describes it by saying, "I was with God, and I was with the devil. They fought. And God won."

 I've been struck by the number of people here in the United States who have seemed captivated by this story. I've heard many prayers lifted up in worship and other public forums for the safety of those brave men. Thank God that they're terrible trial is now over, and that it ended happily. It's a reason for us all to count our blessings.

Clement of Alexandria on perfection

Clement of Alexandria (c.150-215 A.D.) was a Christian philosopher and theologian associated with the rise of the "School of Alexandria" in the late second century. He spent a considerable part of his life in the Egyptian city of Alexandria at the mouth of the River Nile, where he studied under Pantaenus and was influenced by him to see how the Christian revelation in Scripture could be explained and supported by utilizing the philosophy of Middle Platonism.

Clement assumed the role of central Christian teacher in Alexandria after Pantaenus' death. Because Alexandria had long been considered one of the intellectual centers of the Greek world, the city attracted people eager to study with figures like Clement who understood biblical theology and Platonic philosophy as two aspects of the same truth.

Eusebius of Caesarea quotes Clement in various parts of his Ecclesiastical History, and he uses him as an historical source. But when he introduces Clement within the chronology of the church's development in Alexandria, he says rather simply, "In his time Clement was noted at Alexandria for his patient study of Holy Scripture" (Ecc Hist, 5.11). That's a sparse description for a theologian who was foundational for the development of the Alexandrian theology that ultimately had a profound influence on subsequent Christian thought.

Following Clement, figures such as Origen, Athanasius, and Cyril, all made substantive contributions to the development of Christian doctrine. Origen, for instance, was a theological giant, significantly influencing Christian understandings that ranged from the doctrine of God to biblical interpretation. The Cappadocian Fathers, who helped to work out the implications of the Council of Nicea for the doctrine of the Trinity in the late fourth century, were influenced by Origen's thought. And Origen himself was a pupil of Clement's; Origen's view of the Logos and his allegorical interpretation of the Bible most probably received their initial direction under Clement's tutelage.

One of Clement's contributions to Christian theology is in his expression of the doctrine of Christian perfection. In fact, John Wesley himself indicated that his apologetic treatise, "The Character of a Methodist," was inspired by Clement's discussion of perfection in the Stromateis (or, Miscellanies).

Clement focuses on the meaning of perfection - and the mode of life one must adopt to aim toward it - in Stromata 7. There, he alludes to the same passage of Scripture that Wesley and other figures in Christianity have pointed toward when discussing perfection - Philippians 3:12-14. This is what Clement says:

"Again, [the commandments of God] ordained that the soul that at any time improved as regards the knowledge of virtue and increase in righteousness, should obtain an improved position in the universe, pressing onwards at every step to a passionless state, until it comes to a perfect man, a preeminence at once of knowledge and of inheritance" (Misc. 7.2.10).

Clement does not believe every Christian should or even can walk this ascending path. But for the "true gnostic" as he calls such a person - the one who desires the wisdom of God - such a path is open. Christian gnostics will thus "keep on always moving to higher and yet higher regions, until they no longer greet the divine vision in or by means of mirrors, but with loving hearts feast for ever on the uncloying, never-ending sight, radiant in its transparent clearness, while throughout the endless ages they taste a never-wearying delight, and thus continue, all alike honoured with an identity of preeminence. This is the apprehensive vision of the pure in heart" (Misc. 7.3.13).

The life that one must adopt in order to move towards such perfection is one of contemplation - but for Clement, contemplation is only really possible when the passions (the appetites, desires) of the body have been tamed through a kind of holistic discipline. So he offers advice on proper (vegetarian) diet, the importance on perpetual prayer, the need to receive the "word of exhortation" from others, and the regular participation in the liturgy and worship of the church. All these together are practiced by the one who seeks that form of knowledge that is meant by the perfection in love (1 John 4:17). And, as Clement says, when the Christian gnostic has achieved such a perfection he does not stop. Rather, "the gnostic prays that the power of contemplation may grow and abide with him, just as the common man prays for a continuance of faith" (Misc. 7.7.46). Perfection is a state that can be attained, but it is also a state that admits of continual increase.

There are a few interesting things to note about Clement's doctrine of perfection besides the fact that it was influential on Wesley's own. One is that - like Gregory of Nyssa on perfection - Clement sees perfection not as a static state but as a path of continual sanctification.

And then another interesting point is that Clement adopts a much of the virtue language of the Greek philosophical tradition, which sees the character of a virtue as a certain habitus in the soul which is formed over time by either disciplined study or disciplined practice (depending on the nature of the virtue in question). By such discipline, our very souls are transformed and capable of a kind of knowledge we couldn't have possessed otherwise.

But what about faith, you might ask?

There's no sense in which this kind of virtue formation doesn't require faith. It's just that the faith it implies is a kind of trust that leads one to the willingness to adopt a form of life that the world would call foolish. I see it as a deeper understanding of faith that the almost magical notions of belief-without-understanding that are often traded in the contemporary church. And so I think an early church father like Clement has much to teach us still to this day.

The Hogs: Week 6

Arkansas lines up against Texas A&M today in Dallas

The Arkansas Razorbacks head into Dallas, Texas, today to take on the Aggies of Texas A&M in Jerry Jones' state-of-the-art Cowboys Stadium.

The big question for the Hogs today will be whether they can bounce back from their miserable 4th quarter performance against Alabama two weeks ago - a performance that cost them the game against the #1-ranked Crimson Tide.

It's always a question as to how a team will respond after having a week off following a tough loss. After consulting with the Littlest Hog, our thinking on it is this. There are two big factors playing into how the Hogs will likely fare. They look like this:

1) Much of the reason why Arkansas lost was the play of QB Ryan Mallett. Football is a team sport, and you can't blame any one player for a win or a loss. But Mallett's play in the final frame of the game was very disappointing. He threw two interceptions that were simply the result of bad decisions on his part. In that sense, his performance couldn't have been more different than the final drive against Georgia the previous week, when Mallett passed the ball down the field to win the game with a last-minute score. So a lot of the Razorbacks' chances today will be centered around how Mallett responds.

2) Commentators even before the season were raising questions about whether the Arkansas running game was going to be able to adequately support the high-octane passing attack. So far in the first two SEC games, that hasn't really happened. The only reason the Hogs had to make that desperate, last-minute drive against Georgia is because it couldn't manage the clock late in the game with its running game. And a major reason Alabama was able to come back against the Hogs (besides those Mallett interceptions) was once again the lack of a productive running game. So Broderick Green, Knile Davis, and Ronnie Wingo, Jr., are going to need to step it up to achieve at least a little balance in the Arkansas offense.

The recently-renewed annual match-up between Arkansas and Texas A&M is a renewal of an old Southwest Conference rivalry. Back in the SWC days, the Hogs usually got the better of the Aggies. Considering the porous defense Texas A&M showed against Oklahoma State in its last game and the Hogs' desire to avenge their own loss to Alabama, the Littlest Hog and I think today will see Arkansas once again victorious.

Last week: BYE

Arkansas' Overall Record: 3-1 (Me: 3-1)

Saturday's Game: Arkansas Razorbacks Vs. Texas A&M Aggies

Location: Cowboys Stadium - Arlington, TX

Prediction: Arkansas 42, Texas A&M 21

Reason:
The Aggies have got more holes in their defense than a block of Swiss cheese, which will mean a big day for Mallett and his receivers. An off-week focus on the Arkansas running game should mean improvement there as well. QB Jerrod Johnson of the Aggies can put up big numbers ... but he can also make big turnovers as well. Lost in the analysis over the Arkansas loss to Alabama two weeks ago is that the Arkansas defense basically shut down the #1-team in the country for 3 quarters. And you know what? Texas A&M ain't close to the #1-team in the country. Arkansas will win by 3 TDs.

The Hogs: Week 5

Last week the Littlest Hog exhausted herself cheering for Arkansas

The Hogs have got a Bye week this week, so there's no game to preview. That's just as well, considering the soul-crushing defeat to Alabama last weekend.

Being a lifelong Razorbacks fan can be tough. The Hogs have a frustrating tendency to raise hopes high, only to let them down again. I don't want to be overly-negative. This year's Arkansas team is quite good, and I think we have a chance to win 10 games or more. And hey - we did hang with the best team in the country for four quarters!

Next week the Hogs travel to Dallas to take on Texas A&M. The Aggies are an old rival from the Southwest Conference, so this game has some nostalgic importance for both sides. the University of Arkansas and Texas A&M agreed to a contract to play in Dallas for the next several years, which means that the Hogs will have a solid Big XII non-conference game on their schedule for the foreseeable future.

The Hogs prevailed in last year's game by a score of 47 to 19. Both teams have high-octane offenses this year, which should make for a good game. The Littlest Hog will make her prediction late next week, but she's already indicated that she expects a big Arkansas victory.