I’ve been tagged by Apprentice2Jesus to come up with Five Protestant Icons.
Here we go:
1. N.T. Wright—sitting at his feet on Jesus and Paul has really influenced my reading of the NT documents, esp. the Gospels and Paul.
2. Karl Barth—outside of my really wanting to get into the head of a Bultmann, this is the man in line.
3. Rudolf Bultmann—such a pioneer though wrong in so many ways. I so want to read his New Testament Theology.
4. James D.G. Dunn—lately I’ve been reading him on Paul and really would like to read more of him.
5. Gordon D. Fee—what else can I say, except that I’m a soft complementarian and he’s an egalitarian.
Now I hope I’m not charged with some kind of hero-worship or the like.
Consider yourself tagged.
Gordon D. Fee—what else can I say, except that I’m a soft complementarian and he’s an egalitarian.
You’re a Calvinist and he’s not? I think Fee should be an icon but I don’t know if he is.
As much as I don’t like much of his writing (as if I should be one to judge), I would think N.T. Wright has to be a good choice.
I can’t participate because I’m not experienced enough to get into the celebrity scholar thing.
Jeff
Jeff,
True. But I didn’t even think about that. Fee is an icon for me- consider his second-to-none God’s Empowering Presence. Does the count?
Ah, can’t go wrong with N.T. Wright.
Jeff, When I thought of different “icons” I didn’t necessarily think of theological greats. There are those we put a LOT of stock in and treat with incredibly high regard (whether others think it’s deserved or not). I mentioned Billy Graham in my post. Someone else suggested Jim Dobson. Certainly, while he is a lightening rod, he IS an American fundamentalist icon. Just some thoughts.
Apprentice,
I guess I sort of misunderstood what you were looking for.
I went with icons who have either impacted me or I want to really get into their thought, but who are well-known as well – the iconic element.
Five Revival Icons
George Whitefield – Great Awakening
Charles Finney – 1830′s Revival
William Seymour – Pentecostal Outpouring
Amiee Semple McPherson – 1920′s Four Square Revival
Evan Roberts – The Welsh Revival
These and several others are greatly admired in certain circles.
Really good thoughts! Thanks for playing along.
Duane,
Whitefield, yes. But Finney was too pragmatic for me. No offense meant.
Apprentice,
A couple of years ago and my list would have looked difference. Thanks for the exercise.
No offense taken on Finney. He had a huge impact on both in his day and on future generations with his “Lectures on Revivals”. I love reading Finney like I love eating ribs. The meat is some of the best, but there is a lot of bone I don’t swallow.
Duane,
But you do have the right approach: “eat the meat and spit out the bones.”