I know this is going to sound Wild and Wooly … but we are in a relatively quiet time, right? Now might be a good time to throw a “Brain-storming” ball of flames into our midst?
Or it can be a great, cold ball of metallic lead.
What if official invitations were sent to various denominational schools, asking for an annual “ambassadorial” volunteer who would communicate denominational questions to BioLogos, and formulate (or communicate) responses to BioLogos questions?
Naturally, many a school might decline such an honor. But there are So Many Schools out there … Lesser known schools would be motivated to make their mark in the Creationist community. I think it would be just a short time that we had 25 participating schools, with an annual rotation of volunteer ambassadors.
But here’s the rub - - the critical condition:
I think it would be best if there was a Window on this two-way communication - - where Forum participants could SEE and READ the two-way communication. But BioLogos would be equally careful about who they had responding to this “United Assembly” of denominational dimensions!
So - - to conclude:
25 Denominational Communicants - - delivering their questions and answers to a “Mini-Forum”.
The discussions in the Mini-Forum would be visible to all Forum readers.
There might be 5 BioLogos “Designated Hitters” assigned to support this discussion with the 25 - - a ratio of 1:5 seems workable. And if we ended up needing 12 DH’s or even 25 … that’s still a LOT of great discussion!
And presumably, observors to this BioLogos United Assembly (< !!!) would be able to contribute (helpful/supportive) ideas or proposed questions or proposed answers to the BioLogos DH’s.
This diverse discussion Within the United Assembly would also spark points of discussion in the existing forum of BioLogos.
Final Consideration - - maybe 25 is too many? Maybe it could be 12? Ahhhhhhh 12… what a perfect number!
I will be standing in the commons early tomorrow to make it easier for people to throw rocks at me. Let he (or she) who has never had a bad idea cast the first stone!
I’ve noticed that in recent weeks there has been a slow-down in postings …
Perhaps this is inevitable… or perhaps it is because some of the more vocal posters are taking a break.
During the lull I’ve been pondering a systematic way to introduce measured discussion and disputing onto the boards.
Bringing in official volunteers from the various Evangelical schools would add a certain drama and excitement to the discussions I think. And according to such an approach, I would fully expect to be “buffered” from these ambassadorial communicators…
I am not an evangelical. So I don’t have much standing. But I think it would add to the drama of BioLogos to have ardent academics (or academics in training) discussing the very issues they are studying!
Here are my thoughts. Like BioLogos, Many Evangelical schools and denominations have carefully worded faith statements that people are expected to sign or affirm. There are often a variety of positions or interpretations encompassed by the umbrella statement. People realize they can’t speak for everyone who is also affiliated with their school or denomination, and they aren’t always super keen on holding their own personal interpretation out for public scrutiny and dissection by certain influential blogger types who like heretic hunts. It is an unfortunate fact that in the Evangelical world people lose their jobs or damage their reputations when their public comments on evolution or inerrancy or other touchy subjects are deemed to have crossed a line that may not have been very clearly marked. It would be great to have a broader range of perspectives or concerns here, but I don’t think you realize what a tough sell what you are proposing is. Plus, in my somewhat limited experience, most Protestant denominations have a huge amount of theological diversity on secondary doctrinal issues within their ranks. The vast majority of them are not going to come up with some edict from on high telling their church members what they have to believe on human origins or the age of earth or whatnot.
Also, it seems to me that there is a certain ebb and flow to postings here. There are flurries of fascinating conversations and then periods when not much new is posted. At the moment, I think many are caught up with processing the results of the elections and investing their leisure reading time into getting their minds around that… when they’re not planning Thanksgiving and Christmas activities, trimming the tree, and hosting out-of-town guests.
This too shall pass. These topics are never far from public consciousness, and BioLogos is still the epicenter for many current origins-related discussions in Evangelical circles. So sooner or later someone will come here to insult intelligent design and we’ll start seeing more 1,000-word defense pieces by people whose names start with E. (I pick on him in an ever-friendly sort of way, I hope he knows.)
(I pick on him in an ever-friendly sort of way, I hope he knows.)