“The state does not take a merely temporal regulatory role and leave salvation in the hands of the church; rather, the modern state seeks to replace the church by itself becoming a soteriological institution.16 It is in this sense, then,… — James K.A. Smith Copy Share Image
“The body of Christ is that unique community of practice whose members own up to the fact that we don’t always love what we say we do—that the “devices and desires” of our hearts outstrip our best intentions. The practices… — James K.A. Smith Copy Share Image
“Jesus is a teacher who doesn’t just inform our intellect but forms our very loves. He isn’t content to simply deposit new ideas into… — James K.A. Smith Copy Share
“So it is precisely our allergy to repetition in worship that has undercut the counterformative power of Christian worship—because all kinds of secular liturgies… — James K.A. Smith Copy Share
“too often we look for the Spirit in the extraordinary when God has promised to be present in the ordinary.5” — James K.A. Smith Copy Share
“Formative Christian worship paints a picture of the beauty of the Lord--and a vision of the shalom he desires for creation--in a way that… — James K.A. Smith Copy Share
“Too much of our cultural analysis is rooted in thinking-thingism: we scan culture, listening for “messages,” bent on rooting out “false” teachings. But if… — James K.A. Smith Copy Share
“Worship, then, needs to be characterized by hospitality; it needs to be inviting. But at the same time, it should be inviting seekers into… — James K.A. Smith Copy Share
“Discipleship, we might say, is a way to curate your heart, to be attentive to and intentional about what you love.” — James K.A. Smith Copy Share
“Your deepest desire,” he observes, “is the one manifested by your daily life and habits.”6 This is because our action—our doing—bubbles up from our… — James K.A. Smith Copy Share
“Foucault. The seemingly disturbing, even Nietzschean claim that “power is knowledge” should push us to realize what MTV learned long ago: (a) the cultural… — James K.A. Smith Copy Share
“The doubter’s doubt is faith; his temptation is belief, and it is a temptation that has not been entirely quelled, even in a secular… — James K.A. Smith Copy Share
“Worship works from the top down, you might say. In worship we don’t just come to show God our devotion and give him our… — James K.A. Smith Copy Share
“While formally or structurally speaking, there are mechanisms of discipline operative in both the convent and the prison, in both the factory and the… — James K.A. Smith Copy Share
“Antoine de Saint-Exupéry captures this well: “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up people to collect wood and don’t assign them… — James K.A. Smith Copy Share
“Because of this Christian materialism, a catholic postmodernism (or postmodern catholicity) affirms sacramentality on two levels. On the one hand, it affirms a general… — James K.A. Smith Copy Share
