{"id":1016,"date":"2010-03-19T10:40:11","date_gmt":"2010-03-19T10:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/2010\/03\/caution-work-in-progress--a-theology-of-work.html"},"modified":"2010-03-19T10:40:11","modified_gmt":"2010-03-19T10:40:11","slug":"caution-work-in-progress-a-theology-of-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2010\/03\/caution-work-in-progress-a-theology-of-work.html","title":{"rendered":"Caution: Work in Progress– a Theology of Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"HARD-WORK.jpg\"<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

(Image courtesy of Google and Mr. Chester of the United Kingdom)<\/p>\n

I am working on a little book on work for Eerdmans.  I thought I’d test drive the Preface and see what you thought.  Let me know.  (BW3)<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

CAUTION— WORK IN
\nPROGRESS <\/p>\n

            <\/span><\/p>\n

I was leafing
\nthrough a newspaper shortly before Thanksgiving and came across a great
\npolitical cartoon.  <\/span>It depicted two
\nIndians carrying a dead turkey on a pole towards a table at which several New
\nEngland Puritans were sitting, apparently waiting to eat their Thanksgiving
\ndinner with the Natives.   <\/span>The Indians
\nwere far enough out of earshot not to be heard when one said to the other “I
\ndon’t care if they have a good work ethic, they are illegal aliens. They should
\ngo back to where they came from and enter the country legally and with our
\npermission.”  <\/span>I laughed for a good while
\nabout that reversal of the common perspective we hear in America today
\nabout so many illegal aliens.  <\/span>But the
\ncartoon also alluded to something that it was assumed a broad audience would
\nreadily know all about— the so call Puritan work ethic.   <\/span><\/p>\n

There is something
\nabout Christianity, and particularly Protestant Christianity that seems to
\nraise to a peculiar degree the issue of how we as a Christians should view work.  <\/span>Is it a blessing or a bane, is it a duty or a
\nprivilege, do we work to live, or live to work?   <\/span>Inquiring minds want to know.   <\/span>One thing is for sure— modern Americans,
\nincluding many Christians have little or no understanding of what the Bible
\nactually says about work, and it hardly informs their views on work vs. play,
\nor career vs. retirement or other related subjects, subjects we intend to explore
\nin this little study.  <\/span>And in one sense,
\nthey can hardly be blamed– Christian theologians have seldom addressed the
\ntopic of work!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ON DEFINING WORK  <\/span><\/p>\n

David Jensen in
\nhis recent study on work puts it this way— “[The] topic–human labor–is rather
\nforeign to most systematic theologies.  <\/span>Not
\noften have the codifiers of  <\/span>Christian
\ndoctrine explored the topic of work as an explicitly theological theme.”[1]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>  <\/span>If you survey the topical indexes in works of
\nBiblical and Systematic theology you will find the topic ‘work’ rarely in the
\nindex, because it is rarely discussed in the text!  <\/span>How odd especially when the Bible has so much
\nto say about work, past, present and future.  <\/span> <\/span>For
\nexample consider David Jensen’s helpful summary: “Biblical narratives overflow
\nwith work.  <\/span>Between the opening lines of
\nGenesis, which portray God as a worker, and the closing chapter of Revelation,
\nwith a vision of new creation, God labors. One of the distinguishing
\ncharacteristics of biblical faith is that God does not sit enthroned in heaven
\nremoved from work, willing things into existence by divine fiat. Unlike the
\ngods of the Greco-Roman mythologies, who absolve themselves of work– [or make
\nwork a punishment for troublesome persons, e.g. Sisyphus]–dining on nectar and
\nambrosia in heavenly rest and contemplation–the Biblical God works.”[2]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>  <\/span>But the Bible is by no means just about God
\nworking, it is also about God’s people working and their participation in work
\nthat God sees as good, endorses, and indeed participates in.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps part of
\nthe problem is, we have never bothered to ask and answer the question ‘what is
\nwork?’ from a Biblical point of view. 
\n<\/span>This is passing strange when we have so many workaholics in our culture,
\nthose who live to work, rather than work to live.  <\/span>Many economists would reduce the definition
\nof work to the lowest common denominator–whatever
\nwe do to live or survive<\/i>.  <\/span>The
\nproblem with this definition is not merely that it is too minimalist (after
\nall, running from an oncoming attacker, or swerving to avoid a car accident is
\nsomething you do to survive, but that is hardly what one would call work), but
\nthat it has no theological component. 
\n<\/span>Furthermore, eating and sleeping are not ‘work’ though we do them to
\nsurvive and thrive.  <\/span>    <\/span><\/p>\n

I like Fredrick Buechner’s definition of work–“the
\nplace where your deep gladness meets the world’s deep need”.[3]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>   <\/span>The problem with this definition is that one
\nmay take delight in making something that the world hardly needs, like the man
\nwho made the world’s largest ball of tinfoil, collecting, combining and toiling
\nover many years on his pet project.  <\/span>But
\nto be fair, Buechner stresses that work comes at the intersection of delight
\nand need<\/i>.  <\/span><\/p>\n

It is always rewarding to know you are doing
\nsomething that helps others, and very rewarding if you know you are doing
\nsomething that is so purposeful it saves lives. 
\n<\/span>But whether you take delight in it or not, if it meets genuine and crucial
\nneeds in the world, it is good work and should be done.  <\/span> <\/span>Buechner
\nis suggesting however that deep inside we are made for work, and when we find
\nour calling, purpose, vocation, ministry it will bring deep satisfaction when
\nwe do it.  <\/span>I can attest to this truth
\nmyself.  <\/span>I love preaching, teaching, and
\nwriting.  <\/span>It’s hard for me to imagine my
\nadult life without doing one or more of these things.  <\/span>These tasks bring me great joy and hopefully
\nbring others some considerable benefit.  
\n<\/span>But at the end of the day Buechner’s definition is not fully adequate.<\/p>\n

David Jensen settles for a definition of work that
\nhas a theological component–any activity undertaken with a sense of obligation
\nto self, others, one’s community or to one’s God.[4]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>   <\/span>The problem I have with this definition is
\nthat all activities<\/i> that a Christian
\nundertakes should fall under that last rubric, as well as others.  <\/span>By this I mean all work should be done as
\npart of one’s obligations placed on us by God, whatever else may also be the
\ncase, and all work must be doable as something that glorifies God and edifies
\nothers.  <\/span>This is precisely why I would
\nsay it is entirely debatable whether war can be called ‘legitimate work’ from a
\nChristian point of view–  <\/span>not if the
\nSermon on the Mount is supposed to describe how the disciple of Jesus is to
\nlive, work, and behave.<\/p>\n

A second attempt at defining work is made by Miroslav
\nWolf.  <\/span>He suggests:  <\/span>“Work is honest, purposeful, and
\nmethodologically specified social activity whose primary goal is the creation
\nof products or states of affairs that can satisfy the needs of working
\nindividuals or their co-creatures, or (if primarily an end in itself) activity
\nthat is necessary in order for acting individuals to satisfy their needs apart
\nfrom the need for the activity itself.”[5]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>   <\/span>In this definition, leisure is contrasted
\nwith work, but of course that still leaves a host of activities that do not
\nseem to naturally fall into either the category of leisure or work— eating
\nand sleeping for example, or even just breathing.  <\/span>Notice however the close connection between
\nwork and its purpose–to satisfy human needs (what sort is not specified).  <\/span><\/p>\n

What I find especially unsatisfactory about this
\ndefinition is its basic a-theological character.  <\/span>Volf’s real stress is on work as a means to an
\nend, namely meeting human needs.  <\/span>In this
\nway he can distinguish work from a hobby. 
\n<\/span>But in fact the activity undertaken as work can also be undertaken as
\nhobby, and in both cases be a means to an end of meeting a need which is extrinsic
\nto the workers need to do it.  <\/span>If I love
\nbuilding computers and I make one for my son as a birthday present, knowing that
\nhe needs a computer for work, I have made it as a gift for his birthday. I
\ncould have gone out and bought one with the same result.  <\/span>My labor was not compulsory to meet the
\nneed.   <\/span>And yet, just because I exercise
\nmy skills in something I love to do, (and do not do as part of my ‘job’), this
\ndoes not prevent what I am doing from being classified as either a hobby
\nactivity or work, or both!<\/p>\n

It will perhaps surprise you to discover how little
\ntheologians have actually discussed work, and in fact the first modern full
\ndress theology of work does not seem to have been written until the 1950s,
\nwhich I find astounding considering how much of our waking hours are consumed
\nby work.[6]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>   <\/span>But Volf is absolutely on the right track
\nwhen he stresses that coming up with a theology of work as vocation based
\nalmost entirely on the creation theology of the OT will not do, if we are
\nlooking to have a Christian theology of work. 
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

The coming of Christ has changed the eschatological
\nsituation. Volf puts it this way: “Christian life is life in the Spirit of the
\nnew creation or it is not Christian life at all. And the Spirit of God should
\ndetermine the whole life, spiritual as well as secular, of a Christian.  <\/span>Christian work must, therefore, be done under
\nthe inspiration of the Spirit and in the light of the coming new creation.”[7]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>  <\/span> <\/span>Now we
\nare getting somewhere!   <\/span>And right away
\nthere seems to be a clear implication–work that the Holy Spirit would never
\ninspire, should never be done by a Christian, say for example, creating pornography,
\nto take an easy example.  <\/span><\/p>\n

The Holy Spirit’s inspiration of work comes
\nautomatically with an ethical component. 
\n<\/span>The works of the flesh are not the works of the Spirit. We will say more
\non this.   <\/span>But it is not just that
\nChristian work is Spirit inspired and enabled, it is that Christian work looks
\nforward to the coming Kingdom on earth, the new creation, it does not merely
\nlive out of the old creation and its applicable rules.  <\/span>Thus one could offer as a Christian
\ndefinition of work any necessary and meaningful
\ntask that God calls and gifts a person to do and which can be undertaken to the
\nglory of God and for the edification and aid of human beings, being inspired by
\nthe Spirit and foreshadowing the realities of the new creation.  <\/span><\/i>To this we may add that any such work is
\nworthy of fair remuneration for “a workman is worthy of his hire”.   <\/span>  <\/span><\/p>\n

A great deal of the problem we have in America
\nin discussing our work is that our approach and attitudes about work are
\ngrounded in unbiblical myths of various kinds. Take for example the myth that
\nour lives should involve a period of work, which if done well then entitles us
\nto retirement, maybe even early retirement! 
\n<\/span>Where exactly is the notion of retirement found in the Bible?  <\/span> <\/span>Nowhere!  <\/span>Not even in the eschaton envisioned by the
\nprophets do we have images of a workless paradise.  <\/span><\/p>\n

Work was part of the original creation design, and it
\nappears to be in the works for the new creation as well.  <\/span>Work should be neither demonized nor
\ndivinized.[8]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>  <\/span>  <\/span>If we
\nwere to contrast for a moment however, the creation vs. the eschatological
\nvision of work in the Bible we could say that in the creation accounts work is
\nwhat the human was fitted for and commanded to do, whereas in the
\neschatological accounts it is what the Spirit inspires and gifts them to do,
\nand in which they find joy.  <\/span>Work is
\ninherent to being in God’s image for Gen. 1.26 says that we were created in
\nGod’s image ‘in order that’ we might have dominion over creation.<\/p>\n

 <\/span>Consider for a moment a famous, and famously
\nmisused and misquoted passage from Isaiah’s vision of the final future: “In the
\nlast days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest
\nof mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream
\nto it.  <\/span>Many peoples will come and say
\n‘Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of
\nJacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.’   <\/span>The Law shall go out from Zion,
\nthe Word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
\nHe will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares
\nand their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against
\nnation, nor will they train for war anymore. Come, house of Jacob, let us walk
\nin the light of the Lord.” (Isaiah 2.2-5).<\/i><\/p>\n

Our concern is
\nparticularly with the end of that quote. 
\n<\/span>When Isaiah envisions the eschatological age, or the last days, he does
\nnot envision a massive work stoppage. What he envisions is a massive war
\nstoppage, if we may put it that way.  
\n<\/span>The point of beating swords into plowshares and spears into pruning
\nhooks is so that the weapons of war may be turned into the tools of work.   <\/span>When Isaiah envisages the final or
\neschatological state of affairs his vision of shalom, well being, peace, is not
\nof a workless paradise, but of a world at peace worshipping the one true God
\nand working together rather than warring with each other.   <\/span>We see this very same sort of vision of the
\nfinal future in Isaiah 65.20-25:  <\/span><\/p>\n

No more shall there be in it
\nan infant who lives but a few days,
\nor an old man who does not fill out his days,
\nfor the young man shall die a hundred years old,
\nand the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.
\n21 <\/span>They shall build houses and inhabit them;
\nthey shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
\n22 <\/span>They shall not build and another inhabit;
\nthey shall not plant and another eat;
\nfor like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
\nand my chosen shall long enjoy <\/span> the work of
\ntheir hands.
\n23 <\/span>They shall not labor in vain
\nor bear children for calamity, <\/span>
\nfor they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord<\/span>,
\nand their descendants with them.
\n24 <\/span>Before they call I will answer;
\nwhile they are yet speaking I will hear.
\n25 <\/span>The wolf and the lamb shall graze together;
\nthe lion shall eat straw like the ox,
\nand dust shall be the serpent’s food.
\nThey shall not hurt or destroy
\nin all my holy mountain,”
\nsays the Lord<\/span>.<\/p>\n

We could compare
\nthese two Isaianic passages to Zech. 8.10-12 where again paradise involves a
\nwar stoppage not a work stoppage, so the crops can be sown, and their fruit
\nenjoyed in peace.  <\/span>Work apparently isn’t<\/i> the human dilemma, war and other
\nsorts of fallen human behavior is.   <\/span><\/p>\n

It is no accident
\nthat Jesus in his inaugural sermon in Nazareth
\n(Lk. 4) quotes the prophetic vision of Jubilee and suggests that his bringing
\nof such prophecies to pass, his bringing in of the Kingdom involves
\nwork–including the work of healing people.  <\/span>I quite agree with Miroslav Volf when he says
\nthat a Christian definition of work must take into account where history is
\ngoing in God’s hands and thus “a theological interpretation of work is only
\nvalid if it facilitates transformation of work toward ever-greater
\ncorrespondence with the coming new creation.”[9]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>   <\/span><\/p>\n

Thus we must be
\nconstantly asking, is this work that foreshadows the Kingdom and its ends and
\naims and character?   <\/span>The goal of human
\nhistory, or at least its end, according to Rev. 21-22 is that God, humankind
\nand creation will finally be brought back into harmony, shalom, positive
\nongoing relationship.  <\/span>Our eschatology
\nmust shape our vision of our tasks.[10]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a>  <\/span>These same passages envisage work continuing
\nin the Kingdom. Thus we must not over-emphasize the discontinuity between this
\nage and the age to come, when it comes to work.   <\/span><\/p>\n

Presumably,
\nwhatever is true, and good, and beautiful in life and human culture will be
\ncleansed of sin’s taint and remain in the new creation.   <\/span>Nothing good will be wasted, we will not be
\nlaboring in vain.  <\/span>The inherent value and
\ngoodness of work will be upheld in the Kingdom, just as the inherent goodness
\nand value of all creation will be upheld—“Creation itself…will be set free
\nfrom its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious freedom of the children of
\nGod” (Rom. 8.21).   <\/span><\/p>\n

As many
\ncommentators have noticed the vision of our final future in such prophetic passages
\nas  <\/span>the ones we have cited or alluded to,
\nseems to be largely a reprise of the vision found in Genesis 2–once a gardener
\nalways a gardener.  <\/span>The Endzeit is like the
\noriginal Urzeit in that there is no fallenness any more, no shadow over the
\nland, no laboring in vain, no winter without Christmas, as C.S. Lewis once put
\nit. 
\n<\/span>But there is laboring even in Paradise
\nthat came, and is to come! [11]<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/i><\/p>\n

This raises some
\nvery serious questions about the whole notion of retirement either in this life
\nor the life to come.  <\/span>Is it even a
\nBiblical idea, or does it even comport with Biblical ideas about our future
\nwhether individually or collectively when the Kingdom comes in full measure on
\nearth?   <\/span>These are the sort of things we
\nneed to explore in this little book in some depth.   <\/span>But one more story first.<\/p>\n

It was January
\n2009 and I was on sabbatical from Asbury Seminary, up in Vermont writing.  <\/span>I decided to take a morning and go to Weston
\nPriory and spend some time in prayer. 
\n<\/span>Most people’s vision of monasteries is that it is a place where there is
\na lot of prayer and worship and singing but otherwise not much goes on and not
\nmuch gets accomplished.   <\/span>This could
\nhardly be more false of most monasteries. 
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

The monks at
\nWeston priory followed the Benedictine rule of ‘Ora et Labora”, prayer and
\nlabor, or prayer and work, which includes making some wonderful maple syrup and
\ncheese and engaging in all sorts of charitable activities.  <\/span>These monks are hardly resting on their
\nlaurels late in life nor are they so heavenly minded that they have become no
\nearthly good.  <\/span> <\/span>Indeed, I would say they have the right
\nperspective on things for they knew that the ‘work’ of worship is the most
\nimportant activity that transpires on earth, the activity which most
\nforeshadows both the nature of heaven and the future of the Kingdom on earth.[12]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> <\/p>\n

As I was leaving
\nthe monastery I noticed a banner hanging just outside the little chapel.  <\/span>It quoted that great sage and prophet Jimi
\nHendrix who once said “when the power of love overcomes the love of power, the
\nworld will know peace.”   <\/span>Well, the monks
\nwere working on the basis of that belief and so was Jesus.  <\/span>Notice I used the word ‘working’.  <\/span>It’s high time for us to begin contemplating
\nthe meaning of work from a more Biblical, a more Kingdom point of view.  <\/span> <\/span>Let
\nthis preface serve as our call to wake up, and get to work on rethinking work.<\/p>\n

EASTER 2010<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n
\n<\/p>\n
\n

[1]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> D.H.
\nJensen, Responsive Labor. A Theology of Work, <\/u> <\/span>(Louisville:
\nWestminster\/J. Knox, 2006), p. X.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[2]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> Jensen ,
\np. 22.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[3]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> F.
\nBuechner, Wishful Thinking. A Seeker’s ABC,<\/u> (San Francisco: Harper,
\n1993), p. 119.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[4]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> David
\nJensen, Responsive Labor. A Theology of Work, <\/u>  <\/span>(Louisville:
\nWestminster\/J. Knox, 2006), p. 3.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[5]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> M. Wolf,
\nWork in the Spirit. Toward a Theology of Work, <\/u> <\/span>(Eugene:
\nWipf and Stock, 2001 rpr. of the 1991 Oxford edition), pp. 10-11.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[6]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> See
\nWolf, Work in the Spirit, <\/u>p. 71.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[7]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> Volf, p.
\n79.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[8]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> On the
\nlatter, compare Thomas Carlyle who once claimed that work is “the latest Gospel
\nin this world”  <\/span>a Gospel which elevates
\nhumankind “from the low places of this Earth, very literally into divine
\nHeavens.”  <\/span>T. Carlyle,  <\/span>Past and Present,<\/u>  <\/span>(Boston: 
\n<\/span>The Riverside Press, 1965), p. 294. 
\n<\/span>In a remarkable transformation of the monastic phrase ‘ora et labora’  <\/span>Carlyle said “labora est ora”–work is
\npraying!! (p. 196).   <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[9]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> Volf, p.
\n83. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[10]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> Volf,
\np.  <\/span>85.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[11]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> One of
\nthe major problems with the extant exercises in Biblical theology on the
\nsubject of work is that they work forward through the Bible, rather than
\nbackward, and the end result of that is that in most case they never get to an
\neschatological or Kingdom perspective on work, work in light of the inbreaking
\nKingdom, which is the contribution of this particular study.  <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[12]<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a> On
\nwhich see the immediately prior book in this series Doxa: A Vision of
\nKingdom Worship<\/u>. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Image courtesy of Google and Mr. Chester of the United Kingdom) I am working on a little book on work for Eerdmans.  I thought I’d test drive the Preface and see what you thought.  Let me know.  (BW3) CAUTION— WORK IN PROGRESS             I was leafing through a newspaper shortly before Thanksgiving and came across…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":199,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nCaution: Work in Progress- a Theology of Work - The Bible and Culture<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2010\/03\/caution-work-in-progress-a-theology-of-work.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Caution: Work in Progress- a Theology of Work - The Bible and Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(Image courtesy of Google and Mr. Chester of the United Kingdom) I am working on a little book on work for Eerdmans.  I thought I’d test drive the Preface and see what you thought.  Let me know.  (BW3) CAUTION— WORK IN PROGRESS             I was leafing through a newspaper shortly before Thanksgiving and came across…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2010\/03\/caution-work-in-progress-a-theology-of-work.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Bible and Culture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-03-19T10:40:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2010\/03\/HARD-WORK-thumb-500x386-12253.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Ben Witherington\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Caution: Work in Progress- a Theology of Work - The Bible and Culture","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2010\/03\/caution-work-in-progress-a-theology-of-work.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Caution: Work in Progress- a Theology of Work - The Bible and Culture","og_description":"(Image courtesy of Google and Mr. Chester of the United Kingdom) I am working on a little book on work for Eerdmans.  I thought I’d test drive the Preface and see what you thought.  Let me know.  (BW3) CAUTION— WORK IN PROGRESS             I was leafing through a newspaper shortly before Thanksgiving and came across…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2010\/03\/caution-work-in-progress-a-theology-of-work.html","og_site_name":"The Bible and Culture","article_published_time":"2010-03-19T10:40:11+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2010\/03\/HARD-WORK-thumb-500x386-12253.jpg"}],"author":"Ben Witherington","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2010\/03\/caution-work-in-progress-a-theology-of-work.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2010\/03\/caution-work-in-progress-a-theology-of-work.html","name":"Caution: Work in Progress- a Theology of Work - The Bible and Culture","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2010\/03\/caution-work-in-progress-a-theology-of-work.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2010\/03\/caution-work-in-progress-a-theology-of-work.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2010\/03\/HARD-WORK-thumb-500x386-12253.jpg","datePublished":"2010-03-19T10:40:11+00:00","dateModified":"2010-03-19T10:40:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/d1fd6c7893819eabc624db38ecfd8426"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2010\/03\/caution-work-in-progress-a-theology-of-work.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2010\/03\/caution-work-in-progress-a-theology-of-work.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2010\/03\/caution-work-in-progress-a-theology-of-work.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2010\/03\/HARD-WORK-thumb-500x386-12253.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/bibleandculture\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2010\/03\/HARD-WORK-thumb-500x386-12253.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/2010\/03\/caution-work-in-progress-a-theology-of-work.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Caution: Work in Progress– a Theology of Work"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/","name":"The Bible and Culture","description":"All Things Biblical and Christian","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/d1fd6c7893819eabc624db38ecfd8426","name":"Ben Witherington","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/75e\/75ec11e1916a2008bc4cc638a0a0de2fx96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/75e\/75ec11e1916a2008bc4cc638a0a0de2fx96.jpg","caption":"Ben Witherington"},"description":"Bible scholar Ben Witherington is Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary and on the doctoral faculty at St. Andrews University in Scotland. A graduate of UNC, Chapel Hill, he went on to receive the M.Div. degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. from the University of Durham in England. He is now considered one of the top evangelical scholars in the world, and is an elected member of the prestigious SNTS, a society dedicated to New Testament studies. Witherington has also taught at Ashland Theological Seminary, Vanderbilt University, Duke Divinity School and Gordon-Conwell. A popular lecturer, Witherington has presented seminars for churches, colleges and biblical meetings not only in the United States but also in England, Estonia, Russia, Europe, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Australia. He has also led tours to Italy, Greece, Turkey, Israel, Jordan, and Egypt. Witherington has written over thirty books, including The Jesus Quest and The Paul Quest, both of which were selected as top biblical studies works by Christianity Today. He also writes for many church and scholarly publications, and is a frequent contributor to the Beliefnet website. Along with many interviews on radio networks across the country, Witherington has been seen on the History Channel, NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, The Discovery Channel, A&E, and the PAX Network.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/author\/bwitherington"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/199"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1016"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1016\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/bibleandculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}