Theology
“God Knows My Heart” and other things we need to stop saying…
Have you ever heard someone say something to the effect of “God knows my heart” when an interaction has gone sour? Have you perhaps ever said that? I have, on both counts. But it’s also a saying that has never really sat well with me-even when I’ve said it! Here’s why.When we say something like…
Read MoreLoving Driscoll, Coulter, Jakes and Osteen.
There are so many people who claim to speak for “Christianity” that I wish to have nothing to do with. I wish they would go away or that someone with authority would tell them that they are not Christians and that they do not speak for Jesus. But that’s not going to happen. And so…
Read MoreThe Truth is Human, too
One of the most compelling, ironic, and terrifying passages in the bible for me is John 18. It may sound weird, but I think verse 38 should be seen as one of the most serious warnings for us who study such things. John 18 finds Jesus before Pilate. After a series of questions, Pilate utters…
Read MoreFaith pt III: The Aspect of Trust.
This is going to be a short post. I have a sick baby and my brain is more engaged with that than the work of thinking.While listening to the sermon at church today, I got to thinking about how trust is a crucial aspect of faith that has nothing to do with belief. Trust does…
Read MoreThe Objective Fallacy, or, Taking Back the Bible
The fallacy of thinking that we can read anything without doing the work of interpretation has reached critical mass. I find this fallacy most often attached to the bible. Too often I hear Christian leaders claim for their interpretation of the bible absolute authority. It sounds like this (tell me if it rings any bells):…
Read MoreOn the Wrong Side of History
Have you ever wondered what history will make of the things you are concerned with? This is of course, not to trivialize the things that are real issues (such as earning enough money to buy food, getting enough sleep, etc) that no one in history will ever know about. What I mean are the large…
Read MoreThe Concept of God
It’s almost funny how many times I’ve had a conversation with someone that includes, at one point or another, their confession to having a problem with “the concept of god.” Almost funny.It’s funny how things can be almost funny but upon further inspection definitely not funny. How that’s funny is beyond me. “Funny” is a…
Read MoreCan you be a Christian and not Believe?
Please forgive my blatant hook of a title, but I do wish to seriously ask this question. In a previous post I said that the bible does not actually tell us to believe, but rather that the word we translate “believe” is actually “do faith.” If you want to know more about this, please read…
Read MoreTruth as Relationship II
I’ve been thinking more about John 14 lately, and I am still wrestling with Jesus’ claim to be the “truth.” In the past, I’ve written about how if are not careful we will mistake our assumed knowledge of truth for Jesus. An other way of saying this is that because we think we know what…
Read MoreBeing for Others
If I can be so incredibly arrogant as to assess the enduring legacy of conservative evangelicalism as a culture, it would be a culture of fear. Fear of the “world” (try figuring out exactly what the “world” is in the bible. I guarantee it will scare the bejesus out of you); fear of knowledge; fear…
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