Is Scientific Evidence Modern-Day Scripture?

The following is cross-posted from my HuffPost blog (where it has received 200+ comments). It is also posted on Connie‘s and my Metanexus blog, here. We are in the early stages of what I think historians will one day call religion’s Evidential Reformation. Increasingly, most of us (the devout included) relate to scientific, historic and cross-cultural [...]

The Prayers of Lent

PATHEOS – March 2012 Just a few days before Lent began this year and in anticipation of it, Doug Pagitt–who somehow always manages to pastor us all, thank God– set a date for the two of us to engage in a Skyped conversation about Lent. But not about Lent in general, he said. Rather, he [...]

Phantom Deity Disorder

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The other day while having dinner with friends I subconsciously reached my hand toward the attractive woman seated next to me. It was an effort to steal a private moment of affection with my wife by a brief grasp of her hand. Everything was perfect except for the fact that the woman sitting next to [...]

Conversation with John Shelby Spong on Re-Claiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World

Here is my conversation with Bishop John Shelby Spong on his book “Re-Claiming the Bible for a Non-Religious World” from my Radio Show. In the conversation I ask John why people are not hearing from him the point he is trying to make, that the Bible is important to our lives and we should fully [...]

Wisdom From Kierkegaard

This Quote by Kierkegaard is rocking my world the last few weeks. The matter is quite simple. The Bible is very easy to understand. But we as Christians are a bunch of scheming swindlers. We pretend to be unable to understand it because we know very well that the minute we understand, we are obliged [...]

A Tapestry of Belief and Experience

Diana Butler Bass’ Christianity after Religion explores the tension between spirituality and religion, and experience andbelief.  Her work is more descriptivethan constructive, but it sets the agenda for Christians who wish to addresstwenty-first century spiritual challenges and not the issues of a bygone era.  Bass notes that belief has oftenbeen a deterrent to taking Christianity [...]

Physicality of Lent

In the third installment of my conversation with Phyllis Tickle about Lent we talk about the physical nature of spirituality. You can follow the entire lent conversation on the Lent Blog here. You can watch all the videos in our conversation here.

Is Lent Holding Us Back? Phyllis Tickle and Doug Pagitt Discussion

Patheos.com is hosting a lent conversation and Phyllis Tickle and I offered the first few postings. Here is the second. I asked Phyllis if there is something about the yearly pattern of Lent where we are pulled back into the church story, given church language that doesn’t sit well with many of us who don’t [...]

Emergent Peeps on Lent – Doug Pagitt and Phyllis Tickle first

Patheos is launching a 40 day Lent Reflection Blog today. Phyllis Tickle and I are on for the first 5 installments. We recorded a conversation we had over Skype about Lent. Here is the first one – you can follow the 40 days at http://www.patheos.com/blogs/the40dayjourney/  

Strange Christianity Made in America: Part I by Randy Woodley

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What has been particularly harmful about American Christianity has not necessarily been the beliefs professed by American Christians but rather the worldview that makes professions of belief more real than living them out. Within this schism of reality exists classic American dualism. With just a reference to our nation’s fondness for war, our crime statistics, [...]