A pastor sits down in a counseling session. One spouse verbally abuses the other, gaslights and shouts at them. The abused spouse attempts to protect themselves, stand up for themselves and maintain appropriate boundaries. At which point the abusive spouse calls foul and accuses the abused of being the abuser. The pastor, from the sideline, says, “Hey you two, you’re so polarized. Can’t you both just follow the golden rule?” That’s a mini-parable that summarizes my reaction to the recent... Read more

Disputation of Doctor Clint Schnekloth on the Power and Efficacy of Reformations (2014) Martin Luther famously posted 95 theses for consideration and discussion (though there is some debate as to where he posted them, and whether they were as singularly nailed to a blank door as is often depicted). Although the following theses make no claim to the same cohesion and rigor as Luther’s 95, they do riff on them.  1. Jesus Christ, when he said, “Repent,” willed that our... Read more

“Faith, however, returns to its Sunday school every time it nails its language into positive propositions about what it has faith in. For, in the cloud, in its darkness and its necessity, what we find ourselves in—‘an unknown that does not terrify us’—may be just what is coming unsaid in the saying. Perhaps it is after all not surprising that few theologians (conservative or liberal) practice such terms, that apophasis still plays a minor role in contemporary theology. Bad for... Read more