Jesus, Millstones, and the “Little Ones”

Last updated on: October 22, 2013 at 8:47 pm By Kyle Roberts

I’ve been spending time in Matthew 18 today. I’ve been deeply impressed with a sense of Jesus’ passionate concern for the marginalized, outcast, and “insignificant.” The chapter begins with the disciples’ question to Jesus, “Who, then, is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” They were positioning themselves, angling for status, and pressing Jesus to make a pronouncement on their respective places in the Kingdom which he was bringing. They were likely focused on a Kingdom coming very soon…rather than “out there,”... Read more

Hard Work

Last updated on: October 16, 2013 at 5:13 pm By Daniel Harrell

Here is the sixth in a lovely list of ten lessons essential for every high school graduate preparing to venture out into the “real world.” While Elaine Bransford, the AP literature teacher who composed them did so for students, they carry applicability for us all. Number 6: You should know that there is something you are good at and that you enjoy doing. You should then understand that it will take years of hard work and commitment to turn this something into... Read more

Did God Create the World Last Tuesday? (the Problem with the “Appearance of Age” Approach)

Last updated on: October 14, 2013 at 9:13 pm By Kyle Roberts

I’m using the excellent book, Origins: Christian Perspectives on Creation, Evolution, and Intelligent Design (by Deborah Haarsma and Loren Haarsma) for my theology class (“God the Creator”) this semester. In their treatment of the “concordist” approaches to Genesis 1-2 (concordist approaches attempt to follow the “chronology” of the biblical creation accounts), they mention the “Appearance of Age” approach. In this view, God created the universe in six literal, 24 hour days; the present earth and universe are somewhere between 6,000 and 10,000... Read more

Options Man

Last updated on: October 8, 2013 at 12:41 pm By Daniel Harrell

Here is the fifth in a lovely list of ten lessons essential for every high school graduate preparing to venture out into the “real world.” While Elaine Bransford, the AP literature teacher who composed them did so for students, they carry applicability for us all. Number 5: You should not be afraid to change your mind from time to time. And, for that matter, you should not be afraid to make up your mind. Enough to chew on for everybody here. My... Read more

Ha Ha Ha

Last updated on: October 1, 2013 at 1:28 pm By Daniel Harrell

Here is the fourth in a lovely list of ten lessons essential for every high school graduate preparing to venture out into the “real world.” While Elaine Bransford, the AP literature teacher who composed them did so for students, they carry applicability for us all. Number 4: You should understand the importance of s sense of humor. Seriously. There are those who say that the Bible never records Jesus being funny. Seriously? Turning water to wine? Walking on water? Feeding 5000 with... Read more

Welcome Anger, Welcome Fear: On the “Welcoming Prayer”

Last updated on: September 30, 2013 at 2:45 pm By Kyle Roberts

The following post is by Alex Blondeau. Alex is a Ph.D. student in theology at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN. Alex’s research focuses on the paradox of salvation in Paul Tillich’s philosophy of religion and as exemplified in the psychotherapeutic spiritual Christology of Sebastian Moore. He blogs “on living through death” at blondeau.wordpress.com. Alex can also be found on Twitter at @alex_blondeau This morning, after the kids were pretty much all set to go for the day, I flopped down... Read more

The Misunderstood Plato and the Disembodied Soul

Last updated on: September 26, 2013 at 3:12 pm By Kyle Roberts

Plato gets a bad rap in much of Christian theology these days for his supposed contribution to anthropological dualism, the view that te human person is composed of two distinct substances (soul–or spirit–and body). This dualism is the cause, then, of the gnostic devaluation of the body in favor of the spiritual. I have been guilty of “blaming Plato” in the past. Diogenes Alen, is his brilliant work, Philosophy for Understanding Theology, offers an insightful counterpoint: If one…takes the Phaedo as definitive of Plato’s... Read more

Be Responsible

Last updated on: September 26, 2013 at 11:24 am By Daniel Harrell

Here is the third in a lovely list of ten lessons essential for every high school graduate preparing to venture out into the “real world.” While Elaine Bransford, the AP literature teacher who composed them did so for students, they carry applicability for us all. Number 3: You should feel sense of responsibility for your role in your family, your community, your country and your world. It should be clear that without this sense of responsibility, happiness will be elusive. This sense... Read more

Someone Else will Dress You: A Pilgrimage Through Alzheimer’s

Last updated on: September 19, 2013 at 12:13 pm By Kyle Roberts

The “geography of memory.” That’s the intriguing metaphor driving Jeanne Murray Walker’s fascinating memoir. It’s odd to think of memory as having geography, but Walker’s tale is a vivid but mystical landscape of the depth and breadth, cracks and fissures, ebbs and flows of the impact of memory–and the loss of it–on our sense of self and our connection to those we love. Walker’s prose is lively and thought-provoking. She’s an accomplished poet and essayist (and professor of English), so... Read more

Collision Course

Last updated on: September 18, 2013 at 6:22 pm By Daniel Harrell

A few weeks back I ran across a lovely list of ten lessons essential for every high school graduate preparing to venture out into the “real world.” While Elaine Bransford, the AP literature teacher who composed them did so for students, they carry applicability for us all. Here’s the second: You should know that, however infuriating it might be, things can be both true and false at the same time. Things can also be more or less true, or more or less... Read more