I have a problem. I like used-book and thrift stores too much. I can’t help but grab stacks of books I think sound interesting. The problem is that I end up getting duplicates of titles I forgot I already had. I’ve started using Goodreads to catalog my library, and that’s helping, but I still keep finding duplicates. Lucky for you, I’ve decided to give away a stack of them! One winner will receive the books listed below: Celebration of Discipline... Read more
This is part three of a three-part review of Eric Seibert’s books. See my introductory remarks and review of Disturbing Divine Behavior if you haven’t already. In his previous book Eric Seibert lays the groundwork for a responsible reading of scripture—distinguishing the textual God from the actual God, and using the life and teaching of Jesus as the criteria by which we do so. Then in The Violence of Scripture, he adjusts his focus to the so-called “virtuous violence” found... Read more
For week three of Random Text Tuesday (RTT), my random-text selector gave me Obadiah 2. I shall make you the least of all nations, an object of utter contempt. (Obadiah 2, REB) The short prophecy of Obadiah (only 21 verses long) warns of impending judgment on Edom. Since we’ve just been considering Eric Seibert’s Disturbing Divine Behavior, this passage provides us with a great example text to evaluate. According to Obadiah, Yahweh himself was going to enact punishment against Edom,... Read more
It’s Good Friday, and the church is contemplating the death of Christ. Why did he die? What did his death accomplish? How does the atonement work? The single best explanation I’ve heard on this matter is Benjamin Myers’ talk on the “Patristic Atonement Model.” He gave the talk back in 2015 (and it was also published in the book Locating Atonement), but several unrelated conversations I’ve had recently have brought it back up again, and I thought it would be... Read more
This is part two of a three-part review of Eric Seibert’s books. See my introductory remarks if you haven’t already. In Disturbing Divine Behavior, Eric Seibert systematically demonstrates that the Bible (and particularly the Old Testament) both contains and endorses an amount of divine violence that is not only disturbing by modern sensibilities, but also immoral by the teachings of Jesus. He provides helpful categories for sorting through the different kinds of violence in the Old Testament (p. 17ff.): “God... Read more
For week two of Random Text Tuesday (RTT), my random-text selector gave me Romans 12:5. So we who are united with Christ, though many, form one body, and belong to one another as its limbs and organs. (Romans 12:5, REB) As I think on this verse, I’m struck by the many different areas this body metaphor applies to. In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul writes with nearly identical wording, using the metaphor there to show how different people... Read more
I’ve wrestled long and hard with my understanding of scripture. I was raised to believe that the Bible, as the inspired word of God, is completely without error in everything it teaches. And I taught this view myself for many years. But the problem was that I continued actually reading my Bible. And the more I read it, the more I noticed a massive disconnect between the non-violent teachings of Jesus, and the incredibly violent portrait of God found in... Read more
I had an interesting conversation in the comments of another post, and I thought it worth sharing and expanding. The commenter (of whose own beliefs I am unsure) noted that while I claim certain theological beliefs from the Eastern Orthodox tradition, such as their understanding of the atonement, I nonetheless reject other beliefs they hold, such as their non-affirming stance toward LGBTQ people. According to the commenter, this “picking and choosing” is “typical—and pathetic.” What do you think? Is there... Read more
For the inaugural post of Random Text Tuesday (RTT), my random-text selector gave me Esther 11:8. This verse comes from the Deuterocanonical (or “Apocryphal”) portion of the book, found in the Greek Septuagint. Coming from a Protestant background myself, I’m not very familiar with the Deuterocanon, but I deliberately included these texts in RTT because I want to get to know them more. I didn’t expect to get one on the first day, but I won’t complain either. Here’s the... Read more
I thought it would be fun to start a regular weekly series on my blog. So every Tuesday, I’m going to randomly select a text from scripture to write about. The randomizing algorithm I set up should give roughly equal opportunity to the Old and New Testaments, and it will include the Deuterocanon (commonly called the Apocrypha) in the latter. My approach to the text will vary from week to week as well. I want to give each text freedom... Read more
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