Revelation and the Open Canon: A Process-Relational Perspective on Mormon Theology

Last updated on: December 20, 2012 at 4:51 pm By Bruce Epperly

For many Christians, it goes without saying that God’s ultimate and final revelation is contained in the words of Scripture, the Old and New Testaments. Nothing needs to be added for our awareness of God, doctrine, or spiritual edification. They believe that all further revelation is qualitatively inferior and different in kind from holy scripture- an elaboration on God’s word spoken through the authors of scripture. The holy books of other religions and the insights of Christian and Jewish mystics... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary: Advent 3

Last updated on: December 11, 2012 at 5:00 pm By Bruce Epperly

Lectionary Reflections: The Third Sunday of Advent December 16, 2012 Christmas is coming! Joy is in the air! Today’s scriptures center around joy, but joy is the result of spiritual practices not hedonism or accidental good fortune. As improbable as it may seem, the irenic Philippians and the bombastic John the Baptist have much in common. Both see joy as the result of a transformed lives and lifestyles. As Paul says elsewhere, be not conformed to the world but... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary: Advent 2

Last updated on: December 7, 2012 at 12:21 pm By Bruce Epperly

Lectionary Reflections on The Second Sunday of Advent: December 9, 2012 Malachi 3:1-4; Luke 1:68-79; Philippians 1:3-11; Luke 3:1-6 This week’s lectionary explores the many faces of divine providence. Providence can be gentle and incremental, as described in Philippians, but it can also be challenging and abrupt, calling for an immediate decision, as Luke describes John the Baptist’s message. Either way, as the philosopher Alfred North Whitehead asserts, divine providence, expressed in novel possibilities and challenges, always aims at the best for the particular... Read more

Worshipping Different Gods!

Last updated on: November 30, 2012 at 5:48 pm By Bruce Epperly

A few years back, at a Gay Pride Event in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, I ironically stated to a protester, “May God forgive you for what you’re doing.” Rather quick on his feet, he responded, “We worship different gods.” As I walked away, I wondered if, in his own way, he had stated a theological dilemma that touches not only the relationships of Christians with one another, but persons of other religious traditions as well. We may use the same language, but... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary: The First Sunday of Advent

Last updated on: November 27, 2012 at 6:52 pm By Bruce Epperly

The Adventurous Lectionary for December 2, 2012 The First Sunday of Advent Jeremiah 33:14-16 Psalm 25:1-10 I Thessalonians 3:9-13 Luke 21-25-36 As a high school senior in 1969, one of my favorite songs was Chicago Transit Authority’s (aka Chicago) “Does Anybody Really Know What Time it Is?” I can still remember the words: Does anybody really know what time it its? Does anybody really care? If so I can’t imagine why We’ve all got time enough to cry/die. Advent asks... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary: The Reign of Christ Sunday

Last updated on: November 20, 2012 at 12:15 pm By Bruce Epperly

Lectionary Reflections for the last Sunday after Pentecost: The Reign of Christ November 25, 2012 Celebrating Christ the King Sunday seems anachronistic in a pluralistic age, in which many Christians no longer subscribe to imperialistic, supercessionist, or inclusivist theologies which either deny truth and salvation to persons of other faiths or see these faiths as diminished, but possibly salvific, reflections of Christian truth. Is the celebration of Christ’s kingship, or even the less imperialistic realm of Christ, somehow an affront... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary: The 25th Sunday after Pentecost

Last updated on: November 12, 2012 at 1:31 pm By Bruce Epperly

Lectionary Reflections for Sunday, November 18, 2012 I Samuel 1:4-20; Psalm 113; Hebrews 10:11-14, 19-25; Mark 13:1-8 In his reflections on death in a technological age, psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton states that one of the primary images of immortality is biological, the need to leave a mark through our children and their descendants. As a grandparent, I know how important this biological and spiritual legacy is as I play with my “boys” and seek to find ways to promote planetary and personal... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary: 24th Sunday after Pentecost

Last updated on: November 5, 2012 at 7:24 pm By Bruce Epperly

Lectionary Reflections for November 11, 2012 Ruth 3:1-5, 4:13-17; Psalm 42; Hebrews 9:24-28; Mark 12:38-44 This week’s lectionary readings deal with some of the most important energies of life – the energy of romance, conception, and sexuality; the energy of money and its proper use; the energetic quest for God in a difficult time; and the energetic field of force created by Christ, the high priest of wholeness. The Baal Shem Tov, the Master of a Good Name (Rabbi Yisroel ben Eliezer), the... Read more

Moving Toward a Vision

Last updated on: October 30, 2012 at 12:56 pm By Bruce Epperly

Presidential elections are about the hopes of a people. They also chart a direction toward a people’s future. They involve the creative interplay of images, intentions, and actions. Without a vision, a people will perish both spiritually and corporately. While scripture does not detail public policy initiatives, I see the biblical witness as characterized by the following interdependent and relational values: The importance of community in individual well-being. The value of life from conception to death. The institutional and individual... Read more

The Adventurous Lectionary: 23rd Sunday after Pentecost

Last updated on: October 29, 2012 at 1:14 pm By Bruce Epperly

The Adventurous Lectionary – November 4, 2012 – Twenty Third Sunday after Pentecost Ruth 1:1-18 Psalm 146 Hebrews 9:11-14 Mark 12:28-34 This Sunday’s lectionary readings are appropriate for the Sunday before Election Day in the USA. They provide an alternative to the current xenophobia and divisiveness that characterizes much of todays’ fear-based political dialogue. It has been said that the opposite of love is fear and we are hearing a lot of fear language in our public discourse – persons... Read more