From the Jews we inherit their one God of History and the accompanying worldview of history as a story that is going somewhere. The worldview of the Pagans with their nature gods is with us as well. It shows up in notions of cycles repeating and pendulums swinging back and forth. More positively, it’s in the ideas of balance and sustainability, so difficult and so necessary. After the excesses of modernism, our task is to live in the tension of these two worldviews. ... Read more

The story the Bible tells is a story of monotheism from beginning to end. But that does not reflect the real history of the Jewish people. For them monotheism only gradually became the general rule. The process started with the novel idea of a god of history, then developed into a whole new mindset about history and reality. This is the eighth in a series on the Creed of Christians. An introduction consists of my retelling of the Creed’s story.... Read more

Among my crowd of acquaintances and friends are some Pagans. Present-day Pagans believe in a number of gods and goddesses, but I do not think they hold the cyclical worldview that lay under ancient Pagan beliefs, a world that depends on always going back to a sacred beginning, never forward to something new.. Between ancient Pagans and the modern world came the Jews, who could not long abide the thought of a world going nowhere. The take on reality that they... Read more

The fourth word in the Nicene Creed is “one.” It distinguishes Jewish and Christian belief from Paganism, with its many gods. There’s more to it than just one versus many, though. It’s not as if Jews disbelieved in all the gods except one and atheists disbelieve in one more. Monotheism in its Jewish form arose in the midst of an ancient culture with many gods AND a definite view of reality. The Jews changed both. In the next few posts... Read more

Inclusive language is an important, but puzzling, theme in the Church’s life. I was at a dinner party with friends, and after we’d drunk a decent amount of wine, the conversation turned to religion. I made a statement referring to God as “he,” and one of the participants immediately corrected. “You mean ‘she,’ don’t you?” I thought, If I’m going to talk about God when I’m this far under the influence, I shouldn’t have to worry about inclusive language or my personal pronouns.   This... Read more

There’s no question: The images the Bible uses for God are overwhelmingly male. God is judge, shepherd, warrior—all male roles in Biblical times, though not necessarily so today. Mostly God is king in the Hebrew Bible and Father in Christian scriptures. Is God ever Mother? This is the fifth in a series on the Creed of Christians. An introduction consists of my retelling of the Creed’s story. That and links to other posts in the series are here. God as mother in the Bible  Female... Read more