In the spiritual life, there aren’t too many absolutes I can make, but this is certainly one. On the spiritual journey, the message is always to you. The message s always telling you to change. Now, what most people do is they use religion to try to change other people. It’s always someone else that needs changing. No. Stop it. Once and for all. Whatever happens to you in your life is a message to you. Oh the ego wants to avoid... Read more
Last week, The Atlantic posted a very balanced online article, “Old Earth, Young Minds: Evangelical Homeschoolers Embrace Evolution.” The gist is that homeschooling parents are turning to mainstream science for their children’s science education and doing their best to take care of the theological side of things themselves. Homeschoolers are not anti-cultural isolationists trying to protect their children from the bad bad world. Well, some are, but by no means all. Families homeschool for a variety of reasons, and many... Read more
Can we declare holy war on the ChristianMingle.com commercials? ChristianMingle.com doesn’t elevate dating to holy heights by bringing God into the picture. It belittles God because it uses him to try to baptize what amounts to an online version of The Bachelor. The whole concept of God taking time out from his busy schedule to match you with the that one perfect person for you is no different from athletes actually expecting God to intervene so they can win. And... Read more
Recently, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary broadcast another “panel discussion,” this one taking to task Eric Seibert for his views on God’s violence in the Old Testament. Seibert posted a three part series on my blog, the first of which is here, and has written two books on the subject, The Violence of Scripture and Disturbing Divine Behavior. In brief, Seibert argues, “At times the Bible endorses values we should reject, praises acts we must condemn, and portrays God in ways we cannot accept.... Read more
In the fifty-second year, in the third month on the third day, as I was checking my Google Analytics, I looked, and behold, I saw a light brighter than the noonday sun, and the voice of one like the Son of Man spoke to me from within. “I see you have a blog.” “Yes, Lord, you know that I do.” “How’s the traffic?” “Good, Lord–though, without you, which of us would get but a handful of pageviews.” “Stop that. I... Read more
I’m not a big fan of seeing the Bible depicted in film. The biblical narratives have a lot holes in the storyline. To adapt the Bible to film, you have to invent dialogue, whole scenes, and compress other scenes to keep the story going. The locus classicus for this sort of thing is the granddaddy of all Bible movies, C. B. DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments.” Half the movie is either entirely imaginative or taken from later creative sources like Philo, Josephus,... Read more
I don’t believe in God anymore. I used to, though. This is a choice I’ve made. “Belief” in God connotes–at least as I see it–a set of ideas about God that may, if time allows, eventually make their way to other parts of my being. The older I get, making sure all my “beliefs” of God are lined up as they should be loses more and more of its luster. I see the Bible focusing a lot more on something... Read more
Today’s post is written by Brandon Ambrosino, a self-described “post-evangelical, orthodox Christian,” who is active in the performing arts and is currently a member of Actors’ Equity Association. He studied Literature and Philosophy at Liberty University. You can learn more about him on Twitter, Facebook, and over at his blog. As a Christian employed in the performing arts world, I spend a great deal of time thinking about the intersection – and, at times, collision – of my life as... Read more
I think I’ve always been a bit uneasy about the idea that God holds me responsible in some sense for something Adam did at the beginning of the Bible. I know God’s ways are not my ways, but this never made much sense. Of course, my uneasiness doesn’t make something right or wrong. I’m just putting it out there. Most refer to this idea as “original sin”–all humans are the objects of God’s anger from conception on. Adam’s deed of disobedience has hardwired sinfulness... Read more
Today’s post is a brief interview with Carolyn Custis James about her most recent book Half the Church: Recapturing God’s Global Vision for Women. For those 7 or 8 of you out there who don’t know who Carolyn is, her online bio will tell you that she is a busy writer and a popular speaker at women’s conferences, churches, colleges, and seminaries. Her ministry organization, WhitbyForum, promotes thoughtful biblical discussion to help men and woman serve God together. Carolyn is also founder and president of Synergy Women’s Network,... Read more
Peter Enns
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