Sunday morning I heard something unsettling. We were invited to join in a vibrant chorus claiming, “Our God is Great!” If you’ve attended any contemporary praise worship you’ve heard this song and its many variants a thousand times. “Our God is an awesome God!” Etc. The songs come out of the bombastic tradition of Israelite victory songs. “God,” sings Israel, “has done great things.” One problem with this song tradition is that a lot of the songs are pretty barbaric.... Read more
A CNN interview has been posted to my Facebook page. Those posting it expressed shock that Christian woman would express her support for Donald Trump by saying that “God could even use a harlot.” The outrage was on several levels. First that Trump’s behavior could in any way be overlooked. But more importantly that Trump could be understood within a framework of God’s providential use of sinners, and in particular a derogatory reference to a woman who should properly be... Read more
It may not seem controversial today, but I suspect that a single idea, heilsgeschichte, has led to an important divide in contemporary Christian theology. On one level this German term simply means “salvation history” and can be taken to refer to what is easily noted in reading the Bible. Some biblical authors had a strong sense that God’s saving activity was being worked out in history. What else would account for the vast historical narrative that makes up half of... Read more
What does the Bible say about non-Christian Religions? The simple answer is nothing, for the same reason the Bible doesn’t say anything about airplanes, 401Ks, nuclear power, and iPhones. The concept of religion as we know it didn’t exist in the time that the Bible was written. It comes about much later in human history. As Tamoko Masuzawa shows in her brilliant work “The Invention of the World Religions,” our contemporary concept of religion was invented so that Europeans could... Read more
Recently Facebook, bringer of many things, brought me two. The first was a quote from Bobby Jindal: “Let’s be really honest about this: Immigration without assimilation is not immigration; it’s an invasion, . . . we need to tell folks, if you want to come to our country, come here legally, learn English, adopt our values, roll up your sleeves, and get to work.” The second was a rebuke directed at me which said roughly, “As a new immigrant do you... Read more
The United Methodist church appears to be following other major protestant denominations into the throes of division. The issue is same-sex marriage and ordination of LGBTQ persons living in same-sex relationships. Of course various accusations are being made with regard to who is more biblical, orthodox, faithful to tradition, etc. I want to suggest that the real schism and the future of schism, was determined in the Methodist church back in 1939 when lay persons were given an equal vote... Read more
Among the many things that some Christians believe one is the doctrine of Total depravity. It goes along with Unconditional election, Limited atonement, Irresistible grace and Perseverance of the Saints to form the backbone of American Calvinism, TULIP. I am not going to argue whether these are or are not adequate characterizations of Christian theology. I am interested in the apparent effect that the TULIP doctrine, deeply influential in American Christian circles, has on American public discourse. At least in my experience the... Read more
So I’m trolling through Facebook postings and I find an article on a French ban of a garment called the burkhini on French beaches. Actually it isn’t a ban on the burkhini. It is a ban on “ostentatious religious garments” or “garments that make an ostentatious show of religion” on the beach. It isn’t really different from a similar ban on such clothing in French public schools. (And to answer one criticism, it is simply false to say a nun... Read more
In the Christian polemic against Muslims a common theme emerges. A specific instance comes from pastor Steven Anderson, but it could be Robert Jeffress, Jerry Falwell Jr, Tony Perkins or any of a dozen others. I do not hate Muslims at all. In fact, I love Muslims and want them to be saved. Do I hate Mohammed? Yes. Do I hate the Quran? Yes, but I do not hate Muslim people at all. Many Christians do hate Muslims…I love Muslims…... Read more
Luke 11:14 Now he was casting out a demon that was mute; when the demon had gone out, the one who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed. But some of them said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” Others, to test him, kept demanding from him a sign from heaven. But he knew what they were thinking and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself becomes a desert, and house falls on house.... Read more
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