Everyone knows that Fascism begins with certain clear markers. One of the main ones is harassment of critics of the leaders. Well before Mussolini became El Duce (leader) of Italy, his “Black Shirts” followers were harassing and even violently attacking critics of his movement. The same happened in Germany and Spain and other countries were Fascism was taking hold. Recently (August 22, 2025), the American FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) raided the Washington, D.C. home of former US security advisor... Read more

I recently re-read a modern theological classic entitled God as the Mystery of the World by German theologian Eberhard Juengel. Juengel is not as well known in English-speaking countries because he did not speak English. I heard him speak, in German, in Munich in 1981. I didn’t understand every word, but I noticed that he had some of the audience in tears. Some of his books have been translated into English including God’s Being Is in Becoming and the above... Read more

Here I continue discussion of Gregory Boyd’s and Scott Boren’s book God Looks Like Jesus: A Renewed Approach to Understanding God (Herald Press) with Chapter 5 The Jesus-Looking Kingdom. If you have read the chapter, feel free to comment. If not, feel free to ask a question. Greg begins the chapter with another story about his early years. He attended Yale Divinity School and was shocked at the many and very different ideas of the kingdom of God that he... Read more

No, this is not about the Democratic state legislators who fled Texas in order to stop the vote on redistricting (gerrymandering). Not that I think they will succeed. No, this is about the state legislators in a Southern US state who are introducing legislation to make child abuse (of a particular kind not to be mentioned here explicitly) a capital crime, subject to execution. I have to wonder what they are thinking. Evidence has mounted that many (mostly) men were... Read more

Am I an “Authentic Christian?” (Why I Question It) Some people get very upset when I question the authenticity of their “Christianity.” I understand that, but I also don’t. It confuses me because I am not sure that I am authentically Christian. Let me explain. I’ll begin by referring to two very old Christian (church) songs from my childhood. One was “I’m Saved (and I Know that I Am)” and the other was “Lord I Want to Be a Christian... Read more

Here I take up Chapter 3 of God Looks Like Jesus: A Renewed Approach to Understanding God by Gregory A. Boyd (“Greg”) and M. Scott Boren (Herald Press). If you have read the chapter, feel free to comment. If not, only ask a question. Chapter 3 is entitled Cross-Tinted Glasses. In the previous chapter Greg argued that the cross is the “center of the center” of the Bible and its true interpretation. The cross is where God most deeply revealed... Read more

Here I continue discussion of Greg Boyd’s and Scott Boren’s book God Who Looks Like Jesus: A Renewed Approach to Understanding God (Herald Press, 2025). If you have read Chapter 2, The Center of the Center, you may comment on it. If not, only ask a question. Here, in this chapter, Greg wants to go beyond a “Christocentric” theology to a “cruciform” theology and Christianity and reading of the Bible. According to him (and Boren), “The character of the Father... Read more

Recently US President Donald Trump made a major blunder that affects everyone in the US if not the world. He fired the director of the US Bureau of Labor Statistics because her (or the bureau’s board’s) report on jobs did not satisfy him. He claimed it was “rigged” but gave no evidence. I have long been skeptical of government statistics, especially about inflation. One interlocutor here said I should trust them. I wonder what he thinks now? The result of... Read more

I have never been to Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, but I have known professors there and I have had colleagues who graduated from there. And at least one pastor who graduated from SBTS. I’ve had communications with the president of SBTS, Al Mohler, a leader in the so-called “fundamentalist take over” of the Southern Baptist Convention. During the 1980s and into the 1990s, The SBC launched a campaign to replace the trustees of the Southern Baptist seminaries because they were... Read more

I skipped Chapters 1, 2, and 3 and jumped from the Introduction to Chapter 4: Literary Crucifixes. Thanks to whomever pointed it out to me. Now I will back up and begin discussing the accidentally skipped chapters of God Who Looks Like Jesus: A Renewed Approach to Understanding God by Gregory Boyd (Greg) and M. Scott Boren (Herald Press, 2025). If you have read Chapter 1: The One Eternal Word, feel free to comment. If not, feel free to ask... Read more