Here I finish our discussion of God Who Looks Like Jesus; A Renewed Approach to Understanding God by Gregory A. Boyd (with M. Scott Boren) (Herald Press). The last chapter is entitled The Blessed Hope. If you have read the chapter, feel free to offer a comment. If not, you may only ask a question. In this chapter Greg affirms that “Jesus’ appearance at the end of the age is central to the good news of the New Testament.” (118)... Read more

A long time ago, most people in the world believed there is a power of evil in the world that tempts or even causes people to do evil things. There were believed to be degrees of this—from outright possession by evil powers to occasional giving in to temptation by evil forces, beings or powers. At least from the New Testament onward, Christians have believed very strongly in an evil being called variously “Satan” and “the Devil” and his mignons, fallen... Read more

Are Arminian Theology and Middle Knowledge Compatible? One of the most basic impulses of Arminianism is that God is not the author of sin and evil—even indirectly. On this virtually everyone knowledgeable about Arminian theology agrees. Divine determinism, the belief that God directly or indirectly determines all that happens according to a predetermined plan, was rejected by Arminius and has been rejected by all Arminians since him. I have demonstrated that in Arminian Theology: Myths and Realities and Against Calvinism.... Read more

Rarely do I post two essays here in one day! However, someone here asked me, very recently, to name some experts/scholars about Fascism. I will do that and also offer some typical elements of Fascism. I mentioned earlier Robert Reich, professor of economics and former Secretary of Labor under President Clinton. He has a wealth of videos on Youtube explaining the similarities between Fascism and Donald Trump. Also, see the Youtube video “We’re Experts in Fascism. We’re Leaving the U.S.... Read more

Here I continue discussing the book God Who Looks Like Jesus: A Renewed Approach to Understanding God by Gregory A. Boyd and M. Scott Boren (Herald Press). Chapter 6 is Rethinking God. If you have read the chapter, feel free to comment; if not, feel free to ask a question. Chapter 6: Rethinking God amounts to a full assault on “the classical view of God” by which Greg means the Greek philosophically-inspired view of God as immutable, impassable and pure... Read more

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