Wherein we discuss, in no particular order: the coming out of another CCM rock-star; the notable whiteness of progressive Christianity; Tom Paine's revolutionary bridge-building; the need for cell-phone pockets; and the coyotes of Chester County. Read more
An obsessive vigilance worrying about the imminent Mark of the Beast plays a large role in the day-to-day culture of Rapture Christianity. So it's a bit odd to have seen so little mention of it thus far in the Left Behind series. Most fictional Antichrists jump right in 666-ing everybody's right hand and forehead in their first 100 days in office, but thus far in this story, neither Nicolae nor the members of the Tribulation Force seem to have given the matter much thought. Read more
Readers of "Ulysses" face the same danger that readers of "A Song of Ice and Fire" do -- the danger of confusing the two kinds of inconsistency and thus dismissing meaningful discrepancies as meaningless errors or, in the other direction, reading too much into simple errors and fabricating meanings where none was intended. This is true of any long text written and read by us humans. And, yes, that includes the Bible. Read more
But when I read a story like this, I want to know more. When a member of Congress is leaning on "a passage from the Bible denouncing homosexuality" as the primary basis for his legislative decisions, thereby disgusting his GOP colleagues with his ignorant rejection of the First Amendment, I also want to know which passage from the Bible, specifically, this guy is quoting. Read more
Apparently Rayford plowed through Matthew, Mark, Luke and John without finding anything notable, striking or worthy of remark. No saying or healing or parable or paradox pulled him up short. Nothing in particular made him stop and scratch his head. Nothing in particular confused or puzzled or angered him. Nothing in particular made his heart leap with joy. He simply read them and fell asleep. Read more
You have heard it said that if a man meets a virgin who is not engaged, and seizes her and lies with her, she shall become his wife; but I say unto you, screw that. Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Get that rapist behind bars and keep him as far away from his victim as possible. Love is the fulfillment of the law. Read more
"But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you? Is it not they who drag you into court? Is it not they who blaspheme the excellent name that was invoked over you?" Read more
I was supposed to learn what "Neoliberalism" means back in the early 1990s, in seminary. Alas, I stopped reading that book on page 51 when I came across the author's example of the epitome of all that Neoliberalism opposed. That turned out to be, well, me. Read more
As the lone church elder presiding over the viewing of his late friend Bruce Barnes, Rayford Steele has the opportunity to minister to a congregation racked with grief. But that's boring. So instead, "Rayford let his mind wander" and he and the authors ignore the grieving in order to awkwardly cram in some strange exposition. Read more
Re-read those personal testimonies but imagine that the topic is not religious conversion. Imagine that each is, instead, one of those little video interludes in "When Harry Met Sally" in which some charming old couple is recounting how they first fell in love. This is, after all, what all such testimonies are: people recounting how they fell in love. Disregard that love and such stories are meaningless. They become merely accounts of people going through the motions without context. They become pornography. Read more
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