Religious gatekeepers would not like Philip the evangelist

Last updated on: March 31, 2014 at 4:22 pm By Fred Clark

Somehow, though, the Apostle Paul didn't rebuke Philip and his daughters for violating all those clobber texts that insist that women must keep silent in the church. Instead, while enjoying his time there in Philip's house, Paul himself seems to have cheerfully and enthusiastically ignored all those clobber texts. That's kind of interesting, considering that Paul himself supposedly wrote them. I guess that just goes to show what a bad influence Philip could be, and why it's dangerous to allow people like him to remain in the church. Read more

Sunday favorites

Last updated on: March 26, 2014 at 8:00 pm By Fred Clark

"Truly I tell you, the tax-collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you." Read more

The tribe has no right-wing boundary: Liberty University is not ‘controversial’

Last updated on: March 29, 2014 at 4:40 pm By Fred Clark

No matter what outrageous things these men say, and no matter how often those outrageous statements are repeated and endorsed by all those institutions, none of that will ever bring a shadow of "controversy" within the white evangelical tribe. They're right-wing extremists, and the white evangelical tribe has no right wing boundary. Read more

The white evangelical army of hate is hurting people and redefining ‘Christianity’

Last updated on: March 28, 2014 at 5:34 pm By Fred Clark

The word "Christian" ought to mean something at least vaguely Christ-ish. The word "Christian" ought to have more to do with Fr. Nary's radical hospitality than with the brutality of the anti-Balaka. The word "Christian" ought to have more to do with World Vision's gospel-driven service to the poorest than with the sanctimonious contempt of the white evangelical bullies. But when the armies of hate are on the march, insisting that "We are Christians and we do this because we are Christians and because this is what Christians do," then we have to recognize that the word is changing for the worse, whether we like it or not. Read more

Franklin Graham’s hateful lies and opportunism winning Huzzahs from white evangelicals

Last updated on: March 27, 2014 at 7:28 pm By Fred Clark

"Yeah, sure," Graham says, smirk-grinning. His response isn't an attempt to convince the interviewer that this "recruitment" slur is true, or even to convince the interviewer that he really believes what he is saying. It is, rather, an appeal to the interviewers' sophistication. The sense is, Yeah, I went there -- I'll go as far as I need to go to win. He's proud of that. Read more

You’re dealing with all of us

Last updated on: March 27, 2014 at 3:51 pm By Fred Clark

This, I think, conveys one part of what I was getting at in this post yesterday and this one this morning. Don't mess with our family. Read more

What do the bullies for Christ hope to gain?

Last updated on: March 27, 2014 at 7:07 am By Fred Clark

The bullies had to prove that they could control World Vision, because controlling World Vision helps them pretend that they can control the Bible. It's just like why they're compelled to control women. Controlling women is another way of pretending that they can control the Bible. And as long as they can pretend that they can control the Bible, they can pretend that they control God. Read more

Same old story, same old act: A song for World Vision, and for Jesus Jerks everywhere

Last updated on: March 26, 2014 at 6:48 pm By Fred Clark

"We’ve given each other some hard lessons lately But we ain’t learnin’ We’re the same sad story that’s a fact ..." Read more

The Gospel Coalition is very upset with those who refuse to participate in their lie

Last updated on: March 26, 2014 at 5:48 pm By Fred Clark

I can't even imagine what it would be like to attempt such a lie. Try to picture doing this. You walk up to another person, you look them in the eye, human face to human face, and you say, "You do not exist." In what universe can you imagine that such a lie could ever be persuasive? What is the expectation there? Is the other person supposed to just blink out of existence? Read more

There is no such thing as ‘holiness’ apart from love

Last updated on: March 26, 2014 at 5:26 am By Fred Clark

I am elliptically grateful to Scot McKnight for helping to clarify what I find so bewildering in some of my fellow Christians. It is this notion that God's love must be "balanced" somehow against God's holiness. Holiness is thus perpetually invoked as a "yes, but ..." qualifier, setting a boundary on love -- on God's love and our own. Holiness, we are constantly being told, sets limits on love. Read more

What does Hebrews define as "confidence in what we hope for"?