I had a little fun with the idea that Jesus had a wife last week. This week, something a little more serious. My dear friend, Rabbi Joseph Edelheit, often posts at the Emergent Village blog; he regularly co-preaches with me at Solomon’s Porch, and he and I are co-presenting next week at Luther Seminary’s Celebration of Biblical Preaching Conference. I asked him what a Jew might think of Jesus being married, and he wrote this superb guest post: The Rabbi... Read more
It’s Friday, which means it’s time for me to respond to Patience’s question in the Questions That Haunt Christianity series. Patience is a former Christian who has explored other religions and has come across the Gnostic writings of early Christianity in her pursuit for truth. She asks, Why [are] those gospels are not in any bibles, why no christians read or quote them, and why so conveniently christianity can dispose of alternate explanations within christianity itself; is christianity ultimately just a... Read more
So, it seems that some Coptic Christians in the 4th century maybe possibly thought that Jesus was married. Is this the end of Christianity as we know it?!? I doubt it. I also doubt that Jesus had a wife, but I’m not going to call it the equivalent of proposing that “George Washington was a woman,” as some biblical scholars have. It’s especially relevant to readers of this blog, as we discuss this week’s Haunting Question about the Gnostic Gospels.... Read more
David Lose of Luther Seminary has curated a new ebook on church leadership. It’s called Renew 52: 50+ Ideas to Revitalize Your Congregation from Leaders Under 50. I contributed a chapter, as did Lillian Daniel, Nadia Bolz-Weber, Bruce Reyes-Chow, Peter Rollins, and many others. You should grab this book for yourself. Seriously. I mean, it’s free! Here’s a snippet from my chapter,”LEARN FROM FACEBOOK: IMPLEMENT CONSTANT, INCREMENTAL CHANGE,” (more…) Read more
Recently, I supped with a young, hipster evangelical leader. Someone you would know. Someone who runs large conferences. We had a nice time, but toward the end of our time together, I asked her a question that I figured I knew the answer to: “You won’t have me or Doug or Brian speak at your events, will you?” The answer, after some hemming and hawing, was “No.” Here’s why I asked: Her conference, like many other evangelical conferences, has two... Read more
This week’s entry in the Questions That Haunt Christianity series comes from Patience, who asks, Since leaving the faith I have not looked back, and I have done a lot of exploration of atheist/agnostic communities as well as alternative religious communities. In studying Buddhism and some other religions I came back to some references to the Gnostic Gospels, and I want to know why mainstream christianity has not yet dealt with these at all but keeps preaching the Johannine gospel... Read more
Brian McLaren has a new book out: Why Did Jesus, Moses, the Buddha, and Mohammed Cross the Road?: Christian Identity in a Multi-Faith World. With all of the turmoil in the Middle East regarding the (ridiculous) film The Innocence of Muslims, I thought I’d dial Brian up on Google+ and ask him for his thoughts about what thoughtful Christians can do. To be honest, I’m feeling downhearted about the whole situation. If someone as gifted and goodhearted at Ambassador Chris... Read more
It’s no surprise to me that I stroked the cat’s fur the wrong way with my two posts about homeschooling over the last couple weeks. It’s not popular to decry a trend that is burgeoning among both right-wing and left-wing Christians. But I, dear reader, stand here in the center and attempt to humbly guard our space. 🙂 But seriously, I know that my posts were provocative. But they weren’t personal. The fact that so many people took them personally... Read more
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