Darren Aronofsky has made an eminently biblical film. That is, if you see the Bible as a living, complex text full of conflict and theological questions. If you see the Bible as a wooden history book, you’ll probably dislike Noah. Or at least you’ll be confused. We pick up the story 10 generations after Adam and Eve. Noah is a boy, descended from the line of Seth. Of his tribe, we only meet his family — if there are others... Read more
I’m not going to recount the facts. Others have done that. I’m going to tell you what I know from unnamed sources inside the World Vision headquarters and I’m going to opinionate about what this means for the state of Christianity in America, especially in regards to GLBT issues. According to my sources, many staffers at WV headquarters in Seattle are very upset. This is a change that had been talked about and planned by the executive team for several... Read more
In the struggle for who gets to define the gospel in 21st century America — which I happen to think is a good struggle to have — this weekend looks to be important. As happens every year as Easter approached, mainstream media is tuning in to religion in general, and Christianity in particular. And some cultural items have come to the front of the American consciousness. I won’t call this a “battle,” because it’s not that. It’s a conversation, taking... Read more
Above you can watch Jeff Chu deliver one of the two talks at last week’s Progressive Youth Ministry conference to receive a standing ovation. The other was given the next morning by H. Adam Ackley, a transgender theology professor who was dismissed from Azusa Pacific University last year. Each of them spoke out of their own experience of being queer in their youth, and each of them explained how they could have been better ministered to by their churches. And... Read more
Some might call this shocking. I just call it another domino falling: World Vision’s American branch will no longer require its more than 1,100 employees to restrict their sexual activity to marriage between one man and one woman. Abstinence outside of marriage remains a rule. But a policy change announced Monday [March 24] will now permit gay Christians in legal same-sex marriages to be employed at one of America’slargest Christian charities. In an exclusive interview, World Vision U.S. president Richard... Read more
Thanks for your patience with my sporadic blogging as I write my book. But I did want you to know about a couple opportunities coming up… Boundary Waters Theological Canoe Adventure Join me for five days in the amazing Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness of northern Minnesota. We will canoe through some of the most beautiful, pristine wilderness in North America by day, and in the evenings we’ll discuss the doctrine of creation based on our readings and experience. The... Read more
That’s the question we’re trying to answer this week in Chicago. In a partnership with Fourth Presbyterian Church, the JoPa Group is running a conference on this topic. If you want to follow along — and why wouldn’t you? — you should follow the Twitter hashtag. Read more
Today we celebrate the 80th birthday of Phyllis Tickle, a friend and mentor to so many all around the church world. I’ve already said a lot of my appreciations in events over the past couple years and a book that I edited, Phyllis Tickle: Evangelist of the Future. There are various ways for you to wish Phyllis a happy birthday. You can do it in the comment section here, you can post something on her Facebook Page, or, best of all,... Read more
John Caputo is the foremost American interpreter of Jacques Derrida. He’s also a friend of mine, and I admire his work greatly. Since his retirement from teaching he’s moved from philosophy to theology, an area largely unexplored by Derrida himself. The Opinionator blog has a sharp interview with Caputo: G.G.: O.K., I guess you might say that all thinking involves making distinctions, but deconstructive thinking always turns on itself, using further distinctions to show how any given distinction is misleading.... Read more
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