On the Troubling Application of Matthew 25: Jeannine Brown on the “Least of These”

Last updated on: July 22, 2015 at 3:02 pm By Kyle Roberts

Biola’s online journal, The Table, recently published an excellent piece by New Testament scholar Jeannine Brown on the interpretation of the “least of these” in Matthew 25. In her piece, she responds to Denny Burk’s controversial suggestion (made several weeks ago now, but the interpretive questions here are not out of date) that a contemporary referent of the “least of these” are not the poor and oppressed of the world, but Christian bakers, florists, and other Christian folks who... Read more

The Mennonites are Leading the Way Toward Inclusion among Christian Colleges

Last updated on: July 21, 2015 at 1:54 pm By Kyle Roberts

Yesterday, two Christian colleges, Eastern Mennonite University and Goshen College, made a big announcement: They will now include sexual orientation in their anti-discrimination hiring policies. Eastern Mennonite, in particular, underwent a widely-known “listening process” regarding this issue throughout the 2014-2015 year. That process, which–as their press release notes--involved discussion with “university stakeholders – students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors” culminated in a majority of the trustees voting in favor of the inclusive policy change. The new policy reads: Eastern Mennonite University... Read more

Trump’s “Winner’s Only” Approach is Utterly Anti-Christian

Last updated on: July 21, 2015 at 10:07 am By Kyle Roberts

Trump created quite a stir when he declared that John McCain is not a war hero. His immediate retraction was–as Jon Stewart recounted in his masterful Jon Stewart way last night–a sarcastic retraction: “He’s a war hero because he got captured.” Trump prefers the ones who don’t get captured. You know, the “winners.” The one’s who don’t get fired. The ones who get captured, fired, who lose–they don’t deserve Trump’s respect. Trump is a one-per center. A “winner.” Jill... Read more

On the “Demonic Nature of Social Evil in Our Time”

Last updated on: July 17, 2015 at 10:29 am By Kyle Roberts

While working my way through Ernest Becker’s splendid book, The Structure of Evil, I came upon this gem (I have edited the section to incorporate gender inclusive language, and have split the text into more paragraphs for ease of reading): Humanity must confront the underlying alienation that exists in every age, and alienation exists wherever the individual does not have a commanding view, a unitary critical perspective by which to take in hand and react to the determinants of his social... Read more

The Trouble with Women in the Church (Leaving Evangelicalism #6)

Last updated on: July 16, 2015 at 9:53 am By Kyle Roberts

This is the sixth post of a series I will be writing over the next few months in which I reflect on my theological journey through Evangelicalism and “out the other side.” Sir Tim Hunt, a Nobel prize winning scientist, got into a lot of trouble with his “the trouble with girls in the lab” gaffe. The science community reacted swiftly and voraciously–resulting in the resignation of Dr. Hunt from his university post and probably permanently scarring his legacy and his capacity... Read more

David Tracy’s Plea for Avoiding Reductionism when Interpreting Religion

Last updated on: July 15, 2015 at 2:19 pm By Kyle Roberts

Wise words from David Tracy’s Plurality and Ambiguity, regarding the situation of plurality and the challenge of interpreting religion–and the role of theologians in doing that interpretation. He argues that both conservatives and liberals, “traditionalists” and progressives, believers and unbelievers (in other words, all human beings) are prone to the temptation to reduce religion to one or another “thing” that we presume to be manageable and unambiguous. All methods of reductionism, whether by believers or nonbelievers, are grounded in an unacknowledged confession of... Read more

Gay Christian Employee Leaves Wheaton College

Last updated on: July 14, 2015 at 3:21 pm By Kyle Roberts

Julie Rodgers, a gay Christian celebrated by evangelicals for her commitment to celibacy, recently announced her affirmation of gay marriage on her blog. I was alerted to her change of stance through Eliel Cruz’s Religion News Service column. Rodgers made the announcement here, on her personal blog. Here’s the paragraph from Rodgers’ blog that stood out to me: While I struggle to understand how to apply Scripture to the marriage debate today (just like we all struggle to know how... Read more

Some Thoughts on “Retrenchment” in Christian Higher Education

Last updated on: July 13, 2015 at 1:14 pm By Kyle Roberts

James McGrath, over at Exploring Our Matrix, has a good reflection on the problem of sectarian, conservative Christian higher education. He points to the recent admission of Brandon Withrow, who resigned his faculty position from a Christian seminary (Winebrenner Theological Seminary) because he simply no longer identified with the faith perspective of the school. As Withrow explained, his intellectual processing over the years led him to disconnect from the Christian religion; he had become a “none.” I don’t know much... Read more

“Can We Go Home, Now?” My Mom, Alzheimer’s Disease, and Our Longing for Home

Last updated on: July 9, 2015 at 9:59 am By Kyle Roberts

I have written before about my mother, who is in the final stages of the ravages of Alzheimer’s disease. It is a brutal disease, no question about it. It’s known as one of our “most feared diseases” for good reason. All of us fear losing our bodies. But we dread losing our minds before we lose our bodies. It just shouldn’t work that way. Unfortunately, it too often does. My dear dad, who has cared for my mom the last... Read more

A Note For Bible-Believing Christians Who Want to Be Inclusive

Last updated on: July 7, 2015 at 11:31 am By Kyle Roberts

In the days since I “came out” as an inclusive, progressive, and post-Evangelical Christian, I have been contacted more than a few times by others who find themselves on a similar road and a similar spot in their journeys. Some of them have a question like this: I want to take an inclusive position on LGBTQ; it feels right intuitively. It makes sense of the science, it makes sense of the sociology, it makes sense of my intuitions of justice. And,... Read more