Recently, The Rev. Dr. Caleb J. Lines, Senior Minister of University Christian Church in San Diego, posted a sermon snippet on original sin. If you’re not yet following Caleb and you like pastors who are dynamic, persuasive and progressive, then you should start following him on the socials. He made an interesting point that I… Continue reading Original Sin
Category: Theology
God’s Gender
Why would Christians assign a male gender to the God of all creation? First, many of us including myself don’t, at least not intentionally. More on that later. However many Christians inherited referring to God as a male directly from scripture. In ancient Israel, it would have been natural to think of the highest ruler… Continue reading God’s Gender
Progressive Christianity
Progressive Christianity. Some people I’ve met would consider that an oxymoron. If you listen to the news and many political candidates, it would seem that there is only one right way to be a Christian in America and it requires conservative ideals and biblical inerrancy. If you start from the point of view that the… Continue reading Progressive Christianity
It Started with the Resurrection, Not Genesis
I live near a church – I’ll keep it nameless to protect the innocent, but yeah, it’s one of those churches – that recently put up a banner that reads, “Genesis: The Gospel from the Beginning.” Oh boy, where do I start? Let’s get the usual snark out of my system first. What do I… Continue reading It Started with the Resurrection, Not Genesis
Puzzle Pieces and Bridges
Sometimes I think Protestants have approached theology like the Bible is a big box of jigsaw puzzle pieces and if we just had enough time and patience, we’d be able to fit everything together. This is what some scholars would call a presumption of univocality. In other words, God is the ultimate author of the… Continue reading Puzzle Pieces and Bridges
A Zen Heart on a Christian Path
Between the ages of say 21 and 30 or so, if you had asked me what religion I was I probably would’ve said Buddhist. I didn’t belong to a sangha or sit with a sensei. I was more attracted to it philosophically. After leaving Christianity (turns out I never really left, what I left was… Continue reading A Zen Heart on a Christian Path
A Faintly Glimmering Radio Station
I play MusicLeague with members of my family and their friends. The Cake song, “Frank Sinatra,” made one of the playlists. It hit me hard — Cake wrote a song about how quaint Frank Sinatra records were for them and now almost 30 years later, Cake is quaint to GenZ. The chronological distance that my… Continue reading A Faintly Glimmering Radio Station
Some Thoughts on The Ten Commandments
Christian nationalism is abhorrent in any form it takes. One recent form is Louisiana legislation that mandates posting the Ten Commandments on the walls of every classroom in the state. Setting aside the obvious constitutional issues – should Satanists post their commandments on every classroom wall as well? – this blending of church and state… Continue reading Some Thoughts on The Ten Commandments
Resurrection Arguments Courtesy of N.T. Wright
I very recently wrote about N.T. Wright, “I won’t quote him at length here because while some of his work has been literally life changing to me, I am utterly frustrated by Wright’s intractability around LGTBQ+ dignity and so I’ve generally stopped recommending him outside of some limited cases.” A friend of mine said to… Continue reading Resurrection Arguments Courtesy of N.T. Wright
Inclusive Fulfilment
I don’t know why it took me so long to stumble upon the work of Paul Knitter. Knitter is a theologian who studies, practices and teaches religious pluralism. He combines Buddhism and Christianity into his personal faith practices. As someone who is perennially attracted to much of Buddhism, I’m attracted to this kind of exploration.… Continue reading Inclusive Fulfilment