Category: Uncategorized

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

Recently a friend pointed out to me that a couple of disgruntled former members of our church had written Google reviews about our church saying we weren’t “Biblical.” Setting aside the facts that we read and teach on the Bible every single week and giving your former faith community an uncharitable and inaccurate review seems… Continue reading Your Church is not Biblical

So I just learned about this ultraconservative movement called Operation Reconquista. I refuse to link to them here and give them any Google love but you can look them up on your own. The theology on their site is shallow, unlettered and so inartfully expressed that I first thought it was satire or perhaps it… Continue reading Reconqui-whatnow?

Naturalism cannot account for what we typically think of as a ground of morality and reason. This is not an attempt to prove that God exists, nor that morality and reason are universally grounded. It is certainly not an attempt to say that atheists are immoral or unreasonable. God’s existence and creation may be true;… Continue reading Of Morality and Reason

I always tell people that I am “little-c Catholic.” Of course, we all are, in the sense of belonging to the body of Christ. But I also mean that while I don’t think I could ever convert to Catholicism, I have a deep respect for the history, tradition, magisterium and practices of the Catholic and… Continue reading My Personal Chaplet

What does it mean to be a Christian? What is required? In America, this debate is often framed by conservative fundamentalists who seem overly concerned with who is in and who is out. Do you believe the “right,” things? If not, you’re not a true Christian. Christians like me — those with liberal, progressive and… Continue reading Who is a Christian?

The Bible has a healthy dose of mythology in it. Some Christians might be offended by this idea. When I say, “mythology,” I don’t mean it in the colloquial sense of a fiction or half-truth. MythBusters is a great series, but when I speak of myth, I don’t mean urban legend. The Cambridge Dictionary defines… Continue reading Functions of Mythology

Amos 8:4 Hear this, you who trample on the needy,    and bring to ruin the poor of the land… Do you have conservative friends and family who are concerned that schools, books, Disney and Taylor Swift are indoctrinating your family into the dark world of social justice? Wait until they hear about the Book of Amos.… Continue reading The Book of Amos on Social Justice

In a previous post, Apples Are Not Bananas, Theology Is Not History, I discussed what I think is a major problem in either criticizing or defending the Bible. Namely, we shouldn’t be taking the Bible as literal, inerrant history. It was never intended to be read as such. Somehow, inerrantists have decided that there is… Continue reading How Many Donkeys?

If Grace is a free gift of God, then why should a Christian worry about participating in the means of grace? When I think of the means of grace, I sometimes think of two metaphors. They are both far from perfect, as all metaphors are imperfect, but they help me to grasp the importance of… Continue reading Means of Grace