Biblical References
Unless otherwise noted, all biblical passages are from the NIVArchives
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Rob Bell, What We Talk About When We Talk About God — a Book Review
When Rob Bell talks about God, the Omnis are missing. Omnipotence, omnipresence, omniscience—all these terms are missing. Also not to be found are aseity, immanence, immutability, and other esoteric words from systematic theology. This does not mean that Bell has nothing to … Continue reading
Posted in book or movie review, God
8 Comments
How Do We Become Part of the Kingdom of God?
The kingdom of God appears early in the gospels. Matthew 3 reports that: John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” Remember that the ‘kingdom of heaven’ … Continue reading
If We Are Free to Approach God Without Fear, What Becomes of Our Other Religious Fears—Like Hell?
To many believers God is love. This is the primary thing we know about God from Jesus—unconditional love. This is what Jesus told us about the Father and also what Jesus demonstrated in his own life as the representative of … Continue reading
Posted in atonement, fear, God, hell, Jesus, legalism, love
Tagged angry God, Gehenna, Hades, Isaiah 66, Jeremiah 19, Penal Substitution
22 Comments
How Should We Respond to the Leading of the Spirit?
Sometimes when I read or think about something I get tremendous insights. I might make a strong connection between two things, see an angle I never saw before, or even think something completely original. I am sure you have had … Continue reading
Posted in authority, inerrancy, judgment
Tagged Holy Spirit, Insights, John 14, John 16, Pentecostal, revelations, Tongues
35 Comments
Were the Gospels Written from Generations of Flawed Oral Transmission or Were They Much Closer to Eyewitness than that?
Have you ever played the telephone game? It’s a remarkable experience. A number of people sit in a circle. The first person whispers a story in the second person’s ear. Then the second person whispers the story into the third … Continue reading
Posted in authority, Bible, inerrancy, Jesus
Tagged Book of John, book of Mark, John 21, Mark 13, Oral Tradition, Papias, Peter, Telephone game
27 Comments
How Do We Understand the Resurrection of Many Holy People Associated with Jesus’ Resurrection?
We talked last time about strange stories associated with Jesus’ death. Today we discuss a strange story associated with his resurrection—that being the resurrection of many deceased holy people. We will begin where we left off last time—with Matthew’s unique … Continue reading
Jesus Without Baggage Welcomes Inerrantists!
Last week, I posted an article in which I explained that appeals to inerrancy in discussions were totally ineffective with those who do not embrace inerrancy. I had in mind those inerrantist believers who aggressively argue against progressive believers but … Continue reading
We Often Create God in Our Own Image: Angry God Part 2
Last time we talked about how thinking God to be angry, violent, and vindictive, based on Old Testament stories like the flood and the genocide of the Canaanites, can cause us to be angry, violent, and vindictive too in imitation … Continue reading
Posted in fear, God, hate, Jesus, love your enemies
Tagged Amalekites, angry God, Canaanites
60 Comments
We Often Become What We THINK God is Like: Angry God Part 1
Many people at some point decide to begin reading the Bible. But the Bible is a very large book; where should they begin? A large percentage begin at the beginning, of course—Genesis! Genesis is an interesting book: there are creation … Continue reading
Posted in fear, God, Jesus, judgment, love, Old Testament
Tagged angry God, Empathy compassion and care, the flood
118 Comments
Evolution and Homophobia: How We Are ‘Created’ LGBT and Straight
Do you remember the TV comedy, Maude? The December 3, 1977 episode was ‘The Gay Bar’, in which a very conservative acquaintance told Maude that, ‘If God wanted gay people he wouldn’t have created Adam and Eve, he’d have created … Continue reading
Posted in creationism, evolution, gays
Tagged Adam and Eve, Adam and Steve, Genesis 2-3, Genesis 9, Jerry Falwell, LGBT, Psalm 139
141 Comments
If Most Everyone Will Have Eternal Life with God Anyway, then Why Do We Need to Share the Good News of Jesus?
Recently we discussed whether those who have not heard the good news or who even follow other religions might receive eternal life and live in God’s community after death—even if they never became followers of Jesus during this lifetime. My … Continue reading
Posted in eternal life, fundamentalism, God, hell, Jesus, Kingdom of God, love, resurrection, the Good News, witnessing
15 Comments
Dealing with the Fear of Doubt and of Questioning Religious Beliefs We have been Taught
Growing up a fundamentalist, and then 25 years as an evangelical, I witnessed a lot of fear and experienced significant fear myself. These very conservative environments are filled with fear and, to a large extent, are based on fear—fear of … Continue reading
Posted in authority, baggage, doubt, evangelicalism, faith, fear, fundamentalism
Tagged Proverbs 14:12
48 Comments
48 Short, Specific Suggestions on Loving Others as We Love Ourselves
In my previous post, I talked about Loving Others in 2017, which provides the general background for today’s post, and if you have not read it (or wish to reread it) you can click the link above. Today’s post is … Continue reading
Posted in behavior, God, love, love your enemies, suffering
Tagged loving others, loving ourselves
22 Comments
3 Possible Reasons Jesus Told His Followers to Carry Swords
Whenever we talk of Jesus being nonviolent there are always those who protest that Jesus was indeed violent. Often they embrace violence and use Jesus for justification. We have discussed other inadequate ‘proofs’ of Jesus’ ‘violent’ side, such as his cleansing … Continue reading
Posted in Jesus, Kingdom of God, love your enemies
Tagged Christian violence, Jesus and violence, John 18, Luke 22, Mark 6, Matthew 5
51 Comments
The Bible is not a Magic Talisman: Biblical Power, Incantations, and Bibliomancy
In this series, we have discussed ways the Bible is commonly misused by those who think it has functions it does not. One thing they have in common is the assumption that the Bible is a consistent, uniform document directed … Continue reading
Posted in Bible, superstition
Tagged 1 Samuel 28, biblical incantations, biblical power, bibliomancy, In the name of Jesus
40 Comments
The False Power of Theological Certainty in Conservatism
When I was 7, I began to follow Jesus as a fundamentalist. More than 50 years later, I am more devoted to Jesus than ever, but it has been a long journey out of fundamentalism, and theological conservatism, to where … Continue reading
We Do Not Inherit Original Sin from Adam
Fear, pain, guilt, shame… Misery, insecurity, conflict, alienation… Greed, hate, exploitation, violence…Death. This is the world we live in. It has been this way in all times and all places. It is our human condition. Sometimes it is somewhat bearable; … Continue reading
Posted in alienation, inerrancy, original sin, sin
Tagged Adam and Eve, Garden of Eden, human condition, Paul, Romans 5
37 Comments
The Prophets Begin to Talk about Sin in a New Way
The Old Testament presents two major understandings about sin. Sin was primarily thought to be disobedience of the nation of Israel or transgression of God’s many detailed rules (legalism). The solution to taking away sin and guilt was participation in … Continue reading
Posted in alienation, God, Jesus, legalism, Old Testament, sin
Tagged Amos 5, Hosea 6, Isaiah 1, Isaiah 61, Luke 4, Mark 12, Psalm 40, Temple ritual
33 Comments
We are Agents for Expanding God’s Kingdom on Earth
The first three elements of the Good News of Jesus are so wonderful that almost anyone can embrace them: God is not Angry and Harsh with Us as Many of Us Thought God’s Love for Us Takes Away Our Fear, … Continue reading
Posted in alienation, God, Jesus, Kingdom of God, love, The Father, the Good News, witnessing
Tagged justice, Luke 17, Matthew 13, mustard seed, peace, reconciliation
35 Comments
Jesus Without Baggage 