God’s bodykins, man, much better: Use every man after his desert, and who should ‘scape whipping? (Hamlet II, 2, 500-501)
In addition to proclaiming God’s message to God’s people, Israel’s prophets traditionally also fulfilled the role of intercessor on behalf of the people with God. Moses interceded for Israel after the Golden Calf incident, for example (Exod 32:11-13), arguing that, although the people had flagrantly violated their covenant relationship with God almost
“Who do you say that I am?” (Mark 8:29 and par.)
Yesterday churches across the world experienced the highest attendance levels that they will experience all year. Attendance next Sunday, at least in the West, however, will confirm the trends indicated in the surveys about religion and the statistics concerning denominational decline. For many reasons, some clearly identifiable and others
Mark 1:11; Matt 3:17; Luke 3:22
As I write, it is Tuesday of Holy Week and the world seems to be coming apart all around me – terrorism in Belgium, turmoil in American politics, and troubled people on every horizon. People want political answers to what they perceive to be political threats; they want forceful measures to deal with destructive forces. People are angry and afraid. Can
A Dangerous Cocktail
Growing up in the 1960’s in small-town Appalachia, I did not encounter significant cultural variety. As a member of the Baptist majority, I found Episcopalians extremely exotic. I was in high school when the first pizzeria opened in town. Of course, the only things Italian about it were the spices in the sauce.
And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?” (John 9:2 NAS)
Poverty is not (proof of) sin. Poverty is not a character flaw. Poverty happens to people.
John’s Gospel records an episode in Jesus’ ministry in which his disciples revealed their sadly respectable conventionality. Two prominent strands of theological tradition running throughout the Old Testament converged in their question concerning the identity of the sinner responsible for an unfortunate man’s blindness.
Ezra 9:1
The idea of divine election, while central to the biblical witness, can be dangerous if misunderstood. Political rhetoric this election cycle has called attention to the undercurrent of exclusionary sentiment flowing throughout the U.S. population. Events abroad surrounding the Syrian refugee crisis attest to the universal character of this sentiment. Everyone, even believers, it seems, wants to exclude someone from access to something and somewhere.
Evidence suggests that two impulses deeply rooted in my religious tradition have recently resurfaced in not-so-subtle disguises to the potential detriment of the church: ministerial servitude and anti-intellectualism. By the former, I mean the constellation of behaviors that churches manifest toward their ministers and that reveal an underlying confusion
Continue reading “Study to show yourself approved unto God…” (2 Tim 2:15)
Keeping Kosher from a Contemporary Perspective
For a period when he was small, one of my children would regularly ask at mealtime, “What was this when it was alive?” His question expressed an attitude remarkably near that of ancient Israel’s priests about food that must be addressed in a life of faith.
Genesis 14:19-22 and Acts 17:23-24
Wishing to express solidarity with American Muslims who face growing hostility, Larycia Hawkins, a tenured professor on the faculty of Wheaton College (IL), posted a comment on her FaceBook® page on December 10, 2015. “…as Pope Francis stated last week, we worship the same God.” Saturday February 6, 2016, Hawkins and Wheaton’s academic
Isaiah 6 and Worship
Poor Isaiah. He experienced what we all say that we want to experience in church on Sunday morning: the undeniable presence of God. It was not entirely pleasant. Immediately, the prophet became aware of his unclean lips. Perhaps, seeing God “high and lofty” (Isa 6:1, NRSV) called attention to the inadequacy of the things he had been