Putting the Political in Political Liberalism
To examine the United Church of Christ Statement of Faith is not so much to examine a creed which binds all members and determines who is in and out of the community. Rather it is to examine a testimony of faith. In that, this statement invites us to consider our own faith and gives […]
So major evangelical leaders came together to produce a statement on “biblical sexuality.” But there were Catholic and mainline Protestant signers of the Nashville Statement. So while the problems with this statement are concentrated in evangelicalism, they are in fact problems that affects a much wider swath of the church. Much of the press coverage […]
Rod Dreher has a remarkable way of both identifying the big issues of our time and then developing prescriptions that cannot hold, given his own stances. The one I wanted to focus on this line from a recent essay. The Other America: The America of a society that has lost its bindings — to […]
I want to focus on the place called Bethel, because in the story of Bethel lies a tail that weaves its way through the Bible. We first hear about Bethel in Genesis 12, where Abram, (Abraham’s original name) receives his call to leave his homeland and is promised a new land and a people. One […]
This post is written largely in response to Morgan Guyton, a UMC campus minister, who steers a path between religious liberalism and conservative evangelicalism as he responds to a piece titled 5 Marks of Theological Liberalism. His responses are well written and there’s a lot to agree with. But given that I identify as a […]
Sanders: You think your statement that you put into that publication, they do not know God because they rejected Jesus Christ, His Son, and they stand condemned, do you think that’s respectful of other religions? Vought: Senator, I wrote a post based on being a Christian and attending a Christian school that has a statement […]
A recent piece in Daily Kos writes t’s difficult to see why any believer, fundamentalist or “moderate,” should receive special treatment ― especially when even the most moderate and “progressive” Christians are nurturing the xenophobic, racist, uncharitable and decidedly “un-Christian” America we are finding ourselves in today. And make no mistake: there is no […]
David Gushee, an American Baptist ethicist writes on the state of evangelicalism and the LGBT debate that has embroiled so many churches: I now believe that incommensurable differences in understanding the very meaning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the interpretation of the Bible, and the sources and methods of moral discernment, separate many of us […]
We are in the season of Easter, Eastertide. For 50 days, we have a chance to reflect on the meaning of resurrection, in our life and in our faith. Pentecost, from both Greek and Latin means the 50th day, which celebrates the beginning of the church, when the disciples in the upper room are given […]
I had a chance to attend a symposium on religious pluralism at Oklahoma City Community College, where I teach religion and philosophy part time. It became obvious that there was a tension in the room. This came from having two opposing view points in the room. And the viewpoints largely talked around each other. Let’s […]
If you believe that Christianity is something that people can re-form into a shape that suits our felt needs in this time and place….then a strong form of Christianity cannot survive…The grandchildren of today’s progressive Christians will either be traditionalist Christians or not Christian at all. We really are at a dramatic fork in the […]
In lieu of the critiques Rod Dreher offers against modernity, which he sees playing out in American culture, including the increasing acceptance of LGBT people, the dramatic rise of the nones, and the failure of our society to agree on a common good, he offers a proposal: the Benedict Option. The Benedict Option is […]
