(8 minutes) Not long ago, my ten-year-old grandson asked me, “Granddad, do you believe in the Devil and demons?” Apparently, he had heard some talk from his friends about the presence and danger of the satanic in this world. His question reminded me of a comment by the nine-year-old son… Continue reading
“THE TRUTH WILL MAKE YOU FREE.” JOHN 8:32 Some time ago, Jason Micheli interviewed David Bentley Hart on Micheli’s podcast Crackers and Grape Juice. (The interview can be found on YouTube under the title “All Creation Afire as a Burning Bush.”) During the interview, Hart spoke eloquently about freedom as… Continue reading
In the first part of this series, I briefly argued that our freedom to choose is limited by our knowledge of our choices. We are free to choose only when we have an adequate and authentic understanding of the nature and consequences of what we choose. One may accidentally put… Continue reading
To “eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil” can be interpreted as trying to grasp everything without obtaining the necessary wisdom and experience required to have or be in proper relationship with anything. Continue reading
Equality and fraternity (the common good) have never enjoyed the same emphasis and evolution as liberty (defined as the right and ability of individuals to do whatever they choose.) Equality and the common good require restraints, justice, fairness, the experience of authentic community, and basic human decency to survive and thrive. Continue reading
One distinctive feature of Jesus’ teachings was a lack of holiness language. In the place of holiness, Jesus put mercy. Continue reading
There is no reference in the Bible to any everlasting place of punishment and torture beyond death. That belief is based on horrible translations of Hebrew and Greek words. Continue reading
There are times when translations fail miserably to capture the truth of certain words. The very meaning of those words can become lost in poor, distorted, or wrong translations. In this series, I want to mention several distortions found today in many English translations of the Bible which have had profoundly tragic consequences. Continue reading
(8 minutes) Many followers of Jesus Christ are deeply disturbed by the threats to our democracy and any Christian faith resembling the Jesus of the Gospels. Such threats come from “Christian Nationalism,” racism, misogyny, homophobia, xenophobia, and the continual ravages of an economic system which is based on greed and… Continue reading
One might wonder if all this analysis is no more than a pedantic waste of time. Actually, it gets to the heart of Paul’s understanding of the gospel. Continue reading
