The Fear of the Lord

Psychologists have long known that we cannot truly love what we fear. As I John says, “Perfect love casts out fear.” Love involves trust. Fear is based on mistrust, suspicion, and foreboding. Love and trust are integral parts of a healthy, growing, and honest relationship. Fear and mistrust are indicative of an unhealthy, unreliable, and toxic relationship. Fear and mistrust are characteristics found in all sick religion. Continue reading

The Root of Religion

So many people assume religion is what we believe about God. The primary assumption of the religious is that there is a God and they know something about that God. Theology is man’s systematic beliefs about God. (I purposely used “man” because with a few exceptions, women have not been… Continue reading

The Problem With Fundamentalism

Humility, uncertainty, and doubt are not found in fundamentalism. Faith is equated with unexamined belief in certain “fundamentals” which must never be questioned. Such an understanding of faith overlooks the two primary meanings of faith in the Bible: trust and fidelity to God and the way of the God we trust. Continue reading