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Bible & Theology

The Bible and Theology are the things I'm most passionate about and write about the most often.

Without the shedding of blood...

"Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins." Hebrews 9:22 This verse has been used to justify a bloodthirsty view of God. That God had no choice but to punish Jesus on the cross in order to forgive sins. But this is a pagan

Ezra and Ruth

Let me tell you a Bible story. In this story you'll hear why you think the Bible is backwards and xenophobic; but is more progressive than you'll ever be; why we need to listen to our Jewish cousins when we study Scripture; and why chronological Bibles

Q&R: What Study Bible Should I Get?

Short answer Get either the NIV or NRSV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible OR the Common English Bible (CEB) Study Bible. Longer answer My 4 go-to "committee translations" are CEB, NRSV, NIV, and NLT. One nice thing about being a Bible college and seminary student is that you get

I have some further thoughts on the United States as a Christian Nation

My buck-naked definition of what counts as “Christian” includes: the resurrection of Jesus; the Trinity; the inauguration of the Kingdom of God embodied through the church; non-violence; and the radical equality of male, female, Jew, Greek, slave, and free. Adherents to the Christian nation myth focus on the artifacts of

One of the most dangerous myths of our era is that the United States is (or ever was) a Christian nation

One of the most dangerous myths of our era is that the United States is (or ever was) a Christian nation. This origin myth is a modern invention, concocted by an unholy marriage of reactionary corporate interests, anti-social gospel fundamentalists, and conservative politicians. The literature exposing this modern myth is

We are living in the age of the Now and the Not Yet of God’s Kingdom

We are living in the age of the Now and the Not Yet of God’s Kingdom. Jesus’ resurrection inaugurated the new creation; the “ruler of this world” has been judged, defeated; and Jesus has disarmed and made a public spectacle of the powers and authorities, triumphing over them by

Yearly Easter Post 2021

Harry spoke as they circled, and stared into each other's eyes, green into red. "You won't be able to kill any of them ever again. Don't you get it? I was ready to die to stop you from hurting these people--" "

“This sickness will not end in death.”

At a skin-deep reading, it would appear that Jesus was wrong. Lazarus would die. Jesus heard the news of illness, waited around for 2 days . . . and did nothing! And Jesus’ do-nothing-ness resulted in one of His dear friends dying. But Jesus’ words are very particular. “This sickness will not END

“Well, I know that God is on the throne...”

“Well, I know that God is on the throne...” “God is in control!” “Let go and let God!” These cliches can inoculate us against our God-given calling to collaborate with God in the healing of the world. Yes, Christ is King. Yes, God is sovereign. But that therefore doesn’t

A Gospel that is not explicitly anti-racist falls short of the Gospel declared in Scripture.

A Gospel that is not explicitly anti-racist falls short of the Gospel declared in Scripture. The death of Jesus did not not only atone for individual sins. It had social and racial repurcussions as well. Look at Ephesians 2, where Paul addresses the ethnic hostility between Jews and Gentiles— "