the beauty of grace in the modern world
A long time ago, I used to believe God hated the world. I wouldn't have quite put it in those terms, but the God I heard about was God who was merely biding his time before "rapturing" all the "true Christians" and pouring out his wrath and judgment upon the Earth. For those who don't…
Continue reading ➞ At the End of the World: Leaving Behind the American Apocalypse
The Old Testament is a formidable beast. Maybe you're discouraged by the mind-numbing genealogies, dietary restrictions, temple blueprints, and obscure prophecies. Or, maybe you're turned off by the graphic violence and apparent endorsement of slavery and oppression against women. Or, you're tripped up because no one in the Old Testament seems concerned about the afterlife.…
We tend to fight when we travel. Which is unfortunate, because we really like to travel. I don't know if it's the accumulated stresses of hurtling through the sky in an aluminum tube at 28,000 feet, navigating the wonders of baggage claim, driving in an unfamiliar city, or simply finding a place where my gluten and…
Continue reading ➞ More Thoughts on Sex, Vulnerability, and Spirituality After Two Years of Marriage
The Talmud - a vast collection of ancient Jewish laws and traditions - said it's better to "burn the Torah [the first five books of the Bible] than it was to teach it to a woman." Saint Clement, considered to be the first Apostolic father of the Church, said, "Every woman ought to be overcome with…
Continue reading ➞ Unveiled: Women, Misogyny, the Bible and Church
In April 2018, fashion magazine GQ posted an article titled "21 Books You Don't Have to Read" and listed the Bible in their number 12 spot. Obviously, "the editors of GQ" are not the gatekeepers of literary excellence (Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, and J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in…
This blog post is a second half of a collection of seven “episodes” I wrote for Holy Week. (You can read Part 1 here). In reconstructing the final days of Jesus, I wanted to show how Jesus’s revolutionary message and life challenged the political, economic, and religious structures of his day – just like they…
Continue reading ➞ The Last Hours: The Revolutionary Final Moments of Jesus
This blog post is the first half of a collection of "episodes" I wrote for Holy Week. In reconstructing the final days of Jesus, I wanted to show how Jesus's revolutionary message and life challenged the political, economic, and religious structures of his day - just like they still do today. For those who don't…
Continue reading ➞ The Last Week: The Revolutionary Final Days of Jesus
