Theology. History. Culture.
The Gospel lectionary text for today is Mark 5:1-20. It’s the story of Jesus healing the demoniac who is possed by “Legion” — many evil spirits. Jesus sends the evil spirits into the nearby herd of swine, who then charge into the lake and drown themselves. At this surprising display of power, the residents […]
Continue reading " Fearing His Power, Drawn by His Goodness "
The Gospel lectionary text for today is Mark 4:35-41, the story about Jesus calming the storm out on the sea, after the disciples wake him up and implore him to do something, for fear that they will drown. After calming the storm, Jesus says to them: “Why are you so afraid? Have you […]
The future life envisioned by Holy Scripture involves a restored physical universe, a “renewal of all things” — a New Heavens and New Earth (e.g. Rev. 21). It’s true, however, that if we were to take a poll of western Christians about their views on what the future life will be like, we’d likely […]
Continue reading " Material Offerings, Eucharist, and Our Vision of the Future Life "
The “Holy War” passages in the Bible that describe the Israelite Conquest of Canaan are surely some of the most disturbing – and disturbingly misused – passages in all of Scripture.
In Deuteronomy 7:2, for instance, Moses tells the Israelites that when they enter the Land of Canaan, which God had promised to […]
The idea of Heaven is fascinating. It’s actually one of the few universal human fascinations. Everybody thinks about heaven. Even if it’s your own made-up, private version of “heaven,” you think about it. C.S. Lewis once described heaven as that remote music we’re born remembering.
Continue reading " A Sermon on “Heaven” - Or, the New Heaven and New Earth "
I read with interest the latest cover story of Time Magazine on “Why We Should Teach the Bible in Public School.” On the whole, it’s a very sensible article and it argues that many public schools should offer courses on biblical literacy, on account of the Bible’s formative influence on western civilization and because […]
Continue reading " Teaching the Bible in Public School: A Modest Proposal "
A couple weeks ago I promised to continue a series of reflections on the theme of “Yearning for Unity and Purity” in the PC(USA), commenting on the state of the church, looking at Ephesians and then a few books on the topic of church unity. This post looks at Ephesians. I’ll pick up on the […]