Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto Me. In 2005, God blessed our family with our third child, our second daughter, whom we named Bethany. As soon as Bethany was born, we knew there was something different about her. Unlike her two older siblings, who were born…
Christian, what is it that we believe? While Creeds like the Nicene and Apostle’s have been fundamental pieces of Christian liturgy and life, the American Church is highly unattached to these classic statements. From this creedal phobia has arisen the popular “No Creed, but Christ” slogan. Such slogan, of course,…
Revisiting William Cavanaugh’s devastating 2009 The Myth of Religious Violence . The myth of Cavanaugh’s title is a well-known one. According to the myth, religion is a distinct sphere of human life and practice from the rest of human social life, a universal impulse in human beings, and is dogmatic,…
19 Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 20 And when he had so…
An octave is a repetition, a repetition with a difference. It’s not the first note played again , but the first note played at a higher pitch. Octaves have always marked new beginnings. Hebrew boys were circumcised on the eighth day. Firstborn sheep were dedicated to Yahweh on the eighth…
We say Jesus’ resurrection is good news. It wasn’t good news for the disciples on the first Easter. More like perplexing, bewildering news. For others, it wasn’t perplexing, and it certainly wasn’t good. It was plain old bad news. Early in Luke’s gospel, Herod is terrified that Jesus might be…
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Religious freedom is basic to American freedoms, conservatives say. Bringing religion into the public square violates the separation of church and state, liberals say. Both are wrong, says David Sehat in his The Myth of American Religious Freedom . Conservatives are wrong to think that American religion has always been…
Each of the seven letters to the churches of Asia ends with a promised blessing to those who overcome (Revelation 2-3). The letter to Pergamum ends with a triple promise of “hidden manna,” “a white stone,”and a “new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who…
The US faces policy challenges of gargantuan proportions. Immigration, social security, drugs, race, crime and prison reform, health care, Islamicism and other international challenges. I'd put same-sex marriage, the ethical issues surrounding biotechnology, and abortion high on that list, and some would add environmental issues to the short list. For…
In her thorough study of American congregations, Pillars of Faith , Nancy Ammerman highlights the various ways that congregations provide social capital - networks of friends and support - to members. One of the main reasons people join congregations, her surveys and interviews found, was to get support in raising…
I recently summarized the appearances of “sitting” posture in Revelation. Lazlo Gallucz develops a similar point in T he Throne Motif in the Book of Revelation (251-7). One of the points he highlights is the connection between the harlot's enthronement in Revelation 17 and the Lord's in chapter 4: “The…
Laura Choate teaches counseling education at LSU, has a private clinical practice working with teens and families, and is a mother. She's well positioned to advise how parents can care for girls in what she calls a “toxic culture.” Her forthcoming Swimming Upstream is part cultural and psychological analysis, part…
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