Picking and Choosing, and Letting the Bible Interpret Us

In his second letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul writes, “I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet.” (I Timothy 2:12) This little verse has made big waves in the evangelical culture, and all my life I’ve heard it used to enforce restrictions on the positions women can hold in church leadership. And yet, just three verses before this one, Paul says, “I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments, but rather by means of good works…” (I Timothy 2:9) Read more...

Why Obama takes the Bible more seriously than Dobson

What really bugged me about James Dobson’s recent attack on Senator Barack Obama was not so much that he completely misrepresented Obama’s views on religion and public life (which he did), nor that he assumed Christians can only apply their values to one or two conservative political positions (which he often does), or even that he used inflammatory language and name-calling to make his point (for which he should know better.) What really got under my skin was... Read more...

Book Club Discussion: Doubt as a Necessary Element of Faith

Voltaire once said that “doubt is uncomfortable, certainty ridiculous.” As we continue our discussion of Peter Rollins’ “How (Not) to Speak of God,” I’d like to explore the role that doubt plays in the faith experience. Having struggled with doubt throughout much of my adulthood, I think it’s important to honestly examine both its positive and negative effects, and to suggest that while doubt can be uncomfortable, it is no more dangerous than absolute certainty. Read more...

Have We Made the Bible Into an Idol?

Every now and then, I spot the following proclamation on a bumper sticker: “God said it. I believe it. That settles it.” If only Scriptural interpretation were really that easy! Read more...

When a theology just doesn’t feel right...

This week’s posts challenge the fundamentalist position of exclusivism-the theology that salvation is available only to those who explicitly confess faith in Jesus Christ, leaving out the billions of people throughout history who either never heard of Jesus or who were raised in religious traditions other than Christianity... Read more...