Another video exploring how our preunderstandings (the things that we think we “know” in advance that a Bible passage is about) can make us miss the point...
As part of my seminar on Bible abuse at Easter Camp I talked about how a couple of sorts of context (cotext or social setting and culture) help us understand Jesus parable of the Big Feast (Luke 14:16ff.) more sharply. This podcast is a quick version of that focusing on questions of context. [Updated with [&hellip...
Often Bible readers focus on things that are not the message the writer was trying to communicate. This is hardly “faithful” reading. So what is the danger and how do we avoid it? Putting the issue another way: Are you building you theology on rock or sand? BTW this and the previous video about Ezekiel’s [&hellip...
I’ve been asked about the prosperity gospel, which claims that not only does God want to bless us, but that if we do the right things God will bless us. In the context from which it was asked it’s a really important question, in my context too it’s a question that matters. Here’s part one [&hellip...
The New Testament use of the Old Testament often seems arbitrary or bizarre to modern readers. Here I’ll suggest that Paul’s use of Genesis in Galatians 4 (while not only strange but also unfair to Hagar and over kind to Sarah) fits with thew intent of Genesis. I think this is an interesting example of [&hellip...
People like “old time religion”, “Give them more hellfire and damnation pastor!” the elders plead (somehow it is always “them” not “us” in this case), churches were full when preachers really put the fear of God into their audiences! But is ‘hell’ an important Christian doctrine, should every preacher touch on torment every month or [&hellip...
I’ve been puzzled and frustrated recently in several conversations by the way in which both some Fundamentalists and some Atheists seem to (mis)use Scripture in similar ways. This is the first of a series on this, it focuses on how this way of using Scripture is wrong...
The final podcast in a series written as guest posts for Sacraparental that express the key ideas of Not Only a Father briefly and simply. This one explores a few ways to experience God as motherly. Looks at Psalm 131 and Jesus teaching in Matthew 5 & 6 as well as Numbers 11. For more [&hellip...
Can a currently unspeakable picture of God, which was in use for the first 1400 years of Christianity help us enrich our relationship with God? Many of the best known theologians and writing pastors of the first 1400 years of the Christian church (including Clement, Jerome, Augustine and Anselm) were happy to speak in different [&hellip...
What does it mean for Christian talk of God as motherly that Jesus called (even maybe named) God as -father-? Then we take a closer look at what Jesus meant when he talked about God as father. Finally I’ll think about what it means for this topic that Jesus was male. There is a lot [&hellip...
