An Old New Way of Reading the Bible

The fundamentalist reader and the modern biblical scholar using historico-critical methods are the obverse and reverse of the same coin. They are concerned with the Bible as fact, as real history; so the focus is on the truth behind the text, the exact reference of the words and narratives. Compared with early Christian interpretation, this…

Wrestling with Scripture

How do we reckon with passages of the Bible that seem inconsistent with the way Christ wishes us to behave and think? In what ways does the Bible reflect the divine will, and in what ways does it bear the marks of fallen humanity? What are we to think when the Bible offers us two…

If Christ is not raised…

Your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. This is what Paul teaches us in 1 Corinthians 15:17. Our entire salvation depends upon the resurrection of Christ. As we enter into Holy Week, there will be a number of posts in social media about how the resurrection of Christ is a metaphor…

Scribes and Pharisees

I’ve been writing down some theological reflections on Mark’s gospel. Perhaps at some point these will constitute the makings of a short book, but for now they’re just reflections. Here are some brief thoughts on the scribes and Pharisees in Mark. I’d appreciate any constructive feedback you have.  Let’s clear something up about the scribes and…

I know what you don’t believe about the #Bible…. What DO you believe?

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from working with mainline Protestants over the years, it’s that we’re really good at identifying what we don’t believe about scripture. Basically, the claim I have heard over and over again is that we don’t read it the way “fundamentalists” read it. Okay…. Fair enough. That, however, is a very uninteresting statement.…