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RETRIEVING THE WORDS OF FAITH
Introduction to the Series: Over time, through overuse and bad theology, words of faith tend lose their meaning or come to mean something which they did not originally mean. An example would be the word “faith” itself. “Faith” has come to mean mostly belief, as if faith is what we do with our heads. As a…
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The Bible and Critical Race Theory
We need historians. Especially now. Especially in traditional liberal arts colleges. Especially in Christianliberal arts colleges. We need historians because History—how to write it, teach it, and think it—is at the center of a current culture war. Often thought to be the dustiest of all academic subjects, History is now determining elections, causing people to behave…
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1 Timothy 2 and Women in Leadership: a Reading of the Text
Those who oppose the recognition of women as pastors and elders in the church often suppose that they have the biblical high ground. They accuse those who welcome women into church leadership of denying the literal meaning of the texts, playing fast and loose with scripture. To open church office to women, they argue, undermines…
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WHAT ABOUT PAUL?
I began this series of posts with the question, “Is Genesis 3 a fall story?” The question can be answered in two ways. The first would be to say, yes, it is a fall story, but not in the usual sense. Better, and what I suggested in the previous post (“Is Genesis 3 a Fall…
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THE BIBLE AND SEX
I’ll call this post, “The Bible and Sex.” As you already know, it’s not everything the Bible has to say about sex, even though the Bible has less to say about sex than many people think. Truth be told, this too long post is not even a good start on the Bible and sex. But…
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THE CONVERSATION II
This is the third in a series of posts responding to questions put to me by readers of my earlier series of posts I grouped together under the general title, “The Quest for “A Foundation-Laying Biblical Theology of Human Sexuality.” All are available on the website. The questions were broadly about two claims I made…
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THE CATHEDRAL
Did you mumble a bit on the creed? Many years ago, Adria and I brought Tim (not his real name) to church. Tim was a consultant working on a project for the state of Michigan that Adria was also working on. He came to church with us several times during while he was in town.…
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DOES THE BIBLE HAVE A PLOT? II An Introduction
I get mail. I do, although like you a lot of what comes into my email inbox is junk mail, people trying to sell me stuff or, worse, trying to scam me out of my credit card and social security numbers. Or, if I click where they tell me to click,” loading spyware onto my…