An essay taking evangelicals to task for dabbling in Lent, called Much Ado about Something?, was recommended to me this week. Author Kenneth Stewart's historical facts were accurate enough, but he espouses a form of primitivism that I simply don't comprehend. Primitivism is the belief that the apostolic church was a pure church and everything …
Month: February 2016
St Porphyrios Quote
You don't become holy by fighting evil. Let evil be. Look towards Christ and that will save you. What makes a person saintly is love.
Jesus Doesn’t Judge; Words Judge
In yesterday's Daily Common Lectionary reading (Jn 12:44-50), Jesus says, "I do not judge anyone who hears my words and does not keep them, for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world." If Jesus (who is God, after all) doesn't judge and judgment is real (the Bible is full of …
Divine Glory and Suffering
I just ran across another place in Romans where Paul says two opposite things one after another, and in so doing demonstrates that they're actually the same thing. This one is in 5:2f. The NRSV says, "… we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast …
A Deep Dive on Divine Wrath
In the previous post I said that the idea of the wrath of God might better be looked at as a metaphor rather than a dark attribute of God's character. I did get some blow back on that so in this essay I want to take a deep dive into the Old Testament idea of …
Just Another Jim 