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Continue reading →: What Are the Nations, Theologically?In the face of rising Christian nationalism, one question seems strangely neglected: what are the nations, theologically? Scripture has a lot to say about nations, but not always what nationalists want to hear. Here are four themes that stand out from my own reading of the biblical story. The Nations…
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Continue reading →: The Alchemy of Paracelsus from a Christian PerspectiveFor many modern readers, the alchemy of Paracelsus can seem obscure and exotic. An odd mixture of primitive chemistry, mystical speculation, and renaissance medicine. Yet for Paracelsus, alchemy was neither superstition nor mere experiment. It was a disciplined attempt to understand and participate in a living, divinely ordered world. He…
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Continue reading →: What the Response of Church Leaders to the Vulnerable Reveals About Their GodThe way church and institutional leaders respond to vulnerable people reveals far more than their public theology. It reveals the character of the god they practically serve. Churches may preach grace, justice, truth, repentance, and compassion, but when wounded people disclose harm, fear, abuse, misconduct, or neglect, the response of…
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Continue reading →: On Praying for Rent Money: A Response to Richard BeckI was recently reading an article by Richard Beck entitled On Elite Criticism of the Prosperity Gospel, where he makes a helpful and provocative argument about why the prosperity gospel is often misunderstood. His basic point is that while prosperity theology is frequently criticised as manipulative or theologically distorted, this…
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Continue reading →: Determinism Ain’t What Drives UsI have noticed many atheists attacking biblical stories for not being fully compatible with determinism. Well, you got us there. The Christian worldview is not deterministic. Christianity assumes that created beings possess genuine agency. Humans are not machines running a fixed script, and neither are spiritual beings. The biblical story…
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Continue reading →: Is Trump a Test From God?I have often wondered why Trump has lasted so long and why God has allowed it. The only answer that makes sense to me is that God is testing us, and by this, I mean the church in particular. For me Trump functions less as an Antichrist figure, heralding the…
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Continue reading →: What Is Your Measure Of A Healthy Church?Have you noticed how, in his letters, faith and love are the measures by which the Apostle Paul judges the health of the churches under his care? Take, for example, 1 Thessalonians 3:6, where Paul says: “But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and has brought us…
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Continue reading →: When Church Complaints Processes Become Instruments of RetraumatisationOne of the most disturbing realities in institutional abuse scandals is that survivors are often harmed twice. The first harm comes through the original abuse or misconduct. The second harm comes through the institution’s response. Many survivors enter complaints processes hoping, at minimum, to be heard truthfully and treated with…
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Continue reading →: Is monotheism intrinsically tyrannical?Given the history of authoritarian religion, colonial missions, and coercive churches, it is an understandable question. Many people hear “there is one true God” not as liberation, but as conquest. Christians cannot honestly discuss this question without acknowledging the real harm done in the name of God. Yet the history…
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Continue reading →: Winter in All of Our LivesThere is a winter in all of our lives,a chill and darkness that makes us yearnfor days that have goneor put our hope in days yet to be.Father God, you created seasons for a purpose.Spring is full of expectationbuds breakingfrosts abating and an awakeningof creation before the first days of…
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