"Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins." Hebrews 9:22 This verse has been used to justify a bloodthirsty view of God. That God had no choice but to punish Jesus on the cross in order to forgive sins. But this is a pagan
Bible & Theology
The Bible and Theology are the things I'm most passionate about and write about the most often.
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Let me tell you a Bible story. In this story you'll hear why you think the Bible is backwards and xenophobic; but is more progressive than you'll ever be; why we need to listen to our Jewish cousins when we study Scripture; and why chronological Bibles
Short answer Get either the NIV or NRSV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible OR the Common English Bible (CEB) Study Bible. Longer answer My 4 go-to "committee translations" are CEB, NRSV, NIV, and NLT. One nice thing about being a Bible college and seminary student is that you get
Harry spoke as they circled, and stared into each other's eyes, green into red. "You won't be able to kill any of them ever again. Don't you get it? I was ready to die to stop you from hurting these people--" "
We are living in the age of the Now and the Not Yet of God’s Kingdom. Jesus’ resurrection inaugurated the new creation; the “ruler of this world” has been judged, defeated; and Jesus has disarmed and made a public spectacle of the powers and authorities, triumphing over them by
One of the most dangerous myths of our era is that the United States is (or ever was) a Christian nation
One of the most dangerous myths of our era is that the United States is (or ever was) a Christian nation. This origin myth is a modern invention, concocted by an unholy marriage of reactionary corporate interests, anti-social gospel fundamentalists, and conservative politicians. The literature exposing this modern myth is
My buck-naked definition of what counts as “Christian” includes: the resurrection of Jesus; the Trinity; the inauguration of the Kingdom of God embodied through the church; non-violence; and the radical equality of male, female, Jew, Greek, slave, and free. Adherents to the Christian nation myth focus on the artifacts of
Far too often pastors feel pressured to remain silent on Gospel issues because society has co-opted the issues into mere partisanship. If your pastor begins to speak up on issues of race, immigration, poverty, incarceration, and education, don't glibly assume this is because your pastor has "gone