I didn’t start thinking about smashing the patriarchy overnight. When my first daughter was born I started thinking about her life and all the possibilities that lay before this perfect tiny girl. It was everything in the world — except...
When it comes to churches’ positions on women in ministry (and other things), I have come to appreciate transparency and a sense of owning doctrine. This is what we believe, and here it is in black and white. Unfortunately, this doesn’t...
I started watching “The Family” last night on Netflix and it’s super fascinating and disturbing. It’s a docu-series expose based on Jeff Sharlet’s book by the same name which explores a secret Christian organization that is deeply enmeshed in...
There’s a natural follow-up question that surfaces when you start poking around at penal substitutionary atonement: “Well then why did Jesus die?” It’s important that I say something upfront here: I have no idea. All of this is, of course, my own...
A year or two ago I heard Michael Gungor say that he rejected penal substitutionary atonement, the belief that the punishment (penal) of Christ’s death instead of ours (substitutionary) was necessary in order for sinners to be reconciled to God...
Every month I have an enormous emotional low within 48 hours of the beginning of my period. Inevitably, I am depressed and overwhelmed, sometimes I am hopeless, occasionally I wish I were dead. Always, there are tears. And then my period starts...
Evangelical Christianity has always taught me, “God is X and Y, God is like this AND like that.” Merciful and judging “You’ve turned your life around! God is so merciful.” “You can’t take communion here anymore. God will not be...
(5) “The Bible is clear” is another way of saying “I am right.” “I can’t imagine that the God of the universe is limited to our ideas of God. I can’t imagine that God doesn’t reveal God’s self in countless ways outside the symbol system of...
(4) “The Bible is clear” falls apart due to our selective application. Do you eat shrimp? Do you insist that women cover their heads in church, or take off their gold jewelry? Have you sold all your stuff and donated the money to the poor...
(3) “The Bible is clear” implies that God’s character can be well-understood from reading it, but the “God of the Bible” is very hard to pin down. I don’t want to put too fine a point on this, but there is a lot of really fucked...
(2) “The Bible is clear” implies it is a slam dunk on contemporary issues, but Scripture actually includes diverse perspectives. People love to use to Bible like a spiritual gavel to slam against anyone who would dare to suggest there’s a debate...
The phrase “the Bible is clear” tends to make my left eye twitch a little these days. No matter which way the phrase is utilized (and I notice several common applications), it’s generally a conversation-ender instead of a...
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