3. Is God violent? I can see this question going in a couple of different directions. First, people often ask about God’s instructions for the Israelites to go to war and kill people—sometimes even women and children—found in the Old Testament. Secondly, does God want his followers to use violent means, if necessary, to promote
Category: Theology
Why I’m not a Calvinist
Over time I’ve interacted with several groups which have a Calvinist bent. My interaction with these groups recently has lead me to the desire to write my thoughts concerning the subject. To be clear, while I have done a fair amount of reading, I have not done a specific in depth study of Calvinism. My
Approaching Theology
I have observed that there are a couple of different possible approaches to building one’s theology. One approach is often taken by those who likely have the gift of teaching, those who love to really dig deep into the bible and study as much as they can about God. The bible is taken more as
A Jesus Manifesto
In case you haven’t seen it yet, Leonard Sweet and Frank Viola have written a document they’re calling “A Jesus Manifesto”. It has been creating some buzz around the web right now. At the very least, it is something good to consider, though I think it is more than that. It makes me think of
Knowing God
Thought of the day: You can’t know God through facts. You can’t get to God through knowledge, logic, science or reason. Though the gap is small, there is a chasm between facts and God. One may think that if they can only dig a bit deeper, they will find the place where the two connect.
Palm Sunday and Easter: Living A Transformed Life
(Note: After having written this and gone back and reviewed it, I realize that it feels that once again I have not communicated as clearly as I wish. One recognized problem is that I am attempting not to make a single point, but a series of related points. Basically what I’m getting at is this:
Our Role in God’s Work
In follow up to my blog of a couple of days ago, I was indirectly reminded by my friend Pam that in the Christian belief system, it seems that God wishes to work through people, using them instead of just performing outright miracles in everyone’s lives. That got me to thinking though, if God lets
Creation vs. Evolution Again
I figured out what it is that bothers me about the whole evolution vs. creation/intelligent design debate. What bothers me about it is that I think people make up their minds what they believe about that based on whether they believe in God or not, but yet the creationist side tries to argue that they
Wrestling with the Big Questions
I was thinking again last night about the question of origins. I thought about how crazy complex the universe is, from subatomic particles to clusters of galaxies. The big problem with naturalism is the idea that anything at all came from nothing. But it’s quite a stretch to think that all this came from nothing.
What is the Core of Christianity? What is the “Good News”?
Talking to a friend the other night, it occurred to me that there are basically two big questions that I’ve wrestled with for years in regards to Christianity. One is, “What is the core of Christianity?” or “What are the essential elements without which you don’t have Christianity?” The second question is, “What is the