In her concession speech, Harris claimed that the ideals of this country are at the heart and that they are “the ideals that reflect America at our best”. Unfortunately, our soul is rotten to the core. Jesus said in Matt 7:17 that a good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor a bad tree good fruit. Our tradition, through Paul, uses the fruit of the spirit to remind us what good fruit is. And the apostle John tells us that there... Read more
With the 2024 election only hours away, there is a lot of rhetoric about what a Christian ought to do. American Christians have a power that is not clearly articulated in Scripture. We have the power of make a choice – electio in Latin. So what are we going to do with our vote? Matthew Fox is a spiritual theologian, an Episcopal priest and an activist for gender justice and eco-justice. While his writing is prolific, this newest book focuses on the... Read more
We did it again! We saw the history of Original Sin in the Mediterranean. Then, we looked at where Original Sin came from. Finally, the Pelagian Controversy and Augustine locked it into our Church dogma. This research was part of my graduate work at the University of Rhode Island and was compiled into a single paper. Here is that paper. Introduction The Mediterranean is home to three of the world’s largest religions – Judaism, Christainty, and Islam. These religions share... Read more
We’re finally here! We’re at the doorstep of the start of Original Sin. More specifically, we’re going to talk about the Pelagian Controversy. If you missed it, you can see the roots of Original Sin in other Mediterranean religions and where Original Sin came from. So – what is the Pelagian Controversy? Let’s start with Augustine. Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo (354-430 CE) was born in North Africa to a Pagan father and Christian mother. He was slow to... Read more
In the previous article, we saw the lack of Original Sin in Islam and Judaism. Neither Judaism nor Islam hold Original Sin as a foundational element for their understanding of God. However, there is a branch of Judaism that interprets Genesis 1-3 in what we know as Original Sin. But – how do we know this? Arguing FOR Original Sin in Judaism John Towes (the historian from the las post – remember?) makes an important note. ““The unequivocal rejection of... Read more
The Mediterranean is home to three of the world’s largest religions – Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. These religions share a common ancestry in the Abrahamic tradition, and therefore share some similarities. However, Christianity began to blossom in the Mediterranean. Once Rome decriminalized the religion under Constantine in the fourth century, Christian thought began to fluctuate with intense periods of interpretation and heretical accusations. The concept of Original Sin – the belief that humans are born already sinful and deserving of... Read more
Well, we did it. We looked at three different ways Jesus’ message was retold for a specific audience. First, we looked at Jesus as a rural preacher. Next, we asked if Jesus was just another Greek Hero. Finally, we saw how Socrates influenced the retelling of Jesus in the gospel of John. This research was part of my graduate work at Northwind Theological Seminary and was compiled into a single paper. Here is that paper. Introduction Mark’s account of Jesus... Read more
While each gospel has their own voice and audience, the gospel of John is unique for several reasons. Scholarly consensus has this gospel being written later than the Synoptics, and John chooses not to include many of the same stories found in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Some earlier theologians believed this was because John was ‘filling in the gaps’ of the Synoptics. However, when we consider the departure from that narrative style towards a more apologetic voice, it seems unlikely.... Read more
The Gospels – and let’s face it, the Bible in general – was written with a specific perspective. Each writer brought their own unique experience to the text that influenced how and what they wrote. While some might see this as a downfall, I like to see this as an opportunity to see many sides of the same God. My last post talked about Jesus as a rural preacher, but now we’ll see Jesus as something more. I was introduced... Read more
There are 4 accounts of the life of Jesus in our modern, Western Bible. However, these are not the only accounts we have, and we can assume there are many others that did not survive history. This is where we find ourselves – let’s talk about what people have written about Jesus in the past. We’ll talk about the Gospels as we move through this series, but first up is the Q gospel – what is it and why the... Read more
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