All tagged authority
Reasons for You to Believe, #2. Is the version of the Bible we have in English accurate? In ancient history was it, as some scholars assert, ever taken and manipulated? I begin working through the process—the canonization process—of how we came to have our Bible. Also tackled in this episode: a) is it okay to have some doubts about the Christian faith? b) what is the perfect argument that precedes faith in God? c) what was Jesus' own Bible? and, d) a new election season UN-song!
Temple is a biblical category much overlooked by Evangelicals and Charismatics. How does Temple play into the New Testament's portrayal of Jesus, or of Jesus as God's Son, or of what God's new and fresh covenant is about? Still more, what does Temple suggest about our own selves? Come, let us worshipfully turn our brains on for the glory of the living God!
What caused the doctrine of the Trinity to arise in ancient history? A quest for religious marketplace advantage? Was it all just mere philosophic speculation? If the Bible doesn't come right out and say "Worship God as three who is one" then why do we? In this episode I unpack the God-at-work-in-history reasons why Christianity is resoundingly trinitarian. Come and think and laugh and sing with me!
A now-common take: Paul corrupted the simple and loving message of Jesus. Jesus was about care of neighbor while Paul infected that ethic with religion. So Paul is the one who established traditional, and now passé, Christianity. But was Paul really different from Jesus? How was Paul true to Jesus? The answers could build or wreck Christian faith. And my invisible conversation partner suggusts we publish a pink lettered bible: Jesus’ words about inclusion, diversity, tolerance and not hurting other people’s feelings all in pink.
