The Scapegoating Phenomenon Rene Girard, influential French philosopher, is best known for his examination of a universal human tendency called “scapegoating.” According to Girard, every human group must at last occasionally have someone(s) they scapegoat. Scapegoating is based on the Hebrew practice, related in the Pentateuch, of symbolically placing the people’s sins on an animal (usually but not always a goat) and sending it out of the people’s living space and into a wilderness to die alone. According to Girard,... Read more

The Christian Doctrine of the Divine Attributes 2 For those of you reading this book with me, I will next, in about a week, take up Chapter 3 “First Series: Divine Attributes Disclosed in Revelation,” Part 1 “The Holiness of God.” (Part 2 is very long, so I want to take it up by itself after Part 1.) I am again astounded at how much Cremer’s view of God parallels, foreshadows, Karl Barth’s and Emil Brunner’s. I simply have to... Read more

What Is a “Form of Life?” Can an Outsider Understand One? Some years ago two of my colleagues came to me asking if I could explain what “pleading the blood of Jesus” meant. I was stumped. I knew very well what it means to Pentecostal (and perhaps other) Christians because I grew up with it. I knew and explained when and why it was done, why and when my parents, for example, “pled the blood of Jesus.” But I had... Read more

Trump on Hitler According to John Kelly, Donald Trump’s longest-serving White House Chief of Staff, Trump said Hitler “did some good things” and he would like to have generals like Hitler had. Is it every a good thing to say good things about Hitler? Simply, no. Whatever good Hitler did was so overwhelmed by the evils he did that we should never praise Hitler, even for patting a child soldier on the cheek just before sending him out to fight... Read more

The Christian Doctrine of the Divine Attributes Part 1 Here I begin a discussion, with others, of the book The Christian Doctrine of the Divine Attributes by German theologian Hermann Cremer. I announced this book discussion two weeks ago. If you have read Chapter I “The Concept of the Divine Attributes,” you are welcome to comment. If not, you are welcome to ask a question. I read not only Chapter I but also the Introduction and Preface. I found the... Read more

I Told You So… On Sunday, October 13, presidential candidate Donald Trump told an interviewer on Fox News that he would possibly favor using the US Military, including the National Guard (who he would have control over as president), against the “enemy within,” “sick people, radical left lunatics.” Anyone who has been paying any attention knows who he means. I have warned people here many times that IF Trump wins the presidency again we may enter into an era of... Read more

Wiping Away Christianity One segment of the contemporary right-wing movement is represented by the “Million Women March” on Washington D.C. (October 12). Tens of thousands of American women, mostly mothers, marched on Washington to express their dissatisfaction with American culture’s moral decline and the “elites’” attempt to wipe Christianity away from politics, education and popular culture in general. What’s that all about? The majority of today’s American conservative movement believe Christianity is a fundamental part of American culture. Many of... Read more

Is Suicide a Sin? Is Suicide a sin? If so, does God forgive it? Those questions come to me fairly often. Most recently, a former student and friend committed suicide. He was a well-loved chaplain, a loving man, compassionate and caring. Everyone who knew him admired him. But he suffered major depression. His death made me think again about this question. I do not think suicide is a sin, but if it is, it’s one God automatically forgives. Not because... Read more

For Theology Nerds: A Book to Discuss It has been a while since I proposed a book discussion here. Here is one I intend to start and lead here. I will start with the Preface and Chapter 1: The Concept of the Divine Attributes in approximately two weeks. That will give you time to order the book and read pages xxi-10. The book is The Christian Doctrine of the Divine Attributes by German theologian Hermann Cremer (Pickwick Publications, Wipf &... Read more

What Is Democratic Socialism? Democratic socialism is what all rational people would choose in the “original condition” under the “veil of ignorance.” That’s why I support it. Historically it has been promoted by many Christians including the original Pietists such as Philipp Jacob Spener (1635-1705) and August Hermann Francke (1663-1727). Pietist Christians were among the founders of Scandinavian socialism. Democratic socialism is socialism chosen by the people—as in Scandinavia. A few years ago Danes were given the opportunity to vote... Read more