In front of 20,000 people, devoted Nazi Dr. Reinhold Krause gave a speech in Berlin. Its purpose was to fully unite the new German Church with the new Nazi Party. As Mary M Solberg notes in her book A Church Undone, “The stenographers who transcribed the speech noted in parentheses the audience’s frequent and enthusiastic responses to Krause’s performance.” (p. 249). God and Country were uniting under the banner of “the People’s Church”. This was a huge moment in the story of... Read more
The Church is in a Precarious Place If you’re reading this, this probably isn’t new for you. I am worried about the state of the American Church. Well, I guess I should specify. I am afraid of the state of the White American Christian Church. The Church is in a precarious place right now, and it’s under threat from White Christian Nationalism. There is a lot of support for Trump from the Religious Right. This support comes not in spite... Read more
I love this conversation! I’ve often said that we misinterpret Jesus’ remark to ‘give unto Caesar what is his, and give to God what is God’s’. I’ve heard it growing up that we are to pay our taxes and be good citizens. After all, that’s literally what the verse says. However, it seems to me that this is another parable that we have missed. Not only a parable, I would say this falls into the paradox category. Fun! Let’s Define Some Terms First off,... Read more
I’ve talked about justice before, but it always help to revisit ideas. Especially as we consider what justice is in our current unjust society. While I write on the action of justice in an earlier article, let’s talk about John Rawls’ Theory of Justice. Rawls – Philosopher and Ethicist Perhaps John Rawls’ greatest contribution to the field of ethics is his 1971 book A Theory of Justice. While he wrote up until his death in 2002, this really kicked off the conversation. There... Read more
It’s felt like years, but it’s only been 13 days since Trump was sworn in for his second term. Unlucky 13. If you’re like me, it’s been filled with existential dread, frustration, and sadness. The Republican Party is fully on board with Trump and the alternatives are disorganized and not taking responsibility for their lack of vision. This feeling of helplessness stems from the fact that we don’t feel like we have a voice. Our ability to make real change... Read more
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
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