The wisdom of the cross was, then, the disclosure not only of human morality but of divine love. Placing this at the center of his description of what Christ had done by his life and his death, Peter Abelard, in a sermonic essay entitled “The Cross,” emphasized that the love of God in Christ lay beyond “our own power to share in the passion of Jesus by our suffering and to follow him by carrying our own cross.”
While gathering paperwork to get our son registered for kindergarten a few weeks ago, I came across the hospital record of his birth in San Francisco. Beneath his gender designation, length, and weight at birth was his racial designation in big-block capitals: UNKNOWN. It stopped me dead in my tracks.
Battlestar Galatica is no stranger to the exploration of faith and religion in the human (and Cylon) experience. The original series supposedly built itself around Mormon theology, but the current incarnation plays fast and free with elements of monotheism (hints at Jewish, Christian and Islamic faiths), polytheism (Greek mythology in particular) and elements of Eastern religions (in particular, reincarnation).
When Dallas Theological Seminary professor Daniel Wallace examined New Testament manuscripts stored in the National Archive in Albania last June, he was amazed by what he did not find. The story of the woman caught in adultery, usually found in John 7:53-8:11, was missing from three of the texts, and was out of place in a fourth, tacked on to the end of John’s Gospel.
Theologians have grappled with the issue of why God allows evil and suffering in the world since the book of Job–and likely before. Beliefnet is hosting a very interesting debate/dialogue on the problem between Bart Ehrman and N.T. Wright.
New research shows for the first time that we process cash and social values in the same part of our brain (the striatum)—and likely weigh them against one another when making decisions. So what’s more important—money or social standing? It might be the latter, according to two new studies published in the journal Neuron
If you love me, Jesus says, you will do something and I will do something. You will do what I have set out for you to do: Love one another. Serve others humbly. Reach out to those in need. Be an agent of healing and life. And, if you love me, I will provide you with another Friend. I will not be with you in the flesh, but Someone will be with you always: the Spirit of Truth.
The Archbishop of Canterbury was interviewed on Britain’s Radio Channel 4 yesterday, addressing topics such as financial literacy among youths, the credit crunch, and the government’s role in addressing the wealth gap.
Douglas Todd, who maintains the Vancouver Sun faithblog “The Search,” has written about theologian James Packer’s recent announcement that he is affiliating with the Southern Cone. Packer, named one of the 25 most influential evangelicals by Time magazine, announced his departure from the Diocese of British Columbia earlier this week, condemning what he calls “poisonous liberalism.” Todd also quotes the Rev. Kevin Dixon of St. Mary’s Anglican Church, who points to Packer’s literalism as leading down the same path of logic that could be used to support slavery.
USA Today takes a look at the phenomenon of podcasting sermons and other faith-related content, with commentary focusing on editorial practices that keep the message on target, however subjective the target might be. The article looks as sites such as God’s iPod (which, it should be noted, now has an application called God’s iPhone), SermonAudio, GodTube, and RabbiPod.