Cheerfully Heretical Bible Studies: Goodness, God and John Bevere

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Side B and Celibacy: Quick Assessment

A short reflection on Side B (http://mudbloodcatholic.blogspot.com/2016/03/gay-and-catholic-part-i-gaystation-two.html) lesbian, gay and bisexual Christians, originally written as a comment to a friend – There’s much that I’m grateful for in the witness of Side B Christians. Christianity as I understand it is, in many ways, a fiercely ascetic religion and the Side B crowd has done the Christian community a real service in drawing renewed attention to the necessity of self-discipline, sacrifice and ascesis in Christian life. With that said, I worry about the rhetoric of sacrifice. I think for a sacrifice to be life-giving, at least in my experience, three things need to be present: (Criterion 1)   sacrifice must be motivated by love and aimed at growing in knowledge of and respect for God, other people, and the image of God in oneself; in other words, rightly done, sacrifice is a means to the end of nourishing covenantal relationships (Criterion 2) sacrifice must be supported...
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Ten Shots, Ten Misses: Replies to "Top Ten Signs You’re a Fundamentalist Christian"

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So, a couple of years back, the webmaster of a site called EvilBible.com posted a list of Top Ten Signs You're a Fundamentalist Christian. Just for grins, I thought I'd write a reply to it. 10 – You vigorously deny the existence of thousands of gods claimed by other religions, but feel outraged when someone denies the existence of yours. Actually, no I don't. I just happen to believe that the Triune God of Christianity is the one, absolutely simple, omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent, omnipresent creator and sustainer of all reality. My position would be that other gods – though I tend to believe they exist – aren't "God" in the full classical theist sense of the term. 9 – You feel insulted and "dehumanized" when scientists say that people evolved from other life forms, but you have no problem with the Biblical claim that we were created from dirt. No, I don't feel "dehumanized." I'm a theistic evolutionist, not a ...
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A Thought on Biblical Inspiration

Okay, people, got your pitchforks ready? Right then... I'm pretty sure God appreciates the theological diversity within scripture, or He wouldn't have put it there. Over the past couple of months, I've come to see the Bible as a kind of rowdy family reunion: you have your elderly aunt types that walk in the door and the room almost visibly brightens (1st John), your strict logicians (Leviticus), your conspiracy theorist uncles (Nahum) your unapologetic aesthetes (Song of Songs) your disabused (Ecclesiastes), every type you can imagine, and they're all in the family. So, I read the Bible in the way I'd approach conversation: what does the world look like through this writer's eyes? And what can I learn about following God from him or her? One can learn from every writer in the canon, even those one disagrees with (yes, Haggai and Anonymous Bloke Responsible for the Pastoral Epistles, I'm looking at you guys). And oddly, in some ways I learn more from the w...
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