I will write more on the conflicts in Palestine and Israel later. My heart aches.As one who believes that to follow Jesus is the way to justice, peace, and flourishing, albeit the pathway may be misunderstood and opposed, i cannot countenance retaliation, revenge, hatred.I recently signed a petition, “An Open Letter from Palestinian Christians to Western Church Leaders and Theologians.” Pray and act upon prayer.
By St. Augustine, John Chrysostom, and Basil the Great The Plough is a publication of the Bruderhof, a Christian community of sharing goods. The introduction to some teachings of these three early Christian fathers begins, “In an age when Christianity is comfortably entwined with consumer capitalism, the early Christians’ passion for social and economic justice can come as a shock. From the first days of Christianity, the duty to care for the poor and marginalized was at the center of the gospel. Jesus preached a way of life free of possessions, the first church in Jerusalem abolished private property, and… Read More
The caption to this picture is the following: “An Iraqi family reacts after three family members, innocent civilians, were shot and killed by U.S. Marines in an incident in Baghdad, Iraq, on April 9, 2003.” (Photo by Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) This picture hurts my heart. Look at the pain of the mother and surviving children at the murder of their children. Yes, murder, because the U.S. invasion of Iraq was justified by blatant lies propagandized by cowardly inept news media to the gullible American public still seething over the 9-11 attacks on the World Trade Center… Read More
Jesus said to those who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:31). Jesus counters HIs truth with lies, saying of the Devil,.. “that he was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44) Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels is inaccurately credited with originating “The Big Lie” that ““If you tell a lie big enough and… Read More
According to vast millions of Christians, the Bible is the Word of God. Mathematically and linguistically, we could formulate the following: The Bible = The Word of God. And, The Word of God = The Bible. To those millions who hold to an inerrantist view of the Bible, arguments over the validity of a scripture passage can come down to the following: “It says it, I believe it, that settles it.” Along comes independent scholar Rodger Lawson Cragun, who not only challenges the Bible equals the Word of God, but audaciously and provocatively claims this doctrine is a harmful “ultimate”… Read More