christianity

On Being a Revangelical – Merianna Neely Harrelson

Last Updated on September 3, 2019 / Politics, Religion / 1 minute of reading

I always got questions from Thinking Religion listeners when I claimed to “still be” an Evangelical. Merianna explains it much better than I ever could here… Between this statement and my partner’s parsing of the Greek meaning of the term evangelical around the dinner table, I am finally ready to say that I am evangelical or perhaps a revangelical, returning to an identity I used to wear proudly as I tried to convert my middle …

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Capitalism is killing the small church

Last Updated on April 29, 2019 / Religion / 1 minute of reading

If small church becomes extinct in the next generation, it will not be because preachers failed to promote work-life balance. It will not be because younger Christians lack faith. It will be because capitalism killed it. Source: Melissa Florer-Bixler: Capitalism is killing the small church | Faith and Leadership

Romans 13 and American Appeals to Authority of the Government

Last Updated on June 14, 2018 / Politics, Religion, Status / 1 minute of reading

Good read on the historical uses of Romans 13 in American history to justify obedience to the government in light of our Attorney General’s use of that text today to defend the deplorable and immoral and utterly un-Christian internment camps we’re setting up along the Mexican border for children that we’re forcibly separating children from their asylum-seeking parents… As I wrote at my own blog, I’m not sure we should “act as if the New …

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What the Foreskin of Jesus Can Teach Us All

Last Updated on June 3, 2018 / History, Religion / 1 minute of reading

The long-standing popularity of relics can also be understood in terms of today’s two big cultural obsessions — professional sports and celebrities — where fans often seek out a connection with their favorite teams or stars (including their discarded jerseys and other possessions). The relic system, says Farley, also “acted as an instrument of tribalism” since saints and their relics were often associated with particular places in the same way that sports teams are today. …

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“Catholic in nature”

Last Updated on May 29, 2018 / Religion / 1 minute of reading

In a letter dated May 10, 2018 to Baker, church leaders say the congregation voted 131 to 40 to take down the work because community members view it as “Catholic in nature.” “We understand that this is not a Catholic icon, however, people perceive it in these terms,” the letter said, “As a result, it is bringing into question the theology and core values of Red Bank Baptist Church.” Source: ‘The removal is between you and …

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Siri and Incarnation

Last Updated on May 8, 2018 / Religion, Technology / 4 minutes of reading

The theological lens through which we might view these questions is incarnation. In an age of increased engagement with disembodied digital assistants, what might it mean for the church to counterweight this with insisting on and facilitating in-person fellowship? In an era of disembodied conversation, my prayer is that the church might be a contrast society to model a more excellent way of fully-embodied community and in-person presence. Source: Thanks for your help, Siri. But …

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Bible Domains

Last Updated on April 26, 2018 / Marketing, Religion / 1 minute of reading

When the society — which lists several conservative Christian “founding partners” on the get.bible website — first applied for the rights to .bible, it pledged to provide wide access to “all qualified parties” interested in Bible issues. Soon after acquiring the domain name, though, ABS barred publication of material it defined as “antithetical to New Testament principles” or promoting a secular worldview or “a non-Christian religion or set of religious beliefs.” Source: Who owns the .bible? …

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Thinking Religion 115 and Hermeneutics

Last Updated on July 19, 2017 / Podcast, Religion / 1 minute of reading

Thomas is in Philadelphia this week but we still managed to sneak in a podcast episode. We start by going over the very important but often-overlooked general idea of hermeneutics and why we should take them seriously in the Age Of Trump (AOT from here on out). Then we hop into the Bible Bracket Challenge. Sorry, Ruth. Dr. Thomas Whitley and the Rev. Sam Harrelson discuss the concept of hermeneutics and continue their ongoing quest …

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This Isn’t What Jesus Had In Mind, Guys

Last Updated on January 30, 2016 / Religion / 1 minute of reading

“Chelsea and her husband Clint, who asked that I use only their first names, belong to a small subculture of religious couples who practice “Christian Domestic Discipline,” a lifestyle that calls for a wife to be completely submissive to her husband. Referred to as CDD by its followers, the practice often includes spanking and other types corporal punishments administered by husbands—and ostensibly ordained by God. While the private nature of the discipline makes it difficult …

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Is the Original New Testament Lost?

Last Updated on March 7, 2015 / Politics, Religion / 1 minute of reading

House of Cards is fun, but take a few mins to watch something a little more substantive this weekend (like this): As you might expect, I argue that even though we have thousands of manuscripts of the New Testament,  we do not have many *early* ones — and hardly any *really* early ones.  That is why we can not (always? ever?) know with absolute certainty what the authors of the New Testament originally said.   …

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