Patheos

BuddhistCatholicContemplativeEvangelicalGeneral ChristianHinduJewishLatter-day SaintMuslimNew VisionsProgressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Patheos

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos Patheos on Facebook Patheos on YouTube

Christianity is Changing

2014-09-17T11:25:12-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Eucharist (3)

Last updated on: September 17, 2014 at 11:25 am   By Michael Hardin

From our earliest days as a species we have used violence against innocent (or random) victims to establish difference. Social crises produce undifferentiation, we are all alike and need to be differentiated. The victim is the first ‘difference.’ It is from the victim that we establish difference, the difference between up and down, in and out, us and them. The victim is the place we learn how to ‘other’ the other.   In the Eucharist we come as a killing... Read more

Uncategorized

2014-09-17T05:28:54-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Rambo Jesus Must Get Left Behind

Last updated on: September 17, 2014 at 5:28 am   By Michael Hardin

For almost all of the twentieth century Fundamentalist Christianity claimed hegemony over ‘orthodoxy.’ In the twenty-first century they have lost their self-proclaimed right to determine what constitutes heresy and boy are they pissed! The past fifteen years have brought about a sea change in our understanding of the gospel and more and more scholars, pastors and just regular folk are recognizing that the Janus-Faced god of Calvinism is tumbling down. All of the armchair theologians who troll Facebook and Patheos... Read more

Uncategorized

2014-09-16T17:13:46-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Eucharist (2)

Last updated on: September 16, 2014 at 5:13 pm   By Michael Hardin

Eucharist, Holy Communion, and Lord’s Supper. The most important ritual of the church goes by many names. In some cases celebration of this ritual is rather elaborate as in the Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions, in other cases, like the Mennonite or Baptist churches, the liturgy is minimalistic. What is happening here in this meal? For the past 500 years Protestants of various stripes and Catholics have argued about the presence of Christ in the bread. Is Jesus really present?... Read more

Uncategorized

2014-09-16T04:21:00-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Eucharist (1)

Last updated on: September 16, 2014 at 4:21 am   By Michael Hardin

For the next five posts I am going to write about the Eucharist. Three of these posts were composed and published in May 2013 on my Facebook page, the final two posts come from this year. The Fourth was written for Holy Thursday. These posts reflect my engagement with the work of Rene Girard as they apply to this most important (sacramental) meal we Christians engage in (daily, weekly, monthly or occasionally). I hope you find them beneficial. The Eucharist... Read more

Uncategorized

2014-09-15T18:09:04-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

The Anti-Christ is Alive and Well in American Christianity

Last updated on: September 15, 2014 at 6:09 pm   By Michael Hardin

From a sermon on I John 4:1-6 I preached a few years ago (with a few editorial emendations): Many Christians believe that God is love and rightly so. But they have been told that the non-violence of Jesus is peripheral to his person and his work.  Why? Because it has tacitly been accepted that Jesus believed that God is retributive.  Many believe that God sacrificed Jesus to satisfy holy honor.  God’s love is tempered with justice and honor.  For every divine... Read more

Uncategorized

2014-09-15T05:39:43-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

They Called Jesus a Blasphemer Didn’t They?

Last updated on: September 15, 2014 at 5:39 am   By Michael Hardin

For ten years I have been teaching a Saturday seminar titled “How Jesus Read His Bible” (in fact I will be teaching it this coming Saturday at St Andrew’s Church in Kildwick). In that seminar I show how the themes of sacrifice, holiness codes, zeal, atonement and an apocalyptic dualism form a matrix of understanding within Second Temple Judaism and it was this matrix critiqued by Jesus who has a very specific hermeneutic. I end the seminar exegeting Galatians 3... Read more

Uncategorized

2014-09-14T06:16:03-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I Almost Got Crucified Yesterday….

Last updated on: September 14, 2014 at 6:16 am   By Michael Hardin

Yesterday I led a seminar in Manchester (England) on the Resurrection of Jesus. Of course in talking about the resurrection you have to talk about the crucifixion. I began with an exposition of Acts 2 and Peter’s sermon and the expectation of second Temple Jewish eschatologies and the wrathful Day of the Lord and how when Peter says that the people had killed the one whom God had made both Lord and Messiah, the people were terrified. Of course they... Read more

Uncategorized

2014-09-13T03:25:34-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

FYI: I Still Can’t See Your Comments

Last updated on: September 13, 2014 at 3:25 am   By Michael Hardin

I am not avoiding your comments, I still don’t have access to them. I am traveling in the UK at the moment and while I enjoy posting I am unable to figure out just how to get Disqus to co-operate. Even my wife back in PA can read your comments but they just won’t show here for me. Mea culpa. Well, I hope you are enjoying what I am posting. I, on the other hand, am enjoying my daily dose... Read more

Uncategorized

2014-09-13T03:17:33-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I Am Not Trying to Gross You Out But…

Last updated on: September 13, 2014 at 3:17 am   By Michael Hardin

A teen in Pennsylvania may receive a two year prison sentence for mounting a statue to receive a ‘blow job’ by Jesus. There is no disputing the lack of wisdom displayed in this act. However, one does wonder WWJD in this case? When we recall the incredibly violent abuse and torture Jesus went through after his arrest and before his crucifixion, we tend to shy away from images that would offend. I recall the backlash against Mel Gibson’s The Passion of... Read more

Uncategorized

2014-09-11T17:09:49-04:00

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Mimetic Unity or Christian Unity?

Last updated on: September 11, 2014 at 5:09 pm   By Michael Hardin

John 17:20-26 I begin today with (an apocryphal) story I have heard with apologies to all of our friends in the Churches of Christ. Sometime at the beginning of the twentieth century there was a Church of Christ in Lubbock, Texas. When people came to church, dressed in their Sunday best, the men would have to keep their hats with them in the pews, so someone suggested that they build a hat-rack and place it in the narthex where hats could be... Read more

Uncategorized

Follow Us!

Follow Us on Facebook



TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: Romans teaches that creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay.

Select your answer to see how you score.

TRUE FALSE


Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Uncategorized

Select a Month May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014


TRENDING AT PATHEOS Progressive Christian

Prayer for the Earth, to the Earth

What if we asked the Earth to pray for us? This lyrical...

An Insightful Look at Age-Gap Relationships in Scripture

If you've paid any attention to social media over the past 20...

Was God Silent for 400 Years, or Just...

God’s Global Footprints Across the Ages: How the Creator Has Always Been on...

Brandy Anderson, Team Weird, and Transcending Church

I met author Brandy Anderson on Heretic Happy Hour, when podcaster Keith...

Why Christians Have a Sacred Duty to Vote:...

The Bible offers strong support for the sacred duty to vote. Here...

What Being a Modern-Day Apostle Means to Me

In my last column, I discussed the ins and outs of modern-day...

view all Progressive Christian blogs

Patheos on Facebook Patheos on YouTube

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Copyright 2008-2026, Patheos. All rights reserved.

Subscription Support Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In

Follow Patheos Patheos on Facebook Patheos on YouTube