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January 2022

January 30, 2022

Decorating the Dungeon

I am currently rereading Virginia Woolf’s 1925 novel Mrs. Dalloway for one of my team-taught...

January 17, 2022

Thoughts on Martin Luther King Jr. Day: Does the Arc of the Moral Universe Really Bend Toward Justice?

Former President Obama loved to quote a hopeful statement from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:...

January 04, 2022

Getting Atheists and Theists on the Same Page

One of the texts that I regularly use in my ethics classes is a collection...

November 2021

November 13, 2021

Do You Want to be Certain, or Do You Want to be Honest?

Uncertainty doesn't make a person less faithful; it just makes her more honest. Rachel Held Evans...

October 2021

October 24, 2021

“The Heart Has its Reasons . . .”: Why I am Not an Atheist

In my ethics classes, we are currently in the middle of a unit called "Does...

September 2021

September 23, 2021

What if God exists, but isn’t very nice?

Three weeks ago, I posted an essay that described a new course called "Faith and...

September 12, 2021

The Stories We Tell and the Lies We Believe

As always, this past summer was a season of eclectic reading. I am team-teaching a...

September 07, 2021

When Life Gets Messy

We all know that when life hands you a lemon that you should make lemonade....

August 2021

August 28, 2021

Why Am I a Liberal? Because I Am a Christian

The continuing theme of this blog for the past nine years has been an exploration...

June 2021

June 04, 2021

God is Doing the Most that God Can Do

Frank Tupper, an important Baptist theologian who argued that God is in control of very...

November 2020

November 24, 2020

Christianity Does Not Solve the Problem of Evil

In the eight-plus years that I’ve been writing this blog, I’ve occasionally been asked what...

September 2020

September 15, 2020

The Fat, Relentless Ego . . . and what to do about it

This past weekend, Jeanne and I, along with our two sons and our daughter-in-law, travelled...

September 08, 2020

Living On the Edges of the Christian Circus Tent

Jeanne and I celebrated our 32nd anniversary in July—the gifts we gave each other are...

August 2020

August 25, 2020

O God, Come to My Assistance

Classes begin at my college next Monday, and the stress levels among the faculty (and...

July 2020

July 19, 2020

How is Your Optimism Doing These Days?

How is your optimism doing these days? I am an optimist by nature, not inclined...

June 2020

June 23, 2020

Does the Arc of the Moral Universe Really Bend Toward Justice?

Former President Obama loved to quote a hopeful statement from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:...

June 16, 2020

Confronting the Sin of Certainty

If you think you understand it, it is not God. Soren Kierkegaard In Marilynne Robinson’s Pulitzer...

May 2020

May 14, 2020

Jesus and Karl Marx Have a Beer (and find that they have a lot in common)

I viewed Martin Doblmeier's documentary about Dorothy Day, "Revolution of the Heart," a few days...

April 2020

April 28, 2020

Why Certainty and Faith Don’t Belong Together

Human beings never behave so badly as when they believe they are protecting God. Barbara Brown...

April 02, 2020

“I Don’t Know”: The most profoundly religious statement of all

Let me tell you here first, “trust in God” has never floated my boat as...

March 2020

March 16, 2020

Managing Our Lives Without God

God would have us know that we must live as people who manage our lives...

March 02, 2020

God Is Doing the Best that God Can Do

Frank Tupper, an important Baptist theologian who argued that God is in control of very...

February 2020

February 26, 2020

What I Learned When I Visited Cuba

Cuba and Fidel Castro are in the news, as Bernie Sanders seeks to explain why...

February 06, 2020

No Sacred Cows: An Exchange Between an Atheist and a Person of Faith

One of the many things that make teaching a rewarding vocation is receiving unsolicited testimonials...

January 2020

January 21, 2020

As the Impeachment Trial Begins, Don’t Forget to Think–Even When It’s Hard

Today, the Senate impeachment trial of President Donald J. Trump begins in earnest. As we...

January 04, 2020

On the Art of Discussion: How to Avoid Being an Ass

In final preparation for the spring semester that will begin in ten days, I am...

December 2019

December 31, 2019

Letting God Creep In

About halfway through his lengthy essay, Schjeldahl notes his agreement with one of Weil’s...

October 2019

October 24, 2019

To My Atheist Friends: This is why I call myself “Christian”

Every once in a while--it seems like about once every six months or so--I post...

October 20, 2019

A Question for Atheists and Theists: How Much Evidence is “Enough”?

This past week I started a unit in my General Ethics students called “Does God...

September 2019

September 10, 2019

Dear Trump Supporters: Believing Something Doesn’t Make It True

I have grown weary of trying to understand the unquestioning support that Donald Trump receives...

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