Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Progressive Christian

God

Select a Category abortion Advent AI Angels Artificial intelligence atheism attention baptism Baptists beauty belief Benedictines Bible bicycling Big Bird books Bovina Camaldoli hermitage Canada Catholicism cats certainty change Christianity Christmas Collegeville Covid-19 creativity Development of Western Civilization dogs doubt Easter Enneagram Epiphany Episcopal ethics Eucharist evil extroverts Facebook faith family fear flowers forgiveness freedom friends God goodness grace happiness heaven hell history Holy Spirit Holy Week hope human nature humility humor idolatry incarnation introverts irreverence Islam Jeanne Jesus Joe Biden joy Judaism justice Kamala Harris knowledge Lent listen literature liturgy love Marsue Memorial Day miracles movies music mystery mythology NPR Old Testament optimism paradox peace Penguins philosophy piano podcast politics power prayer Protestantism Providence College Religion Rhode Island sabbatical sacrament science seeing silence Simone Weil Socrates soul sports St. John's College stories suffering tattoo teaching technology television theology thinking time tolerance transcendence travel trees trust truth Uncategorized Vermont wisdom wonder writing

Select a Month May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012

October 2020

October 20, 2020

The Soul is Not a Thing, but it Most Certainly is Real

As a philosophy professor, I have the opportunity in just about every class to investigate,...

October 18, 2020

When God Gives Us the Bird

I get myself in trouble on this blog occasionally, often deliberately. I know that most...

October 11, 2020

The Gospel According to Marilynne Robinson

This is an interesting planet. It deserves all the attention you can give it. Marilynne...

October 08, 2020

Bombing Raids and a Spark of the Divine

Perhaps a novel whose main character is the squadron leader for World War II bombing...

October 06, 2020

On Earth, as it is in Heaven: Why Faith is Always Political

Last Sunday, it was my turn to be lector at church. The reading from the...

October 04, 2020

It’s Blessing of the Animals Sunday . . . but who is really getting the blessing?

Today is Blessing of the Animals Sunday, which this year is bittersweet for me. My...

October 01, 2020

Take a Deep Breath

Jeanne and I did not watch the presidential "debate" on Tuesday evening, choosing instead to...

September 2020

September 29, 2020

A Few Thoughts Before the First Presidential Debate

The first debate between the 2020 presidential nominees is this evening. It will come as...

September 27, 2020

“It has been done in your name”: When Christians do un-Christian things

One of my teaching teammates this semester in the interdisciplinary course I regularly participate in...

September 24, 2020

Karl Marx and the Parable of the Vineyard Owner

My college campus is in the middle of a (hopefully) temporary lockdown, due to a...

September 20, 2020

WTF Is This??–A story about change

Organized religion often is a source of packaged answers and comfortable solutions to important questions...

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 13, 2020

There is No Substitute for the Real Thing

Not long ago, I had the opportunity to return to one of my two favorite...

September 10, 2020

Silence: The Best Answer to Prayer

I, as many people of faith, have often wondered why the divine is so apparently...

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...

September 06, 2020

What it Truly Means to be Free

Iris Murdoch is one of my favorite philosophers and novelists, but I seldom get to...

September 03, 2020

Love is the Discovery of Reality: A Story About Learning to See Things Differently

Iris Murdoch was one of the philosophers whose work was front and center in my...

August 2020

August 27, 2020

Speaking the Truth in a Culture of Lies

Just short of a year ago, I spent a Saturday morning listening to a lecture...

August 25, 2020

O God, Come to My Assistance

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

August 23, 2020

The Connection between Faith and Politics? It’s a Secret

Today's reading from Matthew's gospel is both famous and infamous. Jesus asks his disciples "Who...

August 21, 2020

The Big Sister I Always Wanted: Remembering Marsue

Every once in a while, our lives are blessed with a person who uniquely and...

August 19, 2020

When the Bible is Not the Word of God

This month marks the eighth anniversary of this blog. It started on Wordpress as an...

August 16, 2020

What if my “Best Self” isn’t that Good?

My first teaching position was at a small university in Memphis. My department was the...

August 13, 2020

Leaving Jesusland . . . for good

I make no secret, on this blog or in person, of my love for Canada....

August 11, 2020

I’m not a Catholic, but I could play one on TV

Classes begin on my campus in three weeks. That, in the middle of a pandemic,...

August 06, 2020

Silence is Not Always Golden: Class Participation in a Pandemic

Classes start on my college campus three weeks from this coming Monday. Let’s just say...

August 02, 2020

How Would YOU Feed a Party of Five Thousand?

My youngest son was always the inquisitive sort, the kind of kid who, from the...

July 2020

July 30, 2020

When a Child of the Universe Dies

One of the few bright spots during the past months of COVID-19 seclusion and insanity...

July 26, 2020

Why are Christians So Angry and Fearful?

I am currently working my way through Kristin Kobes Du Mez’s brand new book Jesus...

July 23, 2020

I’ll See It When I Believe It

When we first moved to Rhode Island in the middle 1990s for my new teaching...

Related posts from Freelance Christianity

Progressive Christian

The Lonely Pawn: On Faith, Doubt, and Meaning

Freelance Christianity

Progressive Christian

AI and Agency

Freelance Christianity

Progressive Christian

AI and Love: When a Chatbot Becomes a...

Freelance Christianity

Progressive Christian

AI and Transcendence

Freelance Christianity

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Subscription Support Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In

Follow Patheos