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Progressive Christian

Myth of Redemptive Suffering

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January 2023

January 12, 2023

The Myth of Redemptive Suffering (Part 3 of 3)

If we aren’t careful we are telling those being harmed to be patient, that something...

January 11, 2023

The Myth of Redemptive Suffering (Part 2 of 3)

If we interpret Jesus’ death as redemptive suffering, then this becomes a life model for...

January 10, 2023

The Myth of Redemptive Suffering (Part 1 of 3)

It is helpful to understand some of the political context in which this passage was...

November 2022

November 17, 2022

Crosses and Resurrections (Part 3 of 3)

Life can overcome death. Love can overcome hate. Justice and compassion can overcome wrongs even...

November 16, 2022

Crosses and Resurrections (Part 2 of 3)

The story we read this week is ultimately a story of hope, a story of...

November 15, 2022

Crosses and Resurrections (Part 1 of 3)

In the story, the crucifixion was an unjust act of state violence, an act God...

September 2022

September 22, 2022

Stories that Shape Us (Part 3 of 3)

It’s much more realistic to focus on the gains and losses we experience in this...

September 20, 2022

Stories that Shape Us (Part 1 of 3)

Folk tales about reversing circumstances in the next life were a staple in Hellenistic, Roman,...

August 2022

August 09, 2022

The Personal Cost of Causing Division (Part 1 of 3)

The struggle in the story is with the economic, political, and social harm being committed...

April 2022

April 14, 2022

Easter and the Myth of Redemptive Suffering (Part 3 of 3)

This is a story of how life conquers death, love conquers hate, sharing conquers greed,...

April 13, 2022

Easter and the Myth of Redemptive Suffering (Part 2 of 3)

These are valid questions. How can we reconcile seeing the cross event as a salvific...

April 12, 2022

Easter and the Myth of Redemptive Suffering (Part 1 of 3)

One thing that is common to all the gospel narratives is the presence of women...

April 07, 2022

A Different Vision for Memorializing the Last Supper (Part 3 of 3)

How we celebrate rituals determines the kind of humans those rituals shape us into being....

April 06, 2022

A Different Vision for Memorializing the Last Supper (Part 2 of 3)

This tradition has led quite a few modern Christians to reinterpret how they memorialize Jesus’...

April 05, 2022

A Different Vision for Memorializing the Last Supper (Part 1 of 3)

This time of year always amplifies several passages from the passion liturgy that are important...

March 2022

March 31, 2022

Mary’s Perfume and No More Poverty (Part 3 of 3)

I don’t believe Jesus’ words in John about poor people should be interpreted as establishing...

March 30, 2022

Mary’s Perfume and No More Poverty (Part 2 of 3)

But this interpretation benefits those who are enriched by the status quo and don’t want...

March 29, 2022

Mary’s Perfume and No More Poverty (Part 1 of 3)

Mary’s act is one of gratitude . . . The story is not primarily that...

March 09, 2022

Myth of Redemptive Sacrifice (Part 3 of 3)

This calls into question how we interpret Christian narratives of Jesus’ death and resurrection as...

March 02, 2022

Myth of Redemptive Sacrifice (Part 2 of 3)

The means by which we obtain our bread—whether those means are just, life-giving, and sustainable—matters...

March 01, 2022

Myth of Redemptive Sacrifice (Part 1 of 3)

For many Christians, this weekend marks the first weekend of Lent, which commemorates the 40...

September 2021

September 09, 2021

Taking Up Our Crosses, Injustice, and Abuse (Part 3 of 3)

This story is, on the other hand, encouraging Jesus' followers to resist as he did...

September 08, 2021

Taking Up Our Crosses, Injustice, and Abuse (Part 2 of 3)

If you believe that acceptance of suffering gives life, then your resources for confronting perpetrators...

September 07, 2021

Taking Up Our Crosses, Injustice, and Abuse (Part 1 of 3)

Oppressors throughout history have used the concept of “taking up one’s cross” to prioritize themselves...

May 2021

May 26, 2021

A Better Way to Tell Our Stories (Part 2 of 3)

Classifying our flesh, bodies, and material world or nature as, at best, unimportant or disposable...

May 25, 2021

A Better Way to Tell Our Stories (Part 1 of 3)

We encounter the fruit of this today whenever Christians speak negatively of social justice and...

April 2021

April 22, 2021

Imagery of a Good Shepherd (Part 3)

When we choose to make justice ultimately win, not just in isolated occurrences but systemically,...

April 01, 2021

The Good News of Forceful Nonviolent Resurrection (Part 3)

God’s power never expresses itself through the humiliation or denigration of another. It does not...

April 01, 2021

The Good News of Forceful Nonviolent Resurrection (Part 2)

The book of Acts offers just one example of this alternative focus and emphasis; the...

March 2021

March 30, 2021

The Good News of Forceful Nonviolent Resurrection (Part 1)

The good news was not that Jesus died, or even that he died for you....