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October 2023

October 14, 2023

The Year of the Locust: A Sermon on War

Today I have war on my mind. A week ago, a surprise attack on Jewish...

September 2023

September 09, 2023

Does Saint Paul Believe in the Trinity?

The doctrine of the Trinity solidified as a doctrine, which is to say as a...

August 2023

August 26, 2023

What Have I Been Reading? My End of Summer Report

From time to time I post brief descriptions of the books I've been reading. I'm...

August 05, 2023

Can Humans Be Holy?

In my work as a theologian, I study the language and traditions of Christian holiness....

July 2023

July 22, 2023

How Does the Cross Save?

At the center of Christian faith stands a great irony. The unwillingness of one man...

July 08, 2023

Truth’s Diagonal Dance (a reflection on Catherine Pickstock)

Pickstock's Explosive World "Truth," Catherine Pickstock says, "is both a horizontal dance in time and...

June 2023

June 24, 2023

Why do Christians say God is a Trinity?

It's Saturday: let's talk about the Trinity. (Not for the first time in this column....

February 2023

February 15, 2023

The Flood: Our Gospel for an Age of Planetary Emergency

The Genesis flood: one of the archetypal stories of the Jewish and Christian scriptures. A...

January 2023

January 05, 2023

Jeremiah and Divine Emotion

The Prophetic Books are Faith-Forming Reading the prophets of Israel is tiresome work. I'm 31...

December 2022

December 28, 2022

What I’ve Been Reading Lately: End of the Year Books (2022)

Now and then I post annotated bibliographies of the reading I've doing lately. Here are...

December 13, 2022

Advent Is When Christians Talk about Hope. But Is There Any?

Advent, the Christian liturgical season leading up to Christmas, is the time when songs and...

November 2022

November 23, 2022

A New Theology for Thanksgiving

As I load the car, like millions of other Americans, for a long road trip...

November 14, 2022

Naming the God of the Night Sky

Hello readers! I mentioned earlier in the fall that I'd be stepping away from my...

October 2022

October 02, 2022

The Bento Box Rule of Life

If you were to look through my journals over the last few years, you would...

September 2022

September 26, 2022

All I Know of Holiness

The Nazarenes and Wesleyans who first gave shape to my faith taught me to care...

September 21, 2022

Resonating the Mountain: Some Good Ecotheology in The Rings of Power

I am, like many of you, watching The Rings of Power, basically as soon as Amazon...

September 07, 2022

Summer 2022 Reading

How about another list of books I've been reading? But first... Why Read Books? Like...

September 02, 2022

Grandma’s Prayers

Praying in Chorus It's difficult to describe, for those who have never heard it, what...

August 2022

August 24, 2022

What Was John’s Baptism about?

If no one knew that Jesus was the messiah yet, what was John's baptism about?...

August 20, 2022

Isaiah, or, Exodus All Over Again

In Isaiah, we learn that God's mighty acts of liberation are a non-identical repetition of...

August 03, 2022

Grief and Hope in a Suffering Creation

While traveling this week, I read Elizabeth Kolbert's Sixth Extinction. The book, in my opinion,...

July 2022

July 27, 2022

ROCOR: The (A) Russian Church Abroad

This summer I've continued my life-long submersion into Russian theological and intellectual culture. I've written...

July 23, 2022

Hosea, The Diagonal Prophet

The prophets of Judah and Israel are often seen as vertical in their messaging. The...

July 19, 2022

Adventure and Mystery in Scott’s Rob Roy

Those who have been reading this column will be aware of my summer adventures in...

July 15, 2022

Two Summer Poems

This past week I've been homemaking. Cooking, hosting family. Saying my prayers while watching the...

July 08, 2022

Why is Jesus of Nazareth Important?

A Patheos reader sends us this question. When it comes to faith, the ground level...

July 06, 2022

Apocalyptic Hospitality: A Sermon on Luke 10:1-20

This morning our gospel points us to what I'm going to call apocalyptic hospitality. My...

July 02, 2022

Tammy Faye and the Prosperity Gospel

Long plane rides provide guilt free screen time. Especially headed west when, the way I...

June 2022

June 29, 2022

Lear’s Shadow: Reading Shakespeare with the Army

My travels this month gave me the unique opportunity to discuss tragedy, courage, and Shakespeare’s...

June 26, 2022

My Date with Rowan William

Last week I had the pleasure of talking theology, literature, and ecology with Rowan Williams....