Category Archives: Why do we believe…
The Christian Social Economics of Exclusion and Vilification: Bounded Set Communities
Before the rest of this post you need to watch this Youtube video by Dave Schmelzer. He presents a great explanation of Bounded Set and Centered Set thinking and it relates to religious communities. While Schmelzer talks about both, the … Continue reading
Posted in Faith, Personal Commentary, Why do we believe...
Tagged Bounded Set vs. Centered Set thinking, Christian hypocrisy, Christianity, community organization, cultural values, exclusion, favoritism, hypocrisy, Jesus, Jesus Christ, Pharisees, religious communities, religious values, The Bounded Set, the error of the Pharisees, values, vilification
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The Christian Social Economics of Exclusion and Vilification: The Error of the Pharisees
[So far I have talked about how the most common approach to the Bible in Christianity is highly problematic, how Christianity is secular in most of its practices and how the most common Christian spirituality sets Christians up for failure. … Continue reading
To hallmarks of following Jesus: a life altering allegiance and being empowered by the Spirit of God
So if following Jesus was not supposed to look like what is on offer in most of Christian, what was it supposed to look like? While this is a much larger topic, I want to just bring up two of … Continue reading
Christianity is a highly secularized civil religion.
[In my initial post on why I left Christianity I stated that I wanted to discuss four core issues I have seen within Christianity. In my last several posts I have discussed how the most widespread approach to the Bible … Continue reading
Addendum: Is the Bible the “Word of God” that is “God-breathed” and “useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness?”
In the course of writing my last series of blogs two issues came up that I could not fit into my previous posts, but I believe deserve consideration. The issue is that there are two scriptural passages that I have … Continue reading
If the “Truth mine” approach to the Bible is so broken, why is it so widespread and why do Christians keep using it?
[In my previous posts I have suggested approaching the Bible as a “truth mine,” to be excavated for eternal and divine truths that are applicable to everyone, is problematic for several reasons. The development and nature of the Bible itself … Continue reading
Posted in Faith, Personal Commentary, Why do we believe...
Tagged biblical interpretation, Christian worldview, Christianity, divine authority, ignorance, ignorant Christians, interpretation, Jesus, judgmentalism, legalism, scriptural interpretation, spiritual abuse, spiritual power, stable worldview, the Bible, treating the Bible as a truth mine, Western Christianity, Western Culture, worldview
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Why this use of the Bible is problematic in practice…
[In my previous post I described how the dominant approach to the Bible I have seen in Christianity is problematic, if not outright impossible, to use given the development and the nature of the Bible. In this post I want … Continue reading
Posted in Faith, Personal Commentary, Why do we believe...
Tagged abuse of the Bible, biblical interpretation, biblically illiterate, Christianity, Christians, homosexuality, interpretation, interpretation of the Bible, Jesus, misunderstanding the Bible, Proposition 8, scriptural interpretation, the Bible
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Why this use of the Bible is problematic due to the Bible we have…
[In my previous post I have described how I have seen the Bible essentially treated as a “Truth mine.” The Bible is “mined” for eternal truths from God. These truths are often then used to guide and govern Christian behavior … Continue reading
Posted in Class or Paper Take Away, Faith, Personal Commentary, Why do we believe...
Tagged Bible, Biblical authority, biblical inconsistencies, canon, canon formation, Christianity, different Bibles, exegesis, genres in the Bible, inconsistencies in the Bible, Jesus, scriptural interpretation, the authority of the Bible, the Bible, truth, Truth mine
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Speakfaithfully 
Three thoughts regarding Western aid and non-profits…
Recently Invisible Children’s “Kony 2012” campaign has been met with a lot of arguments and criticisms. Rachel Held Evans has compiled a series of links that summarize the arguments for and against this most recent initiative by Invisible Children. This is … Continue reading →