Theological Fragments

The Bible is not a very politically-correct book. There’s a lot of stuff in there that would get it an R rating, maybe even NC-17. There’s murder, rape, incest, genocide, torture, all kinds of horrible things. And here’s the scary thing: some of those things are done in God’s name. And some of them are done under God’s orders. The story of how the Levites were originally consecrated to the priesthood is a good example. When Moses came down from Sinai and found the Israelites worshiping the golden calf, he called all loyal Hebrews to join him--only the Levites responded. He then ordered them to arm themselves and kill all of the people who were worshiping the calf. When the slaughter was over, Moses told them, "Today you have ordained yourselves for the service of the LORD, each one at the cost of a son or a brother, and so have brought blessing on yourselves this day" (Ex. 32:29 NRSV). So here’s the question: how do we deal with this? Genocide—especially in the name of rel

[I debated whether to provide any context for this post. I've decided that it is important, for understanding the tone in which this fragment is offered, to know that I wrote this, not out of academic interest, but in response to an experience of pain. I am speaking to myself here more than anyone else.] The so-called “New Atheists”—Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, etc.—like to talk about the “Problem of Evil” (Which I think is more properly called the Problem of Pain) as a logical criticism of ethical monotheism (Judaism, Christianity, Islam). They treat it as a logical problem which they, or at least their scientific-minded predecessors, have discovered about the beliefs of those religions. If you’re not sure what the Problem of Pain is, here’s a brief summary: A.       Evil exists in the world, and pain happens. B.       A loving god who is all good would not allow evil or pain to exist if he could prevent it. C.       Therefore, if God exists, then

By now all of you have probably seen this viral video, “ Why I Hate Religion, but Love Jesus ” by Jefferson Bethke. It’s gotten a lot of views, and consequently a lot of press coverage. I’m not prone to jump into something just because it was in the news (or, at least, I try to suppress that urge) but there are two reasons why I want to talk about this: (1) because the first time I saw it was not in the news, but when people I know posted it online, which makes it personally relevant, and (2) because it touches on some of the things I’ve personally been wrestling with, specifically the concept of “religion” and the role of the church. Now, I call this “a” theological perspective because I don’t want anyone to think I’m saying this is “The” theological perspective; rather, this is how I personally react to this video’s message based on my theological perspective, which has changed considerably when I entered seminary. Before then I would be inclined to agree with this video, though I