Pastor – Coach – Reader – Cook
One of the biggest questions Christians face is how to square the message and life of Jesus with the portrayal of God in the Old Testament. Jesus taught nonviolence. Jesus chose to lay down his life and die on a cross rather than fight back. Christians believe Jesus was not just a great teacher, but…
Continue reading ➞ #29 – Crucifixion of the Warrior God by Greg Boyd (My 100 Favorite Books)
Yesterday I wrote about how my New Testament professor, Bob Lowery, changed my life in a class on the book of Revelation. Part of this change was in challenging the view I was always taught that America is blessed by God. Growing up, being a Christian and an American went hand in hand. If you…
Continue reading ➞ #44 – The Myth of a Christian Nation by Greg Boyd (My 100 Favorite Books)
If you've never doubted your faith, I'd say you're lying or you've never spent much time thinking about it. I suppose people of all faiths doubt whether their understanding of the world is true or not. I'd even say any honest atheist would have to have some doubt whether they can know for sure there…
Continue reading ➞ #88 – Benefit of the Doubt by Greg Boyd (My 100 Favorite Books)
I've quipped that everyone is a Biblical literalist until it comes to Jesus' words on nonviolence. Then every nuance and caveat is mined to make sure we are assured Jesus doesn't actually mean what he said. So when it comes to traditional ideas of sexuality or hell, or much else, we're told the Bible just…
Continue reading ➞ Why We Resist Nonviolence (Crucifixion of the Warrior God, ch. 6)
I love history. I've always enjoyed learning history. One truth of history, something you'd learn in any introduction to religion class, can be boiled down as follows: *Jesus of Nazareth died a violent death on the cross at the hands of his enemies and never led armies into battle. *Muhammad of Mecca led armies into…
I haven't written about this book since December 1! When I went back to see what I had written, I was struck by how so many of the same things are on my mind. Who is God? What is God like? Is God like Jesus? If we believe Jesus is the second person of the…
As I read Boyd's long book Crucifixion of the Warrior God, I am reminded of a common debate and inconsistency in Christian circles. Some Christians will argue for a literal interpretation of every passage of scripture. They argue for this when it comes to social issues like gay marriage and anyone who questions them is…
Continue reading ➞ Why Do We Resist Jesus’ Teaching?(Crucifixion of the Warrior God ch.3)
We all have notions of what God is like. These ideas and images are built from all sorts of sources - stories, pop culture, holy scriptures, teachers, friends. I imagine even atheists have some picture in their minds of what the God they do not believe in is like. In many cases, it is just…
Continue reading ➞ What God is Like (Crucifixion of the Warrior God chs. 1-2)
I've gone to church my whole life. I remember learning all those old Bible stories as a kid in Sunday school. David killing the giant Goliath with a stone flung from his slingshot. Elijah slaughtering the hundreds of prophets of Baal. Joshua marching around Jericho till the walls fell and the residents were massacred. They…
I read a lot of books, but Breaking the Idol of Certainty by Greg Boyd might be the first book I've read where I found myself thinking that this is the sort of book I'd want to write. I felt like Greg was at times writing out my own thoughts. If you've ever struggled with doubt,…
Continue reading ➞ Breaking the Idol of Certainty by Greg Boyd (Review)
David Hershey 