I remember that day in seminary like it was yesterday. I asked the professor a question that had been bugging me for years. We were talking about the source theory for the four gospels. This theory assumes that Mark was the first gospel written. It was the primary source for…
Silence in the Teacher’s Toolbox
On Thursday, I will upload the video of my interview with Garret Mostowski, a pastor in Detroit. When I interviewed him, he was a student at Princeton Divinity School, leading a weekly “holy reading” group at Trinity Episcopal Church in Princeton. Holy reading (aka lectio divina) involves listening to the…
Teach the Bible Like Stephen King? Horrors!
I’ve come to the place in my reading and studying the Bible that a fresh angle is refreshing. I know the traditional interpretations, the safe and comfortable writers, the orthodox perspectives, the insights from people like me – white, middle-class, educated, men. These days, I long for a different angle….
Finding God in the Faith of Outsiders
I have just completed reading Barbara Brown Taylor’s memoir as a teacher of world religions, Holy Envy: Finding God in the Faith of Others. It was a great read – insightful, profound, and humorous. Barbara’s “holy envy” comes as she recognizes in others’ religions things that are missing in her…
Bible-believing Bashers
This week, I saw that my denomination posted an article on Facebook about a new ministry. A comment below the announcement read, “Fake Baptists. Don’t believe the Bible is God’s word.” Although the comment was not directed to me personally, I was offended by the dismissive comment and the Pharisaical…
Your teaching is probably incomplet
Back to Eden Sometimes, I begin my lessons with a quiz. I do this with stories that we assume we already know such as the story of Adam and Eve. Here are a few sample questions: The name of the man in Eden is… Adam Tarzan Dirt He is unnamed…
Ripping Pages Out of the Bible
More often than I like, I read Bible passages I don’t like. I find that my friends face this same dilemma. We love God’s Word(s) – except for some of them. I asked my Facebook friends, “What story or saying in the Bible do you wish were not there?” Here…
How to Toss a Bible
What do you do with a Bible you no longer want? I have a lot of these. Some are odd translations that I never use. If I am interested in what these might say, there are apps for that. Some Bibles are duplicates. How many NIVs does a person need?…
How harmful is your Bible?
“This book should come with a warning label,” Allen Callahan says of the Bible. In my interview with Allen (which will post this Thursday) we covered, as we always do, “who has been a ‘great Bible teacher’ in your life?” For Allen, it was a professor who was himself taught…
My pastor responds to my previous blog post
I feel a little guilty Having been a pastor myself, I know how difficult a job that is. It is even more difficult in a divisive election year. Then add a heavy layer of pandemic on top of all that. It’s rough. So, I’ve been feeling a little guilty this…
