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…
The Hostility Toward Bible Study Teachers
Something’s wrong Bible study for adults gets a lot of knocks. Here are some I’ve heard recently: It’s boring. It’s irrelevant. It’s a clique. I can’t say that those criticisms are unjustified. Some teachers find ways to make “The joy of the Lord is my strength” bland. Some teachers take…
It’s going to be alright
My problem with John’s Revelation This week, I led the sixth of seven Bible studies on the book of Revelation. It featured Revelation chapters 17-19 – the Whore of Babylon, the great Beast, the fall of Babylon, the celebration in Heaven (and marriage feast of the Lamb), the Rider on…
Three Lists I Challenge You to Create
These days, I am seeing a lot of lists related to racism. “10 things to watch to educate yourself about systemic racism.” “Seven books you must read.” And even, “75 Things White People Can Do for Racial Justice.” I am finding most of these lists helpful. Marilyn McEntyre (I posted…
