2020-10-14 13:24
When Christian caring for others becomes ultimately about self-preservation, either privately or institutionally, something has gone terribly wrong. The other, as a Christ follower should we… Read More
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Living Spirituality Blog
livingspirituality.org
A blog engaged in exploring Living Christian Spirituality.
2020-10-13 13:31
Unless the church confronts the greed of the world, instead of participating in it, a Christ centered concern for the voice of the poor and oppressed will be gagged and the exploitation of t… Read More
2020-10-09 10:28
Living 1 Corinthians 7 with Saint Paul: Sex, Marriage, a Feminist Option and the Rhetoric of Equality. Is Celibacy more Spiritual than Marriage? Kindle Edition by Gregory Laughery (Author) F… Read More
2020-10-08 13:27
Artist Georges Braque quipped: “Art is meant to disturb; science reassures.” But in today’s world I wonder if it’s fair to say that art can also reassure and science… Read More
2020-10-07 14:07
A supposedly insurmountable antagonism towards self – self-hate – read as a continual experience of fault and denial, undoes dialogue and strikes at the heart of selfhood. When t… Read More
2020-10-05 13:49
On the one hand, the biblical text resists being collapsed into just another ANE or GR text, though it is one, and on the other, it is unable to attain the status of a pure revelation from G… Read More
2020-10-01 13:30
The essence of Mutuality is not an exchange, but a “recognition” comprised of the fragility of giving to and receiving from the other. There’s no buying and selling involve… Read More
2020-09-29 14:14
Sex, celibacy, marriage, feminism, and equality are important realities and cutting edge issues today. If you’re interested in an in-depth attempt to discern what Saint Paul had to… Read More
2020-09-28 13:34
When the critical mode, valid as it is, persists as a monologue, the end of the story can tend to become criticism itself, and this in turn can emerge into skepticism or relativism. It is im… Read More
2020-09-24 13:14
https://www.amazon.com/Living-Corinthians-Saint-Paul-Equality-ebook/dp/B08JV6KD9X/ Read More
2020-09-23 12:52
If spirituality can mean anything, it means nothing. Of course there are plenty of sources of spiritual non-sense around, including that coming out of Evangelical Christian circles. Authorit… Read More
2020-09-22 13:57
2020-09-21 13:52
One of the salient features of the twenty-first century is that we are living in a post-trust culture. As I have recently mentioned in another post, this means that our ability to trust inst… Read More
2020-09-10 13:22
Since the knower is involved in the knowing, there is always a subjective personal dimension to knowledge, yet this does not mean that knowing is entirely subjective. Rather, it is quasi-sub… Read More
2020-09-07 13:27
Misrecognizing that there will always be a relation and distinction between self and other leads to inappropriate ways of connecting that both demand too much, and expect too little. Self an… Read More
2020-09-03 12:58
Engaging the challenges of post-modern thought, for better or worse, may now suggest that we have to reassess our understanding of God, ourselves, and the world. That which has been previous… Read More
2020-09-02 13:08
Catharsis, while an indispensable part of the journey towards our destiny, is not an end in and of itself. Rather, deep release is to lead to the conviction that in spite of the tragic circu… Read More
2020-08-31 13:47
Theological, philosophical, and scientific configurations are so often supposed to represent absolute precision. They’re tenaciously held on to come hell or high water and effectively… Read More
2020-08-22 13:33
2020-08-20 13:38
In an excellent book I’m reviewing, Love Divine & Human, Thomas Jay Oord responds in a fitting manner to a chapter in the volume by Kevin Vanhoozer on Oord’s work in di… Read More
2020-08-19 13:26
Rigorous self-examination in life is important, but it’s not the end of the story. To be right or wrong; a trusting or suspicious self, has significance in a multiplicity of ways, yet… Read More
2020-08-17 12:42
Belief is a dynamic agent in evolutionary processing. For primates like us belief is a given – part of who we are and what we do. Belief is real, but not immediately material. It exist… Read More
2020-08-13 14:18
Confusion and clarity in varied degrees unfold and work themselves out in our lives at the same time. I’d wager they are not mutually exclusive, but intertwined core components of who… Read More
2020-08-12 14:06
We have the outstanding capacity to navigate through various physical states and material obstacles in life, while at the same moment being immersed in imagination, which takes us into anoth… Read More
2020-08-10 13:48
In John’s narrative recounting, Jesus “signs” into the world. By putting his “signature” on acts of revelation he “signs” onlookers to God on whose… Read More
2020-08-06 13:18
In today’s world of increasing uncertainty and growing violence there comes a time for seeking shelter - a dwelling place or space, not just an address. This place-space will include m… Read More
2020-08-03 15:52
To not be resigned to death in the midst of chaos and uncertainty is a challenge and a destiny. Fighting against addiction and abuse - the injustices of tolerance – takes hard work and… Read More
2020-07-30 13:01
Re-imagining the Christian faith in the light of multiple informers is crucial for our engagement with the world, each other as community, and the cultures in which we live Read More
2020-07-29 13:14
One of the realities of grace means that we cannot assume that where we are in our spiritual journey of faith is going to be good for the other Read More
2020-07-23 13:14
The days are long gone when human evolution can be reduced to survival of the fittest. At least three other important informers have come into play: environment, culture, and imagination. Ea… Read More
2020-07-20 13:07
I’d wager there are three prevailing worldviews that tend to dominate the g-local context today. First, matter matters. This is the notion that all there is―is matter. Scientific… Read More
2020-07-16 14:50
Ironically, many biblical literalists and evolutionary materialists share the view that there’s a lot wrong with the world, including defects of function and purpose. As horrible as th… Read More
2020-07-15 14:04
Letting go of assumed truths about God that turn out not to be true is not betrayal, but wisdom. As enshrined as these assumptions sometimes can be, abandoning them for the evolving ‘t… Read More
2020-07-13 13:06
Biblical narrative and nature’s story are an astounding drama engaging God and humanity. This drama goes far beyond a dispassionate recounting or a merely experiential narrating. There… Read More
2020-07-09 12:40
Hermeneutics plays a central role in our lives, and it is important to be aware of this for at least the following reasons. First, the general action of interpreting anything is part and par… Read More
2020-07-08 12:13
In a logic of superabundance we find there is an excess of giveness. God, for example, loves and creates in a superabundant manner that cannot be entirely contained in the material world or… Read More
2020-07-06 15:26
In our book From Evolution to Eden, we refer to the publicized image of “science as a candle in the dark.” We contend that, in some sense, this picture has a ring of truth. New r… Read More
2020-07-04 13:52
2020-07-02 14:15
The rise and subsequent pervasiveness of hermeneutics (the act and art of interpretation) has changed our political, social, economic, and textual understanding of the world, God, and oursel… Read More
2020-07-01 13:31
Provocatively cutting away at the darkness is a challenging task that gradually opens up glimmers of light. These slivers of illumination, subversive and revolutionary, glisten through the s… Read More
2020-06-29 13:16
These salient words come from Anna, a character in the Geraldine Brooks story, Year of Wonders, set in the 1600s during the Plague. p. 215 “Why should this thing be either a test of f… Read More
2020-06-11 13:49
Divine action in the world is the subject of much discussion in philosophy, theology, and science. Lots of work to do here. For a long time now I’ve had questions about this issue. Her… Read More
2020-06-10 13:15
To hear and read the story of Mark is to enter a narrative world of conflict and drama, possession and dispossession, subversive reversals of perspective, intrigue, mystery, and strange ridd… Read More
2020-06-08 13:38
Considering all the bantering going on over politics and the economy in Western democracies, recent reports in the media have suggested that some Christians and politicians advocate dominion… Read More
2020-06-04 13:12
Someone once quipped, ‘the information in the biblical text about God is true.’ Yet, I’d wager since this information has to be interpreted and is done so in a multiplicity… Read More
2020-06-03 13:34
Reflect on this. I’d wager that real protest is a negation of relativism and a post-truth culture, but even if the wager is sensible, I doubt this will be recognized now or taught in m… Read More
2020-06-01 14:36
Anxiety is a real problem and sometimes manifests itself in physiological ways. If you suffer from anxiety, take some time to look into the “sympathetic nervous system,” since… Read More
2020-05-28 14:38
A recent discussion reminded me again of the crucial issue of “starting points’ for doing theology. Fundamentalists, but others too, claim to ‘start’ with God and the… Read More
2020-05-25 13:12
To reflect on justice it is crucial to realize that we develop our views in the shadow of Locke, Hume, Kant and other thinkers who still have a tremendous impact and influence on our perspec… Read More
2020-05-20 14:11
Engage, evaluate, embrace―the Infinite One, other, and world. Enter the spooky haven of relationality (the essence of being relational); the space to dwell in oneself as another Read More
2020-05-18 13:04
We are now living in a suspicion oriented post-trust culture where institutions, politics, economics, and the church have failed to be trustworthy. Thus, suspicion, and rightly so, takes up… Read More
2020-05-14 13:37
If imagination is viewed as having no relevant significance for the knowledge of God, an engagement with the biblical text, and a perception of the natural world, I’d wager we are f… Read More
2020-05-13 13:10
As new information hits the universities and the streets including, the monumental immensity of the universe and the possibility that there’s more than one; DNA developments that seem… Read More
2020-05-11 13:04
Barriers to belief in God may plague us throughout our lives. Forgone solutions and conclusions will only increase our difficulties, instead of resolving them. After all, our access to the p… Read More
2020-05-07 13:40
Primates like us are imaginative meaning makers and story tellers. I’d wager this is just part of our niche. We want to explain things and understand ourselves, God, and the world. Scr… Read More
2020-05-06 14:08
Luke’s Acts is neither epic, nor a straight telling of history. Rather, it is a story of beginnings and functions as a ‘founding narrative’ for the unfolding drama of the C… Read More
2020-05-04 13:49
A realistic faith is a constant dialogue between the "because of" and the "in spite of." In living a spiritual life, we may traverse periods of belief in God that are like the vistas of a ch… Read More
2020-04-30 14:30
Encountering the infinite mystery of another human being is a sacramental invitation and a sacred adventure towards convergence. This coming alongside or together phenomenon will take place… Read More
2020-04-29 13:55
I'd wager our reading strategies for the biblical text, self, other, and the world should have a similarity. That is, not too objective, nor too subjective (walking a tightrope might be a go… Read More
2020-04-27 13:47
Systems of compensation for failed standard keeping never work. They are corrosive and rust our insides. Our hope of achieving an “OK” self if we “overdid that” and t… Read More
2020-04-23 13:20
Love goes beyond justice and justice goes beyond love. Neither can go it alone, nor can one be fully collapsed into the other. Thus, there is a tension here that requires dialogue in order t… Read More
2020-04-22 13:32
Rocked by debt, greed, sickness, and death, the world as we know it is slowly but surely disintegrating. There is a rising sense, a vibrant pulse if you will, that uncertainty, fraud, and be… Read More
2020-04-20 13:30
Christians can no longer do theology from the Bible and ancient culture alone, but also have to consider scientific claims, especially when interpreting Genesis 1-3. What is the force of gen… Read More
2020-04-17 13:47
I’d wager that the Genesis authors had no historical, biological, or genetic information to rely on when they processed and wrote the creation stories. Thus, early Genesis is likely to… Read More
2020-04-15 13:28
The fragility of life and the tragedy of death are relentless. Almost no one escapes questions of purpose, well being, alienation, and degeneration. But in the end, a transformed life ove… Read More
2020-04-14 14:33
The biblical writers were influenced by an exposure to and a reading of cultural repertoire for theistic and Christian orientations. Their perspectives, therefore, would be likely to contain… Read More
2020-04-09 13:48
Deeply engraved with complexity and mysteriously forged by extravagance, the drama of the biblical and natural world informers presents significant challenges for readers, taking us to the l… Read More
2020-04-08 13:41
Disease, suffering, and death are awful, though I’d wager they’re not awful because ‘it should not be this way,’ but rather because of the terrible personal, familial… Read More
2020-04-06 14:43
Interiors & Exteriors ? – Speaking for myself, I spend more than half the time in my imagination, while somehow managing in the other less than half to find my way around within th… Read More
2020-04-02 13:37
The incisive depiction of self-deception found in the biblical text is striking. We are never the selves we simply assume ourselves to be. Consequently, self-designation for good or ill is s… Read More
2020-04-01 13:14
Seems like much of what has been known as “church” in the West will skip at least a generation. The declining church is in big trouble. Younger people are turning away in droves… Read More
2020-03-30 14:23
I’d wager we often tend to put far too much weight on knowing and being a knower. This over-emphasis is a major plague, and expresses itself in several ways including: reductionism, hi… Read More
2020-03-26 14:23
“God sustains everything.” I hear this kind of bold statement often. I suppose those who use it assume that it protects God’s Godness. Yet, I’m uncomfortable with it… Read More
2020-03-25 14:01
The Trusting Primate Many people are intoxicated with suspicion. They claim they are suspicious of everything. And why not? What’s worth trusting? After all, heroines and heroes… Read More
2020-03-23 13:50
What is narrative? Umberto Eco, of The Name of the Rose fame, suggests that to tell a story or write a narrative you have to construct a world. Yet, Eco’s suggestion, while helpful, ne… Read More
2020-03-19 14:03
Total self-independence or total God dependence are not realistic options for life. Totalities are just out of the question. We lack access. Rather, it seems to me that God challenges us to… Read More
2020-03-18 15:54
I find it hard to believe that some of the ancients mentioned in the biblical story lived to be hundreds of years old. I’d wager that when this scenario presents itself it’s more… Read More
2020-03-17 15:17
A key part of the drama of the gospel narratives shows us that Jesus manifests himself as the sent One in the midst of the “actual” world in order to point people in the directio… Read More
2020-03-16 14:04
2020-03-14 14:10
2020-03-12 14:35
Not exactly sure how evolution came about, but as far as I can tell its pros and cons have been around for billions of years. Viruses and bacteria, for example, appear to be both beneficial… Read More
2020-03-09 14:10
Fundamentalists and evangelicals often tend to think that the God of the biblical text can do anything God wants. Potentially, this might be true, but realistically it’s not. God is p… Read More
2020-03-05 14:47
Rethinking how little we really know should bring us to the recognition that we ought to be cautious about what we defend, and open about what we still need to explore Read More
2020-03-04 14:26
I’d wager it’s pretty clear that belief, creativity, and imagination evolved in primates long before religions ever came on the scene. If that’s indeed the case, it would s… Read More
2020-03-02 14:54
Dealing with serious questions about the nature of the biblical text should be considered an essential. And taking time to work through them can be a rewarding challenge that offers new i… Read More
2020-02-28 15:55
2020-02-27 14:23
Many Christians rant and rave about the dangers and failures of science and philosophy, but their soft-headed and hard-hearted theology is doing more damage in promoting blindness, than many… Read More
2020-02-26 14:25
As I repeatedly underscored in my book on Ricoeur and biblical hermeneutics, reductionism is, and rightly so, faltering. While reductionism has been and still is popular, a transdisciplin… Read More
2020-02-20 15:08
Science and the biblical text are two informers for understanding, God, the world, and ourselves. In the light of the strong evidence of our evolutionary history, re-thinking our interpretat… Read More
2020-02-19 14:49
For the most part, the parables of Jesus are conventional stories about fishing, sowing, receiving, finding, selling, and buying, among other things. There is nothing immediately unusual ab… Read More
2020-02-17 17:06
Theology is facing serious challenges today. Some are becoming aware of this, while others don't have a clue. As the natural world informer has gained credibility, in particular as far as ev… Read More
2020-02-13 14:24
As significant fresh work is done in various disciplines, including theology and science, evangelicals are going to have to realize that the Bible is not a book dropped from heaven that answ… Read More
2020-02-12 14:02
Imagination expands our lives and has the capacity to connect us with the real. It helps us to understand God, the world, the other, and ourselves. No doubt within much of the Christian trad… Read More
2020-02-10 14:15
In Science & Theology discussions, especially among theists and Christians, the question is often posed: Was Paul right or wrong about his views of an historical Adam & Eve? Perhaps… Read More
2020-02-06 14:08
We’re hard pressed to paint a definitive picture of God, but instead of being disappointed about this, we should embrace the privilege of unknowing. In this case, there just might be a… Read More
2020-02-05 13:57
Evolutionary ethics properly argues that there are several reasons for ethical developments and orientations in humans, including the social, biological, genetic and neurological aspects of… Read More
2020-02-03 14:39
Our destiny is moving towards a ‘transformed’ future, not a recovery of an illusory paradisiacal past. This means we are continuously finding our way along in the magnificent adv… Read More
2020-01-30 14:21
Biblical interpretation, in the best sense of the art and practice, has been rightly focused on God, the text, and the reader. Recently, culture has been fittingly added to this trio, but it… Read More
2020-01-27 14:43
We live and die in the midst of brokenness and beauty. They both engage us deeply with an insightful truth: life is like this. Our world and our lives, as it were, are cut in two. This tensi… Read More
2020-01-23 14:35
It is monumentally important to realize that there is no absolute certainty concerning God, the biblical text, the self, or the world, but degrees of knowing – more about this or that… Read More
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