PublicChristian

there is no way in which a country can satisfy the craving for absolute security

“No way.” No way. As in not possible in this world.

but it can easily bankrupt itself,
morally and economically,
in attempting to reach that illusory goal through arms alone.

In other words, you can’t buy enough guns (etc) to make yourself safe. But you can go completely nuts trying.

A friend recently asked what it means that I use “emergent evangelical” as my religious affiliation on FaceBook. So here’s a look at what the phrase means to me.

I. “Evangelicals” Today

“Evangelical” has come to be a bad word in much of American society, for several reasons. » Continue Reading »

I.  Young Adult Attitudes Toward American Christianity

Recently I wrote about how young adult “outsiders” – people not involved in churches – think of Christians in this country, based on research overseen by David Kinnaman and reported in his recent book.

[My posts: "They Will Know", "World's View".   Kinnaman's book is unChristian, based on an extensive research project by The Barna Group. It's valuable but not pleasant reading.]

At the end of each of his main chapters Kinnaman includes comments from other Christian leaders. Here’s some of what Brian McLaren had to say (p 172). (Here are a few posts on this site that mention McLaren’s writing.)

II.  How We Got There – The Role of the Prophets of the Religious Right

» Continue Reading »

It might be a good project for each of us – to try to summarize the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 – 7) in 209 words.

Brian McLaren has done so, in his The Secret Message of Jesus (chapter 15, “Kingdom Ethics”, p 136). » Continue Reading »

I saw somewhere the other day, for the first time, the acronymn FWO’s – for “Formerly Well Off” persons.

The economic state of the USA is changing and people know it, and already there are increasing numbers of FWO’s. And maybe we – “we” as a nation that is, as a culture – deserve it, or at least asked for it.

The Bible has warned us for millenia of the deadliness of greed and the transitoriness of wealth. But we have made it the one inescapable determiner of what a person, a corporation, or national policy should do. It seems we are moving into a time » Continue Reading »

I don’t think the greatest enemy of monotheism is atheism, agnosticism, polytheism, dualism, or pantheism: It is bad monotheism, monotheism carried out in bad faith.

Yes! “Bad faith” is NOT a virtue even in our very freedom-loving society. Promises are to be kept, contracts fulfilled, responsibilities exercised “in good faith.” It’s actually a legal requirement, though often unenforceable.

And it applies very much to religious faith and behavior. As Scripture says, “the name of God is blasphemed among the unbelievers because of you.” We have a huge problem with that in America today. » Continue Reading »