At the turn of the twentieth century, American Christian evangelicals, led by Pastor Walter Rauschenbusch, were at the forefront of socialism.
Source: When Christian Evangelicals Loved Socialism | JSTOR Daily
What Gospel Did Paul Preach? [Hint: It Wasn’t Penal Substitutionary Atonement] | Keith Giles
What is the Gospel? Well, it depends on who you ask. If you ask some Christians today, especially the Reformed kind, you’ll hear something that […]
Source: What Gospel Did Paul Preach? [Hint: It Wasn’t Penal Substitutionary Atonement] | Keith Giles
Did Calvin Popularize Penal Substitution? – The Gospel Coalition | Canada
If we lay aside the myth that penal substitution is a modern invention, we should then ask: Why wouldn’t we believe something that the early church and those beyond clearly did?
Source: Did Calvin Popularize Penal Substitution? – The Gospel Coalition | Canada
Science and Non-Science in Liberal Education – The New Atlantis
Natural science, with its standards of experimental rigor, has come to dominate the university, leaving many non-scientific scholars confused about the place of the humanities or social sciences in the academy. But, as Harvey C. Mansfield argues, science remains dependent on non-science, and philosophy remains the cornerstone of any serious education.
Source: Science and Non-Science in Liberal Education – The New Atlantis
The You of Five years ago–Thomas Merton
The person who sweats under their mask, whose role makes them itch with discomfort, who hates the division in themselves, is already beginning to be free. If the you of five years ago, doesn’t think the you of today is a heretic, there is no spiritual growth.
Thomas Merton
The Wackadoodle Way Christians Use Romans 13 | Keith Giles
Yes. I said “Wackadoodle.” But, it’s true. I’m constantly running into Christians who use Romans 13 to justify horrible […]
Source: The Wackadoodle Way Christians Use Romans 13 | Keith Giles
In Bolsonaro’s Brazil, a Showdown Over Amazon Rainforest
In the last half-century, about one-fifth of this forest, or some 300,000 square miles, has been cut and burned in Brazil
Source: In Bolsonaro’s Brazil, a Showdown Over Amazon Rainforest
Ultimate loyalty of Christian believers is to God rather than any human authority–Eugene M. Boring
While Luke– Acts is not a political apology directed to outsiders, his narrative wants to make clear that Christians are no overt threat to Rome and can be good citizens. Both Christians and authorities should know this. Nonetheless, when push comes to shove, Luke is clear that the ultimate loyalty of Christian believers is to God rather than any human authority (Acts 5: 29). Thus: On the other hand… Luke has some statements, stories, and images that explicitly resist the empire, or offer an alternative to it.
Luke 1: 4. The ἀσϕάλεια (asphaleia, security, confidence; NRSV “truth”) promised by Luke’s narrative echoes the slogan of the Pax Romana, “peace and security” (εἰρήνη καὶ ἀσϕάλεια, eirēnē kai asphaleia; cf. 1 Thess 5: 3). What Caesar promised, only the God of Jesus Christ can deliver.
Luke 1: 32. God will give Jesus the throne of David, and he shall rule.
Luke 1: 52. The advent of the Savior will bring down the mighty from their thrones, and exalt the lowly.
Luke 4: 6. In Luke, the devil gets one additional line in the temptation story. Worldly power over the nations of the civilized world (οἰκουμένη oikoumenē, used of the Roman Empire) has been given to him, and he gives this authority to whomever he will. This reflects the apocalyptic theology sketched above, in which God is pictured as temporarily granting power over the world to angelic or demonic beings. This is a miniature version of the apocalyptic scheme pictured on a grand scale in Revelation, where the Roman Empire is seen as an expression of demonic power. Here it means concretely that the present rulers of the world have received their power and authority from Satan. Jesus resists the offer to rule the world by this kind of power. He offers an alternative, and it will prevail. God will rule.
Boring, M. Eugene. An Introduction to the New Testament: History, Literature, Theology (Kindle Locations 19098-19100).
Ezekiel 16:49
“..this lovely idea of God.” William Law
“This is God’s unchangeable disposition towards the creation; He can be nothing else, but all goodness towards it because He can be nothing towards the creation but that which He is and was and ever shall be in Himself . . . an eternal unchangeable will to all goodness, and which can will nothing else to all eternity, but to communicate good, and blessing and happiness and perfection to every life, according to its capacity to receive it. Had I one hundred lives, I could with more ease part with them all, by suffering one hundred deaths than give up this lovely idea of God.”
William Law
St. John One: One 