The Schismatic Bully

We know that many factors have contributed to the current movement to split the Church and create some form of international disciplinary authority for Anglicanism. ... What I haven’t seen is much attention to psychological factors, and specifically to the psychology of bullying. Where bizarre thinking and behavior have been observed in a particular place over a period of many years, leading to a catastrophic outcome, the possibility should be considered that a critical factor in the entire drama has been the success of a disordered individual in gaining a position of power and using it to play out on a grand scale his own internal need to split the world into pure and impure, good and evil, true and false, faithful and treasonous, saved and damned, orthodox and apostate/heretical. [Read]

Christians Wrong About
Heaven, Says Bishop

N.T. “Tom” Wright is one of the most formidable figures in the world of Christian thought. As Bishop of Durham, he is the fourth most senior cleric in the Church of England and a major player in the strife-riven global Anglican Communion; as a much-read theologian and Biblical scholar he has taught at Cambridge and is a hero to conservative Christians worldwide for his 2003 book The Resurrection of the Son of God, which argued forcefully for a literal interpretationof that event. It therefore comes as a something of a shock that Wright doesn’t believe in heaven – at least, not in the way that millions of Christians understand the term. [Read]

Lambeth and the Perfect Church

The New Testament reveals a church wrestling with truth, battling with conflict, with Christians at odds with one another, and at the same time drawn to one another in Christ. The picture is of the people of God living with conflict in a world which lives with conflict, and Romans 8 reveals that battle in the search for the Kingdom. ‘We ourselves groan inwardly while we wait for adoption. Hope that is seen is not hope.’ We look forward to the Kingdom. It is a complete illusion that Christians will agree with one another if they only pay proper attention to scripture, or tradition or the guiding hand of God. [Read]

House of Bishops responds to Anglican Primate's Ultimatum.

The House of Bishops met for their usual Spring gathering at Camp Allen, Navasota, Texas, March 16-21. Three documents came out of their meetings: a resolution addressed to the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church urging them to decline to participate in the the proposed Pastoral Scheme of the Dar es Salaam Communiqué; a letter addressed to the Archbishop of Canterbury requesting an immediate meeting with him and the members of the Primates Standing Committee; and a letter to the members of The Episcopal Church. All three documents can be read here. [Read]

Danforth's Challenge to the Episcopal Church

The Rev. John Danforth, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, challenged the Episcopal Church to a “higher calling” of reconciliation during the June 15 Presiding Bishop’s Forum: “Toward a Reconciled World.” [Read]

A Minister Fights Back on Moral Values

I am minister of Mayflower Congregational Church in Oklahoma City, an Open and Affirming, Peace and Justice church in northwest Oklahoma City, and professor of Rhetoric at Oklahoma City University. I have been a columnist for six years, and hold the record for the most number of angry letters to the editor. Tonight, I join ranks of those who are angry, because I have watched as the faith I love has been taken over by fundamentalists who claim to speak for Jesus, but whose actions are anything but Christian. [Read]

Everything You Wanted to Know About Christianity

Some people in America are scared silly of Christianity, but many of the most frightened know very little about it. They throw around terms like fundamentalist and evangelical with very little knowledge of their meaning, and this is before they enter the dark thicket of Preterists, Amillennialists, Prelapsarian Arminian Claims Adjusters, etc. Here, then, is a handy reference guide to some of the key terms, concepts and groups. [Read]

Literalism Blocks Bible's Big Picture

Allow me to share ... an e-mail I received last week from a gentleman named Al who took exception to a column I wrote condemning capital punishment. Said Al, “When one criticizes the death penalty one criticizes God’s judgment in the matter, as scripture ordains death for numerous crimes. It is not wise to criticize God.” I shot back a note pointing out that among the crimes for which scripture ordains death are cursing your parents (Lev. 20:9) or committing adultery (Lev. 20:10). Did Al really believe those misdeeds should be treated as capital offenses? “Only if one wishes to accomplish God’s will in the matter,” said Al. I don’t mind telling you, people like him scare me. [Read]

General Convention Summary of Legislation

This is an unofficial, unaudited, abbreviated summary of concurred actions of the 75th General Convention, meeting in Columbus, Ohio, June 13-21. It includes most of those resolutions posted by the General Convention Office at http://gc2006.org/legislation/. At that location, you can read the full texts of the resolutions summarized here and search resolutions by source, number, topic, title, proposer, committee or house of initial action. [Read]

The Episcopal Church in the Balance

What difference does it makes if we support the ACC or the ACN? The soon to be retired Bishop of California provides a good answer. [Read]

This Schism is Brought to You by the IRD

June 2006 may be a turning point in the history of the Christian church in America and in one branch of Christianity worldwide. Episcopalians meet in their triennial General Convention at Columbus, Ohio. Presbyterians hold their 217th General Assembly in Birmingham, Alabama. Though held at virtually the same time and miles apart, they are both fighting a common enemy that most church members likely are not aware of.
[Read]

Do Gays Cause Hurricanes?

Repent America director Michael Marcavage, blamed Hurricane Katrina on gays and on those who tolerate us in New Orleans. Earlier, Pat Robertson, founder of the Christian Coalition, warned Orlando, Florida, that it was courting natural disaster by allowing gay pride flags to be flown along its streets. [Read]

The Prayer of Jabez falls short in Africa

Bruce Wilkinson, author of the best-selling book The Prayer of Jabez, made a big splash nearly four years ago when he announced his ambitious plan to help children suffering from AIDS in Africa. Not everything ... has gone according to plan, unfortunately. [Read]

Repudiating Robertson:
How Can We Know When God Speaks?

After calling for the assassination of President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, then claiming that God caused Ariel Sharon’s massive stroke as punishment for conceding land to the Palestinians, Pat Robertson later claimed that Satan caused Dick Cheney’s shortness of breath that briefly hospitalized the Vice President. Why? “Because he is dedicated to defeating the evildoers in Iraq, and that angered the evilest doer of all, Satan.” On that same show Robertson extended condolences to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who needed fifteen stitches in his lip after “a motorcycle accident that I’m pretty sure was caused by Satan.” Satan, he advised, “is no match for a Republican.”
[Read]

The God of Pat Robertson

Pat Robertson’s recent remarks regarding the school board elections in Dover, PA, brings to the forefront of the religious discussion the very topic we need to talk about but is rarely mentioned, the violent God. [Read]

Analysis of The Purpose Driven Life

First, let me say that I find this book to be a very good book, if certain presuppositions are held. This prompts several further questions: are these my presuppositions and are they biblical, that is, are they gospel presuppositions? Warren has done a service to Christianity by pointing out that a real and vital, vibrant and living relationship to God is essential to Christian existence. He is saying that our daily experiences can all be interpreted as salvation-history, our lives, our histories, our stories do count, we count; God counts us, values us and esteems us. All of this is correct as far as it goes. But as some have observed, there is something incomplete about all of this. What is missing? [Read]

Unwrapping Jesus

A recent project allowed me to focus on the grandest subject of all: Jesus. Growing up in the Church, I learned His name as soon as I learned the names of my family members. But now, as an adult, what did I truly think about Him? Which childhood impressions had been confirmed and which ones overturned? As I reflect on what I learned in the process of writing The Jesus I Never Knew, I have come up with a “top ten” list. [Read]

Intelligent Design?
Relax, God is Stranger Still

There has been some debate, even at local school-board levels, about the theory of evolution vs. creationism and the more recently offered idea of “intelligent design.” Now Cardinal Cristoph Schönborn has weighed in with an op-ed piece in the New York Times (July 7), claiming that Christians cannot believe that life’s origins can be found in natural selection’s chancy, random stabs at development. Some kind of intelligent design must lie behind it, and reason can lead to a rational belief in an intelligent designer. [Read]

Pre-Modern Theology in Modern Life

When the hurricane named ‘Dennis’ placed weary Floridians under water in the first major Caribbean disaster of 2005, their Governor Jeb Bush, reflecting on the recent pounding his state has taken, made an interesting, an almost stream of consciousness, observation. “I think there is a legitimate feeling,” he said, “Why me? What did I do wrong?” [Read]

Onward Moderate Christian Soldiers

It would be an oversimplification to say that America’s culture wars are now between people of faith and nonbelievers. People of faith are not of one mind, whether on specific issues like stem cell research and government intervention in the case of Terri Schiavo, or the more general issue of how religion relates to politics. In recent years, conservative Christians have presented themselves as representing the one authentic Christian perspective on politics. With due respect for our conservative friends, equally devout Christians come to very different conclusions. [Read]

Evangelical Christianity Has Been Hijacked:
An Interview With Tony Campolo

Q: It’s a common perception that evangelical Christians are conservative on issues like gay marriage, Islam, and women’s roles. Is this the case? A: Well, there’s a difference between evangelical and being a part of the Religious Right. A significant proportion of the evangelical community is part of the Religious Right. My purpose in writing the book was to communicate loud and clear that I felt that evangelical Christianity had been hijacked. [Read]