Wandering Elder

Gnosticism is a subject in which I am deeply interested.  Not just because of their fascinating scriptures and writings, but because of their take on the mystery of God and the tremendous power of knowledge. I say that because I have been reading a particular piece of apologetic writing (that is, a work designed to be an apologetic or defense of scripture) that purports that the way (perhaps even the only way) to read the New Testament is to hold a particular reading of the Old Testament which is defined as a figural reading. Figural reading is to read a passage from the Old Testament and, without denying that it has a particular historical context, claim that it also prefigures something from the New Testament, something that wouldn't be made clear except  through a reading of the Old Testament through  the Christian faith.  For example, in Isaiah 7:14 we read "Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."  In the Old Tes...

I once complained to a friend about a group of loud children that were utilizing some space near my office for an after school program (supervised, of course).  These kids were LOUD.  And not only that, I found that I was continually expecting a fight to break out because not only were they LOUD, they were, at least to my ear, aggressive towards one another. No fight ever broke out, and they eventually relocated to a facility a little further from my office.   I mentioned this to a friend of mine who made an interesting observation.  They said that children who came from lower income or broken home situations tended to be louder.  For a long time I noted that this did  in fact seem to be true.  I would observe these loud children here and there and think, "They must be from a lower income family or a broken home." Then, last night, I ran into a nearby K-Mart (few and far between, I know).  It was about 30 minutes before they closed and ...

I just read that a proposal was made in the Tennessee state legislature for the Bible to be made the “official book” of Tennessee. Fortunately it ran in to immediate opposition.  Not because I dislike the Bible, but because I dislike the idea of making a book sacred to a larger faith the representative book for a particular state or place.  According to the author of the bill, “This does not establish any form of religion, and any move to denounce it, I think, is to silence those of us who would like to see reverence given to a book that has played a role in all of our lives.” Interesting idea.  Proposing that the Bible, the book for the Christian faith, does not establish any form of religion (presumably here he means a state sanctioned or sponsored religion) is a pretty lame argument because the book is a religious item.  Would he feel the same if someone proposed the Tanak, the Rig Veda or the Quran? Would he argue that picking one of those sacred texts...

I offer you Easter greetings. I do not know where you are in your faith journey, or even if you are on  a faith journey.  Perhaps you are, or perhaps you are not.  Perhaps you are Christian, perhaps you aren't.  Atheist, agnostic, Christian, believer, doubter, or some other category, I offer you Easter greetings. Easter isn't about proof.  I can no sooner prove  the resurrection than I can any real article of faith. Hence the name article of faith .  But what I find in Easter is a witness in the belief that God has validated Christ and the teachings of Christ and not the violence of the cross.  Nor has God validated the liturgical and legal correctness of religiosity, or the self-righteousness that has come to so quickly and very, very sadly sometimes deservedly exemplify the Christian faith. I find that in Easter, we encounter a metaphorical witness that speaks of God encouraging us to be the light to the world and to proclaim that hopelessn...

Inevitably, one of the questions that comes up when we begin talking about Christianity revolves around the issue of denominations.  In particular, "Which one has it right?" I have no idea. Mostly I have no idea because I have yet to find a group of Christians who don't  think they have it right.  I mean, who would attend a church that says, "None of what we claim can be in any way validated or construed from the Bible, tradition, or anything else.  We just made it up!"?  I would certainly like to think the answer would be 'no one.'  However, I have my doubts. But the issue of the myriad denominations and even larger growing tradition of "non-denominational" churches largely comes from the fact that the Bible itself presents so many options of worship, style and theology.  And it is the latter that really causes the rifts. For example, there are passages in the Bible that do suggest and explicitly describe the idea of predestination.  A...