As early Christianity began to grow and spread in Europe, in Rome, (interestingly enough) much of it was coined in Egypt where a lot of the origins of the New Testament are centered.

This is a plea for Christians to realize the significance of Isaiah 53 for their understanding of who Jesus was and what he did. I believe that he was motivated by love to take on the role of the Suffering Servant in Isaiah 53.

We live in a world of what I sometimes describe as disproportionate parity, where the ancient version of justice (lex talionis) that’s still widely practiced today provides justification for an excessive retaliatory response.

When, as an ex-Christian, I became curious about progressive Christianity several years ago, I was thrillingly surprised by what I saw in a church in my town.

All atonement theories get it wrong by substituting beliefs about Jesus for the way (his virtues, values, and practices) of Jesus that he taught us by word and deed. 

Will there come a day when all human behavior can be understood as clearly as natural disasters? Will these behaviors still be considered evil?

For the first time in my life, I decided it was time to find out firsthand what the mega-church experience was all about. That’s mega, not maga. I half expected that the two might have merged into one, but was pleasantly surprised that politics was not mentioned at all.

The selling of the Bible so recklessly attempts to stain and overshadow the Gospel. It seeks to imagine and promote an unholy alliance that is antithetical to my faith.

Jesus was not crucified for telling people to love God and our neighbors. He was killed for challenging the authorities of that time. He challenged the Jewish authorities, and he challenged the Roman authorities.

The central focus of Jesus’ message was to announce the imminent coming of the kingdom of God. This is what he was sent to do. (Luke 4: 43-44) This kingdom would be on earth for the people of Israel. (Matthew 10: 5-8) Although Jesus gives few details on how this kingdom would operate.

For context to the comments to follow, it is suggested one read Matthew 13. Verses 1-8 are deemed to likely be attributable to the historical Jesus; while verses 18-23 are an interpretation and application by Matthew’s early church community.

So what about loving our enemies? What do we normally feel, what do others who have modeled destructive behavior and attitudes expect us to feel and what can we possibly feel? Why should we choose not to feel what virtually everyone expects us to feel?

When the intellectual history of the 20th century is written, a few achievements will tower overall. Einstein’s theory of general relativity will be one; the laws of quantum mechanics will be another. The Big Bang Theory of the origin of the universe will be a third.

If you think God is a Christian, then you are mistaken. He isn’t a Muslim or a Hindu, either. We can't pin labels on God; he is not a tribal or sectarian deity; too often, organized religions make God absurdly small and petty in order to fit their own prejudices and small-mindedness.

I. Be completely humble and gentle, be patient forgiving one another in love

I pray, and look to scripture, and consider our role as people on an ever-changing planet as residents in and stewards of creation.

In the context of the Christian faith tradition — is the “good news” that one might assert to be at the heart of the gospel message just too idealistic for what we might be able to instead empirically see happening all around us on a daily basis?

Our perceptions of gender are changing. The role of gender in our society is changing. The relationship between gender and sexuality is changing. It’s a paradigm shift that has crested and simply will not be rolled back.

The church of the future must change to help its members develop further along their own spiritual journeys. Seminarians should spend less time studying the Bible, Church history, and Christian theology. Instead, the focus of their training should stress positive child-rearing strategies, meditation in its many forms, and psychological therapy.

Patriarchy probably started about 12,000 years ago. If you google the word, there’s a good chance that you will be more confused than before you started.

If one searches the origin and history of Valentine’s Day, one finds clouds and legends mixed with a bit of history.

If we want peace, it has to start with us. We must uproot violence from our language, in the ways we relate to one another.

The cross, the symbol of the Christian faith, has been the subject of much theological discussion through the ages.

We recently celebrated the life, faith and non-violence of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The moment triggers within us a host of emotions-thankfulness for heroes such as he, distress about the state of our country, anxiety about the future, and fear for the present.

As I’m writing this commentary, the news is filled with chatter about another anniversary observance of January sixth. It’s not about the liturgical religious observance known as the Epiphany, of course; but the third-year anniversary of those days surrounding the political insurrection in our nation’s Capital.

Spirituality is all about seeing, inclusivity, and reconciling apparent opposites via the "narrow way." The strait gate/kingdom that the spiritual Janus (Jesus) holds the keys to.

There’s no such thing as a nobody. That’s the message of Mary. Until her immaculate conception, until she howled out the Magnificat, she had become accustomed to being treated as a nobody.

After sharing his story, Jason asked me his provocative question, “So, do you think I am still a Christian?” I wasn’t sure how to respond. I mulled it over for a long time. I finally said, “I guess it depends on how you define Christian.

The Second Coming of Christ is an erroneous idea that developed among Christians in the last third of the first century AD. It weakened the assurance that the first Christians had that the kingdom of God had come.

To what extent do churches accommodate the values of their worshippers and merely give them a sense of comfort, and to what extent do churches set high standards and encourage Christian growth and social commitment?