n the Roman Empire, sexual abuse was rampant.  Male slave owners regularly raped their male and female slaves.  “Homosexuality” did not exist as a distinct social category at the time:  it was common for otherwise heterosexual men to engage occasionally in homosexual acts. 

Join Front Row host Peter Laarman and guest Grace Ji-Sun Kim, as she explores the historical and theological implications of Jesus becoming white and God becoming a white male.

Biblical scholarship has come a long way from the notion that the four Gospels were written by an evangelist who was an eyewitness follower of Jesus. The story of how these Gospels were actually written is a fascinating one. Anyone with an intellectual interest in the New Testament should not miss this book.

The Theology of Jesus—Not Constantine’s Nor The Theologians Who Created Dogma and Doctrine Throughout Christian History

In English, the word ‘love’ is a much-abused term. For example, someone might say, “I love apple pies,” or “They made love in the bedroom last night.” Therefore, it is important to have some idea of what Jesus meant when he used the term. From what we know of Jesus from the gospels, when he said to love your neighbour, the noun ‘love’ means a self-giving concern for others.

The Gospel of John has long fascinated readers with its poetic language, theological depth, and enigmatic characters. Among these, the "Beloved Disciple" stands out as a figure shrouded in mystery. Who was this disciple? What was their relationship with Jesus? And why does their identity remain anonymous?

The more I learn about the Bible, the more I understand it as a messy text. The Bible was written by many different people at many different times. As a result, it’s filled with conflicting ideologies and values.

The authentic Paul is the Paul of his "authentic" letters, the letters he actually wrote. While Paul has always been viewed--after Jesus--as the major personality in the shaping of the early Christian Church, at the same time, he has been widely criticized--mostly for what people assume to be his views on women, slavery, and hierarchy in the church-- based on letters Paul did not write. Paul's detractors have also accused him of distorting the message of Jesus with their lofty teachings in the Sermon on the Mount and with Jesus' personal commitment to social justice. One of the theses of this book is that, in fact, Paul and Jesus have much in common. Indeed, more than distorting the message of Jesus, Paul's teachings appear to complement Jesus' message. Having said this, it is the author's thesis that Paul has been largely misunderstood and is deserving of a fresh hearing. Simply put, he deserves to be understood and evaluated based on the letters he actually wrote and distinctly not on letters attributed to him but which he did not write.

In John 11:3, Lazarus is referred to as the one Jesus loves. In Greek, the word used here for ‘loves’ is phileis, but the word for ‘loved’ in verse 5, ‘Jesus loved Martha and her sister Mary and Lazarus,’ is egapa. Therefore, Jesus has a different kind of love for Lazarus on his own.

It started with Jesus. After his death, his inner circle of followers called the disciples, along with other followers, continued his extensive call to care for and love others. They were called to a ministry of service.

“The lack of everlasting peace in the Holy Land is a deeply complex issue, rooted in a combination of historical, religious, cultural, political, and social factors.”

As Christmas comes, tradition reminds us of the cycles of seasons and history and the timeless nature of some stories. Advent is the perfect time to reflect on our 2020 podcast discussion with John Dominic Crossan about his book with the late Marcus Borg, “The First Christmas.” 

The first Sunday in October was World Communion Sunday, except it didn’t include most of the people of the world, including the Roman Catholic church, the Eastern Orthodox church, the Episcopal church, and the Lutherans.

To a certain extent, being a perennialist implies a cafeteria approach to all religions. Ideally, one tries to pick and choose what is universally true while ignoring what is culturally specific.

Every chapter speaks to our personal and collective yearning. Drawing on the poetry and symbolism of the O Antiphons, they invite us to seek what we need in Christ and in following his liberating way.

The fifth part of a seven-part series that looks at the life of Jesus.

Step back a bit and think about it.  Neither you nor I, as believers in law and order, want to see an innocent man put to death.  Let’s put the blame for this miscarriage of justice where it belongs – on people’s belief in God!  Let the people deal with the consequences of their primitive ideas. 

Why did God make it so difficult? There is no answer to this question. In the book of Job, God inflicts pain and suffering but refuses to explain why. God is a profound mystery, transcendent, beyond human comprehension. So what does God give us? Instead of the big experience described by Paul, we get brief glimpses into a reality of goodness and love.

The fourth part of a seven-part series that looks at the life of Jesus.

Several accounts envision Jesus himself as divine light: so, in the Gospel of John, he declares that “I am the light of the world,” and, in Thomas, “I am the light of the world, the light that is before all things; I am all things; all things come forth from me; all things return to me. Split a piece of wood and I am there; lift up a rock and you will find me.” 

The third part of a seven-part series that looks at the life of Jesus.

The crucifixion is the central point in the Christian story, but it makes no sense unless it is explained by his followers that Jesus believed that his suffering had a purpose, that he would save many people.

Blind obedience to someone vested with authority can lead to something else that we’re hearing a lot about these days; namely, authoritarianism.

The little community of 25 that Jesus gathered had equal numbers of women and men, had no slaves, shared what they possessed, and cared for one another.

People enter the Kingdom in an existential and emotional way. Christians are with Christ existentially because each human being is an independent conscious entity.

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.

Many of us are introduced to Jesus at a young age, and the version of him we initially encounter is quite often an incomplete version of the historical figure. Over time, many have begun to question those curated snapshots of the Nazarene and have rediscovered Jesus as a man, a mystic, a wisdom teacher, and a blueprint for how to be a better human being, among other things.

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.

It is widely known among biblical scholars that The Book of Job is an outlier among other biblical books in that it provides overt criticism of established Ancient Hebrew beliefs and doctrines.