What happens when a former Zen Buddhist monk and his feminist wife experience an apparition of the Virgin Mary?

“This book could not have come at a more auspicious time, and the message is mystical perfection, not to mention a courageous one. I adore this book.”—Caroline Myss, author of “Anatomy of the Spirit”

A people’s spirituality derives, slowly, in association with their daily perceptions, feelings, reflections, occupations and actions. And from time to time we assess who we are in this process.

It is commonly assumed that Jesus had 12 male disciples, the number being fashioned after the 12 tribes of Israel. Whether or not there were 12 tribes named after 12 men is a question for next week. The question for today is: did Jesus have women disciples, and who were they?

In his book Sheer Joy: Conversations with Thomas Aquinas on Creation Spirituality, Fox set out to find a way for today’s spiritual seekers to understand Aquinas whose works, set in a scholastic mode of learning, often prove difficult for contemporary minds to cipher.

The Peoples’ Bible highlights the role of cultures in shaping the Bible and the way people read the Bible today. Relying on the best insights of historical-critical, liberationist, postmodern, and postcolonial interpretation the contributors include the editors of the volume plus Kosuke Koyama, Randall C. Bailey, Fernando
F. Segovia, Elsa Tamez, Clarice Martin, Hee An Choi, Gale A. Yee, Daniel L. Smith-Christopher, and many more.

Toward Decentering the New Testament is the first introductory text to the New Testament written by an African American woman biblical scholar and an Asian-American male biblical scholar. This text privileges the voices, scholarship, and concerns of minoritized nonwhite peoples and communities.

A few weeks ago, I stood on a hill in Edinburgh, Scotland, at sunset. Somewhere on that mound, one of my ancestors was burned as a heretic by the Catholic Church and died as martyr to the new Protestant faith. As the sun fell toward the horizon, the sky turned red – a fitting fiery tribute – and through the blazing clouds a double rainbow formed. A sort of divine apology for whole mess? I couldn’t help but wonder.

The idea of a theocracy was despised by the founding fathers of America as the ruinous combination of kings and religion in the history of Europe demonstrated. A king is basically a form of theocracy in that kings are supposedly placed there by God and they all claimed to be so! Caesar claimed not only to be placed by God but he was an embodiment of God. But, Jesus said, “Give unto Caesar what is Caesar and give unto God what is God’s”.

I Found God in Me is the first womanist biblical hermeneutics reader. In it readers have access, in one volume, to articles on womanist interpretative theories and theology as well as cutting-edge womanist readings of biblical texts by womanist biblical scholars.

Womanist Sass and Talk Back is a contextual resistance text for readers interested in social (in)justice. Smith raises our consciousness about pressing contemporary social (in)justice issues that impact communities of color and the larger society. Systemic or structural oppression and injustices, police profiling and brutality, oppressive pedagogy, and gendered violence are placed in dialogue with sacred (con)texts.

Building on the enthusiastic reception of and critical acclaim for The Peoples’ Bible, hailed as “a rich resource” (Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza) that “will empower people to reclaim the Bible as a multicultural, dialogical, and living tradition” (Kwok Pui-lan), this colorful and engaging biblical textbook brings those same new perspectives in biblical studies to the college classroom.

There was a time when neither Jesus nor his followers thought of or described him as God. Why is it that so many Christians are now required to confess that Jesus was always God?

Is it not possible that Jesus did not die on the Cross, but merely passed out, coming to in the cave and making those appearances described in the New Testament? There are many instances of such “miraculous” recovery even to the present day and many of His miracles can be explained scientifically.

Popular translations of the Bible are too generic for anyone to reach a definitive interpretation and often perpetuate old concepts. Tim Seid takes a bold approach to Christian origins and offers fresh translations of the earliest of the New Testament authors.

Young Joseph the dreamer was sent o’er the border —
No say in the matter — it wasn’t his plan.
He entered the country and as he got older,
He worked with ambition to make it his land.

Part One of our answer to the question of who Jesus was, was basically presented on a secular plane. That changes now, as much of what follows is presented as a statement of belief rather than history.

Compassionate, Intelligent, Inter-Spiritual, Non-Dogmatic

  Progressive Christian Spiritual Curriculum Compassionate, Intelligent, Inter-Spiritual, Non-Dogmatic   Group Curriculum with Teacher’s Handbook and 3 DVDs   Are you searching for a way to connect children with an authentic spiritual experience that is inter-spiritual, creative and …