The Little Friar

I know that I've been approached several times with requests for more information about what the Bible actually teaches on this question.  And I've said before that I'll resist saying what I think -- precisely because I refuse to make sexuality the defining characteristic of being Christian .  That said, I think there's been sufficient time from the Supreme Court's decision that allows me to map out at least one way forward that respects Scripture while also thinking Christianly about marriage and sexuality. Most of the debate against homosexuality centers around six verses in the Bible. Yes, that is correct -- there are only six verses that explicitly deal with this question. Two of those verses are in Leviticus (18.22 and 20.13), a part of the Levitical code that also prohibits eating crabs, clams and oysters as an abomination, among other things.  Clearly, these verses were written to a cultural and religious context not our own. The next two, Genesis 19.1-29 ...

Let me be honest here:  I don't give one whiff about American practical politics.  I refuse, on principle, to watch presidential debates.  I will not become embroiled in the race to the political and social bottom that has become the American electoral cycle.  And, again on principle, I will always vote third party (mostly Green, but that's subject to change). My allegiance is now and will always be with King Jesus. So it's hard for me to be drawn into the fray of American politics -- doing, as it always does, this horrible pitting of the teaching of Jesus against practical politics. Such, of course, was what Reinhold Niebuhr did. Much as I hate Niebuhr's capitulation to that struggle, I have to admit that he was on to something in his distinction between sentimental and cynical approaches in politics. According to Niebuhr, the sentimental thinker -- typically associated with Democrats (or the Left) -- assumes that universal values of love and compassion...

Dorothy Newton's Silent Cry: The True Story of Abuse and Betrayal of an NFL Wife does something that few books about domestic abuse are able to do -- shed light on the crisis, without burning the abuser or the victim.  You'll find no sordid details about Nate Newton's -- former three-time Super Bowl champion -- abuse.  Instead, Silent Cry gives voice to the 1 in 4 women who are looking to escape their own dark lives and their abusers.  There is a life to be had on the other side of abuse, and Dorothy intends to demonstrate that to her readers. Although many abused women remain silent because of shame, Dorothy shares unflinchingly about her past and credits "a sovereign God who sees, knows and understands the depths of despair" for making her whole again.  Domestic abuse didn't start with Newton's marriage, though.  It began early in her life.  One of six children, she grew up in poverty in Louisiana.  Her stepfather drank and gambled and bea...

Marriage is more than your love for each other. It has a higher dignity and power, for it is God's holy ordinance, through which he wills to perpetuate the human race till the end of time. In your love you see only your two selves in the world, but in marriage you are a link in the chain of the generations, which God causes to come and to pass away to his glory, and calls into his kingdom. In your love, you see only the heaven of your own happiness, but in marriage you are placed at a post of responsibility towards the world and mankind. Your love is your own private possession, but marriage is more than something personal—it is a status, an office. Just as it is the crown, and not merely the will to rule, that makes the king, so it is marriage, and not merely your love for each other, that joins you together in the sight of God and man. As high as God is above man, so high are the sanctity, the rights, and the promise of marriage above the sanctity, the rights,...

David Shipler's Arab and Jew:  Wounded Spirits in a Promised Land is a classic of Middle East studies that has now been revised and expanded.  Shipler, who was based in Jerusalem in the late 70s and early 80s, has given us a revised narrative of what it's like to avoid characterizations and treating both sides of the regions great divide with genuine kindness and humanity. Shipler may well be "neither Arab or Jew", but standing in this world of violence and religious division, he still knows how to care and treat others with kindness and respect.  Which means Shipler knows how to listen. And Arab and Jew is best known for its ability to hear both sides.  Unfortunately, Arab and Jew are now, politically and psychologically, two distinct bodies rather than parts of the same geographic whole.  Meanwhile, both sides suffer.  But Shipler intends to allow that distinctness to have its own voice. Arab and Jew is therefore an historical account of what...

I was working through Mark 13 the other day, reflecting on Jesus' admonitions to his followers regarding the destruction of Jerusalem. Basically, for those listening to Jesus their world was going to end.   Rome was finally going to move in and raze Jerusalem and destroy the Temple.  The heart and soul of the Jewish people was about to be ripped out.  The world, as the Jews knew it, was coming to the end. This would be the equivalent, I'm guessing, to an invading force entering America and destroying Washington, DC.  The White House, the Capital, the Lincoln Memorial.  All of it, torn down or desecrated.  The ultimate national humiliation.  Our world, our proud history, ended. And speaking to those who would be living in the middle of this most horrific and epochal event Jesus says this:  Flee to the hills.  Don't stand with your nation and the freedom fighters making a last stand.  Let Jerusalem fall.  Let the Temple...

I love reading Barth.  That's no surprise. So I thought this brief introduction might be of help in getting the gist of Dogmatics : I/1:  Before I ever thought of God, before I opened my mouth to speak, God is, God speaks, and what God says is "God!" I/2:  God's mighty Word is humbly hidden in the human flesh of Jesus, the human words of scripture, and the boredom of the Sunday sermon. II/1:  God's friendly Word is unconditioned by anything in us.  That's why God is better than anyone, because God is free to love everyone. II/2:  Why is God so good at freely loving us?  Because God had so much practice before we ever existed. III/1:  We were summoned into being by God's freely loving Word.  From that day on, God has spared no expense in trying to befriend us. III/2:  Our nature fits God like a glove:  God wore it first then let us try it on, and Jesus shows us how to wear it right. III/3:  God's freely loving...

Nate Pyle's Man Enough:  How Jesus Redefines Manhood hardly breaks new theological or exegetical ground.  But he does give us a glimpse into being male from the perspective of Jesus himself.  Jesus was, no matter what some modern theologians insist, a human being -- and in his particular case, a man.  Pyle's little book corrects so much bad thinking about what it means to be a man by refocusing "masculinity" in looking first at Jesus. Steering away from cultural stereotypes of wilderness surviving, football playing, car fixing men devoid of any emotion other than jealousy and anger, Pyle points us to a more accurate and biblical perspective right from the start: there is no single template for masculinity (page 19) and that "being a man is not dependent on what one does; rather, a man is a man because he is made in the image of God.  Masculinioty does not need to be proved; it needs to be affirmed" (page 25).  The same thing can be (and is) siad ...

On January 14, 1935, Dietrich Bonhoeffer penned a fascinating letter to his older brother Karl-Friedrich.  At the time of the letter Bonhoeffer was in the middle of the Confessing Church struggle, working against the Nazi takeover of the German churches.  As Nazi influence in the German churches increased Bonhoeffer's efforts grew more extreme, so much so that in his letter to his eldest brother Bonhoeffer is at pains to give an accounting of his actions. That Karl-Friedrich would have viewed Dietrich's actions in the church struggle as fanatical stem partly from the fact that Karl-Friedrich was a scientist and a skeptic.  Karl-Friedrich was a world class physicist who had done work on atomic physics with the likes of Einstein and Planck.  That Karl-Friedrich didn't share Dietrich's religious convictions contributed to the incomprehension between the brothers, one a scientist and the other a theologian. I find this letter to Karl-Friedrich fascinating for a cou...

Walter Kaiser's Tough Questions about God and His Actions in the Old Testament is a slender volume in which one of the most significant Evangelical scholars of the Old Testament deals with a number of issues -- from creation, to the wrath of God, the genocide of the Canaanites, God'’s knowledge of the future, polygamy, Satan, the view of women, and (what was probably my least favorite chapter), the application of the Old Testament law -- in a practical, accessible way, with a pastor's heart.  Kaiser is known for bringing deep exegesis into conversation with the living out of the Christian faith in daily life.  And he doesn't disappoint here, either. The Old Testament, more often than not, appears inaccessible to most Christians.  Some of us develop that age-old heretical notion that the God of the New Testament (and the grace known in Jesus Christ) is somehow at-odds with the legalistic God of the Old Testament.  So we grow increasingly uncomfortable with readi...

Terri Roberts' Forgiven:  The Amish School Shooting, A Mother's Love, and a Story of Remarkable Grace is one of the most compelling accounts of the practice of Christian forgiveness and healing that I've read in a long time.  The fact that is recounts real lives living Christianly is a testament to the difference that Jesus Christ makes in the real world. Forgiven recounts the events of October 2, 2006, and the Nickel Mines Schoolhouse shooting in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Forgiveness is at the heart of the Gospel -- that God, in Jesus Christ, goes to the greatest lengths to forgive God's enemies.  And what's more:  Christians, then, love others -- even our enemies -- as a testament to that Gospel.  Forgiveness, in other words, is the Christian practice of the difference Jesus makes in our lives.  And the Amish know and practice this forgiveness in a way that stuns the world after the events of October 2, 2006. What makes Forgiven even more ...

There's a phrase -- "in Christ" -- that just keeps tolling like a bell through all the Pauline letters.  Those of us who've read Paul so often probably gloss over it, in fact, precisely because it's so prevalent.  It's not that Christ was an instrument that God used to fix things up.  Rather, for St Paul, Christ is himself our salvation.  Christ is humanity made new, he is the place where human nature now resides, he is the new Adam who includes all human beings within himself, he is the oldest brother of many adopted siblings, all of whom now share in his status.  Christ is God's child by nature, and we are God's children by the grace of adoption.  We get to share by grace everything that belongs to Christ by nature.  We are adopted, but God treats us with all the privileges of natural sons and daughters.  We eat at the same table with Christ.  We exercise the same freedoms that we see in Christ.  We address God with the same words, "A...

I was reading in 1 Kings 18 recently and was struck again at how King Ahab and Elijah greet each other when they meet: Ahab went to meet Elijah. When he saw Elijah, he said to him, "Is that you, you troubler of Israel?" "I have not made trouble for Israel," Elijah replied. "But you and your father's family have." It's a minor moment in the story, but a little debate breaks out between king and prophet about who is the true "troubler" of Israel.  The Hebrew word for "troubler" here means to disturb or stir up . The king thinks the prophet is the troubler. The prophet is the one who is stirring things up, disturbing the peace. The prophet disagrees and retorts that it's the king who is troubling Israel. This is a debate we still have. Prophets are routinely accused of stirring things up, making us uncomfortable and disturbing our peace. And yet, the Bible routinely sides with the prophet over against the king, ...

This line from James 2.10 always seems to catch the eye of those American Christians who enjoy being legalists:  "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it".  They envision a god is a nitpicky moral bean counter when it came to evaluating our sins and slip ups. But in the larger context of James 2, I'm not so sure that's quite right: My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen tho...

Brennan Manning's The Ragamuffin Gospel:  The Classic Meditation on Grace is one of those books I read in college that changed my life as a follower of Jesus.  It's an unabashed manifesto on God's grace which never ceases to amaze us.  His premise is simple:  God's every attribute is more immense than you can imagine, especially his grace.  God's grace stretches past what we think we understand.  As a corollary, a proper view of God's grace instills a humility in the Christian's life that properly orients us to both God and each other. The Gospel -- Good News! -- of God's grace is Brennan's single preoccupation here.  He shares the news that Grace is for those who need it.  Those who are too proud in themselves to receive grace miss out on it.  This is where the ragamuffin comes in.  He argues that the beat up, bedraggled, burnt out ragamuffin is the prime candidate for reception of God's grace.  Christ came to seek a...

Most folks know that my entire ministry has been within and for the Anglican Communion.  So when the General Convention authorized a revision of the Prayer Book last year, I knew something was afoot that might be the beginnings of that time when I no longer have a place in the Episcopal Church. And now comes a report on a panel on " Imagining a New Prayer Book ".  Take your time now to go read that report in full. Because, here are a few of my responses based on that report. 1.  I care deeply for the orthodox faith.   So I find that report deeply troubling.  It's a reminder that with so few orthodox Episcopalians remaining in The Episcopal Church (particularly among the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies at General Convention), progressive revisionists are now free to change the content of the Christian faith in whatever ways fit their ideological agendas.  Citing new revelation , it starts with redefining the theological understanding of ...

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator combines the techniques of the therapist and the manger, purporting to be a neutral tool that identifies my "personality type" within manageable categories that can be used to differentiate those with whom I am compatible from those with whom I am not.  Even more, bureaucratic structures in churches are increasingly mandating that such inventories become a primary means of determining whether someone is or is not fit for leadership in the Church.  Thomas Long aptly reveals the dangers of the Myers-Briggs in a short piece entitled "Myers-Briggs and Other Modern Astrologies."  He writes, In short, the MBTI profiles read like horoscopes from Camelot. Taken too seriously, they can be perilously close to fortune cookies for the human potential movement. In contrast, running through the Christian theological tradition is a view of humanity that is far more complex, at once far more sober about human failings, far more truly hopeful about the ...

I can't recall the first time I ever confessed the Apostles' Creed. But I can't imagine not confessing the Apostles' Creed. The Apostles' Creed first appeared around 140 AD. It's old -- and it's bold, bolder than we often give it credit for.  In fact, the audaciousness of its historic claims easily get obscured by our familiarity with the ancient lines. When early Christians confessed these lines, it was perhaps one of the greatest acts of political rebellion.  Because in these words, when spoken, were spoken by people who had less than the political comforts of Constitutional protection.  In these words, they were rejecting the narrative given to them by virtue of their Roman-ness:  That Caesar was both dominus et deus -- lord and god.  The narrative in these words from the Apostles' Creed are a direct political rebellion against the narratives of a surrounding culture that embraced political power and its violent underpinnings. The Apostles...

Speaking of Shakespeare, I was put in mind this morning of Sonnet 73, as I carried groceries from the car: That time of year thou mayst in me behold, When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang Upon those boughs which shake against the cold, Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang. In me thou seest the twilight of such day, As after sunset fadeth in the west, Which by and by black night doth take away, Death's second self, that seals up all in rest. In me thou seest the glowing of such fire, That on the ashes of his youth doth lie, As the death-bed whereon it must expire, Consumed with that which it was nourished by. This thou perceiv'st, which makes thy love more strong, To love that well, which thou must leave ere long.

I have a confession to make:  I have never liked Shakespeare's Macbeth .  Of all the great Bard's works, King Lear has always captivated my spiritual attention.  And it's The Tempest that I hope is most true, most real.  But Macbeth frightens me -- the way nightmares frighten me. Now, of course, there's a movie coming out.  And make no doubt about it, the movie -- like the play -- asks some fairly important spiritual questions:  What if nightmares, and not the waking world, were real?  What if the truth of human nature were seen not in love but in madness and murder?  What if the love-instinct itself were only an instrument of a deeper, murderous instinct? One literary critic has called Macbeth "a moral play par excellence".  No, no it's not.  Macbeth isn't a moral play.  It's a metaphysical play.  In Macbeth , nightmare and murder are elevated to the level of transcendent realities.  In an otherwise excell...