In the Western church calendar, Lent begins this year on February 17, 2021, which is Ash Wednesday. Here is a selection of past blog posts that are appropriate for Lent. 6/10/2016 The Place of the Religious Life in the 21st Century 7/8/2016 Prayers for a Hurting World 7/15/2016 Trinities: Historical Alternatives to “Father, Son and […]
In honor of Black History Month, and in recognition of our deep racial divides, we offer here the list of past blog posts focusing on African Americans, slavery, the Civil Rights movement, the Lost Cause narrative and Confederate monuments, racism, and related topics. 2/5/2016 Reincarnation and Genetics: A Novel Approach to Facing Racism 7/29/2016 SPLC […]
In the New (Christian) Testament parable of the wheat and the weeds, which we explored a few years ago, we noted that the doctrine of reincarnation and its cognate, karma (the law of cause and effect), appear to have been perniciously eradicated from Christian belief and dogma, leaving Christianity and thus the West, from at […]
The rock reliefs carved on the acropolis hill at Philippi in northern Greece are a unique archaeological artifact that raise a number of important questions for the history of Christianity, the role of women in the church (and hence the West) and the legacy of St. Paul. The reliefs – which depict primarily the goddess […]
We have met some of the women of Graeco-Roman antiquity in the past, especially those that may shed light on the early Jesus movement. We have looked at St. Paul’s female colleagues, a female ceramicist from Crete, the first apostle Mary Magdalene, several women named Salome, the sainted Thecla, and priestesses in pagan religion. This […]
From The Council of the Society of Biblical Literature and Executive Staff of the Society of Biblical Literature A Statement on Black Lives Matter, Right to Protest, and Bible as Prop The Council of the Society of Biblical Literature and Executive Staff of SBL issue the following statement: We are appalled at the murder of […]
As we have seen in other posts, the city of Philippi in northern Greece was significant in the growth of the so-called “Christ cult” in the first century. St. Paul wrote a letter to the Jesus followers at Philippi, which has come down to us in the New (Christian) Testament and is a major reason […]
It will strike some readers as “heresy” for members of one of the mainstream Christian denominations (in this case, the Episcopal Church) to question several tenets of a major document of the church – especially when the questioning comes during the major season of Christmas. For other readers, though – perhaps those searching in a […]
In Part I, we laid out the basics of a “virtual pilgrimage” to civil rights sites in Birmingham and Selma, Alabama. Here we will visit sites in Montgomery. One in particular was rather disturbing for its pro-Confederacy perspective; all provide food for thought. Notes from Montgomery Equal Justice Initiative, including the National Memorial for Peace […]
Making a pilgrimage to a sacred or special location is an age-old practice; practitioners of most religious traditions and many others have undertaken spiritual journeys to seek meaning, look “for their heart’s desire,” to heal, and to “find a more authentic home” (Kujawa-Holbrook 8). How, though, can someone with limited funds, mobility issues or other […]