God’s Violence in the Old Testament, Part 3: Possible Solutions
This post is a continuation of my previous two posts. Together they are an excerpt from one chapter of my new book, Making Sense of the Bible (HarperOne, 2014). The book…
God’s Violence in the Old Testament, Part 2: Possible Solutions
In my last post, I mentioned three categories of violence attributed to God in the Old Testament that leave people scratching their heads. These are crimes for which the…
A Response to Rob Renfroe's Open Letter
Yesterday Rob Renfroe, a United Methodist pastor and the president of Good News, sent me a letter (found here) with a critique of the document A Way Forward (which you can read…
Assumptions and the Bible
Merriam-Webster defines an assumption as “a fact or statement taken for granted.” We all make assumptions about a lot of things. Occasionally our most…
Making Sense of the Bible: An Attempt at an Honest Yet Reverent View of Scripture
I’m excited that today my new book, Making Sense of the Bible: Rediscovering the Power of Scripture Today, is out. I thought in this post I’d tell you a…
Are We Just Picking and Choosing? Making Sense of the Bible
I came to faith reading the Bible, 35 years ago. I read it every morning (right now I’m reading through Luke) and I read it again every night as I’m going to bed …
Homosexuality, The Bible, and The United Methodist Church
This week Bishop Martin McLee of the New York Annual Conferences of the United Methodist Church announced that he was dismissing a church trial against the Rev. Dr. Thomas…