One thing all Christians agree on is the central position of the Bible in the teaching, life, and faith of the Church. This may be a bold statement: Certainly it’s been a historical claim among Protestants that Roman Catholics don’t value the Bible, and today many self-identified evangelicals claim that progressive Christians don’t ‘believe in’ … Continue reading The Bible and the Problem of Interpretation
Lately, I've been thinking about the positive place imagination, and specifically a sanctified imagination, can have in the life of faith. The first post in this little series looked at why imagination has been controversial within Christianity; the second looked at the role the imaginative symbols of visions and dreams have played in the mystical … Continue reading Sanctified Imagination: Part 3 – Scriptural Imagination
In my post the other day about how "The righteous shall live by faith" is really an anti-imperial text, I made a comment in passing that the New Testament plays fast and loose in its appropriation of biblical texts. This took at least one reader by surprise, prompting her to ask me to explain what … Continue reading Completely Prophetical
Two thousand years ago, Jesus and his followers unleashed a strange new message into the world of the Roman Empire, which was nearing the apex of its power and authority. It was a world of large cosmopolitan cities and rural villages more-or-less untouched by the complications of 'modern' life. It was a world of unprecedented … Continue reading Empire Then and Now
The final Bible story I want to explore in depth in this series on knowing God is Job's encounter with God in the whirlwind. The story of Job is as follows: Though a holy and honorable man, Job loses his health, wealth, and family in a series of calamities. Job must deal not only with … Continue reading Facing the Whirlwind
Matthew Root 