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
There’s an old episode of The Simpsons in which Homer, having sold his soul for a donut, is brought to Hell. Specifically, he is taken to Hell’s “Ironic Punishment Division,” where he is force fed donuts for all eternity. Of course, being Homer J. Simpson, the joke is on the demons: he goes on happily … Continue reading By Our Own Words (A reflection on Luke 19.11-28)
I was thrilled to read last week about the opening of a Big House in Bella Bella, off the coast of British Columbia. The last Big House in the community was destroyed 120 years ago under suspicious circumstances, likely as a part of Canada’s attempted cultural genocide of indigenous peoples. The event was a joyful … Continue reading Nostalgia the Joy-Killer (A reflection on Ezra 3.1-13)
In the most recent post in the series looking at religious commitments through a linguistic analogy, I introduced the idea that different religions function like languages and different theological traditions, denominations, or lineages function as the dialects of those languages. But I also noted that we’re in a time of significant realignment and that new … Continue reading Typology and the Realignment of Western Christianity
In my study of 2 Kings 9-10 the past few weeks, I found myself coming back time and again to the character of Jezebel. She is unquestionably a villain, but she is one of the most compelling figures in the Hebrew Bible. In the Deuteronomistic history, she is treated less as a person than as … Continue reading Justice for Jezebel?
Matthew Root 