Every year at Passover, the Roman governor would travel up from the coastal capital at Caesarea Maritima (literally, ‘Caesar’s City by the Sea’) to Jerusalem. It was a symbolic reminder of Rome’s mastery as much as a practical reinforcement of local troops. And no wonder. It’s hard to imagine anything more unsettling for an occupying … Continue reading The Stones Would Cry Out: A Reflection for Palm Sunday 2022
Throughout this Lent, we’ve been digging into the depths of the human experience, exploring different ways Christians throughout history have responded to the Darkest Nights of their lives, and of their societies: illnesses, invasions, oppression, and social collapse. My hope for the series was that by hearing the voices of those who have had to … Continue reading Theology from Under the Rubble: Conclusions and Final Thoughts
One of the many important conversations that has emerged in our culture over the past decade or so is the conversation around ‘privilege’ — the structural advantages in a social and political system that make it easier for certain people to thrive based on factors such as class, race and ethnicity, gender, and sexuality. This … Continue reading Paul on Privilege: A Reflection on Philippians 3.3-14
Last week, we saw how Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Christian commitments forced him to resist the Third Reich, speaking out to the point of being labeled an enemy of the state and ultimately involving himself in a plot to assassinate Hitler. His was a theology of Christian responsibility that was formed and articulated in the crucible of … Continue reading On Hope and the Cross: Jürgen Moltmann’s Search for a Life ‘after Auschwitz’
Today in this Lenten series, “Theology from under the Rubble,” I’m going to pause a moment to reflect on a further theme in Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s thought that seems particularly relevant today. As I was reading through his Letters and Papers from Prison, I was struck by his reflections on time — specifically how the prolonged … Continue reading Redeeming Lost Time: Bonhoeffer on Disrupted Lives
Matthew Root 