The Big, Beautiful, All-Encompassing Salvation of our God (An Advent Reflection on Isaiah 29.17-24)

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I’ve been thinking and writing a lot lately about how most contemporary conceptions about God are too small. The readings this week, as we settle into the hope and expectation of Advent, remind me that the same can be said for common ideas about salvation.  For there is nothing that cannot be redeemed. There is … Continue reading The Big, Beautiful, All-Encompassing Salvation of our God (An Advent Reflection on Isaiah 29.17-24)

GOD: Three Letters and a World of Problems

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At the start of this series on knowing God, we need to think about what is we mean when we think or talk about God. It's fine — and necessary — to talk about God's will, God's initiative, God's revelation, and so on, but this can easily mislead us. Unsurprisingly, ‘God’ is a big topic … Continue reading GOD: Three Letters and a World of Problems

The Great Quest (A Reflection on Deuteronomy 30.11-14)

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One of the great archetypes of world literature is the Quest: one hero given a mission to do something that seems impossible, whether that’s to conquer the unconquerable enemy, or scale the unscalable mountain. It’s such a stirring trope to the human imagination that it forms the basis of the Hero’s Journey, the universal narrative … Continue reading The Great Quest (A Reflection on Deuteronomy 30.11-14)

Knowing God: Introduction

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Over the past couple months, I have written about the conceptual relationships between religion and spirituality and language and linguistics. While my educational background in linguistics means that these connections fascinate me, there was a reason for doing this deep-dive beyond my own interest. Thinking about God and faith through this lens is essentially about … Continue reading Knowing God: Introduction

A Marriage Made in Heaven (A Reflection on Revelation 19.1-10)

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One of the most pervasive images of salvation in both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament is that of a marriage, with God as a bridegroom making the faithful his bride.  Marriage, of course, means something quite different in our context than it did in the Ancient Near East or classical Mediterranean world. In … Continue reading A Marriage Made in Heaven (A Reflection on Revelation 19.1-10)