Christianity
An Epiphany about Gilgamesh and the Enuma Elish and Genesis and the Joys of Being a Geek
Friday, January 13th, 2012As much as I have recently made a case for Advent, and then for Christmas, you might have expected that I would write something about the season of Epiphany, now over a week past. Instead, I’ve been too busy reading about the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Enuma Elish. Well, that and my daughter came [...]
Decorating for Advent
Monday, November 28th, 2011I am decorating for Advent. I am fascinated by those who are decorating for Christmas. It is possible that I am persnickety on this point. I raised (rose?) the ire of some when, a few days back, I facebooked a friend’s facetious post, namely that every time a Christmas tree is put up before Thanksgiving, [...]
“Hell-oween:” Scaring the Hell out of People
Monday, October 31st, 2011Last week, I got this query: Hello Anna, As I walked to work this morning I saw posters for a “Hell-oween” event…I called the number on the poster and learned that it is going to be a haunted house similar to “Hell House” which highlights “real-life” terror such as abortion, suicide, homosexuality, etc. I am concerned, and frustrated. You [...]
Heretical Choosings
Monday, October 3rd, 2011A couple of years ago, I was talking in our living room about my affinity for heretics. (Incidentally, that sentence originally was, “A couple of years ago, I was talking about my affinity for heretics in our living room.” While we most certainly have had a pleasant abundance of heretics in our living room, it [...]
“It took me a long time to learn…” Mulling Niemöller on 9-16
Friday, September 16th, 2011“It took me a long time to learn that God is not the enemy of my enemies. He is not even the enemy of His enemies.” The late Martin Niemöller said these words after eight years of concentration camp imprisonment, and friend Kirsten Mebust reminded me of them on a facebook post of hers on [...]
Can Grace Really Be Pulled out of the Fire? Scary Matthew 13.
Wednesday, September 7th, 2011Anna- curious of your understanding of Matthew 13:36-43. Is this really telling of a one time judgement and not an eternal one? I was thinking of our conversation at Outlaw Ranch this past week. It sounds pretty eternal to me. Dang. There’s always gotta be one in the crowd who listens and then in their [...]
“Rarely, will anyone die for a righteous person.” The Impracticality of Jesus’ Death
Wednesday, August 31st, 2011The problem I see every day amongst Christians is the inability to find a more practical explanation to those of us who don’t quite understand the meaning of giving up your only son to save a bunch of sinners. Why would anyone do that? And worse: no matter what kind of crook you’ve been your [...]
Reader Question: God of the OT Really Be God of the New? Spin it for me.
Monday, July 18th, 2011Question: The NT makes sense (mostly)! So why does the OT make it so hard to be a Christian? A lot of it is so contradictory. What makes it worse is when preachers read too much into an OT passage to support something in the NT, and then you find that in the next chapter [...]
Holy Adjectives! Pentecosty Musings
Saturday, June 11th, 2011The Spirit is a tough one for many of us (northern European) Protestants to wrap our minds around..or to be wrapped around by, frankly (pardon the dangling prepositions). It’s too nebulous (which comes from the same word nebulosus [as does nebula and nebulizer] which means cloudy, veiled, foggy, vapory). But my seminary mentor Walt Bouman [...]
