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"God's desire" The word "desire" sticks out for me because it implies a want or a need. --- a deficiency. Does God have a deficiency? When we conceive of God in an anthropomorphic way we end up with problems like this.

As we examine the evolution of the Hebrew/Jewish perception of God in the Old Testament, what becomes obvious was that in the earliest layers El was merely just another tribal god. It was however the ONLY god that was permitted to the Hebrew people. This is known as henotheism. As time went by...

For many years I have struggled to understand the doctrine of the trinity. To say it is a mystery that we are not expected to comprehend simply doesn't cut it for me. Some time ago I discovered that in the original formulation of the trinity, the word in Greek which we traditionally have...

They came to escape persecution and became persecutors themselves. The Indians saved them from starvation and they ended by hunting Indians for sport.

I meant exactly what I said. Have you actually read him or just book reviews from apologists?

I do not have the slightest idea of why anti-Semitism is even an issue here. I have never seen the slightest suggestion of that in Spong's writings or indeed from anyone else. Spong is a fine scholar but I agree not on a par with Wink or Crossan or Borg.

Bishop John Shelby Spong. If you choose to respond by denigrating him, please don't. I have heard it all.

It wasn't "some random guy". It was at a day long seminar with a well respected Bible scholar. I am not sure whether this was his own thesis or that of other scholars. It makes eminent good sense as well because each of these extended parables has a societal context. The parable is crafted to...

In the Hebrew/Jewish literary tradition the parable is a common teaching tool. There are several entire Biblical books that are parables plus several more that are in large part parabolic.

It is ironic that with very little editing that statement could pretty much described the slave trade.

Keep in mind that Job is a parable.

"In the beginning God ..." may be the most literal word in the Bible. "The problem of evil" is a difficult one for many Christians. It seems to me that God simply does not micromanage the universe in any way.

Marcus Aurelius wrote --- Live a good life. If there are gods and they are just, then they will not care how devout you have been, but will welcome you based on the virtues you have lived by. If there are gods, but unjust, then you should not want to worship them. If there are no gods, then you...

In the recent impeachment trial 57 voted to impeach and 43 voted to acquit. Lets look at this on a state by state basis and see what happens. The 43 who voted to acquit (all Republican) represent states with 125,000,000 people or 32% of the population. On the other hand the 57 who voted guilty...

Most people, are simply not willing to contemplate that they are wrong about their religious beliefs under any circumstances. Just as sadly the same applies to their political beliefs.

To be honest I have not read this entire thread but for several weeks now the title itself has been disturbing to me. It is not disturbing because the debate over the canon of scripture is actually quite interesting. The title suggests a malevolence on the part of people who have been in the...

The certification of the US Congress on January 6 --- the day of infamy.

If massive voting fraud could be proven, it would lead to a huge constitutional crisis because the highest court in the land has confirmed that the vote was legitimate. I am convinced that the vote was honest and completely legitimate.

That is almost a forgone conclusion. However if the actual vote was a secret ballot I suspect that the impeachment would pass. The problem is that twofold. First is that many GOP senators are afraid that their chances of re-election would be impaired and as a consequence they are putting their...