I read with great interest this article in The New York Times this morning:  http://nyti.ms/18TEgrp.Here is the caption about it:  “Same-sex parents. Cohabiting couples. Voluntary kin. Children with parents in prison. Immigrant-Americans. What we thought of as the typical American family is being rapidly redefined. It is more diverse than it was even half a…… Continue reading Being Thankful for ALL Families

I’m here at the American Academy of Religion annual meeting, which is really stimulating and very interesting.  I’m exhausted tonight [an introvert can only function in an extroverted shell for so long!], but I wanted to write a quick post about my presentation this morning.  My panel was on the concept of dual religious belonging…… Continue reading Thinking More About Double-Religious Belonging

A quick reflection for a Saturday afternoon.  If you read my blog regularly, you know I often try to answer the “so what” question–why does theology matter for life in the world, and how can it positively contribute to our life together, our shared discourse, and the greater good of the whole cosmos.  I have…… Continue reading Anthropocene or Pneumacene?

The belief that there is “power in the blood” is common to many—dare I say all—Christian traditions.  The phrase, particularly prevalent in some traditions’ Lenten hymnody, refers, of course, to the power of Jesus’ blood on the cross:  the idea that Jesus’ crucifixion is the source of our salvation.  It goes along with images of being “washed”…… Continue reading Power in the (Menstrual) Blood

This is going to be a quick little post, for what it’s worth.  I wanted to share the poem with which I began my Reformation sermon on Wednesday:Little Dog’s Rhapsody in the Night, by Mary OliverHe presses his cheek against mine,And makes small, expressive sounds.And when I’m awake, or nearly awakeHe turns upside down, his…… Continue reading Little Dog’s Rhapsody in the Night

I am teaching a course on salvation this fall–Soteriology is the technical theological term–and we’re having such great conversations.  On Monday, we discussed the classic text “Cur Deus Homo”–“Why God Became Human,” by Anselm of Canterbury.  Anselm’s theory of atonement–variously called penal substitution, blood sacrifice, and satisfaction–has been extraordinarily influential on the Western Church, including…… Continue reading "The Most Important Thing…."

One of the best books of the last fifty years or so–and certainly one of the best about the Nazis and the Holocaust is Hannah Arendt’s Eichmann in Jerusalem:  A Report on the Banality of Evil.  It details her coverage of his trial [Adolf Eichmann was one of the major organizers of the Holocaust machine],…… Continue reading Did Snowden do the Right Thing?