To Think God as Love

Jesus’ sexuality is a Yes to sexuality, to marriage, even though he never married, and to sexual intercourse and intimacy, even though he never engaged in these activities, and even though he was born of a virgin. How so? It is a Yes by first being a No. Let me explain. I think many of [...]

 As N. T. Wright often quips, “Heaven’s great. It’s just not the end of the world.” “The world to come” names not “heaven” (as popularly conceived) but the kingdom of God. Not a reality that threatens the termination of what we know as “world,” but a reality which is coming to us, and which will [...]

The world offers a hopeless end; the church offers an endless hope. Recently, I found this message emblazoned on a church sign (of course!) somewhere in Tennessee. It is another artifact in the strong and strengthening case against the church’s intellectual and moral credibility.

What do you make of this? What, if anything, would you say differently? 

A good systematic theology needs to provide an account of what it will mean for us to “see God” in the End. After all, that End means everything.  But that all-meaning End is what it is only if God is there at and as that End, to be seen. If we don’t have that hope, [...]

Listening to David Milch’s director’s commentary for “John From Cincinnati,” I came upon this: “You can mythologize any family experience and if it elicits in the hearts of the viewers a sense of the continuity of things, it works as religion.” Milch is right, I think. Etymologically, “religion” has to do with binding up, with [...]

Gas prices, as everyone knows, are uncomfortably high, and all the prognosticators insist the prices aren’t coming down any time soon, if ever. And in spite of the sadly predictable election-year bloviating, no government regulations are going to solve the problem.

When I die, I will see the lining of the world. The other side, beyond bird, mountain, sunset. The true meaning, ready to be decoded. What never added up will add Up, What was incomprehensible will be comprehended.

In this lecture, Randy Maddox, professor of theology and Wesleyan studies at Duke, irenically yet effectively exposes the tragic (is that too strong a word?) errors of the dispensational premillenialism encoded in the text of the Left Behind series. Importantly, he has actually read all of the books in their entirety! This is a must [...]

“Heaven does not simply await the martyr in another space and time upon his or her death. Instead, the martyr brings a foretaste of the not yet fully consummated kingdom to earth. In the book of Revelation, the martyrs are vindicated by the descent of the holy city, a new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven [...]

“People condemned God to death; with His Resurrection He condemned them to immortality. For striking Him, God returned embraces; for insults, blessings; for death, immortality. Never did men show more hate towards God than when they crucified Him; and God never showed His love towards people more than when He was resurrected. Mankind wanted to [...]

In this sermon, Keller contends that accepting the reality of Hell is crucial for understanding your own heart, living at peace in the world, and knowing the love of God. Following C. S. Lewis and Soren Kierkegaard, among others, Keller argues that “Hell” is not retributive punishment God imposes upon all those who disappoint God, but the condition to which one [...]

At First Things, you can read Avery Cardinal Dulles’ response to the question, “Who Can Be Saved?” I want to quote only the concluding paragraph. Who, then, can be saved? Catholics can be saved if they believe the Word of God as taught by the Church and if they obey the commandments. Other Christians can [...]

In this excerpt from Spe Salvi, Benedict’s second papal encyclical, the Pope puts forward his views of “purgatory” and “hell,” views which I find largely compelling.  I especially appreciate his understanding of the Last Judgment before Christ as a kind of instantaneous purgatory. With death, our life-choice becomes definitive—our life stands before the judge. Our choice, [...]

“Be serious about ‘condemnation’ for a moment. If those sitting next to you are to be deprived of salvation because of their present condition, then how much of your own being would have to go down into hell as well? Or do you suppose that exceptions will be made for certain people? Such a procedure [...]