When Jesus cited the Jewish book of prayer, "Love God...and your neighbor," he was excluding selfishness. When the biologist Richard Dawkins wrote a book titled "The Selfish Gene," he was testifying that Darwinian evolution is the opposite of Christianity. In satisfying the goals of selfishness, living creatures are chained to two primary drives: survival and … Continue reading Driven Toward Love – Naturally
Category: redemption
Why does Jesus caution, "What do you benefit if you gain the world but lose your soul?" [Matt. 16:26] Incarnation - the joining of a soul to a body - begins organically in the womb. The proliferating cells slowly embrace and absorb the infant's soul. The point of incarnation, though, is to project will into … Continue reading Your Soul is not a Toy
Controversy swirls around the effectiveness of prayer. Scientists reject it, and even Jesus confronted its limits in Gethsemane. ("Father, take this cup from me" with the implied rebuke leading to "Not my will, but yours be done.") Those of us less enlightened often find ourselves disappointed by the response to our prayers. To guide our … Continue reading Praying Well
In reading the Old Testament, the descendants of Adam progress in their covenant with God. Upon the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, the covenants with Abram and Noah had vanished. Remembering that the Pentateuch was transcribed in Babylon, with the return from exile the covenant became fixed. The role of the High Priest was to … Continue reading Covenants
Have you ever complained “The Devil made me do it?” We offer it as an excuse when we sin. The “Enemy” got the better of us. But that excuse casts Jesus’ promise in a different light. What did he really mean when he spoke of “dying for the forgiveness of sin?” The common reading is … Continue reading Sin, Forgiven
Love Returns 