parables of a prodigal world

A few weeks back I posted on the topic of Faith and Theistic Evolution . I listed what I thought to be 10 implications stemming from a belief in some variation of theistic evolution. One of the implications was: 5. We MUST rethink "sin" and "death." Since then, my family and I have had to attend two funerals. I have been rethinking sin and death from a theistic evolutionary perspective. And I think I'll be writing about it a lot more in the weeks/months to come. I'm hoping that the conversation here will help me shape and clarify my perspective in this area, so I covet your feedback. Here's where I am...and, mind you, this is really, really "off the top of my head," preliminary, broad brush level sketching. More detailed stuff to come, like I said, shaped by the direction of the conversation... OK. Here's where I am (Take II)... A linchpin of the biblical narrative is the prospect that death is the enemy . It is an unintended part of the o...

The human brain is a gift from God. Failure to use it, therefore, is a sin. Here's this week's most egregious sinner...but he's saved, so no harm done. ...And don't miss Kirk's .5 second response at the end. It's classic. Grace and Peace, Raffi

"It is one of the great laws of spirituality that you become like what you worship." This is one of N.T. Wright's favorite sayings. And while I wouldn't go so far as to say I worship Bishop Wright, well, you'll soon see where I'm gong with this. So I got my pirate copy of Justification: God's Plan and Paul's Vision from Amazon UK a few days back. The book is to be released in the U.S. this May, but I'm not one to blindly play along with international/corporate power plays. For those unaware of the background story, John Piper wrote a book, released in late 2007, called The Future of Justification: A Response to N.T. Wright . It purported to be a defense of the Reformed view of the Doctrine of Justification against the "New Perspective" being espoused by Wright and his brethren. "Justification" is Wright's response to that book. I don't have a precise definition of "worship." But I would assume it has somethi...

I don't listen to much Christian radio nowadays, for obvious reasons. But every now and again, I'll tune in. Call it a sense of nostalgia. Call it a quest for fodder. Call it what you will. The other day, I flipped over to 99.5 KKLA , "The Intersection of Faith and Reason." Don't get me started on that one. If it was a quest for fodder, well, fodder I got. The preacher was, as is common, talking about one, narrow aspect of the gospel, and he concluded with the following words: "...Brothers and sisters, this is good news!" Which got me thinking... Do you really have to tell someone that what you've just told them is good news? And if you do, how good could it really be? I mean, imagine the following conversations... [One Dodger fan to another] "We just signed Manny Ramirez! This is good news!" [Ryan Seacrest to that hysterical girl, I think her name is Tatiana] "You are the next American Idol! This is good news!" [Phil Mickelson...