Erect, weathered, silently stalwart, lies the “rail” : the boundary between apse and chancel. It is the wooden boundary between heaven and earth, the pinnacle that acts as the liminal furniture connecting the two. Many of us miss it. We enter the church after making our way through the parking lot or courtyard, greet theContinue reading “The Rail”
Tag Archives: Christ
Why in the Hell does Hell Matter? Moltmann helps us think the bad place
Christianity is a religion of hope, unless of course your hope is in hell, in which case hell is your hope as the binary opposite of its cohort heaven. Hell is necessary because heaven is; one is not intelligible without the other. But what is that really animates this our idea of hell and whyContinue reading “Why in the Hell does Hell Matter? Moltmann helps us think the bad place”
Sex is Divine: Zizek, Jayadeva and the radicality of Incarnation
When the falsely innocent Christlike figure of pure suffering and sacrifice for oursake tells us: “I want nothing from you!” fails miserably – we should not forget that these are the exact words used by the Priest to designate the court in Kafka’s Trial: “The court wants nothing from you.” When the falsely innocent ChristlikeContinue reading “Sex is Divine: Zizek, Jayadeva and the radicality of Incarnation”
Be Free in Christ, Ditch the Rules
“One thing, and only one thing, is necessary for Christian life, righteousness, and freedom. That one thing is the most holy Word of God, the gospel of Christ.” –Luther And Jesus said to the masses, “Come to me all ye who are weary and heavy laden…and be introduced to my list of rules.” (Matthew 11.28)Continue reading “Be Free in Christ, Ditch the Rules”
Go and Sin…Bravely
As I prepared for seminary after finishing my bachelor’s degree, a well-respected and articulate professor of mine said, “Go to seminary, study hard, but have fun. Theology is pointless if you’re not having fun.” I’d like to think what I have done since then has been a quest in having fun…and reading Sin Bravely hasContinue reading “Go and Sin…Bravely”
It’s called The Book of Revelation, not “Revelations”
The most popular and feared book of the Bible, the Book of Revelation, suffers a thousand deaths every time someone gets this wrong. You can hear it at any coffee shop (at least in my town), church parking lot, or casual argument at work when a co-worker is trying to convince you of all theContinue reading “It’s called The Book of Revelation, not “Revelations””
Zizek reads the Bible: Thoughts on Incarnation
/ The incarnation is the perverse core of Christianity and the perverse core of the perverted god’s that desire the absolution of a person for the sake of their own divine egos. When the falsely innocent Christlike figure of pure suffering and sacrifice for our sake tells us: “I want nothing from you!” fails miserablyContinue reading “Zizek reads the Bible: Thoughts on Incarnation”
Easter Hope is Paranormal Hope that our Bodies Matter
ParanormalChrist’s genesis is the very ambiguous event that we call the Resurrection of Jesus. It is this singular event that has shaped the contours of faith, belief, hope and dared to challenge the norms of creation by declaring that the impossible has happened and it has happened definitively in Jesus. And this impossible event, thisContinue reading “Easter Hope is Paranormal Hope that our Bodies Matter”
Crucified God: Jesus wasn’t kidding, God really forsook him
“My father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me…” (Matthew 26.39) “And he took with him Peter, James and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled” (Mark 14.33) “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me…And being in agony he was passionately praying and his sweat became likeContinue reading “Crucified God: Jesus wasn’t kidding, God really forsook him”
The Christ Aporia: his last name is not Christ and he’s not your friend
Aporia…confusion is of the devil, but aporia is of the Father -this is the least one can say about a definition of the Christ, a symbol as rich as it is dense, as familiar as it is foreign. Or one can say it as John Milbank does in his seminal text, The Word Made Strange,Continue reading “The Christ Aporia: his last name is not Christ and he’s not your friend”