Simply Gospel

Huckabee and the Heresy of Americanism The problem with this view, though, is that it’s actually a heresy, or at least a seriously false teaching. Leithart again: “Americanism is a heresy; in certain respects it is simply idolatrous. Jesus, not James Madison, brought in the ‘new order of the ages.’” Indeed. To set our ultimate hope and give our ultimate fealty to anything other than Christ alone is false worship condemned by the first commandment, America included. There are a myriad of reasons why this matters, as Leithart points out. Americanism of this type blinds us to America’s very real,… Continue reading

The Church and its Response to Domestic and Sexual Violence Monica Taffinder, a Christian counselor who specializes in trauma recovery, depression, anxiety, and sexual abuse recovery, argues that many pastors tend to be somewhat naïve when it comes to the probability that both victims and perpetrators exist within their church. “I really think people don’t think that it happens in their congregation,” Taffinder told The Christian Post. “I mean, [pastors] know these people. They see these people. They go to dinner with these people. They worship with these people. I know they’re savvy enough to realize that there’s just as… Continue reading

The Staying Power of Emotional Abuse “At least he didn’t take your virginity,” the leader of my Bible study group murmurs sympathetically, handing me a tissue to wipe away the tears brought on by my choked confession of a previous abusive relationship. I tense, mutter “that’s true,” and escape the conversation feeling just as broken and empty as before I worked up the courage to talk to her. I have this conversation with three separate spiritual leaders at my Christian college, a roommate, and several close friends, and when they hear my ex-boyfriend never abused me sexually, their well-meaning first… Continue reading

American Idols In a recent Facebook discussion, someone asserted that as long as we consider being Christians more important than being Americans, then our nationalism isn’t idolatrous. But it’s not that simple. In the Bible, we find that the Israelites struggled with polytheism throughout the Old Testament. It wasn’t so much an outright rejection of Yahweh; it was a desire to worship Yahweh along with other gods. Or to make images to worship and call them Yahweh. Continue reading

Will White Evangelicals Ever Acknowledge Systemic Injustice? “I’m sorry for being white!” His comment glowed from the computer screen with such weight that for a moment it was as if it was etched there permanently. What, you may wonder, was the context of this comment? It was written on the Facebook wall of one of my congregants. It was written by her father in response to her trying to explain why Ferguson has been so painful for so many in the African-American community. I was truly in disbelief. He was once a Southern Baptist pastor. What I wanted to write… Continue reading

How To Completely Misuse The Bible In 5 Easy Steps Just start quoting Old Testament rules when you want to govern someone’s behavior. Assume the Bible is all about YOU. Attempt to arrive at meaning without first understanding the culture it was written to. Discount the fact that it wasn’t originally written in English. Let it point you to anything other than Jesus. Continue reading

She Reads Truth She Reads Truth is a beautiful website full of devotions, studies, and meditations on God’s word. It’s focused on women and authored by women, but I’ve already found a share of encouragement there. Perhaps you will as well. Continue reading

How to Date Jesus’ Wife I like that the title of this post sounds like an advice column. Anyway: In the Gospel of Philip, there are intimations of Jesus being married, or at least having a partner. The Coptic term is a little ambiguous, at least regarding Mary. It’s a mysterious text, but what’s going on, to the best of our knowledge, in the Gospel of Philip is that Jesus and Mary are reconstituting a kind of mythic primeval androgyny. What the folks behind the Gospel of Philip are saying about Jesus is that he is the new Adam and… Continue reading

‘Gospel of Jesus’s Wife’ likely isn’t a modern forgery, scientists claim Lead researcher Karen King acknowledges that her findings don’t prove that Jesus had a wife, though she believes it does indicate that early Christians were discussing issues related to sex and marriage. In her view, the document proves that “women who are mothers and wives can be disciples of Jesus,” though not everyone is convinced of its authenticity. Fascinating stuff, but I’m not convinced that Jesus’ marital status would have any impact on His divinity or teachings. Continue reading