Many Christians hold the following naive view of how the world works. They assume that God literally rules this world, controlling, permitting, or forbidding events to happen. Thus God is blamed, for example, for the explosion of any bomb or for the flight of a bullet: He supposedly allowed it,…
The statement “Jesus has redeemed all your sins, ‘your record is clean’” does have something in common with Jesus’ teaching. Jesus taught that forgiveness of sins is the consequence of repentance. That principle is universal. It works for any person, whether they consider themselves a believer or not. When someone…
In Christian circles people often talk about the need to “train” faith. The assumption is that if you believe more strongly and pray more persistently, God will inevitably change the situation. If that doesn’t happen, the conclusion is that your faith is weak or insufficient. This approach sounds spiritual, but…
Once Jesus was invited to a formal dinner. He was popular with the people — sometimes even wealthy Pharisees and high-ranking officials invited him into their homes, though in doing so they partly risked their position or reputation. At the beginning of the meal everyone witnessed an important guest’s unsuccessful…
Many people intuitively feel that there are two levels of mind in a person. One is lower, tied to the body, to instincts and to automatic reactions. The other is higher, able to observe, to be aware and to choose, without being reducible to bodily impulses. It can soar very…
Everyone knows the main criterion by which the Old Testament ought to be judged. Jesus himself stated that principle: “Love the Lord your God… and love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Gospel of Matthew, 22). If these are the chief…
It was the second year of Jesus’ ministry. Behind him were miracles of healing and the miraculous feeding of five thousand. Yet Jesus made it plain that he did not intend to become a Jewish king, as the Messiah was widely expected to do. By and large people did not…
Jesus spent a great deal of time teaching the apostles. That teaching included both theory and practice — the apostles listened to Jesus and then went out in pairs through villages and towns, trying to convey to people the meaning of the idea of the Kingdom of God, which had…
People disillusioned with religion say there is no such thing as a religious morality. They claim there is only a set of texts from which you can extract anything and justify whatever you need. Take Judaism, for example: the famous commandment “You shall not kill.” Does Judaism say you cannot…
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Many Christians hold the following naive view of how the world works. They assume that God literally rules this world, controlling, permitting, or forbidding events to happen. Thus God is blamed, for example, for the explosion of any bomb or for the flight of a bullet: He supposedly allowed it, therefore it was His sovereign…
The statement “Jesus has redeemed all your sins, ‘your record is clean’” does have something in common with Jesus’ teaching. Jesus taught that forgiveness of sins is the consequence of repentance. That principle is universal. It works for any person, whether they consider themselves a believer or not. When someone repents sincerely, their past really…
In Christian circles people often talk about the need to “train” faith. The assumption is that if you believe more strongly and pray more persistently, God will inevitably change the situation. If that doesn’t happen, the conclusion is that your faith is weak or insufficient. This approach sounds spiritual, but it doesn’t fit well with…
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