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…
The greatest difficulty in understanding the person of Jesus begins with a simple but uncomfortable question: “Do I really need this?” Official theology tends to emphasize the significance of Jesus’ atoning death on Golgotha more than the necessity of knowing Jesus as a person. Atonement, Christians argue, matters for the…
It was spring. Trees were in bloom and birds were singing. Jesus tirelessly explained his teaching to the people in Jerusalem. Many organized attempts had been made to discredit him and present his teaching in an unfavorable light to the people. Time and again, in the run-up to the last…
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Imagine that before you stands a being that knows everything about you. It sees not only your deeds but also what kind of person you could become under different circumstances. It knows your whole life — past, present, and even what has not yet happened. It looks at you and notices things you do not…
There is a striking detail in John’s account of the crucifixion: Jesus’ legs are not broken. At first glance this looks like a random historical minor detail, but in John’s text it carries powerful symbolic meaning. John insists that Jesus is literally the Passover Lamb. At the end of the crucifixion narrative we are told…
Many contemporary evangelicals believe that a war in the Middle East must occur for Christ to return. That creates a serious moral dilemma when believers support real wars in the region and forget their Teacher’s command to overcome evil with good. It’s a very interesting and complex topic. American evangelicals link Middle Eastern wars to…
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