Our Treatment of Outsiders Can Put Us in Some Strange Company

“Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt,” the Israelites were enjoined. “Therefore the LORD your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.” (Deuteronomy 5:15) Thus Moses instructed the people of Israel. Remember. Remember what it was like to be a slave. Remember when every day was the...

Why You Should Stop Reading the New Testament

You should stop reading the New Testament. Just stop it. Not forever, mind you. Just for a while. Just long enough to read the Old Testament. Several times. Then you can go back and read the New Testament, and when you do you’ll find that it makes a whole lot more sense. You’ll find that some things that...

Tamar and Being Caught in Adultery

There is a story in the Bible about a woman who is caught having illicit sexual relations outside of marriage. The charge is undeniable, the guilt unquestionable, and the penalty indisputable: death. And thus she is condemned. But in an odd and surprising twist, her accuser and the man with whom the...

Jesus, Zacchaeus & Christian Cake-Bakers

Apparently there are some Christians who believe that if they bake a cake for a gay marriage that this constitutes an endorsement of the event, and that being forced to do so is a violation of their religious freedom. People of all backgrounds and persuasions have been weighing in, with Christians in...

Is the New Testament Anti-Semitic?

One of the things that I have heard recently is that the New Testament is anti-Semitic. Certain New Testament passages, particularly in John and in Acts, are cited to justify the claim, and at first glance the verses do seem to support the accusation, citing that Jesus’ main opponents are the Jews, and they...