Confession, Atonement & Redemption

As the stars in order going,All-harmonious, He doth move;Heavenly calm and comfort showing,Comes the healing word of love.Who the word of wisdom hearethFeels the Father Love within,Where as dawn the shadow cleareth,Love outshines the night of sin.- Hymn 263 I’m part way through Small Creatures Such As We, Finding Wonder and Meaning in Our Unlikely … Continue reading Confession, Atonement & Redemption

The Slut Shaming, Sex-Negative Message in the Virgin Birth—It’s Worth a Family Conversation

I had Sunday School teachers who insisted that Christian Science takes the "inspired" word of the Bible, and that the stories were "allegorical." The virgin birth story (inspired allegory or not) always made me a bit uncomfortable. See also, http://valerietarico.com/2014/12/09/the-not-so-virgin-birth-of-the-christmas-story/ on how Jesus' birth became more virginal and miraculous.

what their itching ears want to hear – new wine-old bottles, Mary Baker Eddy & Luke 5:36-39

Back in May, when I wrote about Ms. Eddy and alcohol, I came across a parable that was largely overlooked by my Sunday School teachers, it comes from Luke 5:36-39 and it talks about wine. "And he spake also a parable unto them; No man putteth a piece of a new garment upon an old; if … Continue reading what their itching ears want to hear – new wine-old bottles, Mary Baker Eddy & Luke 5:36-39

Hey, Christians. Feeling Persecuted? Don’t Be Evil!

Some light reading for your weekend.

Valerie Tarico's avatarAwayPoint

Christians and LionIn the debris of the Hobby Lobby ruling, the Atlanta Banana published a satirical news report: Little Caesar’s Pizza had been granted the religious freedom to feed Christian employees to lions.

Never mind that the trope of Christians getting fed to lions may have been made up by early Christians themselves; the Little Caesar story was almost inevitable. Faced with a barrage of conscience claims, frustrated secularists are wondering whether there’s any limit to the privileges some people will claim in the name of “religious freedom” or any limit to the exemptions and entitlements they will be granted by co-religionists in positions of power.

Turning frustration into humor is a time honored tradition, but serious Bible believers are unlikely to find the Little Caesar’s story funny. The notion of martyrdom as the apogee of faith is as old as the Catholic Church. To quote Christian History for Everyman

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