There’s a famous thought experiment called the Trolley Problem that goes like this: imagine you are standing by a trolley track, and an out-of-control trolley car whizzes by. Looking ahead, you see that five people have been tied to the track by an evil moustache-twirling villain, and they will die if the trolley continues on […]
For the Love of Money: The Metronome to Human Life
Money money money money, money Money money money money, money Money money money money, money Money money money money, money Money money money money, money Money money money money, money Some people got to have it, yeah, some people really need it Listen to me y’all, do things, do things, do things, bad things with […]
If Christ Be Not Raised
This one comes to us from Kenneth Tanner. On Holy Saturday, The New York Times published an interview with the president of Union Theological Seminary in which she mentioned a Christian “obsession” with the physicality of our Lord’s resurrection. Count me among the obsessed. There are many witnesses in the New Testament, but John’s testimony […]
You Don’t Have To Be Grateful
We have reached halftime in the holiday season sprint from Halloween to Christmas: Thanksgiving. The least commercialized of all American holidays, Thanksgiving stands apart as a holiday focused not on gift-giving or material consumption, but on gratitude. Problematic history aside, Thanksgiving presents an opportunity to gather with family and friends and reflect on all the […]
A (Qualified) Defense of Narrative
This is a follow-up to a recent piece titled The World Is Not a Story (According to Paul)—offering the other side of the coin. Paul wasn’t much of a storyteller. For him, the advent of Christ was principally a revelation of something unforeseen at a human level. It was an invasion of liberation into an […]
That’s What Christmas Is All About, Charlie Brown: Law and Gospel According to Peanuts, Pt. 2
Christmas is fast approaching, so I find myself thinking about the very first—and arguably most famous—of the Peanuts‘ television specials: A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), which is already airing on ABC and is available to stream on Hulu. Frankly, this post is long overdue: I have intended to write more about Charles Schulz’s Peanuts and its relationship to the theological […]
Hopelessly Devoted: Luke Chapter Fifteen Verses Eleven Through Thirty-Two
Our intrepid podcaster has been taking a breather this past couple weeks while he’s been out of the country, so we thought we’d run another Hopelessly Devoted this morning. This one comes from Paul Walker, and takes as its text the Parable of the Prodigal Son, dovetailing nicely with the Forde quote from last week, […]
