A Fresh Perspective

Alan Jones, in his book Reimagining Christianity , shares the old story about two frogs. He calls them Bill and Ted. Ted lived by the ocean, Bill lived in a well. When Ted tried to explain the vastness and beauty of the ocean, Bill was impressed, but couldn’t get his brain around it, “You mean it’s so enormous that it’s half as big as this well?” Ted tried and tried to covey the hugeness of the ocean, but Bill, so impressed with his own little world, just couldn’t grasp it. In the end, Ted persuaded Bill to make the long journey to the ocean to see for himself, and after a series of adventures they came to a hill from which the mighty ocean could be seen. Leading Bill up to the crest, Ted finally said, “Now, open your eyes.” When Bill opened his eyes and saw the vastness of the ocean, its expansive shining presence, his head exploded in a thousand pieces. This could be a parable for our time. I have experienced the explosion from both sides. I remember when a professor of New Testame...

In some of my conversations with Christians about theology I’m discovering believers who are far more gracious, inclusive, and compassionate than their beliefs. A case in point: Baptists Today is currently running a series of articles on the topic, “Homosexuality and the Church.” People who have different perspectives have been assigned to present their point of view. The pastor who wrote the article for part 2 (November, vol. 27, no. 11 issue) set forth a theology of condemnation. The harsh, condemnatory language of the Bible was cited and argued that it is all applicable for today. The reader was made to expect, based on the severe, wrathful, condemnatory language of the Bible cited, that the conclusion would be one of condemnation. And yet the author concludes (even though he has argued that the Bible, meaning God, condemns the homosexual with angry, vindictive language) that to fail to show compassion toward the homosexual is inexcusable. He even says: “The church should suppor...

We come to know God through both understanding and experience, which are always limited. Think of the story of Moses standing before the God who appeared to him “in a flame of fire out of a bush” (Ex. 3:2). When Moses inquires as to God’s name, trying to understand God and wanting to explain who God is to his people, God responds, “I am who I am.” The name communicates mystery and ambiguity. Why? Because a name cannot capture God; God can go by many names. To define God by a name would be to confine God to a particular expression of God’s self. Later in the story of Moses’ relationship with God Moses asks to see (experience) God’s glory (Ex. 33:18). In the interchange between God and Moses God says, “And while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by; then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back; but my face shall not be seen.” What’s that about? It’s the biblical writer’s way of saying that w...