When this blog had to move from Typepad (which closed its doors), it lost the list of my favorite posts. Here are a few — and check out the discussions with- and among readers in the comments as well:
What it’s (seemingly) all about:
- The Great Project: Helping to Build a Universe (2006) —
a lot of life can be explained this way - Creation: A Titanic Set of Processes That Continues Today (2007)
- The world isn’t broken, it’s just unfinished
- God doesn’t waste any rocks (2007)
- Doing God’s Prep Work (2006)
- Admit It: Life Is Indeed Getting Better (2005)
Traditionalist Christianity isn’t credible
- Serious Inconsistencies in the New Testament Writings: Six Reasons for Skepticism About the Traditionalist Account (2004)
- Resurrection Appearances: What Did the Disciples Really Experience? (2006)
- The Resurrection was probably a misunderstanding, but even so we have ample reason to celebrate Easter (2009)
- Sleep-deprived hallucinations and the Resurrection (2009)
- Jesus’ mission was a bust – at least if that mission was what the church has long claimed (2008)
- The Trinity is an impediment to evangelism (2009)
- Failing the Great Commission (2006)
- Evaluating Scriptural Evidence (2004)
- Synoptic Christians versus John Christians: A Critique (2006)
- Manuscript Reliability in the New Testament (2004)
- “The Apostles’ Teaching” Didn’t Seem to Include a Divine Jesus (2005)
- After bin Laden’s death, a made-up quote from MLK Jr.; what does that suggest about the Gospel of John? (2011) (This is even more relevant in the era of social media and its fake news, faked quotes, and AI impersonation.)
- Harvard longitudinal study confirms the distorting effects of time on stories recalled from memory (2009)
- A theologian proclaiming the reliability of the gospel authors is like a lawyer proclaiming that first-century midwives didn’t need to wash their hands (2009)
- It’s time to ditch the traditional Christian story: Another way for followers of Jesus to look at history (2007; the ensuing conversation in the reader comments is interesting as well)
- Free will isn’t all it’s cracked up to be — but it’s probably not nothing either (2016)
- Brain scans suggest maybe Jesus isn’t the only way to God after all (2009)
Reasons to believe: The religion of
Y’shua of Nazareth, not about him
- The real Christianity: Devotion to God and care for one another (2007)
- Can You Still Be a Christian if You Don’t Believe Jesus was the Son of God? (2005)
- A response to an inquiring non-believer (2008)
- “Am I a Christian?” Cardinal Tobin responds (2018)
- It’d be sacrilege to insist that God has nothing more to say to us (2009)
- Goyim for God: A reformed Judaism, open to gentiles, like Paul wanted in the first place (2009)
- Benjamin Franklin’s creed (2004)
- Faith = Openness to Truth = Trust in God (2003)
- Putting God First Means Facing the Facts (2004)
- The real meaning of “science” — Dr. Atul Gawande’s CalTech commencement address (2016)
- Our collective experience helps us compensate for the fallibilities of our individual observations and insights (2009)
- “But they’re working on that ….” (2010)
- Why I Still Call Myself a Christian and an Episcopalian (2005) (some notes on my own faith journey)
- “So Just What Do You Believe, Dad?” (2005)
- Shortening the Nicene Creed (2004)
- Progress, Hope, and Trust in God: A Thought Experiment (2006)
- The Difference Between Christians and Jews (2005)
- Worship: Acknowledging God, Not Groveling Before Him (2006)
- Redefining church (2009)
- Repentance Without Guilt (2003)
- The proper response to sin is not excessive sorrow or self-loathing, but an effort to learn and do better (2009)
- A Crude, and Moving, Wooden Cross (2006)
- What the Cross Really Symbolizes (2003)=
- Heresy: There’s No Such Thing (2006)
- The Perfect, Changeless Religion: There Isn’t One (2006)
Implications for politics
(Note: I was a pretty-conservative Republican for most of my adult life.)