Articles
A confession: I’ve never taken to the term “progressive” Christianity. A bit too highhanded and dismissive for my tastes, even if I agree with the need to move beyond certain conservative Protestant ways of thinking. “Progressive” has also become one of those no-win, dead-in-the-water, polarizing labels, like “socialism,” “woke,” or […]
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Digging into Cultural Context
As both a Hebrew Bible scholar and archaeologist, I enjoy engaging in conversations related to ancient Israel as seen in […]
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What the Gospels Teach Us About Salvation
What did Jesus’s death life do: Part 2 In my last blog post, I argued that we would understand salvation […]
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Why We Should Not Redeem ‘Fundamentalist Evangelicalism’
Note: This is a response to Alisa Childers’ recent article at The Gospel Coalition, “Why We Should Not Redeem ‘Deconstruction‘.” […]
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Why Paul’s Letters Are Inadequate for Understanding Salvation
What did Jesus’s death life do: Part 1 A couple of months ago, I hopped on the podcast with Pete […]
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Our (Weird) Heavens Are (Also) Telling Us about God
So here is our thought for the day: how we see the world around us and how we see God […]
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Reading the Bible with a Jesus-Centered Approach
Recently, I wrote about the challenge we face when we are taught to “do what the Bible says,” as though […]
Continue ReadingWhen my son was 5 or so, we were watching TV and a commercial came on giving aid to starving children in Africa. I think it was the first time he had ever seen pictures of emaciated toddlers surrounded by flies. I watched him watching the commercial and decided to […]
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Dealing With the Bible: A Conversation Between Then and Now.
So, here’s my point. There is virtually nothing in the Bible that doesn’t look very similar to what we know […]
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Did the Exodus Story Really Happen?
This blog post was adapted from my recent YouTube video. Good question, and the answer isn’t straightforward. On the positive […]
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The “Pete Ruins Christmas” Series: Jesus the Jewish King
Many of you no doubt are familiar with this Christmas hymn, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”: O come, O come, […]
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The Law of Love
In the Bible scholars often talk of two kinds of law: apodictic and casuistic. These are part of a collection […]
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Author Spotlight: John Sanders
Today’s author is John Sanders and the book is Embracing Prodigals: Overcoming Authoritative Religion by Embodying Jesus’ Nurturing Grace. John […]
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God is Not A Being
A God whose existence or nonexistence you can argue is a thing beside others within the universe of existing things. […]
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Author Spotlight: Drew Hart
Today’s author is Dr. Drew Hart and the book is Who Will Be A Witness? Dr. Drew G. I. Hart […]
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Does the Bible Give Us Access to Absolute Truth?
No. Thanks everyone for coming to my TED talk. Alright fine, I’ll say a little more. Ever since my book […]
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A Pilgrimage to Understanding the Biblical World Better
Cynthia Shafer-Elliott (Ph.D., The University of Sheffield, England) is an Associate Dean of the School of Theology and Leadership and […]
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Author Spotlight: Megan Westra
Today’s author is Megan Westra and the book is Born Again and Again. Megan Westra is a dynamic and passionate public speaker, […]
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On Speaking the Truth in Love
An Excerpt from Love Matters More: How Fighting to Be Right Keeps us From Loving Like Jesus If we want […]
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Digging Up Dirt on the Bible
Over the years, I’ve fooled a lot of people into liking me. They read what I write or hear me […]
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