Years ago, I learned of a small Christian sect that has an unusual sexual practice due to an interpretation of each Christian as the literal ‘bride of Christ.’ Every member of this religion is instructed from the age of 12… Read More ›
Jesus
In This Fractured World, I Will Not Remain Silent by Karen Leslie Hernandez
The recent killing of 17 year old Nabra Hassanen is on my mind. Not only was she killed—brutally beaten with a baseball bat—but it is thought that she was raped, too. Twice. During Ramadan. By an undocumented Latino from El… Read More ›
Desierto Divino: Messages from the Earth by Lache S.
I have been thinking about deserts lately, what places are desired, which ones are deserted, and by whom. Cabo de Gata of Andalusia is one of the four deserts in Spain. In 2010, it became public knowledge that the Ministry… Read More ›
Moving Forward and into a New Season by Elise M. Edwards
It’s only been a month and I am still reeling from the US presidential election. I feel like I’m just beginning to emerge from the sense of loss and futility that has cloaked me. But I am beginning to move… Read More ›
Jesus Films Have Risen, They Have Risen Indeed By Anjeanette LeBoeuf
The creation of cinema brought a new medium to which art and representation were transmitted. This new visual tool allowed people to bring to life favorite stories. Deemed in 1947 as ‘the greatest story ever told,’ the four Gospels found… Read More ›
so said black Jesus by Natalie Weaver
Last month, I went to a conference in San Antonio, Texas. Feeling overwhelmed by the combined elements of work, family, and creative writing, I did not have much of a desire to go. It was right before Valentine’s Day, which… Read More ›
Gun Control and Party Lines by Gina Messina-Dysert
Guns and bibles have somehow become linked in this nation. Particularly throughout the midwest and the south, many associate their right to own a gun with their Christian religious values. I personally find this confusing given Jesus’ stance on non-violence. Many… Read More ›
Homoerotic Jesus at Pride Parades? This Christian Says, “Yes, Please!” by Trelawney Grenfell-Muir
Recently, some Christian communities have been angrily sharing these photos of lesbian and gay Jesus figures from Brazil’s pride parade in Sao Paolo. Conservative Christians tend to denounce anything to do with Pride as part of their general rejection of… Read More ›
Who Sits at the Center of this Story? By Elise M. Edwards
Have you ever heard of the Vitruvian Man? It’s an image from 1490 inked by Leonardo da Vinci that came to symbolize the centrality of the individual in the Renaissance. It is quite clearly a depiction of a muscular, European… Read More ›
The Importance of Rituals (Part 2) by Elise M. Edwards
In my previous post, I wrote about the importance of rituals. The rituals of the Easter season helped me process some difficult emotions. The way that rituals mark time and demonstrate consistency has been a comfort for me when facing… Read More ›
The Importance of Rituals by Elise M. Edwards
My sister once said about me, “One thing you have to understand about Elise—she takes the ritual of whole thing very seriously.” My sister was right and her words helped me see this quality about myself. What ritual was she… Read More ›
Awake! Awake! A Reflection on the Awakening of Conscience and Advent by Elise M. Edwards
‘Tis the season to be…? For me, this has not been a season to be jolly. I teach at a university, and again, I’m in the midst of the most hectic time of year of grading and exams and wrapping… Read More ›
Putting Faith in Interfaith Dialogue by Esther Nelson
Why do it? Sit around a table with people who profess a faith tradition different from our own, drink coffee, nibble on snacks, and talk. What’s the point? No doubt the reasons vary depending on the particular people getting together…. Read More ›
The Mosaic Language of God by Andreea Nica
Throughout my “bible-thumping, smitten with God” years, I scribbled countless thoughts and prayers in four devotional journals. Recently I came across these journals, wiping away the years of dust accumulated. As I have been detaching from the Pentecostal god, it… Read More ›
The Case for a Woman Pope: Mary Magdalene by Frank Shapiro
There’s a lot of hullabaloo these days about belief in God, atheism, separation of religion and state. However, like it or not, Western civilization is a Christian one. Ever since the Roman Empire officially became Christian in the 4th century… Read More ›
Resurrection Garden, Resurrection Feast by Elizabeth Cunningham
In John’s account of the Resurrection, Mary Magdalen mistakes Jesus for the gardener. Or perhaps it is not a mistake or not just a mistake but also a poetic truth. In any event, John’s Gospel makes clear: the Resurrection takes… Read More ›
Gendered Imagery of God (Part 2) by Elise M. Edwards
In my previous post, I shared some of the ways in which I’ve been wrestling with gendered imagery for God, the first person of the Christian Trinity often referred to as God the Father. In this entry, I’d like to… Read More ›
Religion: Trapped in Love Through Shame by Andreea Nica
I was first introduced to shame in the church. Shame paradoxically drew me closer to God, prevented me from committing sins, and helped me repress certain natural urges. The church I grew up in indoctrinated its congregation to believe that… Read More ›
To Do Justice for Jordan Davis by Kelly Brown Douglas
Theology is faith seeking understanding. Faith is that ineffable, intangible spiritual apparatus that keeps us in relationship to a transcendent, infinite god. It is, for Christians, the core of their relationship with the god of Jesus Christ. Yet, as Karen… Read More ›
Why I Don’t Believe in Female Pastors by Andreea Nica
It may come as a surprise to those who identify as both feminists and religious practitioners that I don’t believe women should be pastors of any dominant religious congregation. This includes most religions which, I assert, are rooted in and… Read More ›
Yes, You’re a Homophobe by John Erickson
Jesus loved sinners and Jesus would rather be dancing with me in West Hollywood on a Friday night than lugging through a swamp luring ducks into a trap with a duck caller made by a clan who think that my sexual actions are similar to that of an individual having sex with an animal.
What Does Jesus Have to Do with Whiteness? by Kelly Brown Douglas
It matters that he consistently affirmed, empowered, and befriended those who were the outcast, marginalized, oppressed, and rejected of his day—such as Samaritans and women. A firestorm has been set off recently concerning the self-assured observations by Fox News anchor… Read More ›
A Divine Gift by Elise M. Edwards
I recently graduated with a PhD, and I have been fortunate enough to have many occasions to celebrate this milestone within the past month. At the beginning of this month, I visited my parents in my hometown, and they threw… Read More ›
The Catholic Church: Love Story or Scold Story? by Dawn Morais Webster
“We, the women and men of the church, we are in the middle of a love story: each of us is a link in this chain of love. And if we do not understand this, we have understood nothing of… Read More ›
Lust in the Heart by Linn Marie Tonstad
Love the sinner, hate the sin. We are all familiar with the bludgeon this statement represents in Christian circles. It functions as a way to maintain one’s goodness and Christlikeness (supposedly!), while simultaneously condemning and persecuting those who find themselves… Read More ›
The Flesh Made Word: Colm Toibin’s “The Testament of Mary” on stage and in print By Joyce Zonana
Before the play begins, the audience is invited on stage; we walk around, not quite knowing what to do, gazing at the props, uncertain. A few chairs, scattered jars of honey, jugs of water beside a free-standing waist-high faucet, a… Read More ›
Truth and Consequences–This Feminist’s Perspective? by Marcia Mount Shoop
In John’s Gospel, Pilate’s response to Jesus’ self-identification as the one who “came into the world to testify to the truth” is a simple question: “What is truth?” His question hangs in the air as he moves from that conversation… Read More ›
Cancel Christmas? By Elise M. Edwards
Despite the time and energy it takes to participate in the religious and social rituals associated with Christmas, the result is that I am spiritually grounded, emotionally provoked, mentally rested, and physically fed. Advent, Christmas, New Year’s, and the last… Read More ›
Validating the Gospel of “Jesus’ Wife” is not Necessary to Prove Female Discipleship by Michele Stopera Freyhauf
The Gospel of “Jesus’ Wife” is certainly at the center of a battle that was last seen when questions of authenticity were raised about the James (Jesus’ brother) ossuary. In a New York Times article, September 30th, Judith Levitt states that… Read More ›
IN THE NEWS: Wives – Silent, Hidden, and Unnamed
“Jesus said to them, ‘My wife…’” It is now public news that there is a fragment of ancient text in which Jesus makes reference to a wife. Based on testing of the papyrus fragment the text is calculated to have… Read More ›
