So forgiveness pre-requires understanding the mistakes of the past? here hear re this opposing this me-first, America-first, white-first, male-first approach>…
Weekly lessons in theology and public life • Since 2011
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Lesson 1: Are You Saved?
Read MORE: Lesson 1: Are You Saved?This will be an online version of a course on salvation I am teaching at two congregations this fall. It will be designed for those who find it difficult to attend a face-to-face class because of commuting or home responsibilities.…
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Lesson 2: Now and Not Yet
Read MORE: Lesson 2: Now and Not YetThis should be fun! I got all sorts of responses to our first lesson. Perhaps the one to which I should respond first was the popular understanding of salvation as something that happens after death. My very intelligent class at…
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Lesson 3: Resurrection – Salvation
Read MORE: Lesson 3: Resurrection – SalvationSome people are having difficulty with my description of salvation as “now and not yet.” Myron says the problem is being conditioned to think of resurrection and salvation as almost synonymous and happening after our deaths. The New Testament agrees…
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Lesson 4: From When to What
Read MORE: Lesson 4: From When to WhatLet’s switch from the when to the what of salvation. This picture plays much the same role as Aristotle’s “Good” in his Politics. Citizens are to discuss what is good for their city and pass laws that lead to it.…
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Lesson 5: What
Read MORE: Lesson 5: WhatThis week I am posting an email from Lupe Andrade as the lesson. Although it is longer than my usual post, I think it is worth the read. Lupe is the former mayor of La Paz, Bolivia, and has experienced…
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Lesson 6: Care For All
Read MORE: Lesson 6: Care For AllAs Bob observed, “Lupe’s comments throw open the gates in defining salvation, using the concept as a key to address some of the core social and theological issues.” I think that is exactly how the Bible uses the idea. For…
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Lesson 7: Saved from What?
Read MORE: Lesson 7: Saved from What?I’ve put aside my original outline and am following Bob’s advice to examine Lupe’s points one at a time. She suggested we might do well asking from what we are being saved and observed that traditional answers fall short. Let…
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Lesson 8: First, Ask the Right Question
Read MORE: Lesson 8: First, Ask the Right QuestionAmericans are obsessed with “What must I do to be saved?” I think that is the wrong question. When we ask it, we are very much like the rich young man in Mark 10: 17-28, and Jesus’ response to him…
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Lesson 9: What About Hell?
Read MORE: Lesson 9: What About Hell?Bob reminds us we can not get way without saying something about hell. As you consider the most typical idea of salvation– a trip on the up escalator rather than on the down one — you face a problem. How…
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Lesson 10: Return to Paradise
Read MORE: Lesson 10: Return to ParadiseMany, if not most, pictures of salvation are very general, enabling us to fill them with our own ideas. I am thinking of salvation as God’s will being done. Scholars sometime speak of this as “whatever it is when God…
Recent Comments
An extremely timely topic. Thanks, Fritz!
yes we need to forgive our leaders yet make sure they do the right thing – which they aren’t.