Religion of Peace: Blessed are the Kin-killers

Before we Christians even think about condemning other scripture as bloodthirsty, we need to completely own our own holy text.
Today takes us to a very dark chapter of Exodus where the Bible says the sons of Levi obtained great favor through murdering family members. Here is the story of their crime in Exodus 32:25-28:

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Religion of Peace: First your foreskins, then your lives!

As a Christian, I believe it is important for fellow believers to fully own their scripture, warts and all. So, every once in awhile, hopefully more often than last year, I will highlight Bible passages that I think would make nonbelievers say “Yeah, right. A religion of peace!”
To make it into this occasional series, [...]

Notes and Quotes: Julian, Joseph and Herod

The other day, this very relevant quote popped up as my quote of the day in the daily Bible I’m working through:
“Our Lord did not say ‘You will not be troubled, you will not be tempted, you will not be distressed.’ He said, ‘You will not be overcome.” - Julian of Norwich
——
Genesis 39 has one [...]

Book Review: Religious literacy : what every American needs to know–and doesn’t

I have just about finished the audiobook version of
Religious literacy : what every American needs to know–and doesn’t and I am impressed. I’m especially impressed because the book is read by the author, Stephen R Prothero.
As a rule of thumb, I don’t enjoy books read by the author. Some people write well, others [...]

Milk for babes, drawn out of the breasts of both Testaments

While listening to a great audiobook called Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know, But Doesn’t, I came across a mention of the oddest catechism title I have ever run across:
Milk for babes, drawn out of the breasts of both Testaments chiefly for the spirituall nourishment of Boston babes in either England, but may [...]

I Read the Whole Bible and You Should Too

On December 31, 2007, I finished reading the complete Bible for the very first time using My Daily Catholic Bible. I think it is very important for every self-identified Christian to become familiar with the entire Bible and not just their favorite bits or the portions they hear in church.
Reading the whole Bible offers several [...]

Merry Christmas/Happy Growing Days

To all my Christian friends and colleagues out in the blogosphere, a very Merry Christmas to you all! Let us celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace and make his teachings more than empty words in our lives. Let us strive to make Paul’s words in Galatians 5:22-23 a reality for us and an [...]

Wait for the Lord

As a Catholic Christian, my church’s Sunday readings are determined by a three year cycle during which we read most of the old and new Testaments. As someone who writes fairly often about peace, war and occupation, this Sunday’s passage from Habakkuk stopped me in my tracks:

Reading 1Hab 1:2-3; 2:2-4
How long, O LORD? I [...]

Be Provoked, True Meaning of Turn the Other Cheek

I’ve added Provoke Radio, a Catholic podcast out of Baltimore, to my podcast listening. Whether or not you subscribe yourself, I suggest you listen to episode 60, available from the show archives. Show 60 is titled Pax Christi - Preaching Non-Violence and is notable for three things — a clear description of why “turn the [...]

Two More Bible Quotes: Job and Paul

One more Bible-themed post today.
The older I get, the more I appreciate the Book of Job. It has a lot of feeling and who hasn’t felt misunderstood by friends during bad times? Towards the end of the book (Job 31:29-30) Job uses this statement to claim his innocence before God:
“If I have rejoiced at [...]