Posted by Matt Skinner on 8/1/2014 6:21 AM
Podcast discussion with Eric Barreto, Cameron Howard and Matt Skinner.
Article written by Matt Skinner.
Can we experience unified communities and faithful living when people disagree? If Christians take differing positions on ethical issues or can’t agree about a particular course of action, have they failed at listening to the Holy Spirit?
We do not always hear the Holy Spirit as an unmistakably uniform voice. What if that’s part of how the Spirit works? What if Christians can still …
Posted by Matt Skinner on 7/8/2014 8:29 AM
Matt Skinner, Luther Seminary associate professor of New Testament, talks about the words that Paul passes along in 1 Thessalonians 5 to encourage Christians in their everyday life with one another.
Posted by Kathryn M. Schifferdecker on 3/1/2014 2:39 PM
Podcast discussion with Eric Barreto, Cameron Howard, and Kathryn Schifferdecker. Article written by Kathryn Schifferdecker.
Why do people suffer? It’s a question as old as the Bible (or older) and as current as today’s newspaper. Someone we love dies. A child is abused or neglected. A tornado wipes out a whole town. And we ask, "Why? Why do people suffer?"
The atheist has no real problem here. Why do people suffer? Because that’s the way life is. Chance, circumstance, luck, whatever …
Posted by Terence E. Fretheim on 11/1/2012 8:50 AM
Podcast discussion with Eric Barreto, Kathryn Schifferdecker and Terence Fretheim.
Article written by Terence E. Fretheim.
When asked about their prayers, many people say that God has three answers available: Yes, No, and Wait (or some variation thereof). I invite you to consider an additional response: God has determined to answer prayers in a positive way, but God’s will to do so is being successfully resisted. This resistance may come from within ourselves (e.g., our arrogance), but it may …
Posted by Matt Skinner on 2/1/2012 8:56 AM
Paul hated women, didn’t he?
Short answer: I don’t know. We aren’t really equipped to read that far into the head of someone who died 2000 years ago.
We could reframe the question: Did Paul write things that have been used by Christians to do great damage to women and that have hampered the work of the church for centuries? Absolutely.
But we must also ask: Did Paul write things that suggest he believed men do not possess superiority over women, as well as things that support …