Central Seminary’s partnership with Myanmar Institute of Theology calls us to be mindful of what our colleagues wrestle with all the while. As most of the Christian leaders are ethnic minorities themselves, they know the precariousness of existence and freedom. They understand the wounded Body of Christ in ways hard for us to fathom.
Embracing curiosity: Asking good questions is a crucial index of faith
Surely life is far more interesting and faithful if we explore how this world works and our spiritual place within it, especially the relationship between divine and human agency.
We’re prone to judgment, but mercy needs to ‘speak the first word’
This perhaps is the most confounding thing about God: why God chooses mercy over judgment. We want God to punish the bad – now – and put the world to rights. We want a clear signal that God is at least as moral as we are. Yet, God keeps giving people time to change, so that mercy may triumph.
How can a theology of wisdom serve our faith communities?
It was a favorite Sunday school lesson, and we relished hearing it repeatedly. The story of God appearing to young Solomon as he assumes the kingship of Israel reminded us of what was most important: wisdom. “Give your servant therefore…
On the pathway of Jesus, can life be a joy ride?
When we genuinely pursue the common good with all the energy and vision we can summon, not only is a community transformed, but so are those who give themselves to the joyful work of justice. It is not only good for humanity, but God as well!
Communion: It’s about gratitude, welcome, hunger and koinonia
Just as Jesus takes, blesses, breaks and gives the bread to the hungry gathered in Galilee, so he does with us. He takes us, blesses us, breaks us and gives us as his continuing embodied presence. We are to be “bread for the world in mercy broken.”
What an eroding Christian witness in America urgently needs: mature Christians
Thankfully, every epoch sifts its ideas, institutions and theological claims. Renewal movements erupt because God’s Spirit will not be quenched.
7 suggestions for tuning our voice in the public square
Faith leaders, including those who lead seminaries, must not be silent in the face of an increasingly fractious and violent society that challenges our most deeply held Christian convictions.
A little side-eye to John R. Rice and others of his ilk
I was a Master of Divinity student at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary from 1973 to 1975. As regularly occurred with women students, I had been admitted to the School of Religious Education. Yet, I enrolled in all M.Div. courses because…
The peril of selective inerrancy
Demanding that women keep silent about abuse and submit to male headship is all about patriarchy and nothing about biblical values.
Marching toward the future for gender equality
Flowing like a pink river, scores of women in their trademark headgear marched all over the world, just as they did a year ago. Carrying signs with urgent messages, the generations took to the streets to bring attention to the…
Mental fitness and humility: You can’t have one without the other
President Trump would not be the only political or religious figure ever to be questioned about fitness for a position. The alchemy of autocratic decision-making with the presumption of self-sufficiency makes for a toxic concoction.