Greg Boyd

Paradigm Shift Questions

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A couple that was recently introduced to ReKnew and several of my books recently wrote to tell me that they are in the process of embracing the warfare worldview along with the open view of…

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Love and Free Will

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God could have easily created a world in which nothing evil could ever happen. But this world would not have been capable of love. God could have preprogrammed agents to say loving things and to…

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The Kingdom of God ≠ Political Activism

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Given the centrality of following Jesus’ example, it is vitally important we not only notice that Jesus was a revolutionary (see post) along with some ways that we can join his revolution (see that post…

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7 Ways to Join the Kingdom Revolution

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In the previous post, I introduced in short form the call to participate in the kingdom revolution that Jesus began. What does this mean for us today? Let me offer seven ways we are called…

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Kingdom Revolution

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To properly understand an action, you need to interpret it in the light of the social context in which it takes place. For example, if we were to hear about a white male offering his…

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God’s Church is Not “Pretty”

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This week we’ve been looking at various aspects of what it means to be the church. Today, I want to address the paradox of how the church can be both beautiful and ugly at the…

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The Purpose of the Church

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Unlike most social groups, the relationships forged in the body of Christ are not ends in and of themselves. Rather, Christ calls us to unite with other believers for a unique purpose: to grow in,…

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Dismembered: The Church and Individualism

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Those God has saved are called to be the church, not go to church. This distinction is vitally important. The church consists of all those who entered into the new covenant that Jesus inaugurated by…

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The Problem with “Church”

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Many people think of church as a religious building people attend once a week to sing, hear a sermon, take an offering and perhaps participate in the Lord’s Supper (or “take Communion”). Many refer to the…

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The Universal Experience of the “Spiritual”

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Humans have from prehistoric times generally assumed the reality of spir­its who transcend our physical existence. Outside of post-Enlightenment western intellectual culture the belief in spirits is almost universal. Whether conceptualized as spirits of nature…

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Angels and Spirits in a Secular World

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This week, we’ve been thinking about why we should believe in a spiritual realm in a world shaped by secular thought. One argument that supports the belief that spirits are real is the oldest, most…

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Do the Gospels Promote Anti-Semitism?

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Over the last couple of weeks we have been looking at various passages from the Gospels that have been used by some to argue that Jesus condones violence. Here is a link to each of…

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Why Didn’t Jesus Denounce Military Service?

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A common objection to the claim that Jesus and the authors of the New Testament were opposed to all forms of violence is that neither Jesus nor anyone else speaks out against it. When soldiers…

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Help Us Name Our Connecting Site!

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As most of you know, there is a fledgling kingdom movement that is rising up around the globe today. It is a post-Christendom, neo-Anabaptist movement that I’ve sometimes described as “a Jesus-looking God raising up…

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Did Jesus Instruct Us to Arm Ourselves?

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Over the past few posts, I’ve been dealing with the passages that are frequently used to argue how Jesus condoned violence. One of these takes place just after the last supper and just before Jesus and…

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Jesus Came to Bring a Sword?

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Jesus said: “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Mt 10:34).  Some, both modern scholars along with church leaders…

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Why Did Jesus Curse a Barren Fig Tree?

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While no one argues that the NT advocates violence explicitly, many allege that some passages reflect violent attitudes toward outsiders, and especially toward non-believing Jews, while others detect an element of violence in some of…

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Violent Parables?

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Some try to argue that Jesus did not make loving enemies and refraining from violence an absolute mandate. They make their case on the basis of several passages from the Gospels. The first concerns the…

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Was Jesus Unloving Towards the Pharisees?

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Some claim that Jesus spoke to religious leaders in ways that did not reflect the love of the cross. In his climatic encounter with the Pharisees in Matthew 23, Jesus’ words were undeniably harsh. He…

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The Cleansing of the Temple and Non-Violence

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Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple is the most commonly cited example of those who allege that he did not absolutize loving enemies or refraining from violence. I submit that this episode implies nothing of the…

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