Greg Boyd
Thank You Obama for Denouncing “Christian” Violence: It is Actually Far Worse Than ISIS
Category: General
Tags: Crusades, ISIS, Non-Violence, Obama, The Inquisition, Violence
Picture Credit: Official White House Photo by Pete Souza It seems some conservative Christians are up in arms because of something Obama said at the National Prayer Breakfast yesterday. After condemning ISIS and religiously-motivated violence…
To What Extent is the Future Open to Real Possibilities?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Choice, Free Will, Future, Judgment, Open Theism
Topics: Free Will and the Future
We frequently get questions about the extent to which the future is composed of actual possibilities rather than settled or determined. Here’s what Greg has to say in response to these questions: 1. We can…
12 Reasons for Keeping the Kingdom of God Separate from Politics, Part 2
Category: General
Tags: Kingdom, Kingdom Living, Politics
Topics: Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues
Image by the justified sinner via Flickr Satan is the “god of this age” (2 Cor 4:4) and “ruler of the world (Jn 12:30; 14:31) who “controls the entire world” (1 Jn 5;19) and possesses…
12 Reasons for Keeping the Kingdom of God Separate from Politics, Part 1
Category: General
Tags: Kingdom, Politics
Topics: Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues
Image by the justified sinner via Flickr Jesus came to establish a kingdom that was not of this world. This is why Jesus refused to call on angels to defend himself and why he forbid…
Must the Different Suffer? A Review of “The Imitation Game”
Category: General
Tags: Alan Turing, Love One Another, Movie Review, The Imitation Game
The Imitation Game didn’t strike me as the kind of movie that would capture a large audience. So I was surprised to find that, even though the movie opened weeks ago, every showing on the…
Judgment and Idolatry
Category: General
Tags: Adam and Eve, Idolatry, Judgment, Love, Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
Topics: Following Jesus
Why was the forbidden tree in the center of the garden called The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil? Since the Bible depicts eating from this tree as the reason humans are estranged…
What Motivates Torture “In Jesus’ Name”?
Category: General
Tags: Holiness, Humility, Idolatry, Judgment, Kingdom Living, Love, Religious Idolatry, Torture
Topics: Following Jesus
Why has the church, at times, tortured and murdered people? What motivates killing and persecution “in the name of Jesus” or “for the glory of God”? (See the post from yesterday about how the church…
Why Are We So Mired in Violence?
Category: General
Tags: Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Flood, Love, Relationships, Trinity, Violence
Topics: The Problem of Evil
In his marvelous little book entitled The Great Divorce, C. S. Lewis envisioned hell as a realm in which people are forever moving farther away from one another. Hell is the ultimate, cosmic, suburban sprawl!…
Participating in the Divine Nature (Love)
Category: General
Tags: God, God is Love, Jesus, Love, Love Your Neighbor, The Holy Spirit, Trinity
Topics: Following Jesus, Trinity
When God created the world, it obviously wasn’t to finally have someone to love, for God already had this, within himself. Rather God created the world to express the love he is and invite others…
The Most Beautiful Truth
Category: General
Tags: God, God is Love, Jesus, Love, The Holy Spirit, Trinity
Topics: Trinity
Jesus was God incarnate. Yet he continually referred to, and prayed to, God the Father as someone who was distinct from himself. He also continually referred to, and claimed to be empowered by, God the…
When God is Revealed
Category: General
Tags: Cruciform Theology, God, God's Character, Jesus, Relationships, Trust
Topics: Christology
Whether we’re talking about our relationship with God or with other people, the quality of our relationships can never go beyond the level of trust the relating parties have in each other’s character. We cannot…
Cheap Grace and Consumer Christianity
Category: General
Tags: Atonement, Consumerism, Kingdom Living, Penal Substitution View of Atonement
Topics: Atonement and The Cross, Following Jesus
The “cheap grace” Gospel sells well in America. We live in a culture of consumerism that conditions us to habitually look for “the best deal.” We’re more or less trained from birth to live in…
The Danger of the Penal Substitution View of Atonement
Category: General
Tags: Atonement, Forgiveness, Jesus, Kingdom Living, Penal Substitution View of Atonement, Sin, Transformation
Topics: Atonement and The Cross
About 25 years ago I was traveling on the freeway to somewhere or other and I stopped at a truck stop to get a bite to eat. I sat down at the counter next to…
Greg on Politics
Category: General
Tags: Greg Boyd, Interview, Kingdom, Kingdom of this World, Politics, Voting
Topics: Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues
I recently agreed to a written interview with a delightful Christian student of politics. Given the nature of her questions, I’m not sure my responses were quite what she expected. I thought some of you…
Eye for Eye: That Time Jesus Refuted An Old Testament Teaching
Category: General
Tags: Crucifixion of the Warrior God, Cruciform Theology, Jesus, Non-Violence
Topics: Christology, Following Jesus
One of the most surprising aspects of Jesus’ teaching is that, while he clearly shared his contemporaries’ view of the Old Testament as inspired by God, he was nevertheless not afraid of repudiating it when…
Absolute Truth and Violence
Category: General
Tags: Enemy Love, Holy War, Love, Self-Sacrificial Love, Service, Truth, Violence
Topics: Ethical, Cultural and Political Issues
A common argument today against Christianity is that believing that Jesus (or any other religious figure or religion) is the only way to God (See yesterday’s post) is “dangerous.” This claim actually has some justification, for…
Is There Room for Doubt in Faith?
Category: General
Tags: Benefit of the Doubt, Doubt, Faith, Jacob, Q&A, Wrestling with God
Topics: Faith & Doubt
Many Christians today assume that faith is the antithesis of doubt. In this view, a person’s faith is thought to be strong to the extent that they don’t question their beliefs or struggle with God…
Close Encounters of the Third (Kingdom) Kind: A Reflection on the Missio Alliance Conference
Category: General
Tags: Anabaptists, Fellowship, Jesus, Kingdom, Mennonerds, Missio Alliance, Viva la Revolution!
What an incredible gathering we had last week! It was invigorating, informative and fun! What stands out most to me was the family-feel of the conference. Like most of you, I have usually felt a…
Becoming Like the Accuser
Category: General
Tags: Judgment, Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Violence
Topics: Following Jesus
When the Adam and Eve yielded to Satan and surrendered their God-given authority over the earth and animal kingdom (Gen 3), Satan became “the god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4), the “ruler of the…
How Judging Blocks Love
Category: General
Tags: Judgment, Kingdom Living, Love, Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil
Topics: Following Jesus
What keeps us from fulfilling the law of love that is exemplified by Jesus and laid out in the Scriptures (Matt. 22:39-40; Rom 13:8,10 Gal 5:14)? In a word, we like to pass verdicts. To…