General
Why Don’t We Practice Non-Violent Love
Category: General
Topics: Enemy-Loving Non-Violence
Why in the history of history of the church has enemy-loving non-violence so rarely been attributed to God and so rarely been espoused as the defining characteristic of kingdom people? In light of the fact…
The Distinguishing Mark of a Child of God
Category: General
Topics: Enemy-Loving Non-Violence
Jesus claimed that loving enemies was a precondition for being considered a child of God. “[L]ove your enemies,” he taught, “that you may be children of your Father…” (Mt. 5:44-45, emphasis added). And again, “love…
Endorsements for Crucifixion of the Warrior God
Category: General, Press
Tags: Crucifixion of the Warrior God, Cruciform Theology
Greg has gotten some really great endorsements for his upcoming Crucifixion of the Warrior God, so we thought we’d share them with all of you. If you want to learn more, you can go here. Enjoy!…
What the Resurrection Says About the Cross
Category: General
Tags: Cross, Humility, Love, Resurrection, Sacrifice
As with every other aspect of Jesus’ life and ministry, even the resurrection must be understood in light of the cross. This event was not just the resuscitation of a random corpse. It was the resurrection…
The Centrality of Christ in Hebrews, Part 2
Category: General
Tags: Bible Interpretation, Christocentrism, Cruciform Theology, New Testament, Old Testament
Topics: Christology
The intensely Christocentric reading of the Old Testament that I introduced in the previous post is reflected throughout the book of Hebrews. Here I want to cite two more examples of how this writer saw…
The Centrality of Christ in Hebrews, Part 1
Category: General
Tags: Bible Interpretation, Christocentrism, Cruciform Theology, New Testament, Old Testament
Topics: Christology
The intense Christocentricity that the New Testament writers embrace is nowhere more clearly and consistently illustrated than in the book of Hebrews. Throughout this work we find a repeated emphasis on the many ways the…
Rekindling an Old Debate: How to be a Christian Citizen
Category: General
Tags: National Idolatry, Nationalism, Politics
Back in 2008 Greg joined Shane Claiborne and the now deceased Chuck Colson with host Krista Tippet on NPR’s On Being program to debate what it means to be a Christian citizen. Given the current…
Greg and N.T. Wright at the Missio Alliance Gathering!
Category: General
Tags: Atonement, Cross, Greg Boyd, Missio Alliance, N.T. Wright, The Holy Spirit
The Missio Alliance North American Gathering will be held April 27-29 in Alexandria, Virginia. The theme this year is Awakenings: The Mission of the Spirit as the Life of the Church. Featured speakers this year…
Do the Gospels Fabricate Prophetic Fulfillment?
Category: General
Tags: Cross, Cruciform Theology, Jesus, Old Testament, Prophesy
Topics: Biblical Interpretation, Christology
Skeptically-inclined scholars, and especially critics of Christianity, frequently argue that the Gospel authors created mythological portraits of Jesus largely on the basis of OT material they claim Jesus “fulfilled.” In other words, they surveyed the…
Jesus, the New Israel
Category: General
Tags: Israel, Jesus, Old Testament
Topics: Biblical Interpretation, Christology
The Gospels present Jesus and the Kingdom he inaugurated as the fulfillment of Israel’s story. For example, Jesus’ birth fulfills Israel’s longing for a Messiah; his return from Egypt as a child mirrors their Exodus…
A Foolish and Weak-Looking God
Category: General
Tags: Cruciform Theology, God, Jesus
The New Testament assumes that the God of Israel and the God revealed in Jesus Christ are one and the same God. But there also can be no question that the portrait of God that…
Jesus Refuted Old Testament Laws
Category: General
Tags: Cruciform Theology, Jesus, Old Testament
Topics: Biblical Interpretation
Although it’s clear that Jesus regarded the Old Testament as the inspired word of God, he also directly challenged aspects of the Old Testament law. To illustrate, Jesus was repudiating Sabbath law when he defended…
Jesus and Nationalistic Violence
Category: General
Tags: Cruciform Theology, Kingdom of God, Nationalism, Non-Violence, Peace
Topics: Enemy-Loving Non-Violence
Throughout the Old Testament, we find Israel spoken of as God’s “chosen nation.” The Israelites were to be a nation of priests whom God wanted to use to unite the world under him (Ex 19:6)….
Jesus, the Center of Scripture
Category: General
Tags: Bible, Cruciform Theology, Jesus
Topics: Christology
Paul declared that Jesus was nothing less than the very embodiment of all of God. This distinction of “all of God” is important for us to understand what it means for us to see Jesus…
Jesus: Our Vision of God
Category: General
Tags: Father, God, God's Character, Jesus, Word of God
Topics: Christology
At the beginning of his Gospel John taught that “no one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made…
The Cross and The Trinity
Category: General
Tags: Cross, Cruciform Theology, Trinity
Topics: Attributes and Character
Out of love for humankind, Scripture tells us, Jesus emptied himself of his divine prerogatives, set aside the glory he had with the Father from before the foundation of the world, became a human being…
Crucifixion of the Warrior God Update
Category: General
Tags: Crucifixion of the Warrior God, Cruciform Theology
Did you know that authors generally don’t have much say-so about the cover art for their books? It’s considered part of the marketing, so the author may or may not like how it ends up looking. I’ve…
Cross-Shaped Transcendence
Category: General
Tags: Cross, God's Character, Nature of God, Transcendence
Topics: Attributes and Character
Hellenistic philosophers traditionally embrace a conception of God as the simple, necessary, and immutable One. They do this in order to try to explain the “unmoved mover” who is absolutely distinct from the ever-changing, composite,…
Knowing the Eternal God
Category: General
Tags: Cross, God's Character, Perichoresis, Trinity
If all our knowledge about God is to be oriented around the cross, as I argue in many places (see this post for instance), what does this mean for how we reflect on God’s transcendence?…
Seeing and Knowing God
Category: General
Tags: Jesus, Transformation
Topics: Following Jesus
There are many scripture passages that seem to suggest that the way people view God often says more about them than it does about God. Our perception of God, as well as other spiritual truths,…