Violence
ISIS, Islam & Jesus
Category: Sermons and Video Clips
Tags: Bruxy Cavey, ISIS, Islam, Non-Violence, Redemption, Violence
Topics: Following Jesus
http://youtu.be/7W5NWWFFJMg?list=PLB5r2P47beqLlY3wM6VKjwEEofXAZ4lX5 Our friend Bruxy taught a series at The Meeting House titled ISIS, Islam & Jesus that we wanted to share with you. This is episode one, and you can find the whole series by clicking…
Lighten Up: What Jesus Said NEVER
Category: General, Lighten Up
Tags: Enemy Love, Jesus, Lighten Up, Love One Another, Non-Violence, Violence
Image via nakedpastor.com
Will Violence against ISIS Root Out Evil?
Category: General
Tags: Evil, Myth of a Christian Nation, Non-Violence, Upside-Down Kingdom, Violence, War
Topics: Following Jesus
Image by arbyreed via Flickr Fallen humans tend to identify their own group as righteous and any group that opposes them as evil. If they were not evil, we tend to believe, no conflict would exist. Hence,…
Why NO Violence in Jesus’ Name is Justified
Category: General
Tags: Enemy Love, Myth of a Christian Nation, Non-Violence, Obama, Violence
Topics: Following Jesus
Image by papapico via Flickr On Friday, Greg posted a response to Obama’s speech about religiously-inspired violence. Here are some further thoughts on why violence in the name of Jesus—no matter whether we call it just, redemptive,…
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…
Is Having the “Right” Theology the Core of Christianity?
Category: General
Tags: Calvinism, Love, Non-Violence, Repenting of Religion, Violence
Last week, we posted a piece by Greg that challenges the practice being violent “in the name of Jesus” toward others who err theologically. (Click here to read this post.) Being that this piece got…
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!…
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…
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…
Lighten Up: Arming Jesus
Category: General, Lighten Up
Tags: Lighten Up, Violence
This is an actual product that you can buy. But don’t. Please don’t.
The Good Samaritan, Non-Violence & Eternal Life
Category: General
Tags: Judgment, Love, Mennonerds, Non-Violence, Violence
Renaud Camus via Compfight An expert in the law asked Jesus what he had to do “to inherit eternal life” (See the story in Luke 10:25 and following). Jesus asked him what he thought the…
Was Jesus Violent in the Temple?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Jesus, Mennonerds, Non-Violence, Violence
Topics: Enemy-Loving Non-Violence
Many adopt the attitude depicted in the picture above, saying that Jesus used violence when he cleansed the temple. But Jesus’ stance on nonviolence is clear not only from how he responded to threatening enemies…
Is Non-Violence a Key to Christian Discipleship?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Mennonerds, Non-Violence, Peacemaking, Violence
Topics: Enemy-Loving Non-Violence
For the first three centuries of the church, Christians understood that forgoing the use of violence and expressing God’s self-sacrificial love was central to discipleship. However, this mindset changed after the Church acquired power in…
Things I liked and things that bugged me about “Noah”
Category: General
Tags: Flood, Movie Review, Nephilim, Noah, Violence
I finally had a chance to go see Noah the other night and thought some might find a review helpful. Since this is a review of a movie and not a commentary on the biblical text,…
How Revelation Uses Violent Images in an Anti-Violent Way
Category: General
Tags: Book of Revelation, Cruciform Theology, Non-Violence, Violence
All the violent scenes in Revelation are symbols for the battle of truth and deception. They never involve literal violence. In fact, they symbolize ANTI-VIOLENCE. The ingenious way John helps us get free of deception…
Take America (& the World) Back for God?
Category: General
Tags: Non-Violence, Politics, Social Issues, Violence
Kai Schreiber via Compfight Recently Missio Alliance has hosted a series of posts entitled “Christianity and Violence.” Since Greg has written quite a lot on this topic from the point of view of pacifism, we…
Greg’s Response to Driscoll’s “Is God a Pacifist” Part III
Category: Essays
Tags: Essay, Lamb of God, Mark Driscoll, Non-Violence, Pacifism, Revelation, Violence
Topics: Enemy-Loving Non-Violence, Interpreting Violent Pictures and Troubling Behaviors
This is the last of a three-part response to Mark Driscoll’s post, “Is God a Pacifist?” We’ve seen that, to prove that Jesus was not “a pansy or a pacifist” (meaning that Jesus was okay…
Lighten Up: Jesus Makes Things Hard
Category: General, Lighten Up
Tags: Humor, Jesus, Mark Driscoll, Mistaken Identity, Violence
Maybe Mark Driscoll is on to something. I guess Jesus really does want to make someone bleed. ;)
Getting Behind the “Letter” of Violent Portraits of God
Category: Essays
Tags: Bible, Character of God, Cruciform Theology, Essay, Hermeneutics, Jesus, Matthew Bates, New Testament, Non-Violence, Old Testament, Reformed Theology, Scripture, Violence
Topics: Interpreting Violent Pictures and Troubling Behaviors
“I will do to you what I have never done before… in your midst parents will eat their children, and children will eat their parents…” Ezek. 5:9-10 In my previous post I offered a brief review…
Why do some of Jesus’ parables depict God in violent ways?
Category: Q&A
Tags: Bible, Bible Interpretation, Cruciform Theology, Jesus, Parables, Violence
Topics: Enemy-Loving Non-Violence, Interpreting Violent Pictures and Troubling Behaviors
Greg deals with the question of what it means that some of Jesus’ parables seem to depict God in violent terms. In addition to getting an answer to this question you’ll be treated to a…