By its own admission, Nature’s Witness: How Evolution Can Inspire Faith by Daniel M. Harrell, is a book that may raise more questions than it answers. Such is often the case when one discusses theology. Nature’s Witness is part of the “Living Theology” series, a cooperative effort between Emergent Village and Abingdon Press. The goal of the series is to make theology approachable and to encourage conversation.

It is incorrect and begets misunderstanding to read Paul for what he was not: a Lutheran Protestant criticizing Roman Catholicism or, worse still, a Christian criticizing Judaism. It is correct and avoids misunderstanding to read him for what he was: a Christian Jew within covenantal Judaism criticizing Roman imperialism. We must read his letters within their original situation and Paul's original intention. (The First Paul, p. 157)

Every time I teach an introductory Bible course (e.g. Disciple Bible Study), I am always struck by the fact that everyone has at least one part of the Bible they dislike or rarely read, usually because of false assumptions they have about that book or section. Once upon a time, my own disinterest in the Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament, as I would have called it at that time) was so great that I managed to graduate with a BA in Religion without having taken Intro to the OT! Of course, that eventually changed (thanks to my seminary, which of course did not let me make that mistake twice) and now I love to read those 39 books.

Lately, I have realized that my own disinterest has shifted to Paul's letters (including the disputed and pseudo-Pauline letters.) For example, my bookshelves have had at least two scholarly books on the historical Paul awaiting my attention for years, but I've found the time to read a dozen or so books on the historical Jesus. There are plenty of reasons for this deficiency, but a new book has finally put my mild phobia to rest. That book is The First Paul: Reclaiming the Radical Visionary Behind the Church's Conservative Icon, by Marcus J. Borg & John Dominic Crossan (Harper One, 2009). 

No Matter What by Debi Gliori does not use “spiritual” language. It never mentions God, Jesus or the church. And yet, its message beautifully conveys the essence of God’s grace. In this case, a picture book is worth a thousand words (even though it contains far fewer.) Here is a book that all church libraries should have.

From time to time, a book by an avowed atheist gets a lot of public attention in the media. Think, for example, of The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins or Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris, which came out about two years ago. The latest of these books to make a splash is Jesus, Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible by Bart Ehrman. Ehrman, a former evangelical turned secular  Biblical scholar and historian, has in recent years released a number of books about the Bible, and he seems to have a great publicist. (In recent weeks, he has been on Fresh Air with Teri Gross and in Newsweek magazine, for example.)  Some of his books I really enjoyed, while others I found to be mostly disappointing. This latest book, for me anyway, goes into the mostly disappointing category, though I would still recommend it to many potential readers. 

Today's Daily Voice marks a major milestone for us: this edition of The Daily Voice is #100! We're doing the happy dance, of course, but not for long...there's too much work to be done! (Our store is just about ready, we're working on writing our first curriculum releases, and lots more.)

If you haven't looked through our archives to read about everything from the lowly table tent to a great, free online tool for storing your notes, then take a few minutes today to poke around! Here are 10 of our personal favorites (from oldest to most recent).

Writing a review of the Justice Praise website which features the music of Phil Carver has been on my to-do list since The Daily Voice began. In part, I have put it off because I couldn’t decide how to begin!

Every so often, a book comes into my life and acts like the hand that shakes a snow globe, disturbing all of the molecules of my existence and rearranging my internal landscape. My college textbook for my Intro to New Testament class, Henri Nouwen's Compassion: A Reflection on the Christian Life, Parker Palmer's To Know as We are Known: Education as a Spiritual Journey, and a handful of others have gone beyond being engaging or thought-provoking to being truly transformational forces in my life. To that short list, I'll add a new one: Saving Jesus from the Church: How to Stop Worshiping Christ and Start Following Jesus by Robin R. Meyers. It's a book that really needs to come with a warning label on it, like, "This book will either change your life, your ministry, your faith, your friendships, and just about everything else...or, you'll be too afraid to let it do so!"

I admit it. I bought The Porpoise-Given Life by Chris B. Hughes because I liked the title. I am a fan of puns and simply couldn’t resist. To my delight, it turned out to be an interesting read, with (thankfully) a different theology than the book which inspired its title.

Congregations that use resources from Living the Questions (LTQ for short) frequently do so because there are few video-driven resources for progressive congregations, and LTQ offers strong (though not always perfect) small group resources. Many other congregations would like to use them but can't justify the fairly significant licensing fees. So, the question that arises when considering First Light: Jesus and the Kingdom of God, the newest study from LTQ, is: Will I get my money's worth? And the answer? Well, keep reading...

For the past three years, I have been actively involved in the interfaith assistance agency in my community as a board member. We provide emergency rent, utility, and food assistance to persons in our county. Twenty-plus congregations, plus a couple of community organizations, each contribute funds and support to the organization. In addition to this work, I sometimes work the overnight shift at the homeless shelter in my town.

I tell you this not to toot my own horn, but to give you a bit of the context I bring to reading the book in today's review, Loving Our Neighbor: A Thoughtful Approach to Helping People in Poverty, by Beth Lindsay Templeton (2008, iUniverse). This is the resource I really wish I had had before I began to be involved in poverty assistance, because it is comprehensive, relevant, and grounded in personal (not theoretical) experience. Along with the companion study video which I previously reviewed, it should be part of every church's set of resources.