Last week, I was reading a book and came across an appendix written by someone I know personally, a man named Jack Frederick. Jack served as an elder in my church in Boston and now lives in Atlanta, but he grew up in rural Alabama, and he carries with him everywhere the gentle, carefree...
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I am becoming more and more convinced that Christianity is a balancing act, that following Christ requires the grace of a dancer as well as the grace of God. Danger, for the Christian, lies on all sides – for he lives behind enemy lines. The Christian must be doctrinally sound, but not dogmatic; wise...
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Continuing with the theme of things my high school friends have told me: Another friend of mine once said to me, “You know, Joe, I’m not very religious.” I remember being slightly surprised by his response – not because I thought he was particularly religious, but because I was not aware that “not very...
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Recently, I have been reflecting on the concept of magic – on the face of it, a profoundly un-Christian and un-philosophical subject, but one which I have found to be very instructive.
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I once heard a friend of mine claim that he believed in “individual Christianity.” He was not talking to me, so I do not know if he offered any elaboration of what he meant. however, I suspect that his meaning was clear enough: He was a Christian, but not particularly invested in any particular...
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I originally wasn’t planning on writing multiple posts about infant baptism, but Richard Beck’s kindly saying that he was eager to follow my thoughts on the matter made me reconsider. I don’t have anything terribly profound to say about infant baptism on top of what I’ve already said, but I would like to discuss...
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Given all the recent brouhaha about baptism on The Fish Tank (for which I am largely responsible), a friend of mine expressed her concern with the lack of brouhaha about infant baptism – the mode of baptism practiced by the majority of Christians today. As I thought about infant baptism – in particular, as...
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