Unfundamentalist

Above All, Love

Faith in the Fog: On Losing Beliefs and Finding God

by Emma Higgs in Christian Issues

This guest post was written by Emma Higgs and is part of her Faith in the Fog series about her experiences with doubt, skepticism, mental health, and forging a different kind of faith. You can follow the entire series on her blog.

There are certain ways Christians talk about God that turn me into an atheist.

I can’t help it. As much as I try to ignore it, my inner skeptic is constantly on the lookout for holes in the God theory. It will find a loose thread and keep tugging until the whole thing unravels. Before I know it, my cherished beliefs in a loving God have disintegrated and I’ve unwittingly written off the entire Christian faith as superstitious nonsense.

Any troubling question or rogue thought can trigger this unravelling process. But few things give my inner skeptic a firmer foothold than Christians making statements of apparent certainty regarding their beliefs.

We are certain that God will prevent this bad thing from happening.

This is definitely what will happen when we die.

This is the one correct interpretation of this two-and-a-half-thousand-year-old passage of Hebrew scripture.

Really?

Sometimes I feel like being a Christian requires me to switch off my brain altogether.

Now, this confidence and assuredness seems to work for a lot of people. But for me, an assertion like that is all it takes for the fog to descend. Questions and doubts start spinning around my… [Read more…] about Faith in the Fog: On Losing Beliefs and Finding God

Shoes on — a Hurricane Story

by Art Callaham in Christian Spirituality

I turned the knob slowly, believing that anything I could do to preserve a few more minutes of silence would be worth it. Hannah, who falls asleep more slowly, was the first to respond. “Is it time?” she said. “Yes, it’s time again. Get up little girl.”

I walked over to her brother’s bed. “Aaron, c’mon. It’s time.” He rolled over, groggy. “Grab your things and put on your shoes.”

Growing up, it seemed that there were two types of people in the world: those that wore shoes in the house and those that didn’t. Neat people left shoes by the door, fastidious about white carpets and shiney linoleum. People less concerned about cleanliness and those with wood floors left shoes on, mostly.

But there’s something more to it than that, right? “Kick your shoes off and sit a spell” is what the old folks say. Even those who had dirt floors. Shoes-off in the house is about more than cleanliness. It’s about ease. Shoes-off in the house is about more than just safety. It’s about Sabbath. It’s about cessation of work, cessation of anxiety. Shoes-off is how we want to live, at least in a metaphorical sense.

If things really got bad there would be room for four in the closet. This was still just the tornado warning. First would come the breaking glass, then the freight train, then ducking inside and shutting the door and holding on for our lives. For the moment, Erica and I sat in the hallway, kids uneasily dozing in the closet-cum-storm-shelter, everyone with their shoes on,… [Read more…] about Shoes on — a Hurricane Story

No, Our Non-Profit Is Not a Ministry

by Sheri Faye Rosendahl in Christian Issues

Christian friends often call the non-profit that my husband and I run a ministry. I know they mean well, but I would like to explain why we are not, and never will be, a ministry.

First of all, The Nations is a non-profit organization — not a religious organization — that works with awesome people who happen to be refugees from the Middle East, because they are amazing humans who our society tends to screw over, dehumanize, and often be straight-up jerks to.

Ministries are usually run by churches or religious organizations that generally have particular goals in their work that we do not.

You see, our goals are to love, serve, and learn from our neighbors who are refugees. It’s that simple. There is no hidden agenda or deeper purpose.

Some of y’all might think, “Lots of ministries in our church try to learn, love and serve, so what’s your problem with being called a ministry?” That’s a valid question.

The term “ministry” is often used in our White-Jesus Christian nation in a manner that implies there is an underlying secret (except everyone knows) agenda: conversion.

To be honest, this idea of converting makes us wildly uncomfortable. We are in no way about the manifest-destiny-like conversion life. We are point-blank trying to love, learn, and serve others, not bring people to religion. To be real, we are not into religion ourselves.

However, we do try to follow the ways of Jesus because he’s a bad ass.

And the thing is that Jesus straight-up said that his greatest… [Read more…] about No, Our Non-Profit Is Not a Ministry

Bullying Bishops and Castrated Christians: The Nashville Statement’s Eunuch Omission

by Don M. Burrows in Christian History

Mountains of ink have already been spilled rightfully condemning the anti-gay, transphobic Nashville Statement last month, but I was particularly drawn to one of its infamous affirmations/denials that made use of a New Testament passage routinely abused by gender-conformity enforcers: Matthew 19.

This is the passage where Jesus is asked about divorce, answers that it is not really acceptable, and caps his discussion by talking about castration. Yes, really. Not the way you remember it? That’s probably by design.

The standard translation for Matthew 19:12 is (as usual) most accurately conveyed by the New Revised Standard Version:
For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.
Yet a perusal of other translations shows just how much many Christian translators want to avoid any notion of men “making themselves eunuchs.” Any number of alternative translations have been offered, like “those who choose to live like eunuchs” (NIV), or “some choose not to marry” (NLT), or those who “became eunuchs” (NET), or who “decided to be celibate” (God’s Word), or my favorite, “disabled themselves” (Weymouth).

None of these come as close as the NRSV does at capturing what the Greek actually says in the text, and yet the NRSV and its traditional wording (the same found in the King James Bible) are… [Read more…] about Bullying Bishops and Castrated Christians: The Nashville Statement’s Eunuch Omission

5 Things We’ll Miss If We Take the Bible Too Literally

by Matthew Distefano in Christian Issues

We all want certainty. I get that. It makes us feel better about ourselves. It makes us feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It makes us feel like the big, bad monster we call “Doubt” isn’t going to get us.

So it is no wonder that, when approaching the Scriptures, many of us opt for literalism above all else. It gives us that sense of security, that sense that we have a grasp on the situation. However, I’ve discovered throughout my long and winding journey that the security we get from biblical literalism is nothing more than a façade. And, when that foundational card in our meticulously built house gets yanked out, down goes the whole thing; our faith crumbles and we are left without even a basic foundation. To use comedian Pete Holmes’ analogy, we are left with an apartment void of all furniture.

Furthermore, when we approach the Bible too literally, we are doing nothing more than embarking on an adventure in missing the point. Sure, we think we are being faithful servants of the almighty God — and perhaps some of us really are — but what we are primarily doing is nothing more than defending a position that, ironically, the Bible never asks us to defend. And when we do this, we end up missing a ton of great things that go on throughout the Bible. I’d like to mention 5 of them.

The Theology of Jesus
There are so many things said about God in the Bible, from the slightly obscure to the out-and-out insane. I won’t get into all of them here — as if we… [Read more…] about 5 Things We’ll Miss If We Take the Bible Too Literally

Dear Resistance

by Sheri Faye Rosendahl in Christian Spirituality

To those who feel their voice is lost in the wind, I hear you. To those who feel inherently disqualified, I believe in you. To those who choose to Love first when our world tells you that you are naïve, I stand with you.

That whisper in your ear that you are unqualified, not smart enough, brave enough, faithful enough, theologically educated enough, cool enough, charismatic enough, articulate enough, are all blatant lies. Hear me when I say, you are exactly the voice we need to hear.

Living in the pursuit of red letter Love will come with great critics. You will be cut down and criticized by many who back their attacks with a smoke-screen of logic and theology. You will be rejected and the world will hate your words as they contradict our culture of egocentric independence. You will indeed be a sheep among the wolves.

I hope you know to the depths of your soul, your efforts are not fruitless. You were not put on this earth to live a life of apathy while building a small empire of comforts that leave no imprint on this world.

You have willingly lost the life our world tells you that you are to want, and found a deeper source of life in the pursuit of bold sacrificial Love. The narrow path that follows the red letters is not easy, but the rewards are great.

Your efforts to live this life won’t appear logical. The ways of Jesus don’t align with our culture or our world. Your words will directly and indirectly challenge the Western bubble of comfort. But my friend, the value… [Read more…] about Dear Resistance

My Cancer Didn’t Happen for a Reason

by Morgan Bolt in Christian Issues

I’m 25 years old and I have Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Tumors, a tenacious, rare, and deadly cancer. The last three years of my life have been filled with every sort of cancer treatment available, including dozens of cycles of chemotherapy, numerous surgeries, multiple rounds of radiation, and even experimental clinical trials. It’s been grueling, to say the least. I’m already living on borrowed time, and I have no idea how much more I’ll get.

There’s no good reason for my cancer, and I won’t pretend otherwise. It didn’t happen so I could learn some important lesson, and it isn’t punishment for some sin of mine. My cancer — like a deadly storm or earthquake — is just one of those things that happens when you’re part of an ever-changing world composed of dynamic systems. There doesn’t have to be a clear, palatable, or satisfying answer for why such hardships take place.

I think that’s the main point of the story of Job. Job faces incredible suffering through no fault of his own, though his friends don’t see it that way. They blame Job for his hardships, claiming that if he only repented he would be restored to health and fortune. But Job rebukes such thinking, maintaining his innocence while acknowledging that none are righteous before God. At the end of the story God shows up. God does not reveal to Job a satisfying reason for his suffering. God simply challenges Job, reminding Job of his smallness and insignificance compared to God and all God’s works. God makes it… [Read more…] about My Cancer Didn’t Happen for a Reason

Why Not Sign the Nashville Statement?

by Darrell Lackey in Christian Issues

Joel Belz, the founder of WORLD magazine (a conservative evangelical publication), is a signer of the Nashville Statement and he recently wondered why more evangelicals have not signed it. Indeed, many have noted their problems with the statement, some even coming from conservative quarters. You can read those here, here, and here.

So, I’ll bite. Mr. Belz, here is why I would not sign the Nashville Statement:

You write: “…But for an issue said by some Christian leaders to be the dominant cultural question of our lifetimes…”

Really? Even given the historical cultural results of slavery and current racism in this country? Even given the historical and current sexism in this country? Even given the historical and current wealth imbalance in this country? Even given the continuing poverty and struggle to make ends meet faced by so many in this country? Even given the environmental problems we face? Even given the events leading up to the last election and the results of that election? Even given the events of Charlottesville, and the rise of anti-immigrant sentiments, white supremacy, neo-Nazis, and the Alt-Right?

Even given all the issues and problems such as child/world hunger, lack of social justice, social inequality, crime, civil wars around the globe, people in exile, the various humanitarian crises in many parts of the world, the abject poverty and suffering in the world, this is where the signers’ time was spent, this is what they chose to be… [Read more…] about Why Not Sign the Nashville Statement?

More Than a Follower

by Christy Wood in Christian Spirituality

It might just be me, having been raised in legalistic Christianity, but I struggle with the way discipleship is often portrayed. I feel like there is this heavy emphasis on what we are supposed to DO as a disciple even from mainstream pastors and teachers.
Follow * Deny Yourself * Take Up Your Cross * Be Like Jesus
These statements, or at least the thoughts behind them, ARE in the Bible. They aren’t wrong. But I think something is missing. Someone.

There has to be more to being a disciple of Jesus Christ than just action verbs focused on our behavior. Check out this “Jesus encounter” from John 1:
The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God.” When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Him. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?” “Come,” He replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where He was staying, and they spent that day with Him. It was about four in the afternoon. John 1:35-39
According to Bible scholars, this is most likely NOT the time these men became disciples of Jesus. “Followed Jesus” simply means they followed Him.

Jesus is walking by, just going about His business. John, knowing who Jesus is, points Him out using a strange name. He calls Jesus “The Lamb of God.” The disciples are curious. Who is this man? So, they follow Him. (My imagination… [Read more…] about More Than a Follower

What’s So Confusing About Grace?

by in Book Reviews

The answer to the question posed by the title of Randal Rauser’s new book, What’s So Confusing About Grace? is “just about everything,” especially if you grew up, as Rauser did, in the North American evangelical subculture of the 80s and 90s.

Rauser’s spiritual memoir recounts his lifelong struggle to understand both the foundational and the superficial issues of Christian faith (the two are easily confused, as is made amply evident throughout the book).

Beginning with his conversion to Christianity at the age of five, Rauser takes us through seasons of certainty and doubt as he examines issues like salvation, hell, grace, good works, the Bible, the Church, and Christian doctrine. He “tells that story of moving from the naive innocence of a child’s faith, on through layers of doctrinal and ethical complexity, wrestling with the fear of ultimate failure, and finally arriving at an abiding trust in the God who is infinitely greater, wiser, more merciful, and more loving than I could ever be” (xii).

Equal parts humorous, sobering, and thought-provoking, Rauser explores the big issues of Christianity by honestly recounting the often self-deprecating anecdotes of his youth. He discusses hell through the story of an ill-fated gingerbread cookie, and exposes the hypocrisy of the notion that loving Jesus requires eschewing anything “secular,” which led him to smash his Peter Gabriel cassette tapes on the pavement. But he also offers more serious fare by tackling… [Read more…] about What’s So Confusing About Grace?