Saw “The Book of Mormon” on Broadway last night! Between the laughs, horror, and sweetly poignant moments, it got me thinking: what is religion for? Yes, the show is hilarious, brilliant, shocking, and incredibly well performed and produced. That we got tickets at all is its own small miracle… or another example of my husband’s capacity to amaze. …
What if Jesus has already come back or is even coming back all the time? That the first generation of Jesus’ followers expected the Parousia or “second coming” during their own lifetimes is certain. They were sure, based on Jesus’ teachings and their own, first-hand knowledge of him that it would happen. At least that’s how the …
If the Bible’s broken, can it be fixed? You owe it to yourself to watch some of the old tv series Firefly, even if you were one of the lucky few who caught it when it was first broadcast. In the “Jaynestown” episode, idiot savante River gets ahold of Shepherd’s Bible and sees how little …
The furor over mosque-building in Manhattan and Koran-burning in Florida reminds us that like it or not, religious differences continue to challenge civic peace. A new book, The Tenth Parallel, by journalist Eliza Griswold narrates her experiences on the 10th parallel, 700 miles north of the equator. This line of latitude runs through territories where about …
Given its title, I figured that the movie would have something to do with demons — a whole, well, legion of them… in full-on “possession” mode. After all, “Legion” is the name of a biblical demoniac, according to the stories in Mark and Luke, because many demons were involved. But in the movie, Michael (our hero-angel gone …
Driving north on 95, my dad caught this MPR chat with MN’s own Chemberlin and FL mega-church pastor Hunter re the changing role of churches and religion, in general, these days. Gives a person all kinds of hope for a measured and sensible approach by religious leaders to the challenges we face today and the future …
