The following is a sermon delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to his congregation in Montgomery, Alabama on November 4,1956. He imagines receiving an epistle from the Apostle Paul addressed to American Christians. It is utterly fascinating. Enjoy. I would like to share with you an imaginary letter from the pen of the […]
Read more "Paul’s Letter to the American Church"The death penalty debate is gaining new traction in Tennessee, though now with a decidedly different tone. A number of Christian groups are speaking out asking Governor Bill Haslam to reconsider the string of upcoming executions, the number of which is unprecedented in the modern era for our state. One inmate set to die even […]
Read more "The Calvinist Case Against the Death Penalty"It’s the home stretch. Today we are going to explore exactly why the “sojourner” is so important to Israel and to Israel’s God. Next time we will wrap it up. If you want to start at the beginning click here. The second and final proof signifying access to God of those outside Israel is the […]
Read more "A Native of the Land: Deriving an Ethic of Intercultural Relations from Exodus, Part 7"After examining the fate of those who attempt to destroy God’s covenant people, it’s now time to look at those from outside the family of Jacob who responded positively to them. What we find is that while God specially blesses and protects the genetic descendants of Abraham, they are in turn intended to bless the […]
Read more "A Native in the Land: Deriving an Ethic of Intercultural Relations from Exodus, Part 6"Having dealt with God and the Egyptians, the focus now must shift to the lesser known cast off characters quietly populating the pages of Exodus. There are a number of other tribes and nations scattered throughout the book whose relationship to God is on the surface level at least troubling. On several occasions God either orders […]
Read more "A Native of the Land: Deriving an Ethic of Intercultural Relations from Exodus, Part 5"In summary thus far, it has been demonstrated that contrary to much modern scholarship Israel was in fact a unified ethnic group also identified as Hebrews. This fact is confirmed by the text of Exodus, which describes unique Hebrew physical and sociological traits, by the familial language used to discuss Israel, and by God’s affirmation […]
Read more "A Native of the Land: Deriving an Ethic of Intercultural Relations from Exodus, Part 4"Having dealt satisfactorily with preliminary issues here and here, it is now time to scour the text for signs of Israel’s ethnic self-identity. A thorough reading of Exodus makes explicit that Israel does indeed view itself as a distinct, ethnic group. The textual evidence can be summarized with three points. First, Israel’s unique physical and […]
Read more "A Native of the Land: Deriving an Ethic of Intercultural Relations from Exodus, Part 3"We’re going to look at a few more preliminary matters before jumping into the heart of the argument. Here’s Part 1 if you missed it. The thrust of this essay is to carefully engage the Exodus text to examine Israel’s interactions with and laws concerning non-Israelites to determine if any guiding principles exist. These texts […]
Read more "A Native of the Land? Deriving an Ethic of Intercultural Relations from Exodus, Part 2"I thought I might share a research project I put together during my seminary days. It will take a quite a few parts. Enjoy. Racism lingers more subtly than perhaps any of humanity’s stubborn pathologies. It is certainly true vicious racial hatred is a hallmark of American and Southern Baptist history. However, the sin of […]
Read more "Native of the Land? Deriving an Ethic of Intercultural Relations from Exodus, Part 1"Clarence Jordan was unusual. After earning a PhD in Greek from Southern Seminary in Louisville, he, his wife, and another couple left the academic world and at the height of Southern racial apartheid founded Koinonia Farm in southwest Georgia. The farm’s mission was to model a holistic community – a community dedicated to interracial fellowship, […]
Read more "“Lazarus got what was left.”"
ben.edictions 