Religion Dispatches
…is is a God who sends evil spirits to torment, as in the case of Saul (1 S. 18:10) or Jeroboam (1 K. 14:10). We take those texts very seriously in trying to ascertain the very character of God. So in some ways you’re re-evaluating God as well as Satan. Well at the end of the book, we conclude that if Satan is indeed nothing but a servant of Satan, then it is God who is ultimately responsible for all that God does—especially if you look at the book…
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…enly realms, but in the traditional depiction of them, they are not vague “spiritual” places like the amorphous afterlife of Hereafter but actual places, albeit very different from any we usually know. Enter the Void is about the supernatural, but in a way it’s entirely naturalistic. The closest thing Hereafter presents as an authority figure, a Swiss hospice worker, says that she was once a skeptic, but was convinced over twenty years of working…
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…nge with its environment comes from the curious case of the rubber hand. In 1998, two researchers reported in the journal Nature the results of an experiment in which participants sat at a table opposite a rubber hand. They watched the rubber hand being tapped and stroked with a paint brush while at the same time their actual hands, hidden from view under the table, were also being tapped and stroked in time with the rubber hand. Given time, “some…
Read More…at some level, enough to “know” when people walk away, you’re at your gravesite and enough to experience a glimpse of your permanent place of abode. That is, if you’ve led a good life, done the rights things, tried you best, etc., you’ll get heaven. If not, well; you know what happens then. Now stories about Nakir and Munkar get interesting. So much so that some will even tell you the “questions” that they will ask and what answers are correct! I…
Read More…e of November (or according to the Islamic lunar calendar, the 8th ’til the 13th of Zul-Hijjah), so I have some flexibility. Keep in mind, for example, that people already in Saudi Arabia, and even some minimalists from outside, will only come for the hajj proper. Although it tends to be crowded there starting with Ramadan, there is some semblance of ‘before and after.’ To maximize my before, I think having some time to be there, but not in the ih…
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…st gospel singer in the world.” For all that, she didn’t win a Grammy until 1995 for her album “Songs of the Church.” Walker’s voice and presence filled many a church, but it was her generous spirit that supported the careers of many singers that made her an exceptional woman and gospel singer. Burke’s influence on country western music, as well as the Rolling Stones, Al Green and others, was a seamless marriage of the sacred and secular. Burke, o…
Read More…Church in America, and other denominations, have come to realize that the spirit of the law in their Holy book is one of love and acceptance of everyone instead of the bullying, compassionless, soul-killing, letter of the law. Mr. Sprigg, when Jesus looked out on the crowds that followed him, that book you love more than your fellow human beings, tells us that he had compassion on them. What did he do then? Did he tell them to change? Did he bull…
Read More…Dan Webster, I came across something new — to me, at least. At the IBLP website, Webster is listed as one of the “dynamic speakers” at the organization’s 2010 regional conferences. His topic: “how ‘one-accord power teams’ of dads could be the best answer for the crisis that America faces today.” What is a “one-accord power team?” According to the “Commands of Christ Power Manual #1,” written by Gothard (PDF here), “One accord takes place when two…
Read More…man.” One of the heretic hunters’ complaints about Word of Faith and other spirit-led charismatic movements like the New Apostolic Reformation is how they rely on extra-biblical revelations—the same complaint made about Mormonism. Judging from the reaction of the American Family Association—which itself has been criticized by co-religionists for its own deviations from WWJD—these Perry supporters are willing to put up with a bit of heresy in their…
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Over the last year or two, I’ve become an unironic, unapologetic fan of reality TV. I know the criticisms—they dumb us down, they elevate public humiliation—but what I’m really interested in is the way shows like Spike’s Joe Schmo Show or VH1’s I Love Money turn into morality plays about the value of friendship and loyalty. In the best reality shows, the initial rush of schadenfreude is gradually replaced with a genuine affection for the “good gu…
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