Religion Dispatches
…an advanced adept no bodily experiences can be legitimately identified as spiritual; and points out that Christians who have acknowledged the meditative role of body practices avoid the “exaggerations and partiality” of eastern methods, which are often recommended to those insufficiently prepared. These warnings reach far beyond the question of whether or not the Catholic is putting her or his soul in danger by embracing monistic ideas that confl…
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…ody sweat” of Luke 22:43-44, the number six hundred sixty-six in Revelation 13, and 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 (which enjoins women to be silent in church). One of the main reasons for differences between newer translations of the Bible and the KJV is that the latter does not consistently reflect what scholars now believe to be the earliest and best ancient manuscripts. Conservative Christian groups usually oppose text-critical analysis of the manuscr…
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…rough worship, prayer and obedience to God’s Word in the power of the Holy Spirit. Promise #2 Brotherhood: A Promise Keeper is committed to pursuing vital relationships with a few other men, understanding that he needs brothers to help him keep his promises. Promise #3 Integrity: A Promise Keeper is committed to practicing spiritual, moral, ethical, and sexual purity. Promise #4 Family: A Promise Keeper is committed to building strong marriages an…
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…quite intention. Madison Grant (the spokesman for “Nordic whiteness” in the 1910s and 1920s) discussed explicitly Jesus as “Nordic” as part of his attack upon immigration from Asia and Southern and Eastern Europe. Klan members of his age, likewise, linked the racial body of Jesus to their racial national view. Of course, other times, the imaging is unintentional or at least never spoken. When Mormons erected the Christus statue in the middle of th…
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…s the time for a “Third Reconstruction” resonates with both my mind and my spirit. Such a kindling is rare in the age when identity politics rule the day. His righteous mind is un-bought and un-bossed—governed neither by corporate interest nor likes on Facebook or retweets on Twitter. I see him not as a singular prophet among the people, but in the spirit of Black Lives Matter, one out of the many who hope for a better America. Barber does not jus…
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…the locus of decision-making, albeit with flowery rhetoric about the Holy Spirit and some claim to local input. The process maintains a clear distinction between lay people and clerics, reinforces the myth that persons in religious congregations are not lay people, and leaves all the final decisions in papal hands. Some people have found it a useful framework for raising important questions—notably some Germans who have progressive views and the…
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…plained. “We’re at a moment in time where we can follow the leading of the spirit. … The Holy Spirit always enlarges our vision. It never narrows it. It never says some people are in and some people are out. It always says, ‘No, in fact the circle needs to be wider.’” The alternative begets a dark future, the bishop warns: “If the church of Jesus Christ, the body of Christ, can’t show that difference is not a bad thing, and it’s a sign of God’s di…
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…ecipice of the ultimate battle between good and evil came with Wikileaks’ “Spirit Dinner” tweet alleging that Clinton’s campaign chair, John Podesta was invited to a satanic “Spirit Dinner” where human blood, breast milk and semen would be included in the meal. Wikileaks, and the media response to this accusation, brought forward the conspiratorial link to Hillary Clinton working for Evil, and Donald Trump as the hero for Good. The linking of cons…
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…s of Project 2025 be implemented. During my time as a student at SLBC, from 1998-2000, the school focused on “spiritual warfare” and taught that “homosexual demons” possess individuals and control geographic territories. Every morning before class the entire student body together practiced a militaristic “warfare prayer.” I would sometimes lose my voice after these lengthy sessions of ecstatic prayer deployed (while speaking in tongues), both to c…
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…various New Testament texts (including I Corinthians 12-8-10, I Corinthians 12:28, and Romans 12:3-8). These gifts, or practices, include healings, exorcism, speaking and interpretation of tongues, words of wisdom, and prophetic utterances. Speaking in tongues or glossolialia, once touted as the primary practice of Pentecostals is now, despite the occasional outburst of televangelists, something very few Pentecostals engage in according to a 2006…
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