The Flaws of Original Sin (doctrine)

Hi there,
As I’ve studied the people and beliefs of a number of early Christians, it’s become ever more apparent how the corrupting effect of the Roman Empire altered our understanding of the human condition.

What began as a way to tell “whose’s in and whose’s out” with Creeds and working out doctrines (through often heated series of arguments) and adopting specific doctrines, the institutional Church (now in-bed with the foremost world super power) could wield power more expertly.

Most of what we know of St Augustine, in a personal way, comes from his writings called Confessions. This was a vulnerable move to shepherd readers, and he was undoubtably an intellectual giant. That said, his experiences and personal failings clouded his ideas and in some ways these were harmful to the religion from then onward.

The following episode is meant for adult audiences.

Evil & The Justice of God

 “When people deny the humanity of others, they become evil themselves.”  -N.T. Wright

 

I’m preparing to do a quarter of a year (January-March) teaching with the themes and the companion videos of Tom Wright’s book Evil and the Justice of God.

We’ll be tackling some tough territory:

• Why is there so much Evil in the world? (More than ever?)

• Why does God let it happen and what, if anything, is God doing really about it? (What’s going on?)

• How does the Bible approach the subject? (Whoa. Lots of common misunderstandings here!)

• How does Justice work? (Revenge, Justice, Mercy, we’ll be sorting that out.)

• What is our role or best response with regards to Evil? (Do we stand against it, roll over, avoid it, bear it? The answers may surprise you.)

If you can’t make the classes Sundays 9:30-10:15 a.m. at Bethesda, I’ll be highlighting items here as I work on it and as I teach.

Here’s an intro video trailer. The book is remarkable. I highly recommend it.