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Theology

14
May
Jesus Invites Your Backchat

Jesus Invites Your Backchat

Jesus ignored her, then compared her to a dog. His disciples tried to chase her off, but she didn't flinch. This is the story of a woman who refused to take "no" from God, and what her stubbornness and success means for us.
8 min read
09
May
A book with Armenian language text in black and red ink, with four-color illustrations. The pages are browned with age. The cover is brown leather.

Celsus Couldn’t Stand the Early Christians and Origen Couldn’t Let It Go

Celsus was Rome's sharpest critic of Christianity — witty, erudite, and deeply annoyed. Origen was the scholar-mystic who read his takedown and responded with a doctoral dissertation's worth of controlled fury. Their clash is part theology, part philosophy, and surprisingly hilarious.
7 min read
09
May
A man in red robes stands on a rock to address a crowd. Water and trees are in the background.

What Early Rivals Reveal About Christianity’s Fragmented Beginnings

Before Christianity, there was a tangle of competing movements, rival baptisms, and charismatic teachers. A brief story in Acts about an Alexandrian preacher named Apollos cracks that tidy history open — and asks what if Jesus wasn't the center yet?
8 min read
03
Apr
Who Are You When Your Body Dies?

Who Are You When Your Body Dies?

When my best friend ended up on life support, I finally understood something the Gospel of Mary had been trying to tell me all along — about the soul, and what makes any of us irreplaceable.
4 min read
11
Mar
Saint Thekla reliquary, German, late 15th to early 16th century, wood with polychromy - Princeton University Art Museum. Public Domain.

Paul's Teaching on Sex Liberated Thekla. For the Rest of Us, It's More Complicated.

My women's group read The Acts of Paul and Thekla aloud. My margin notes said "Sex? No sex? WTF?????" This essay is about what happens when a woman with a complicated past finally reckons with Paul.
7 min read
05
Mar
A man with white hair and late-Victorian style hair and clothes gazes to the left, his face in profile.

The Rapture Was Invented in the 1830s. Now It's Reached the Pentagon

The prophetic system now being invoked by some commanders took shape in the nineteenth century. The earliest Christian theologians would not have recognized this framework. Their debates about the end of history looked very different.
6 min read
26
Feb
Bright sun shines on a red sandstone church of the late 19th or early 20th century. Green grass and shade trees adorn the front lawn.

Can Progressive Christianity Speak with Conviction?

Progressive Christianity stands at a threshold. Its future will depend not on rejecting the past, but on articulating its convictions with clarity and formed depth.
6 min read
02
Feb
A screen shows the word "Jesus" in letters four-feet tall, while a band performs onstage and the audience cheers and raises their hands.

Salvation Isn’t About What You Believe — It’s About What You Become

Most forms of Christianity in the U.S. today revolve around a single question: Are you saved? But what if salvation was never meant to be a moment of belief — but a lifelong process of becoming?
5 min read
22
Jan
A bronze figure of a god wearing a tall, bowling-pin-shaped headdress, and holding aloft his right hand where a spear or tool existed at one time.

Creole Religion: How Ancient Gods Shaped Christianity and Judaism

Ancient gods didn’t stay in their lanes. From Baal and Asherah to Qetesh and Hathor, this essay explores how blended religions shaped Judaism and Christianity.
9 min read
14
Jan
A young woman with long wavy hair that covers her shoulders holds a skull to her chest. Her left hand is on her cheek and she is staring off into the foreground as if in deep contemplation.

Why Jesus Said “There Is No Such Thing as Sin”

When Jesus says “There is no such thing as sin” in the Gospel of Mary, he isn’t denying harm—he’s naming it differently. This essay explores sin as misalignment, original goodness, and the forgotten self within.
4 min read