Tag Archives: the Gospel of John

Woke Judas

Posted on April 4, 2019 by PaulVK

In Judas' objection to Jesus' costly anointing by Mary we see a show of concern for the poor empty of first person action. Jesus' "the poor you will always have with you" may seem callous coming from a cis-male to … Continue reading →

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Peter son of Jonah dives into the sea

Posted on April 26, 2018 by PaulVK

John 21 Why does Peter jump into the sea? Why the attention to his nakedness which was culturally inappropriate? Why do modern commentators focus on the mechanics of the historical layer rather than the symbolism in a chapter that nearly … Continue reading →

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Why the Resurrected Jesus tells Mary to stop clinging and why this dislocates us from the deadly center of the story

Posted on April 14, 2017 by PaulVK

Personal Apocalypse One of the most popular stories in the Wall Street Journal this week is about Charles Murphy. This is how the article was titled Wall Street Made Charles Murphy Successful and Rich, but Happiness Eluded Him After his apparent … Continue reading →

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Can you still trust Jesus if he intentionally let Lazarus die and his sisters suffer that trauma?

Posted on March 30, 2017 by PaulVK

What did Jesus Want to Accomplish by Raising Lazarus from the Dead? Our story today is a well known one. Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Now you may not believe this ever happened, your may believe it did. But … Continue reading →

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How Jesus Rescued a Socially Outcast Woman across Gender, Ethnic and Religious Battle Lines and showed himself to be Lord of All

Posted on March 16, 2017 by PaulVK

Globalization-Pluralism-Skepticism  In his book Getting Religion Kenneth Woodward, former religion editor at Newsweek Magazine reviews the religious movements, trends and changes he observed in America from the Eisenhower administration in the 1950s up to the Obama administration. The list of formal, … Continue reading →

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Born from Above by the Man from Heaven in a Pluralistic World

Posted on March 10, 2017 by PaulVK

The Great Birkini Debate This past summer the debate about religious clothing in France reached a global audience when police enforced a ban on the birkini, modest swimwear that many Muslim women were wearing. This set up the uncomfortable situation … Continue reading →

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Why the Poor Are Always Us and Why Mary Was the Best Disciple

Posted on March 11, 2016 by PaulVK

  Poverty “Larry” (I have no idea if this was his legal name) used to sleep under a bush in the back lawn of the church more than a decade ago. He painted apartments for a guy who needed to … Continue reading →

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Why the Golden Rule is both Dysfunctional Tyranny and Invitation to Joy

Posted on May 8, 2015 by PaulVK

Presenting at the Art Institute Every few months a friend of mine invites me to present Christianity in his class “Myth, Ritual and Magic” at the Art Institute of Sacramento. I love presenting in that context. The classes are filled … Continue reading →

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Sickness Unto Death

Posted on April 3, 2014 by PaulVK

Why Didn’t Jesus Just Start Raising Lots of People? We saw with the Iranian Cleric raising the dead thought experiment that a person possessing this kind of power walking around among us would almost certainly provoke us to kill this person … Continue reading →

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Why Divine Personhood Offends us to the point of Deicide

Posted on April 3, 2014 by PaulVK

Raising the Dead Thought Experiment The above link is the raising the dead thought experiment where I discuss what might happen if an Iranian cleric was able to raise the dead and why the peoples of the world might have … Continue reading →

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