Author: David Ellis

Don: Nothing challenges faith more than the problem of evil. The argument goes: “If god exists and is all-good and all-powerful, then why did he allow evil into the world to begin with? And since it is here, why does he not eradicate it? Since we do see evil, either god must be not all-good…

Don: In his Sermon on the Mount Jesus said (Matthew 5:20): “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus was alluding to the accepted definition of righteousness (which is essentially synonymous with goodness) as the keeping of the…

Don: We are asking: What is mystery? What can we know about it? Can we develop a theology of mystery? Is it possible to lead a satisfactory spiritual life alongside unexplained mystery? Why is there a human compulsion to have mystery explained—especially, the mystery about god? The need to have mystery explained seems to be…

Don: It is odd that a book that Christians affirm has the answers to life discusses and elaborates on many “mysteries.” It confirms my thesis that the bible is more a book of questions than answers. In the New Testament, the issue of mystery is raised over and over again, first by Jesus and then…

Don: The need to clear up the mystery of the truth about god seems to be part of human nature. What is it that we really wish to know? What is that we should know? …Can know? …Must know? We’ve seen that the truth about god and about the kingdom of heaven is a timeless…

Don: Over the course of several weeks, we have touched upon three passages that might help us understand a bit more about the concept underlying the seed parables. Today we will study them as a group, to try to put them in perspective and see if they help us better relate the three seed parables…

The third of three parables in Matthew 13 is the Parable of the Mustard Seed. As with the other parables, we will examine it to see if it can offer any insights, themes, or ideas into the truth about god. This is the one parable of the three which Jesus does not explain to the…

Don: The first principle of seed derives directly from a passage in Genesis 1, which I will take from the KJV because it contains a critical piece of information concerning seed as it is seen throughout the scriptures. Indeed, scripture is replete with the metaphor of seed as the Word of god, the Truth of…

Jay began the meeting by noting that the untimely death of our classmate Harry was bound to have us struggling a bit today. He noted that Harry taught us several spiritual lessons: First, was that an historical perspective on the bible could intensify its meanings; Second was his insistence that we sometimes conflate capital-T Truth…