The Rev. Robert V. Thompson is senior minister of the Lake Street Church of Evanston, Illinois. Formerly the Chair of the Parliament of the World's Religions, he is the author of A Voluptuous God: A Christian Heretic Speaks.
Extremism is a dirty word. The headlines scream about extremists who seek to cause suffering in the lives of ordinary people. Hoping to create a climate of fear and instability extremists know how to rock the boat. We read and...
When a preventable horrendous event occurs in our national life we typically rise up in a moment of inspired solidarity. This spirit of unity emerged following the attacks of 9/11. It is only natural that as we rise up...
The Pledge of Allegiance was written by Francis Bellamy. A Baptist minister and Christian socialist, Bellamy was forced out of his Boston church because of his socialist sermons. The pledge was originally written for the popular magazine...
A number of years ago the Buddhist monk and teacher, Thich Nhat Hanh wrote a book, Living Buddha, Living Christ . In so many words he says that if you were to stand in the very...
Occasionally in a sermon, I use the word goddess as a reference to the deity. Invariably, someone approaches me after and says that the word goddess goes just a little too far for them. Many of these same people...
Stephen Prothero has just published a book, God Is Not One where he argues that contemporary interfaith dialogue tends to gloss over the God question. God cannot be glossed, he says. On the surface, Prothero is of course right. When...
Go online, read a newspaper, turn on the evening news and you are hit with bad news. From the war in Afghanistan to new charges of priestly pedophiles—from the latest bombing in Baghdad to the latest gun violence...
I once had a seminary professor who became upset to the point of shaking over the meaning of Jesus’ resurrection. Puffing up and turning red in the face he lectured us, “Do not confuse the resurrection of...
Several years ago, the unveiling of the Gospel of Judas gave new life to the debate about whether Judas was indeed acting as a betrayer, or not. Whatever his motive, the name Judas has become synonymous with betrayer...
Well, you can just go to hell! If you've ever said (or thought) this, welcome to the human race. We are always ready to send to hell those who prevent us from living in...