Ah, so it was not, in fact, an "attack on John 3", but rather an attack on a Senate appointment he found dubious, which you personally feel to be in disagreement with the way John 3 is interpreted in your favorite hermeneutical doctrine.
**mod edit**
I note that nearly every dictator in history rose to power on an upswell of rebellion and promises of a better society. They often even go so far as to genuinely try to build their utopia, albeit over the bones of foe and friend alike. But the question remains - what of the outcome? If we can...
I don't see how Paul is any less responsible for the founding of the Roman church than Peter. Paul's words are quoted in every liturgy. Almost all doctrine is tied to his works somehow. Nary an encyclical fails to mention one of his works or hymns. He was a part of the Roman church before Peter...
How could we ever cease to exist? We are made of eternal stuff. A flower doesn't exist any less today because it took the form of a bulb last week. This is true of everything, but I think Jesus was at literal pains to demonstrate that death is nothing to fear.
Ah, true! When I first read your post, I confess my first thought was that Mikveh was probably not very often depicted in pre-modern artwork. But a quick google search proved that I was quite wrong about this assumption! Once again, Jews are better than Christians at being Christian about...
I think we should never have eliminated the practice of baptizing nude as was done in the beginning, and I think nude depictions of Christ's baptism and crucifixion are meaningful in part because they call to mind (or should call to mind) that he is the descendant and redeemer of Adam. Jesus, of...
His words stand. If God Himself is writing, he's taking sides in a racial dispute in a major way. If Paul is writing, he has still voluntarily made himself an ally of state violence for the sake of a personal grudge. Epimenides may have been Cretan, but Paul was not.
About the Cretans:
Consider that the God of the Hebrew Scriptures called down genocidal judgements on many peoples, often going so far as to clarify that slaves and infants are in no way immune from his wrath. Paul's statements about Crete are a bit bigoted by modern standards, but are they...
I generally try to honor my family's gods and liturgies such as I know them. In terms of my direct genealogical relations, that is one of the reasons I name myself a "Christian Pagan" when pressed to claim an ill-fitting label, rather than just a pagan or general-purpose heretic. I do not...
Suddenly I wish I lived in Norway! Our local cops won't so much as take their shoes off to raid a mosque/temple, they certainly wouldn't consent to disarm.
"In human flesh"? We do not own our flesh, it was always God's and in God's image. He is not a foreign presence in our bodies (nor the Lord's) but belonged and belongs there all along, as it was in the beginning. Jesus gives us the power to come into our inheritance as rightful sons and...
Follow the money, and you'll have your answer. If "serving God" just so happens to put a man on a throne or make someone very, very rich... they probably aren't really serving God, however many proof texts they can throw at you to justify their actions.
Jesus said it thus:
"Many who are now...