Friendship: A Folk-Punk Gospel

"Show me your friends, and I will show you your future." In my Church youth group, this phrase was preached to warn teenagers about the company they keep. Although well-intentioned, it encouraged transactional relationships for personal gain while simultaneously urging youth to repress their problems among peers and choose friends based on outward appearances. In… Continue reading Friendship: A Folk-Punk Gospel

The Apocalypse of the Cross and the End of History

"Our eschatology shapes our ethics." - Rob Bell, Love Wins Eschatology (the study of the last things) is often a reading and interpreting one’s own time. For ancient Jews and early Christians, eschatological readings of history were done through apocalyptic (revelatory) events or writings which colored their understanding of the last things. In this sense, an… Continue reading The Apocalypse of the Cross and the End of History

Theology I & Irenaeus of Lyon

I believe I was in my Sophomore year the day when I realized we were going to have a substitute teacher in Theology I. As I walked into class on that Thursday afternoon at first I rolled my eyes because I thought I was going to get a subpar lecture from a 2nd rate professor. I could not be further from the truth.