Category: scripture

Missing Marcus

Don Shrumm

Marcus Borg died yesterday and this morning I am feeling more exposed; a little less brave. For 25 years since Jesus: A New Vision came out I have read his works with fascination and admiration for this scholar and prophet who dared go where many of us wanted but dared not. His progressive and deeply biblical, historical vision has been an inspiration to many of us preachers whose livelihood is forever tied to the approval of people for whom academia can feel a threat.

Why I Don’t Teach “Jesus Died for My Sins”

Don Shrumm

Atonement & Forgiveness  The Bible teaches us that we are good (Genesis 1).  We are called to be in a relationship with God and have the capacity to obey and be faithful (Deuteronomy 30 and a good deal of the Old Testament account). Much traditional Atonement theology forgets this! Paul, waxing poetic about Adam and Eve, says we come by our disobedience honestly…it is everywhere in our story. There is no mention of “The Fall” in the Bible

Jonah Is (Is) Swallowed Up One Last Time

Don Shrumm

Religion is remembering; calling back something we didn’t know we knew that grounds us and lends continuity and meaning to our days. (re-“again” legere – “to read”) Violence is forgetting, denying, making discontinuous, or annihilating the past and stripping away identity and the security of the present. By stealing backstory we take away identity and belonging as well as livelihood and safety. What is left is the frighteningly transient quality of the Now,

Naked

Don Shrumm

Darn wife. It’s Monday morning, and maybe we haven’t slept quite as well as we wish, or maybe the weather is a little cloudy (surprising for a Colorado morning) or just maybe the psychic field is a little “under”…whatever. And she says, apropos of nothing, as we are showered and getting dressed for the day/week/rest of our our lives: “Get up, just go to work, again? That can’t be it…” And the “it” in her sentence is understated in delivery,

3 minutes to reflect

Don Shrumm

If you aren’t familiar with Spiritbath you might look it up. They are a reliable (and too frequent for my taste) source of inspirational videos and articles, and this brief but surprising vignette came across my desk today. Stretching out into the web can indeed be an edifying thing – not merely entertaining! You don’t need to be a runner to hear in this man’s story a remarkable invitation to listening in our own lives for health and growth. And for looking at others in new ways as well.