When Jesus teaches us to pray for the future, his picture can sound a bit authoritarian: “Your kingdom come!” we are to pray. No matter how strongly we believe in enlightened, tolerant, participative government, when it comes to God we are in a monarchy. So what are we asking when we pray “Your kingdom come!”? […]
Whadaya Know? (And Who and How?)
“Studying a sixteenth century document has nothing to do with real living faith!” The objection is close to the surface whenever I talk about using the Heidelberg Catechism in real life — say, to teach youth or adults what the Christian faith is about. This is followed by a second, corollary objection: “I can’t memorize anything!” […]