John Shelby
John Shelby
John T. Shelbyis a former center fielder in Major League Baseball who played from 1981 to 1991. His nickname was "T-Bone" for his slight frame. He currently is a coach in the Colorado Rockies minor league system...
religious jesus memories
Jesus becomes the captive of the hysterically religious, the chronically fearful, the insecure and even the neurotic among us, or he becomes little more than a fading memory, the symbol of an age that is no more and a nostalgic reminder of our believing past. To me, neither option is worth pursuing.
book names rising
Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, says, "From the rising of the sun to its setting, God's name shall be great among the Gentiles." This encompasses the whole world. Suddenly it's not the Jews against the Gentiles, or my tribe against your tribe.
jesus giving-love justice
Moral judgment is not life-giving; love that transcends the boundaries of judgment as Jesus' love did, is.
religious rigor-mortis dying
Theism, as a way of conceiving God, has become demonstrably inadequate, and the God of theism not only is dying but is probably not revivable. If the religion of the future depends on keeping alive the definitions of theism, then the human phenomenon that we call religion will have come to an end. If Christianity depends on a theistic definition of God, then we must face the fact that we are watching this noble religious system enter the rigor mortis of its own death throes.
book ideas justice
In my book, The Sins of Scripture, I traced the development of tribal religion, which included ideas like God's killing the Egyptians because they hated the chosen people. Then a God of love finally appears in the Book of Hosea, about the 8th century. A God of justice appears in the Book of Amos in the late 8th century or early 7th century.
different
It appears to be in the nature of religion itself to be prejudiced against those who are different.
yesterday giving people
If you begin to give people hope that there is a brighter future, there is a new tomorrow, then the people who were yesterday's terrorists become tomorrow's elected officials and they're part of the system.
past way lasts
Hysterical fundamentalism is not the way into the future; it is the last gasp of the past.
children long-ago years
The Bible was written between 3,000 and 2,000 years ago, and it's filled with the knowledge that people had in that period of time, some of which you and I rejected long ago. The Bible says that women are property, that homosexuals ought to be put to death, that anybody who worships a false God ought to be executed, that a child that talks back to his parents ought to be stoned at the gates of the city. Those ideas are absurd.
thinking source figures
Was Judas Iscariot a figure of history? I do not think so. There is no mention of him in any source before the 8th decade.
prayer father maturity
The God understood as a father figure, who guided ultimate personal decisions, answered our prayers, and promised rewards and punishment based upon our behavior was not designed to call anyone into maturity.
religion atheism divinity
The virgin birth, understood as literal biology, makes Christ's divinity, as traditionally understood, impossible.
believe thinking punishment
I don't think hell exists. I happen to believe in life after death but I don't think it's got a thing to do with reward and punishment. Religion is always in the control business and that's something which people don't really understand.
believe views people
The great danger... in believing yourself especially chosen is that it becomes easy to view those who are not your people as God's especially unchosen.