1. One poisonous byproduct of the rising outcry against Critical Race Theory/Marxism is the false, malicious, public labeling of individuals and institutions as heterodox enemies of the church. Another word for this is Slander. It is a grave sin, and it must cease.
2. Slander is a violation of the 8th commandment (the theft of one's good name, "a much dearer possession" [Aquinas] than even physical property) and the 9th commandment (bearing false witness against neighbor).
3. According to our Christian forebears, when guilty of slander, we must not only publicly confess our sin. We must also make amends for these public thefts of reputation. Alas, restitution is required for the sin of slander.
1. In the pursuit of public justice, one challenge we typically face is an imbalance of gifts/personalities that shape the public conversation and the crucial work of transformation.
2. We are rarely short on “prophets”—those who speak truth, name the problem, call for repentance and righteousness. They serve a crucial role, but by themselves they cannot effect change. Prophets are, of course, best rewarded in our present moment.
3. But we also need “priests”—those who bring people together, build bridges with the masonry of mercy and kingdom empathy, assure others of the possibility of new beginnings. Without these there can be no healing. They promote the inner work needed for lasting transformation.
1. Galatians 3:23–4:7 as an instance of gender-inclusive translation unwittingly neutering the radically gender-inclusive nature of the gospel:
2. Four times Paul refers to those belonging to Christ by faith as "son/s" (υἱός); in three of those instances (we'll get to the fourth), the NIV, for example, translates the word "child/ren" (3:26; 4:7).
3. Is Paul "predictably" succumbing to the patriarchal worldview and linguistic patterns of his day? Doesn't appear so, considering the close proximity of "you are all sons" (3:26) to his boldly egalitarian statement, "there is no male and female" (3:28).
1. What is #Juneteenth? Juneteenth is the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States. On JUNE nineTEENTH, 1865, Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas.
2. They brought news that the Civil War had ended and that the enslaved were now free—two and a half years after President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation. Today it remains as the most popular annual celebration of emancipation in the African American community.
3. On that day in Galveston (then Texas’ largest city), General Granger issued General Order Number 3 (pictured below), which began: “The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. ...
1. A few quick observations from Acts 6:1-7. Some leaders might have assessed the Hellenistic Jewish complaint as a problem of food, poverty, and unfortunate circumstances alone. "Let's not make everything about race."
2. But the Apostles/disciples saw that this was a cultural problem, not just a food problem; and an institutional problem, not just a situational problem; a power (authority) problem, not just a poverty problem.
3. So, they installed a cultural-logistical-institutional solution: a new leadership role, endowed with institutional authority, filled by leaders representing and rooted in the overlooked minority group (v. 5), tasked with filling the practical need.
Jonathan Edwards owned several slaves, including a woman named Leah (purchased in 1736) and Titus (a "negro boy" listed in his estate inventory in 1758). Here's his bill of sale for "a Negro Girle named Venus…age Fourteen years or thereabouts" purchased for £80 on June 7, 1731.
Edwards grew up in a slave-owning home; his father Rev. Timothy Edwards owned at least one slave, a man named Ansars. It was common in Northampton for social elites to own one or two slaves, a woman for domestic chores and a man for work in the fields.
Edwards condoned the purchase and ownership of slaves as long as they were purchased legally, treated humanely, and converted/Christianized. He upheld the popular view that a child’s condition was determined by that of its mother (slavery defined both legally and procreativity).