Goicoechea (Key passages) The key is to be altruistic toward widow, orphan, stranger, and enemy as more important than yourself. But serving and suffering for each other is fraught with a symmetry that excludes the other: Judas, the Pharisees, and the Romans are not loved until they repent and enter the kingdom of love. But … (2/2) All Killer No Filler: Caputo Responds to Goicoechea and Hart

Caputo agrees with Sanders that the cross as a message about service no matter what: When Sanders goes on to say so very nicely that “the cross as a sacrifice is Jesus’s determination to live his life in the service of God come hell or high water or, in his case, Roman executioners,” I would … All Killer No Filler: Caputo Responds to Sanders About the Meaning of Good Friday

The Catholic liturgy held on Good Friday can seem puzzling if not positively repellent. Norms for the liturgy stipulate that during that day’s worship service a cross be displayed and that the priest and congregation “make a simple genuflection or perform some other sign of reverence according to local custom, for example, kissing the cross.” … (2/2) Analysis of Theresa Sanders’ essay Festivals of Holy Pain: In the Wake of Good Friday

Sanders analyzes Paul’s cross of Christ not as a substitutionary atonement payment but akin to the near sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham. Paul does indeed use the language of the priestly temple sacrifice to explain the meaning of the death of Jesus. And yet I see no sense in his writings that sacrifice has anything … Analysis of Theresa Sanders’ essay Festivals of Holy Pain: In the Wake of Good Friday

To end this mini-series, I’d like to talk a bit about Jesus and Philosophy. In the previous posts I looked at atonement vs forgiveness with Plato and Aristotle, and here I will think more generally with Jesus as a Philosopher in Mark. If Walsh’s thesis is correct, then the Gospels arose out of networks of … APPENDIX: The Weakness of God and the Iconic Logic of the Cross by John Caputo – Jesus as Ancient Philosopher

Last Time: (1/2) Analysis: The Weakness of God and the Iconic Logic of the Cross by John Caputo I practice astrology; voodoo; am a Pentecostal snake handler; an evangelical fundamentalist; Baptist; Catholic; etc.  As baffling as it may seem, many people treat their pet superstitions as a badge of courage and normalcy, just look at … (2/2) Analysis: The Weakness of God and the Iconic Logic of the Cross by John Caputo

LAST TIME: New Blog Series – Cross and Khôra: Deconstruction and Christianity in the Work of John D. Caputo (Postmodern Ethics Book 1) In looking at the first half of Caputo’s opening essay, we are introduced to the idea of a cross that goes beyond substitutionary atonement.  He writes: But, as E. P. Sanders has … (1/2) Analysis: The Weakness of God and the Iconic Logic of the Cross by John Caputo

From the Blurb: This volume poses the question of the relationship between the two main influences on the thought of John D. Caputo, one of the most well-known philosophers of religion working in North America today: Jacques Derrida and Jesus Christ. Given the seemingly abstract character of Derrida’s account of the messianic, how can one … New Blog Series – Cross and Khôra: Deconstruction and Christianity in the Work of John D. Caputo (Postmodern Ethics Book 1)

It’s interesting Paul wants a reconciliation of the various factions in 1 Corinthians, and yet singles out the super apostles in 2 Corinthians as teaching another Christ and another Gospel. One solution may be that the various groups in 1 Corinthians were teaching a post cross-resurrection faith, whereas the super apostles were purists who taught … Cafeteria Christians (2/2)

As I mentioned with the Ehrman/Goicoechea posts, one of the great problems the apostle Paul had was he was not reconciled to the other Christ factions. Paul appeals for unity and reports what he has heard about the quarrels: “Now I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, … Cafeteria Christians