Introduction Martin Luther’s theology of the cross though central to the German Reformation did not manage to remain a big influence in the Protestant tradition. Traditions other than Lutheranism sprang...
Emotional and Spiritual Abuse in the Church: the Systemization of God (Part 2)
The systemization of God leads to harm being done to people in the areas of sexual ethics, emotional dependency, and communal justice. In the previous installmentof my two-part series on...
Christenen voor Islam: een exclusief interview met de nieuwe voorzitter
“Christenen voor Islam wil hetzelfde doen voor de Islam wat de organisatie Christenen voor Israël al jaren doet voor het land Israël. We willen de Islam ondersteunen.” Aan het woord...
Faith In Secular Times: How to Repent of God in Order to Follow Christ
I sometimes bend over backward to find ways in which faith can still be relevant in our secular post-Christian society (just as I bend over backward to understand why I...
Christelijk geloof en seculariteit: Om Christus te volgen moet je je van god bekeren.
Ik breek me soms het hoofd over hoe het geloof nog relevant kan zijn in onze seculaire post-christelijke maatschappij. (Net zoals ik me soms het hoofd breek over waarom ik...
Capitalism as Divine Necessity: Toward A Political Theology of the Cross
I’ve been looking for ways to describe the current politico-economic order of Western capitalism in religious terms. The task of political theology is to bring theological thought and analysis to...
“I Love Jesus But Not the Church” Means You’re On To Something
An article appeared a few days ago in the evangelical section of Patheos that really irked me. It has the rather nasty title: ‘I Love Jesus But Not the Church’...
The Theology of Bonhoeffer As a Theology of the Cross
In anticipation of the publication of my dissertation this summer, here is a brief, albeit nerdy, summary of the argument. I set out to argue that Bonhoeffer’s “Act and Being”...
De Nashville Verklaring als Geestelijke Big Mac
Wie de naam Nashville hoort, denkt meteen aan country muziek. Voor Amerikaanse evangelicals is er sinds kort ook de associatie met de Nashville Verklaring, een statement aangaande seksuele ethiek waarin...
OMG! I’m an Atheist Who Follows Christ.
The above line is not me talking. It could have been, but I decided to not become an atheist. No, it sounds more like one of my colleagues and future theological collaborators....
Evangelical Theology and Justice: Strange Bedfellows In the Kingdom of God
One big reason why Christianity has gotten a bad rap in post-world WWII Europe is that increasingly it began to be seen as hypocritical and disingenuous. Partly, as a result,...
Ethical Ambiguities in Bonhoeffer’s Theology and How to Solve Them
Bonhoeffer’s theology is multifaceted. It can be approached from many different sides and applied for different purposes. In part, this is because Bonhoeffer developed such a rich theological narrative, in...
Theocracy: Somebody’s Heaven is Someone Else’s Hell
Theocracy, that form of government in which God governs a nation directly through divine command, is hot again. Think for instance of Iran, al-Qaeda or ISIS. Closer to home, American...
Theocratie: de hemel van de een is hel voor de ander
Theocratie, de regeringsvorm waarbij God direct regeert, is weer helemaal terug van weggeweest. Denk bijvoorbeeld aan Iran, Al Qaida of IS. En op dit moment zijn Amerikaanse evangelicals bezig om...
Partying As the Bullets Fly: The Absurdity of Prophetic Fulfillment Without Justice
While the United States celebrates the relocation of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, the Israeli army shot and murdered 58 Palestinians. Yesterday Israel celebrated its 70th anniversary...