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Adam Kotsko's book Prince of this World explores the way that 'demonic' is inverted from defining the oppressor (i.e. Babylon, Rome, etc) to defining the oppressed. He uses the rhetoric surrounding black victims of police brutality as 'demonic' to further drive in this point. It's worth a look if you are interested.

The whole thing is a scam. The podcast Behind the Bastards did a 3-part series on Jerry Falwell, and part 3 is about Liberty University and Jerry Jr.

This has been floating around the internet, though I would hardly endorse all the items on the list.

I'm a pretty big fan of magical realist films like Big Fish and Forrest Gump, to name a couple accessible ones. I'd say comedy is also pretty formative for me.

I recently watched This Is the End--it's what the Left Behind books would be if you actually took dispensationalism seriously; except it stars James Franco, Seth Rogen, and those folks.

Dr. Keller, I'll admit I am not as familiar with your work as I would like. I really appreciate what I do know of you from some of your interviews on Homebrewed Christianity, and off hand accounts that have been described here. I do have a few questions that I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on.

1. I've read (in Mysticism as Revolt) that you have done some work with Deleuze in shaping a "tehomic theology". I'm wondering if you could describe this "tehomic theology" and how it intereacts with the critiques of representation in Deleuze. Are there other avenue's for theology to interact with Deleuze that you find promising?

2. If someone is interested in exploring theopoetics, where would you suggest that they start?

Thank you so much for participating in this event! I really appreciate it.

This: Vampyroteuthis Infernalis Perhaps, one of the greatest books on disanthropocentrism, animal studies and the philosophy of art.

You should make a Slack team for it. That way you could organize discussion by chapter, topic, etc. and it could be more real time. There are tons of plugins for scheduling and such, the communication is way more rich and emotive, and it's free.

I think "The Kingdom of God is Within You" is one of the most important texts on the subject of war ever written. I rank it up there with Klausewitz's "On War", Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" and Chris Hedge's "War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning."

If you read those four texts, I think you'll end up with a profound understanding of the nature of human conflict.

That said, I find "The Kingdom" a less engaging read than Tolstoy's other works. I loved Anna Karenina and War and Peace. There's something incredibly immersive about these long, languid stories that carry you forward like a wide river, past all kinds of scenery, in an unhurried but unstoppable way.

Those lines about heresy are fascinating. I've long ago reconciled myself to the fact that I will always be considered a heretic by at least some branch of the church: it's impossible not to be, when the various streams of Christianity hold mutually exclusive positions. I'm not allowed to be catholic AND orthodox AND protestant, so I can't NOT be a heretic.

So yeah, read some more Tolstoy. He has a profound, slightly cynical view of human nature, and allows his characters to work out the consequences of their beliefs without being heavy handed.

A good book to look at would be Hardt's Gilles Deleuze: Apprenticeship in Philosophy. [Worldcat] [Amazon] Hardt examines the role of Bergson, Nietzsche and Spinoza in Deleuze's thought, and does a good job of showing how Deleuze can respond to Hegel without moving into the negative.

I like CS Lewis's standard for whether you are using enough of your money for charity: if you have the same standard of living as other people who make a similar amount of money as you (or have a similar level of assets) then you are not giving enough away. Charitable giving should impact the way you live. You should be willing to make material sacrifices to support others.

Now, this is a low bar. There may be a lot of room between maintaining a lower standard of living than your financial peers and giving away all your possessions. Where you end up on that spectrum requires prayer and introspection.

I thought The Power of Half was an excellent story about a wealthy families move towards becoming socially conscious.

Amazon link

The Art of War is literally just a list of rules that, if you follow them perfectly at all times in a competitive situation, will greatly improve your odds of emerging victorious.

Tao Te Ching really isn't just tautologies, but I can see how it comes across that way. I think if you meditate on the specific examples given and think about them, you come to recognize (and adopt) the underlying worldview being expressed.

in Biblical Hermeneutics

• <em>The Bible Tells Me So: Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It</em> by Peter Enns

  Enns' text wrestles very well with what I take to be the general stance against defending the Bible one finds in this thread. He is a very reputable biblical scholar who writes for a lay audience. He knows his shit (I can attest to this as one of his students, too).

I deeply disagree with you about the contingent nature of anti-black violence, though I think "war" is a very good term to describe the antagonism between blackness and anti-blackness in American civil society. I am of the afro-pessimist camp in critical race theory, that the black is the timeless slave of civil society and that anti-blackness is a founding violence on which modernity and global white society is constructed. A contentious position but one backed by such scholars as Jared Sexton, Hortense Spillers, Frank Wilderson and others; I recommend you to read the first ~60 pages of Wilderson's <em>Red, White &amp; Black: Cinema and the Structure of U.S. Antagonisms</em>; as far as critical race theory goes, it's a rather easy read, and it's double-spaced so 60 pages goes by pretty quickly!

(plug for /r/philosophyofrace since i mod it and occasionally submit afro-pes scholarly papers there too)

I, unfortunately, have not read Gender Trouble and feel worse of for it. Though, Butler uses some interesting language that I trace to Deleuze and Guattari. I'm not sure if she is drawing from them, but God is dead and so are authors.

The word "inscription" is what I'm interested in. D&G say that the skin of the Body without Organs is a recording surface for inscription. Overall, it sounds like they (D&G and Butler) talk about the body in a pretty similar way. I guess I would push an insight from...someone...god, I don't remember who. "We don't have souls, we are souls." In this way, our soul is bound up with who we are.

What I see interesting in performativity is that possibility for a multiplicity of becomings and selves. Not just male and female, but limitless genders based on the repurposing of our "Body without Organs" or different performances (I don't know if this a fair comparison...kind of just meandering here as well.

here is a thing I wrote a while ago. I'll post it, because its related, though don't feel obligated to read it...it might be terrible.

To my knowledge, there are very few commentaries that incorporate a 1st century Jewish worldview. Paula Fredricksen and John Harrigan have done quite a bit of work on reading the Bible through that lens. Interestingly enough, Paula is not a believer, but her work as a literary historian is excellent. Hope this helps answer your question!

Harrigan: https://www.amazon.com/Gospel-Christ-Crucified-Theology-Suffering/dp/0996495541

Fredricksen: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009QJMWI4/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tkin_p1_i5

Check out David Bentley Hart. He's an Eastern Orthodox theologian who defends universalism very well. His book that does so is That All Shall Be Saved.

Totally loved the Tolstoy novels that I have read - Anna Karenina, War and Peace

'The Kingdom of God is Within You' I think is a fascinating book: Personally, I believe the 4 most important books ever written on the subject of war are:

• Sun Tzu: The Art of War
• Clausewitz: On War.
• Tolstoy: The Kingdom of God is Within You
• Hedges: War is a Force that Gives us Meaning

I heartily recommend all of them.

1) The Kingdom of God is Within You - Tolstoy

2) An Ethic For Christians and Other Aliens in a Strange Land - William Stringfellow

3) Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography - John Dominic Crossan

4) Escape from Freedom - Erich Fromm

5) The Prophet - Khalil Gibran

6) Ishmael - Daniel Quinn

7) Peace is Every Step - Thich Nhat Hanh

8) Reflections on the Art of Living - Joseph Campbell

9) Man's Search for Meaning - Victor Frankl

10) Breakfast of Champions - Kurt Vonnegut

Currently reading:

War and Peace by Tolstoy

Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl

Half-assing:

Punk Monk by Pete Greig and Andy Freeman

Next Up:

Insurrection: To Believe Is Human To Doubt, Divine by Peter Rollins

Sadhana, a Way to God: Christian Exercises in Eastern Form

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0385196148?ref_=cm_sw_r_apan_dp_XGSK3FPB5WPQPKE7999T

This book literally got me started on my spiritual journey.

Anyone looking for a comprehensive and biblically based exploration on the topic should check out Bible, Gender, Sexuality by James V. Brownson.

I don't know the answer but have the same questions. I have borrowed (free from Amazon Prime) this book which I think discusses the issue.

Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger: Moving from Affluence to Generosity https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00PWOH5TS/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_6JE9NWBMNG0PC3N4PV23

The Social Principles of Jesus by Walter Rauschenbusch. Very accessible, originally intended for students. Written in a question, discussion format. And he was a Baptist minister!

Not super heavy on political theory, but it's good for getting the ball rolling. Free on Project Gutenberg: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/29912

This is exactly the right advice. This is the study Bible that I personally use and recommend, but there are many others. The New Interpreter's Study Bible: New Revised Standard Version With the Apocrypha: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0687278325/ref=cm_sw_r_apa_i_CTCKQJQCTDGXHVE975WP_2

I have done a lot of work on this question and even wrote a book about it. It is called "Caesar's Census, God's Jubilee." (https://www.amazon.ca/Caesars-Census-Gods-Jubilee-Reimagining/dp/149362413X)

I believe that Jubilee is essential to understanding the Gospels, especially the Gospel of Luke and in particular Luke's nativity story.

Here is a little taste of the way that I have approached this essential topic: https://retellingthebible.wordpress.com/2018/12/12/episode-1-6-a-conversation-on-the-way/

Shane Claiborne has put out Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals

It has daily readings and a morning, midday, and evening prayer, along with profiles of "radicals" throughout church history, and a "monthly action"

If you want to check out the content, there's a free app

When I first got serious about meditation and christianity (middle school), I came across this book in a church flee market fundraiser, of all things.

Some really great lessons and exercises.

https://smile.amazon.com/Sadhana-Way-God-Anthony-Mello-ebook/dp/B005GFIKYM

I highly recommend this book. It clearly connects the dots between politics and religion in America.

Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08C1G1XG3/ref=cm_sw_r_apan_K6AR192ZVFVPJTT46TVC

I have the Action Bible for my kids. It's basically a comic version of the bible made by someone who use to work for Marvel. Its really good. It just covers the basic stories of the old and new testament. I highly recommend it.

https://www.amazon.com/Action-Bible-Doug-Mauss/dp/0781444993/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?keywords=action+bible&amp;qid=1648231084&amp;sr=8-4

Buy bitcoin. It will start lengthening your time preferences, help you to dump the mindless consumerism, and have hope. Worked for me. Strong and smart community. Brings you to learn economic and money. It's a peaceful revolution. This is the closest thing to the thrill of that first high, which I'd been chasing ever since. I can even send you $10 if you set up a bitcoin wallet and generate an address. Electrum.org is a good one if you haven't got one yet.

I did make that group, https://www.goodreads.com/group/show/140839-r-radicalchristianity . Looks like we're talking about similar ideas in this thread.

I highly recommend the History of Hell it’s a secular study of hell in different cultures/religions. When I did a study of hell for a youth group i bought this and realized the traditional view was very wrong

BTW, Mark Russell is the author of the similarly irreverent novel God Is Disappointed in You

>Organize while you still can. It may be too late tomorrow.

Remember to prioritize security as well. Use Proton Mail instead of gmail, and never allow sites to access your location data. For an added layer I strongly recommend using Tails. Learning to use sign language or use doublespeak to obfuscate your language might also prove useful to protecting oneself both online and offline.

No matter what happens, have a plan of action ready for when failure comes.

>This is misinformation. You linked to a story written by LifeSiteNews, one of the most notoriously unreliable religious "news" sites on the internet. Take this down.

The mysterious disappearance of the Vicar of Christ

Thanks for the perspective. 👍

Anyway titles are all nice and fancy...but I really enjoy this book...

Leader who had no Title

yes.

If you want more info, read "The kingdom of God is Within You" by Leo Tolstoy, or "The Conquest of Bread" by Kropotkin. There are many more books on anarchism - if you don't have access to a library or bookstore, you can read about it at https://theanarchistlibrary.org/

For anyone else who isn't yet familiar with Tolstoy, this is a really good (free!) e-edition of The Kingdom of God Is Within You.

If you're talking about Z library yeah its still online. Just search it up on google. If you're talking about the book Fidel and Religion yeah, that's also online on Z library. You can download it.

Here's a link:

https://z-lib.org/

I went ahead and checked it out on the Oxford English Dictionary site:

From: Middle English: from Old French, from Latin innocentia, from innocent- 'not harming' (based on nocere 'injure')

I'm pretty deeply resistant to identifying Eckhart with neoplatonism, but instead of writing up a big thing about it I'm just going to leave this here: https://www.academia.edu/4372128/Commentarial_Nothingness_pdf_

>How does this post in anyway connect to the material reality of those living under oppression?

This was my instinct when reading the post. Are we really to imagine that Jesus would have told the insurgents in Venezuela this year, for example, to lay down their arms, embrace their President and walk away from the mercenaries of the state that were hellbent on attacking them?

http://www.autistici.org/tridnivalka/wp-content/uploads/Venezuela-78586-GaleriaUno.jpg

There is a time for peace and a time for war.

>Jah Jah is a warrior; Jah Jah is his name. Pharaoh's chariots and army he has hurled into the sea the pick of his officers have been drowned in the Sea of Reeds.

&#x200B;

My faith is pretty basic, all the usual aspects of Christianity (except that I obviously lean far more left than conservatives, because to me it's obvious those ideals are closer to what Jesus calls us to do). My one big 'exception' is that I believe in Christian universalism, or universal reconciliation, or whatever you want to call it.

The one key difference that differentiates me from 'mainstream' Christians is that I believe hell is a temporary punishment, meant to restore people rather than punish them. Everyone will be saved.... eventually.

I came to this conclusion after a looooooooooong period of research that made me accept that universal salvation was taught in the early church, and in the Bible, before modern interpretations and translations messed up everything. That's more of a rational historical fact, even if you completely ignore the spiritual side. On that note, I also had several inexplicable events occur when I asked God to tell me if this was real, which helped me to accept it on an emotional level as well.

I can't recommend the book 'Hope Beyond Hell' enough, it covers all the basic arguments about universal salvation in an extremely easy to understand manner - and it's free as a digital ebook on amazon or a pdf on the author's website! So I really recommend you give it a look, I think it may help your current struggles.

https://www.amazon.com/Hope-Beyond-Righteous-Purpose-Judgment-ebook/dp/B001T4Z81C

Hope you figure things out!

I agree, it is very nice.

If you want to have a look at a modern implementation of gnosticism then you could check out The Key

Thank you for this!

For those interested, there's also a social justice devotional coming out in a few weeks, too: 'On Love and Mercy: A Social Justice Devotional'

Next, check out: The Making of Biblical Womanhood by Beth Allison Barr (authors are friends) And, The Power Worshippers by Katherine Stewart.

Blasphemy doesn't exist, unless you count the complete corruption of the message of the (very mortal) human Jesus Christ by the Catholic Church and other branches that lie to their devotees to this day about the true origin of the Christian Eucharist and how it gives you a direct personal connection to the true nature of the universe.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0818QJHKF/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_OOAcGb1WW23AJ

> I'm having trouble wanting to remain a Christian at all since so many are hateful.

This is an absolute reality, and one I struggle with too. I'm torn between searching for a new descriptor (Jesusite? Christist? Go back to "the Way"?), and standing up in the middle of my local wannabe-mega-church and going "Fuck y'all for stealing my religion's name." Just ugh.

But enough of that! Not helpful lol. What might be helpful is if I answered your question! And for that... I have a few books that aren't specifically about this topic, but that touch on it in adequate detail in the context of the overall conversations. But specifically I'd recommend Romans Disarmed by Keesmaat and Walsh. It's a hefty book, entirely dedicated to a reinterpretation of Romans that I find absolutely essential to understanding the book. It includes an entire chapter on sexuality called "Imperial Sexuality and Covenantal Faithfulness." It's technically the penultimate chapter, but the last chapter is more of an epilogue.

That book is an essential read if you're interested in getting a feel for Paul in context. Especially since Romans is the book so often thought of as some great theological treatise, reading Romans Disarmed gives you the tools you need to see and show why Romans isn't a sword, but a plough.

This particular area of theology isn't my area of expertise, nor is it my area of experience. I am absolutely a cishet white male lol, so my position is mostly made up of bits of research here and there, cohesively puzzled together to re-inform my perspectives on biblical sexuality. But the recommended book represents those perspectives well.

How do I get the download to work? There's one screen that wants my email address, but I'm not putting that in. nope. sorry.

You might want to add the title of the book in your post. I'm now searching to see if I can find anything about it.

It's been around since 2003 and not one single review on Amazon?! https://www.amazon.com/Living-Edge-Challenges-Faith-1/dp/1304842533 Okay, something is really fishy here.

Check out Dr. Willie Parker. He’s a devout Christian and an abortion provider. You can find his book “Life’s Work: a moral argument for choice” here

I've recently been reading John Dominic Crossan's The Birth of Christianity : Discovering What Happened in the Years Immediately After the Execution of Jesus. Some chapters are highly accessible (though I would skip over the many chapters that cover his methodology). I enjoy historical criticism, so I've been enjoying all of it. YMMV.

The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha is the standard.

I also highly recommend the Jewish Annotated New Testament.

Edit: My bad I thought you were asking for study bible recommendations.

What is it you’re wanting? Are you wanting to study biblical criticism and history? Or is this for spiritual practice and fulfillment?

Lots of us going through these kinds of stories with you. We all have our own brands of personal trauma, it's real and we're with you.

Post Traumatic Church Disorder (or syndrome is very real). A read I've heard recommended several times here

Mysticism is indeed the way out of your fear as it is the string between the pearls of each religion. Happy to correspond as well!

I can't recommend this book enough -- it lays out the teachings of Christ from a mystical, Eastern perspective that is both spiritual and scholarly.

The Mystic Christ https://www.amazon.com/dp/0972931708/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_YoWRzbT68WY5T

Love and blessings to you.

1. Landmann 26364 23-1/2-Inch Savannah Garden Light Fire Pit for $100

2. Invite your really smart friends over for drinks and to sit around your new fire pit. Get them to talk about books they're read / research they're doing. Wine (amazon doesnt sell beer) - $50.

3. Borrow said books from your friends / library - $0

4. Success?

The OEB, ESV for study and to fill in the blanks as the OEB team is in translation and production.

The New New Testament and the Gnostic Gospels.