Claiming Charles Darwin: Confessions of a Christian

The phrase “Father, forgive me, I have sinned” might be an appropriate statement for generations of Evangelical Christians who demonized evolution as the enemy of faith. It’s not the first time in history that the church has misunderstood both science and its own theology.
Not 450 years earlier, it was the Roman Catholics who got it [...]

Read Full Post »

Forgiveness: The Moral Conundrum of the Economic Bailout

Business Ethics and Financial Services
Forgiveness – The Moral Conundrum of the Economic Bailout
Holding the economic bailout of the Wall Street to a higher standard may sound trite, trivial or worse, irrelevant in our age of analysis and analytic antidotes. It takes intellectual courage to suggest that our cure may lie outside the temples of higher [...]

Read Full Post »

Promise or Pessimism: Graduating from High School

The context of this letter was the high school graduation of my son. It explores questions of creating a meaningful life out of the promise of education and career opportunities while avoiding the pitfalls of pessimism.
Dear Garrett,
On Your High School Graduation 2008
To say that mom and I are very proud of your accomplishments would [...]

Read Full Post »

Death’s Sting of a Young Life: A Fumbled Promise of God?

The following is the eulogy for Joshua Baranieski who left us suddenly at the age of nineteen. It was given by Murray Owen at St Albert Alliance Church on June 20th 2008. The heartfelt tribute celebrates Josh and explores the tradgedy of the believer.
A Tribute to Josh
In his tragic accident on Sunday, June [...]

Read Full Post »

Grace – A Tribute to My Father

A memorial tribute given by Murray Owen on the death of his father, Ken Owen in June of 2005 at Southgate Alliance Church, Edmonton, Alberta. Ken was not a Christian in the way Evanglicals would define salvation, but Ken was saved by God in the way so many of us are, by Grace. The tribute speaks to Ken’s life and how the Biblical scriptures define salvation by Grace.

Read Full Post »

Obsolete Christianity and Revitalized Faith: Sanctorum Communio, the Communion of Saints

The ardent Capitalists or devote relativist might view the decline in North American church attendance as signaling the death of Christian religious fever. The capitalist who measures success in numbers and the relativist who sees authority would suggest that we are witnessing the secularization of America, similar to trends in Western Europe. Even the Christian [...]

Read Full Post »

How Do Buddhists Do the Problem of Evil?

The simple answer is that they don’t. For Buddhism, it’s the problem of desire. Christianity has the problem, not Buddhism. Why is this? Buddhism starts with the problem of evil, suffering or “dukkha,” as its first statement of faith in the four noble truths. However, it is not the problem we think. Buddhism concedes that [...]

Read Full Post »

Critiquing Christians: A Founders Warning

Critiquing Christians: The Lord’s Prayer, A Founders Warning
The Lord’s Prayer is one of the most recited and well known prayers worldwide. Yet, it is probably the least understood. We speak it so freely and frequently in Western society implying we understand its message. As a child, I memorized the prayer, but not until college did [...]

Read Full Post »

A Case for Religious Possibilities: Jonah, a Whale of a Story

For some, the book of Jonah in the Hebrew Old Testament is reminiscent of a grand fishing story. Not only did the fish get away, but the tale seems larger than life. It makes a great children’s story, but is of little use in our modern lives. Even the theologians have reduced it to a [...]

Read Full Post »

Evil: The Dark Night of the Soul

The problem of evil has many faces. Unfortunately, none of them are pretty, but all of them very real. Elie Wiesel book, Night, is one of those faces.
The believer’s tragedy is how a good God could allow such suffering and injustice. Is God good? Is God all powerful? Evil can’t be glossed over in theoretical [...]

Read Full Post »