If you're trying to resolve the problem of suffering and wrap it up in a neat little package, you'll only be disappointed by Christianity. Christianity doesn't answer that question. It dwells in the suffering. It acknowledges it, laments it, and looks for ways to reduce it, but it doesn't tell you why. A friend recently … Continue reading on suffering
faith
review: Rachel Held Evans’ Searching for Sunday
Rachel Held Evan's Searching for Sunday is about church: its triumphs and failings, its hypocrisy and grace. Rachel, like me, grew up in a well-intentioned Evangelical community where the Bible is accepted as fact and the "plain truth" is within easy reach. It's a culture of black and white morality, where spiritual cliches are a … Continue reading review: Rachel Held Evans’ Searching for Sunday
Good Friday
In 2011, God was silent. I didn't stop believing, but I was numb. Numb like cold fingers in the middle of winter: on the brink of frostbite. I was terrified of losing the religion, the community, and the language of faith that had been central to my life as a child and young adult. The … Continue reading Good Friday
open arms
I stopped going to church for nearly a year for a variety of reasons. I didn't feel that my academic knowledge was appreciated, I was limited by my gender, I wasn't at all comfortable with opening up about real struggle, I didn't fit in. I think Daniel and I feared that we would never really … Continue reading open arms
faith and feminism, part 1
I attended college in North Florida, the southernmost point of the true south. As a Religious Studies major, I learned about my Christian faith and its heritage within a much wider scope than my evangelical upbringing had provided. I studied history, literature, ancient languages, and ethics. At some (I suppose, inevitable) point, I found that … Continue reading faith and feminism, part 1
Leah Wise 