Real Bible Rob: Affirming Christianity Podcast Real Bible Rob - Inclusive Christianity Discussions Real Bible Rob | PCUSA Ministry Insights

Send us Fan Mail The Lord’s Prayer is a central feature of Christian worship. Why? There’s a long history and it’s part of a bigger question of why the Sermon on the Mount is so crucial. This is critical in today’s Christianity. Many Christians are openly disdainful of the central message of the sermon and the prayer. I think a better understanding of the Lord’s Prayer can help return us to a sens...

Send us Fan Mail Wait a minute, I thought Jesus was sinless, in Hebrews 4:15! If you ever want to smoke out religious bullies, this is one of the best ways to do it. Most people understand that strict application of the law and being faithful to the intent of the law are not the same thing. According to the scribes and Pharisees, Jesus was a big law breaker, but we know that Jesus was on the right...

Send us Fan Mail It's heartbreaking how transgender people are being targeted as political pawns by Christians. What does the Bible have to say about gender? Is transgender against God's plan for humanity? Why are 1% of the population so threatening to many Christians? I deal with the commonly used verses against trans people and the biblical concepts of gender. I also talk about body mo...

Send us Fan Mail Are you lukewarm? This is one of the biggest insults you can tell a Christian, but it is almost always said by lukewarm pastors who don't know what it means. The rebuke against the Laodicean church is one of the most misused parts of the New Testament. Lukewarm is a metaphor for self-satisfaction and complaisance. It is explicitly about works, not faith. But it is usually int...

Send us Fan Mail This is about Bible translation and the bad theology that can come from it. There are many different ways Jeremiah 17:9-10. It is most often used to say, "Don't trust your heart!" But this is a terrible interpretation. The fundamentalist website Desiring God features an article by one of its founders that says, "Don't Follow Your Heart" and “No, our h...

Send us Fan Mail Learning a new meaning of a favorite scripture is one of the great joys of preaching every week. 2 Corinthians 3 is one of those. When paired with the lectionary readings about Moses on Mount Sinai and the Transfiguration of Jesus, I saw that it is so much more than just an explanation of the Law and the New Covenant. Verse 17 "where the Spirit is, there is freedom" show...

Send us Fan Mail Many Christians are obsessed with sin. Especially your sin. There is a common refrain that Jesus talked much more about the condemnation of sin than he did about compassion. This is fallacious. Jesus hardly spoke about individual sin and rarely condemned individuals. He overwhelmingly showed compassion to individuals. He reserved his ire for Pharisees and religious leaders. Most r...

Send us Fan Mail Rev. Adina Meyer is an ordained priest in the Roman Catholic Women Priests International Movement within the Roman Catholic Church. She also leads a UCC congregation in Seattle. She is also a terrific friend of mine. We took classes together in seminary and we love to talk theology, church and ministry. The concept of women priests is new to many people but women served major mini...

Send us Fan Mail Genocide is the hardest part of the Bible. How can we justify the call for total war and the total destruction of enemies in the Hebrew scriptures with a loving God? The concept is called Cherem in Hebrew. It is not enough to defeat an enemy but you must obliterate the enemy, including all men, women, and children, and their livestock. God commands in Deuteronomy 7 to show no merc...

Send us Fan Mail Celtic Christianity offers a different perspective of the church and the triune God. It is a look into one of the most significant pre-Roman Christian communities. We have all heard of St. Patrick in Ireland, but many other saints spread Christianity in the British Isles before the Catholic Church took over at the Synod of Whitby in 664 CE. I am a Voyager in the Community of Aidan...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we dive deep into John 9, exploring the story of the blind man and its implications on inherited sin and biblical interpretation. As an affirming Christian and PCUSA minister, I provide insights into this passage’s cultural and spiritual context, highlighting the challenges of exclusion and shallow faith within historical religious leadership. We examine how moder...

Send us Fan Mail Mercy is in the news. Rt. Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde spoke about mercy directly to the president. This caused a huge reaction, positively and negatively toward her message. When looked at in totality, her sermon was a very mainstream message about unity and mercy. Given to an ordinary congregation, even with her admonition to a new president, would have been praised and quickly forg...

Send us Fan Mail The abuse of women is chronically under-reported. Violence against women is everywhere in scripture. Just like in society, it is sometimes condemned but it’s often not. John 8:1-11 is a disgusting display of religious leaders bullying a woman as a pawn to entrap Jesus. But this passage especially verse 11 is still used as theological violence. “Sin no more” is routinely plucked ou...

Send us Fan Mail It's fascinating how people can read the same passage and get different meanings. Sometimes they just get it plain wrong and then it is used to prop up a whole theology. Luke 4 contains one of those interpretations. Many Christians think Jesus was thrown out of the Nazareth synagogue because he claimed to be the Messiah. In fact there is an episode of The Chosen showing disap...

Send us Fan Mail Calvinists often pit themselves against reality and science. They cling to divine determinism and resist theological change. Why? As a young Presbyterian, I thought I knew what it meant to be a reformed Christian. I learned a bit about Calvin, but when I encountered hardcore TULIP Calvinists later in life, I was confused. How could this possibly be the same faith as mine? Was I go...

Send us Fan Mail The dogma of Hell has caused more anxiety than any other. What is largely unknown is that Hell as a place of eternal conscious torment in the Bible is flimsy at best. Nearly all of our visions of Hell come from the last few chapters of Revelation and other literature. It is sometimes said that Jesus talked more about Hell than Heaven. This is untrue for a variety of reasons. Where...

Send us Fan Mail How do you know if you are really saved? Can you lose your salvation once you are saved? Nothing has produced more anxiety and spawned more debate in Christian history. We see it in many forms Catholic sacraments, “won and done” conversion, and “turn or burn” theology. It’s a huge part of evangelical fervor. But it’s a lot more about Christian exclusion and control than genuine co...

Send us Fan Mail One of the greatest challenges I face in ministry today is working with people obsessed with control. You really see this in Christian circles. Which is hugely ironic, because Christianity is all about giving up control. It’s a very American thing and it originates in the American myth of conquering and being self-made. This obsession manifests in several ways: Demanding proof for...

Send us Fan Mail A common Christian definition of Grace is kindness that isn't deserved, a favor or boon despite who you are. This grace is far too limiting & exhibits a desire for control & authority. Grace is the antidote to shame. To say that grace is only undeserved kindness increases shame and perpetuates the illusion of a distant and angry God. it upholds the transactional natur...

Send us Fan Mail The English Standard Version has become the favorite Bible for many Christians. Is it good? The honest answer is "sort of." It is basically the old Revised Standard Version with about 10% of it changed. Very good in a lot of ways and certainly better than your old King James Version, but it is also terrible in other ways. It is essentially a project against feminist infl...

Send us Fan Mail Women are in leadership roles throughout scripture. From Miriam to Deborah in the Old Testament, to Mary Magdalene and Mary Mother of Jesus, to 18 different women mentioned by Paul. Deacons, Teachers, and Pastors for certain, likely also apostles. However, the patriarchal church has done so much to suppress the roles of women. I give the example of ESV suppressing Phoebe and Junia...

Send us Fan Mail Whether LGBTQ relationships are sinful or acceptable is the hottest question in Christianity today. I would call it an obsession among Christians. It is all centered around 5 verses: 2 from Leviticus and 3 from Paul in the New Testament. There are several others often cited but these are the main 5 that speak directly about what appears to be homosexual behavior. They are often ca...

Send us Fan Mail Hope is hard to come by when you are embattled. 1 Peter 3:13-16 was encouragement for persecuted Christians in the 1st century. Evangelical Christians are often taught to "be prepared to defend the faith." This feeds the persecution complex narrative that "the world", "secular humanism", the "forces of evil" are out to get them. Whether you...

Send us Fan Mail Reading the Old Testament is greatly enhanced by a simple but very important exegetical practice. Always ask: 1. Who is the author?, 2. Who is the audience?, 3. What is the purpose of the writing? Understanding the difference between Exegesis and Eisegesis is understanding the difference between biblical analysis and theology. I use the differences between the story of King Manass...

Send us Fan Mail Does the Bible get its authority from Inspiration or Inerrancy? The most frequently cited verse for this is 2 Tim 3:16. When you do a deep dive into the verse & its context, I don't think you can believe both. This is the major theological controversy in Christianity today: Is the Bible inerrant or not? I start with the scriptures and then I get into the ugly history and...