born and raised twice in the bay, I preach Jesus and him crucified
Desiderius Erasmus published The Praise of Folly in 1511 as an oration delivered by Folly herself, a goddess who praises her own gifts. The joke runs long, and readers have often stopped there, receiving the book as satire, a humanist’s wit turned on monks, popes, and pedants. But Erasmus is doing something more than lampooning... Continue Reading →
Revelation gives us two images, and they could not be more different. The first is a prostitute riding the beast, drunk on the blood of the saints. The second is a bride, clothed in fine linen, made ready for the Lamb. Babylon is not simply “bad people out there.” It is the whole system of cultural power,... Continue Reading →
Everyone believes. The question is what your belief can bear. Most of us don’t meet bad theology first in a classroom. We meet it on our phones. You’re scrolling between emails and grocery lists and there it is: a polished graphic announcing that Christianity is just re-branded paganism, or a reel claiming some ancient myth... Continue Reading →
Rock-cut façade of the Tomb of ‘Unayshu in Petra, Jordan, carved high into the Jabal al-Khubtha cliff above smaller cave openings along the Street of Facades, near the Nabataean theatre, photographed in 2019. Inside some of my current reading is a deceptively simple question: what can guide man? Across a handful of ancient and modern... Continue Reading →
Off and on I post pictures from my youth. Throwback Thursday is a gift. What surprises me is how many people want to hide the “uncool” stuff. I was not cool then. I am not cool now. I have made peace with this. I am not ashamed of the dorky, geeky parts of my past,... Continue Reading →
Phillip W. Martin 