Sam Scriber

Square Peg by Al Truesdale is a book which compares and contrasts modern day fundamentalist Christianity with Wesleyan Christianity. Its main purpose is highlighting a distinction between the brands of Christianity which reject modern methods of scholarly analysis about the Bible and the world around us and the Wesleyan brands. Fundamentalist Christianity is very influential on Christian culture today and also upon the way Christianity is perceived by the unbaptized. The intended outcome of this text is to offer up a Wesleyan interpretation of Christianity with the understanding that it will help the Christian world heal from over a century of vitriolic alienation from the rest of society. In the 2nd chapter, Dr. Mulholland provides a good overview of the fundamentalist understanding of what scripture is. As he explains, “While all fundamentalists support a high view of Scripture, such topics as why Scripture is believed to be the Word of God, inerrancy, and the nature of biblical a...

Texts of Terror by Phyllis Trible is book which seeks to highlight and explore four biblical stories which often go ignored by mainstream Christianity. The author specifically focuses on stories of women who are abused, neglected, raped, and killed for various reasons. Trible shows how these women are figures that would traditionally be viewed as simply tragic stories that are explained away by the suffering of the cross. She seeks to demonstrate how they, like Christ, can serve as figures of redemption for the faithful. This is an unabashedly feminist reading of scripture. As Trible puts it, “As a critique of culture and faith in light of misogyny, feminism is a prophetic movement, examining the status quo, pronouncing judgement, and calling for repentance.” She shows how these women are made vulnerable by the patriarchal human systems of their cultures, by the chauvinism and misogyny of their contemporaries of both genders, and by deity’s response to their various plights. Ultim...

Below is the script I wrote for a Catholic apologetics video geared toward lay people. The video is also linked below with all of the sources I used for this script in it's description. Why do Catholics say that Peter was the first Pope? One of our main starting points is the gospel of St. Matthew. In chapter 16 we find Jesus with his disciples in Caesarea Philippi. He asks them, “But who do you say that I am”.   Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” ~ Matthew 16: 16-18 In this passage we find the basis and beginning for why we say Peter was put in charge of the Church that Christ founded. We also find scriptural basis for the fact the Christ founded a Church period, a fact which...

In a short essay, Flannery O’Connor quotes St. Cyril of Jerusalem, “The dragon sits by the side of the road, watching those who pass. Beware lest he devour you. We go to the Father of Souls, but it is necessary to pass by the dragon.” This wise saying encapsulates well the fiction and philosophy of Ms. O’Connor. Her stories often deal with darkness and pain, her characters could be described as grotesque and profane, yet grace and redemption shine through and make themselves evident in a world populated by falleness. In another essay, Ms. O’Connor remarks, “I have found, in short, from reading my own writing, that my subject in fiction is the action of grace in territory largely held by the devil.” The author has come to recognize that this world truly is as it is described in the Holy Scriptures. Darkness has befallen the Earth and surrounded the human race, yet the light of divinity still finds a way to gleam into the lives of her often macabre anti-heroes. Growing up a Catholic in...

The Book of Genesis is a source for many topics of interest. In it one can find fascinating perspectives on history, regaling dramas between gods and men, and a multitude of controversial points of discussion. The text itself though was never meant to be a mere cache of water-cooler conversation matFerial. Its purpose is to shape the way that people understand the world around them and their relationship to God. Its dramatic telling of the creation of the world, of God’s struggle with chaos in nature and in men’s hearts, and of the interactions between the different human tribes, is meant to give people a picture of who they are in light of the God of Genesis. Many people see Yahweh as a stoic figure, sitting atop a Holy Mount and unapologetically handing out divine wrath and judgment. Others see God as an absentee creator, one who put things together and then took off leaving men to fend for their selves. Both of these views suffer from a lack of a careful reading of what Genesis is...