Philip Friesen

Myth in OT Roots of Nonviolence

Yesterday someone asked about my description of the Genesis creation story as “myth” in my book, the Old Testament Roots of Nonviolence. He said, “I see that throughout the book elsewhere you treat the material as historical, but why did you describe the creation story as myth.” My Answer: Myth has two principal uses. The most popular has been to think of myth as fictional. The...

Philip Friesen

Lecture: God, Gays, & Mennos

Title: Lecture: God, Gays, & MennosLocation: Stadium Village Church basement, 501 Oak St. SE, Mpls., MN 55414Description: Here is the Question: Is the boundary defining marriage revealed in Genesis an insulated wall of concrete and steel that cannot stretch or bend, or might it be more like a living membrane that can expand or contract depending upon circumstances? If the latter, how much...

Philip Friesen

LOOK WHO’S FOLLOWING US! Could it be the campus atheists?

Years ago in Taiwan some of our missionaries were impressed by a painting on the wall of the Buddhist hospital that showed a Buddha surrounded by children and a caption that reminded us of Jesus’ welcome to children in the New Testament. Perhaps some older readers will recall the Hindu groups, like the Hare Krishna people, handing out their “gospel” tracts in public places during the 60’s. Now...

Philip Friesen

The Gift or the Giver- Can Liberty Destroy Us?

JOSHUA, JESUS, AND THE BILL OF RIGHTS Are our liberties destroying us? “I sent the hornet ahead of you, which drove out before you the two kings of the Amorites; it was not by your sword or by your bow.” Joshua 24:12 Joshua is an enigmatic book for many. The most difficult part is not so much God’s judgment against his enemies, but how any of God’s people could be the...

Philip Friesen

What Does It Mean for Us to Be Human?

Thoughts on the Incarnation God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion….So…in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:26-27). In ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt the king was called ‘the image’ or ‘the likeness’ of a god.1 The king ruled by the power of overwhelming, violent force and claimed...