welcome!

Welcome!  You have arrived at an online environment designed to allow you to explore the foundations of the Christian faith.  On this site you will not find dogmatic declarations about what you must believe. Instead you will find my own explorations of the Christian faith based on my wrestling with scripture, theology, tradition, science and life as a pastor for almost 30 years.  

These articles were originally written by me in my capacity as pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Birmingham, MI as a means of helping the congregation more fully understand the foundations of their faith.  Many of them have found these articles useful in their faith journeys and I hope you will find them so as well.

The Purpose: 

This site exists for three purposes:

First, it is here so that those of you who are already following Jesus Christ can gain additional insight into your faith foundation.

Second, it is here so that those of you who are considering becoming a Jesus' follower might learn a bit more about the foundations of the faith you are considering.

Finally, it is here so that those of you who are members of other faith traditions might learn more about those of us who try to follow Jesus of Nazareth.

This site is not intended to be a systematic theology or an apologetic of the Christian faith.  It is pastoral observations on the foundations of the Christian faith intended to simply fulfill the three purposes already listed.

the approach:

My approach to exploring the Christian faith is to begin with scripture but then to read it through the lenses of Biblical scholarship, history,tradition, culture, science and reason.  I do so because I believe that scripture is our primary source for learning about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit and what they desire of and for us. 

Scripture however is also a collection of saga, stories, history, poetry and letters compiled over more than a thousand years in particular cultures and historical situations.  

This means that each generation/person must bring to bear the best that Biblical criticism, history,  tradition, culture, science and reason have to offer in order to decide how to take those ancient texts and interpret them for any moment in time. You can read more about this under the Foundations tab.

If you have questions or comments feel free to contact me...also if you have some good resources which would enhance this site, please send them my way...I hope this will be a conversation.

how the site is organized:

This site is organized around The Five Part Story.  The Five Part Story is a useful way to see the entire scope of scripture at a glance. It is a framework for the Biblical story which we developed at First Presbyterian Church of Birmingham. You can find out more about the Five Part Story by clicking on the tab to the left.

my identity:

I am a Presbyterian pastor with a skeptical side.  My faithful Presbyterian parents brought me up to ask questions and never accept anything at face value.  My own faith journey led me away from and back to being a follower of Jesus of Nazareth.  I received my theological education at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, where I was trained to "do theology", meaning not to simply repeat tradition, but to learn, question and explore the Christian faith. 

I have been exploring the foundations of our faith for almost 30 years and now I want to invite you to go exploring with me.  

I am especially indebted to Roger Krieger who read and edited all of these articles.  Thanks Roger!

Your comments and questions are always appreciated.