faith

A Deconstruction Observed It was an innocent question but based on my friend’s reaction you’d have thought I’d denied the Trinity. “If God is eternal and unchangeable,” I posited, “how could he take on human nature? Wouldn’t becoming a man be a fundamental change in God’s nature?” My friend looked horrified, almost as if he expected lightning to strike me at any moment. “You should be careful about asking questions like that!” he cautioned. Yet asking questions had become a major part of my Christian life. The year was 1974. It was my sophomore year of college and I was …

Photo by David Beale on Unsplash A Childish Faith (A Deconstruction Observed, Part 3)by James Pence 17 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it” (Luke 18:17 NIV). The details are fuzzy (it was 56 years ago after all), but something changed in me the day our priest, Father Clarke, put his hand on my head and blessed me. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say something awakened in me. Before then, prayers were something I recited from rote before bed every night. And church was just …