Donald Trump and Religion: A Complicated Relationship

May 30, 2023 By Maria Francesca French

For some reason, people are more concerned with the beliefs of Donald Trump than ever. Donald Trump and religion. Hmm. It is a complex relationship, indeed. But not because Trump’s relationship to faith is anything more than checking a political and social box. It is complex because of the relationship America has with religion, in particular Christianity, how it relates to the American presidency, and how it has shaped politics since the inception of the United States of America. Christian... Read more

God, King, and Country: The Spiritual and Social Blunder of the Coronation

May 15, 2023 By Maria Francesca French

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As American living in the UK, one hear’s a lot about God, king, and country. As many of you know England has been abuzz with the coronation of Kings Charles III. Leading up to May 6 you heard anything from “God save the King!” to how distasteful the display was given the cost of living crisis Britain is currently experiencing. King Charles’ estimated worth of record is about $750 million, although because of laws that his late mother Queen Elizabeth... Read more

Pilate’s Question: Is It Any Different Than Ours?

March 22, 2023 By Maria Francesca French

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What is truth? Quid est veritas? Pilate’s question: Is it any different than ours? This curious query Pontius Pilate asked Jesus before giving him over to the crowd. Given his position, we can speculate that Pilate may have had knowledge of Greek philosophical thought. It stands to reason he may have danced with philosohical notions of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle. He would have been living and worshipping in the context of the Roman imperial cult. He would have seen meaning and success... Read more

An Exploration of Faith from a Post-Christian Perspective

March 8, 2023 By Maria Francesca French

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What does it mean to engage faith from a post-Christian perspective? Is that even possible? Viable? What does post-Christian even mean? There is a generation of faith crisis before us (which ultimately gives way to identity crisis). How are we engaging it? Over the last few years the deconstruction community has really brought the crisis of faith to the fore. The stats, surveys, and data that we have seen coming out of various studies, not least of which the landmark... Read more

Lent and Jesus’ Dance With the Devil

March 4, 2023 By Maria Francesca French

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Lent. The beginning of Jesus’ dance with the Devil, “the Tempter,” out in the wilderness. A high holy day leading into a high holy season. Bearing the mark of ashes, remembering the solemn promise of dust to dust. Sacrificing as Jesus did while he was led into the desert for 40 days and 40 nights. Right? I haven’t fasted for spiritual reasons since my teens. When I would fast it would be a particular food like chocolate, sometimes TV, or ‘secular’... Read more

The Asbury Revival and What It Tells Us about Human Need

February 27, 2023 By Maria Francesca French

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What is the real question at the heart of the Asbury Revival? A few weeks ago I opened up Facebook to find a long post by a former professor of mine from Bible College. She is also a revivals scholar in the Assemblies of God tradition. She wrote extensively on what she called the Asbury Revival happening on the Asbury campus. She compared it to two previous ‘revivals’ at Asbury and spoke on revivals in general. As someone who spent... Read more

The Queen is dead. Colonization is not.

September 9, 2022 By Maria Francesca French

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(This is a guest post by my good friend and colleague, Bea Mariam Killguss. More on Bea below.) Queen Elizabeth has died. Certainly a shock to the world, despite her age of 96 years old. And as the world will be abuzz with mourning and protest alike, this can and should be a time for honest conversations. The queen is dead. Colonization is not. In the face of the monarch Queen Elizabeth passing perhaps we can rip ourselves away from... Read more

Can Christians Have Premarital Sex?

July 27, 2022 By Maria Francesca French

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While many of us find ourselves progressive, forward leaning, and liberal (for lack of a better term) on issues of sex and sexuality, we still operate out of a Christian framework and a New Testament narrative lens. This means we still need to do our due diligence in engaging the Bible and faith on matters of ethics and values. However, as we engage these things there must be better and more important questions to ask then the one we unfortunately... Read more

Is the Bible Pro-Abortion?

July 26, 2022 By Maria Francesca French

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Last month we saw the seminal and grave decision made by the Supreme Court of the United States to overturn Roe v. Wade. Human rights activists, from politicians to the religious (inter-faith as well as liberal and conservative Christians a like), raised their voices to express their passionate opinions on the matter. And for good reason. One of the main questions that has emerged is, “Is the Bible pro-abortion?” I’ve sat back this last month and read through news media, instagram... Read more

Who Created God?

July 23, 2022 By Maria Francesca French

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Who created God? It isn’t a bad question to ask. Although it isn’t often queried about. While it is a valid question, it is a scary one. You know what they say…curiosity killed the cat! There is this sense that if we keep to ourselves and don’t go too dangerously far down the rabbit hole we will be ok. Perhaps the question is perceived as an irreverent one. Maybe we are afraid what it might mean that our minds have... Read more