thomstark.net
a theology of obliteration
Neil Elliott’s Praise for Human Faces
Aug 23rd
The battle over the Bible is increasingly polarized between the absolutism of inerrantists who claim to speak for all Christians and the scorn of secularists who find easy targets for ridicule. With an engaging combination of honesty, goodwill, and wit, Thom Stark offers a vital third way. He explodes the “hermeneutics of convenience” of self-styled [...]
Ted Grimsrud’s Praise for Human Faces
Aug 22nd
Thom Stark writes with intense passion and an almost brutal honesty. In doing so, he does thoughtful Christians a great service. In our chaotic, post-Christendom age, the teachings of the Bible are more relevant than ever—should we fight our way free from old patterns that make a doctrine about the Bible more important than the Bible’s [...]
My Intended Audience
Aug 20th
UPDATED BELOW
There is some unclarity in some quarters about the intended audience of my book. The following is neither an admission of anything I was ever trying to deny, nor a confession of anything I am or ought to be embarrassed about. It is an explanation offered in good faith to clear up a misunderstanding [...]
Retraction
Aug 20th
I am aware that there is a blog dedicated to discussion of my forthcoming book which has not yet been sent to press. There are accusations on the blog directed at the veracity of my project, as well as the nature of my promotion of it. I have made some comments on that blog in [...]
Michael Iafrate’s Praise for Human Faces
Aug 19th
More than just the standard retelling of the horrors of the Bible, Stark’s “confrontational” method of reading scripture exposes the deadly contradictions of biblical fundamentalism and gives thoughtful Christians a way forward by allowing them to “own” these troubling texts in a new way. Readers will breathe a deep sigh of relief at his suggestion [...]
Dale Allison’s Praise for Human Faces
Aug 19th
If the truth should trump all, then this book should persuade those it argues against. It is informed, heart-felt, and utterly reasonable. Christians can ignore the facts that Stark brings into the light of day only if they want to be wrong.
Dale C. Allison, Jr.
Author of Jesus of Nazareth: Millenarian Prophet
and Constructing Jesus: Memory, Imagination, [...]
Paul Copan: Liar or Lazy Reader?
Aug 18th
Christian philosopher and philosophical apologist for Christianity Victor Reppert, over on his blog Dangerous Idea, posted a link (here) to my recent post (here) on Paul Copan’s selective use of his sources in his biblical apologetics.
Reppert’s post is restrained and inquisitive and I appreciate his willingness to raise awareness to the issue. On his post [...]
Steve Hays’s Praise for Human Faces
Aug 16th
My newfound friend and dear brother in Christ, Steve Hays, over on Triablogue, has generously dedicated a post in large part to drawing attention to my forthcoming book, The Human Faces of God. What I find so flattering about Steve’s gesture is that he hasn’t even read my book, and yet he’s already singing its [...]
Biblical Apologetics: A How To
Aug 16th
We Christians today live in a world that is hostile to our faith and to God’s Word. We are constantly inundated with attacks against the truth of the Bible. Many Christians who come up against such attacks soon realize that they are woefully unprepared to give a defense of God’s Word in the face of [...]
Ed Babinski’s Praise for Human Faces
Aug 16th
Each chapter of The Human Faces of God is packed with information and draws one in deeper like a good crime novel. Unlike conservative Evangelical fare that confuses biblical scholarship with the practice of apologetics, Thom Stark has learned the difference. Apologetics relies on bits and pieces of biblical scholarship, any that can be used [...]
After Loftus: A Word about My Motives
Aug 16th
John Loftus has very kindly endorsed my forthcoming book and has given it a nice solid plug on his high-traffic blog. For that I am grateful and am in his debt.
As polarizing as Loftus is, I respect him. I don’t always agree with him, but I believe he speaks his mind and tries to [...]
John Loftus’s Praise for Human Faces
Aug 14th
Stark’s book is a direct frontal assault against evangelical Christianity, the exact likes of which I have not seen before in one volume. In it Stark exposes, in the words of Mark Noll, the “scandal of the evangelical mind.” While Noll was chiding evangelicals for not producing the best and brightest thinkers capable of truly [...]
John Collins’s Foreword to Human Faces
Aug 13th
Conservative Christians often affirm that the Bible is historically accurate, internally consistent and morally edifying. Anyone who has had a good introductory course on the Bible at college level knows that it is not necessarily any of the above. Even people who profess to hold that the Bible is inerrant acknowledge in practice that this [...]
John Henson’s Praise for Human Faces
Aug 10th
This book is for those who wish to understand the Bible and learn from it. It is not for those who seek handy Bible quotes, nor for those who have no urge to plumb the Bible’s depths. Thom Stark shows how the scriptures confront us with the big questions such as suffering and identity. He [...]
Frank Schaeffer’s Praise for Human Faces
Aug 6th
Well, I’ve been offline for the summer as I’ve been working on my book, The Human Faces of God: What Scripture Reveals When It Gets God Wrong, forthcoming from Wipf & Stock Publishers. Early this morning, Frank Schaeffer, author of Crazy for God and Patience with God, read my book (in one sitting!) and I [...]
Palestine Documentaries
Jun 5th
Here is a list of must-see Palestine documentaries:
Gaza Strip
In January of 2001, American director James Longley traveled to the Gaza Strip. His plan was to stay for two weeks to collect preliminary material for a documentary film on the Palestinian Intifada. It was during his stay that Ariel Sharon was elected as Israeli Prime Minister. [...]
God With Us
May 7th
Here’s an essay I just wrote for my Islam course. “God With Us: Allah and ‘Other Gods’ in the Thought of Ali Shari’ati.” Probably with some heavy revisions and additions, this will form part of one of my theses here. Let me know what you think and how it can be improved.
[Proofread and re-uploaded [...]
Shari’ati on the Ideal Man
May 5th
Ideal man passes through the very midst of nature and comes to understand God; he seeks out mankind and thus attains God. He does not bypass nature and turn his back on mankind. He holds the sword of Caesar in his hand and he has the heart of Jesus in his breast. He thinks with [...]
DeFazio Says: ‘Engage Thom Stark’
Mar 27th
I firmly believe in the divinity of Jesus (or the Jesus-ity of God), but I am often uncomfortable with the ways people use the texts to get there. Let me say something to any who may be reading Thom’s series and thinking, “This doctrine is at the very center of our faith so this series is [...]
