Month: April 2026
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Making Sense of Religion 5: Grace and the Structure of Reality
We began this series of talks by questioning the common assumption that religion exists mainly to explain things we don’t understand. If that were true, then as knowledge increases, the need for religion should decrease. But globally, today’s polls don’t support that logic. We then looked at how religious scriptures work, and concluded that they…
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Making Sense of Religion 4: From Religion to Intelligence
Last week I arrived at the unsettling conclusion that religion developed not primarily as a result of knowledge or belief, but out of a real need (not just a psychological desire) to align with reality. In biblical terms, it’s like accepting the wedding invitation rather than gate-crashing and pretending to be a guest. I further…
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Making Sense of Religion 3: Grace Beyond Belief
Last week I continued to argue that Scripture was not intended to function primarily as a repository of answers, although it’s often treated as if it was. Rather, like Jesus himself, scripture operates as a formative, gentle, and non-coercive force that helps to shape perception—how people see the world, preserve tension—between the truths we are…
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Making Sense of Religion 2. Scripture and the Discipline of the Question
Last week, I challenged the belief by many that religion developed in order to explain the unknown. I countered that religion addresses the deeper and more persistent problem of living, when even intelligent human beings cannot seem to live together without eventually collapsing into conflict. Across traditions, cultures, and history, we saw that cooperation, restraint,…