God is a presence that I can never define but I could never deny.

The Bible interprets life from its particular perspective; it does not record in a factual way the human journey through history.

Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, says, "From the rising of the sun to its setting, God's name shall be great among the Gentiles." This encompasses the whole world. Suddenly it's not the Jews against the Gentiles, or my tribe against your tribe.

Paul's words are not the Words of God. They are the words of Paul- a vast difference.

You can't have a world where 50 percent of the people are dieting and 50 percent of the people are starving if you want stability.

Anybody who's a mythology ... there's always a fear. That's why we don't like people whose skin color is different, whose eye slant is different, or whose worship is different. It makes them feel insecure. So we strike out. The thing that bothers me most about the Christian church today is that we spend our time confirming people in their own sense of wretchedness.

The virgin birth, understood as literal biology, makes Christ's divinity, as traditionally understood, impossible.