The Rev. Dr. Eric Barreto
Cooperative Baptist Fellowship
Luther Seminary, St. Paul, MN
The Rev. Dr. Eric D. Barreto is Assistant Professor of New Testament at Luther Seminary in St. Paul. He was ordained by Peachtree Baptist Church (CBF) in 2006. After completing a bachelor of arts degree in religion at Oklahoma Baptist University and a master of divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary, he earned a doctoral degree in New Testament from Emory University.
His research interests range from the Acts of the Apostles to ancient and contemporary questions about race and ethnicity. In 2010, he published his first book, Ethnic Negotiations: The Function of Race and Ethnicity in Acts 16. He is also a regular contributor to WorkingPreacher.org, and EnterTheBible.org.
For more information, visit his website.
Latest Content by The Rev. Dr. Eric Barreto
The Rev. Dr. Eric Barreto
(
CBF)
We should have stopped trying by now. We should have thrown up our hands in despair and cried, "Enough." We should have relented by now, given up any hope that our lives would cease being punctuated by random violence. We should have stopped hoping for something different.
But we haven't.
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Other Recent Content by The Rev. Dr. Eric Barreto
February 13, 2013
ON Scripture
Obviously, Jesus didn’t own a gun, never said anything directly about firearms. He couldn’t have. Of course, that won’t solve the debates now roiling this nation about violence and the people and tools that perpetuate it. Nonetheless, the fact that Jesus has nothing to say about guns has not stopped a number of pundits from extrapolating Jesus’ ethics on gun violence.
October 31, 2012
ON Scripture
It seems so easy, doesn’t it? Love God. Love your neighbor. The two greatest commandments encapsulate the core of faith and could--if we really were to trust God--transform the world. Similarly then and with election day looming, voting should be an easy affair: people of faith should vote for the candidates whose policies would most embody a love of God and neighbor.
September 12, 2012
ON Scripture
Anyone who has been at the receiving end of a bully’s wrath knows that words are as blunt as stones, as sharp as a honed stick. We should know better than to repeat the old adage about sticks and stones, but we don’t seem to grasp fully the power of words. James 3:1-12 speaks to these realities in a vivid way.
May 23, 2012
ON Scripture
Christians have often hoped for a time when our racial and economic differences would cease, when in Christ we would all be indistinguishable. Such impulses are earnest but fundamentally misguided.
April 25, 2012
ON Scripture
What shape does God’s presence take in our lives? Here a reading in 1 John 3:16-24 is most helpful. This passage points to Jesus’ sacrifice as the ultimate embodiment of God’s love for us. That Jesus laid down his life for us, however, comes with a price.
April 05, 2012
The Rev. Dr. Eric Barreto
(CBF)
Many of us would likely struggle to define love succinctly. Many of us would not even know where to start. Love is one of those words that you can't possibly understand just by looking it up in the dictionary.
January 06, 2012
The Rev. Dr. Eric Barreto
(CBF)
El Dia de los Tres Reyes is an important holiday for our sisters and brothers in Latin America. It was a significant day for my own family growing up. What are we missing by ignoring it?
December 21, 2011
ON Scripture
"If there is a war on Christmas, I think the assault is both more subtle and more pernicious than these perplexed conspiracy theories."
September 28, 2011
ON Scripture
How many of the Ten Commandments can you name? If you are like most Americans, the number is far below the full ten. A 2007 survey reported that most Americans could rattle off the ingredients of a Big Mac more readily than the Ten Commandments
September 08, 2011
The Rev. Dr. Eric Barreto
(CBF)
I would argue the dream of a "post-racial" society is ultimately empty. Such hopes emerge from a positive aspiration that we might move toward a society in which racial and ethnic prejudice is no longer granted a divisive and destructive force among us. However, our differences linger on for better or for worse.
August 17, 2011
The Rev. Dr. Eric Barreto
(CBF)
In his ON Scripture post, Dr. Eric Barreto writes, "In the Exodus story as in many of our lives, deliverance and suffering are interlaced. Our hopeful prayers are not always answered, and grace may take a different shape than we might have expected."
August 13, 2011
The Rev. Dr. Eric Barreto
(CBF)
When I hear someone complain that Twitter is simply a space for narcissists to announce their choice of breakfast, I can't help but think of Roger Ebert.
July 28, 2011
The Rev. Dr. Eric Barreto
(CBF)
Are our sermons commercials for the radical Christian life that warn in the fine print, "Don't try this at home?" Are we more concerned with the side effects than the healing Jesus promises?
June 29, 2011
The Rev. Dr. Eric Barreto
(CBF)
Theological disputes are rending many of our churches apart. These too frequently destructive arguments force a difficult question upon us. Can we have discussions any more that do not degenerate to the taking of mutually exclusive positions?
June 15, 2011
The Rev. Dr. Eric Barreto
(CBF)
Looking back, I am surprised that moving from Puerto Rico to Louisiana wasn't more traumatic than it was.
June 08, 2011
The Rev. Dr. Eric Barreto
(CBF)
Seemingly today, all the world's knowledge and data at our fingertips and yet wisdom and truth telling are no easier to discover. Too often, truth and truthiness look just alike.