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Evolving in Monkey Town Blog 
Good Doubt vs. Bad Doubt: Six Indicators

I know we have spent a lot of time talking about doubt here, and I promise to take a break from the subject over the next few weeks. (Perhaps I should consider giving it up for Lent!) But a few things made another post seem like a good idea.
The first was your response to last week’s post about “Embracing Doubt.” Several of your comments really got me thinking. The second was a blog post written by Mike Duran in which he fairly and respectfully criticizes me and other “emerging” Christians for glorifying doubt. The conversation that followed his post made me realize that perhaps I need to be clearer about what I mean when I talk about doubt. And the third was an absolutely fantastic post by Dr. Richard Beck entitled “Faith and Doubt After the Cognitive Turn,” which was brought to my attention by a reader. I highly recommend reading the whole piece, but here a few highlights:
…Intellectual doubt has become particularly acute for many Christians due to the fact that there has been a hollowing out of faith in many sectors of Christianity. More specifically, for many Christians faith simply means "belief." Further, "belief" is taken to mean "I think proposition x is true.”…Faith becomes an abstract, intellectual, cognitive, and rationalistic process. And the implication is that if you can't get your intellect in line then you don't have faith...In the bible faith is never understood to be unshakable intellectual confidence. In the bible faith is more similar to perseverance, obedience, covenant faithfulness or worship.
When I read those last few words, I felt as though Beck had said what I’ve been trying to get at for years—that the most important indicator of unhealthy doubt is not having intellectual questions about your beliefs, but failing to obey.
As I’ve said before, the line between healthy doubt (doubting one’s beliefs about God) and unhealthy doubt (doubting God Himself) often gets blurred. Having been through both, I know from experience that one can lead to stronger faith and one can lead to sin.
So with that in mind, I compiled a list of six indicators that can help us measure the health of our doubt.
Three Indicators of Bad Doubt
1. Disobedience
My friend Dave puts it this way, “Belief is always a risk, a gamble—an adventure, if you will. The line between faith and doubt is the point of action. You don't need certainty to obey, just the willingness to risk being wrong.”
When I allow my questions about God to stop me from taking the risk of obedience, I am guilty of sin. When I let intellectual certainty dictate whether I continue to love my neighbors, care for the poor, fellowship with other Christ-followers, study Scripture, pray, serve and love, I become “like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind” (James 1:6), for I am slave to my cognitive whims.
For example, it is not a sin to have questions about my interpretation of Genesis in light of the science that supports evolution. It is a sin to allow these questions to kill my prayer life or keep me from reading the Bible altogether.
2. Entitlement
Entitlement happens when I start demanding answers from God, as if he owes me an explanation for everything.
In the book of Job, God rebukes both Job and his friends. Job was rebuked for his entitlement, for acting as a “faultfinder contending with the Almighty” (Job 40: 1). Job’s friends were rebuked for claiming to know all the answers about why Job was suffering (Job 42:7). Job repented. His friends did not. It seems to me that we have to avoid both the sin of entitlement (demanding an explanation) and the sin of pride (assuming we already know it all). Unfortunately, I’ve spent far too much time bouncing between these extremes.
3. Cynicism
As Jeff noted in the comments last week, “I have found it important to not pair up cynicism with my doubt. It's easy to do that, and it does more bad than good, only leading to more restlessness.”
Boy, I can relate to that! There have been times when I have allowed my intellectual objections to some of the tenants of conservative evangelical Christianity turn me into a bitter, argumentative person, eager to play the devil’s advocate at every opportunity. I become cynical of everything evangelical, and I look for ways to belittle those with whom I disagree. This is clearly a sin. Even if I’m right about something, without love, I become nothing more than an annoying, clanging symbol (1 Corinthians 13:1). When I am cynical, I am rendered useless in the Kingdom of God, which is inherited by the poor, the gentle, the meek, and the merciful.
Three Indicators of Good Doubt
1. Obedience
One thing I love about Mother Teresa is that, despite experiencing many days of dark doubt, she continued to serve the people around her. To me, obedience in the face of doubt is perhaps the strongest kind of faith there is.
2. Humility
The best kind of doubt is the kind that springs from humility—from an acknowledgment that we haven’t got God figured out, from a willingness to admit we can be wrong, and from a commitment to think critically about our beliefs. We doubt with humility when we recognize that our theology is not the moon, but rather the finger pointing at the moon. In this way, I think it is essential that we doubt, for we are not doubting God, but rather ourselves. If we do not learn to question our beliefs, we will grow arrogant and prideful, unwilling to change our minds even when it’s the right thing to do.
3. Love
Love should be our motivation behind everything, particularly doubt. The person who loves God will often choose to struggle through intellectual objections rather than ignore them or succumb to them. The person who loves his neighbors and his enemies will often ask serious questions of himself, of the Church, and of God about how to truly care for them.
The Apostle Paul wrote, “For now we see in a mirror dimply, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. These three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” (I Corinthians 13:12-13)
In order to embrace the tension between knowing fully and being fully known, we must learn to abide in love. It is even more important than faith.
So, what would you add? What are some other indicators that your doubt is hurting your faith? What are some other indicators that your doubt is strengthening your faith?
11 Comments
What’s on your mind?

I had so much fun interacting with those of you who participated in the “Ask Me Anything” post. The best thing about blogging is the opportunity to connect with smart, fun, and interesting people, and I’m convinced my readers are the best in the blogosphere!
So today I thought I’d turn the tables and ask a few open-ended questions that will give you the chance to share whatever’s on your mind.
Feel free to take the opportunity to pimp your blog, to make Super Bowl predictions, to share with us the challenges you face, to tell a story, to express an opinion, to let us know what you’re reading, to include a link or two, to vent, to celebrate. Think of it as open mic night on the blog.
So,
What have you been thinking about?
What have you been writing about?
What have you been praying about?
19 Comments
Ask me anything!
A few of my blogging buddies—Anne, Jason, and Matt—have tried this recently, so I thought we’d give it a go.
Today you can ask me anything, and I’ll answer.
Well, almost anything. Obviously, I won’t answer questions that are wildly inappropriate or in any way related to math. I will not give you money, adopt your pets, or pitch your book to my agent unless we have already talked about that. Also, you should know that Dan and I have yet to watch last night’s season premiere of LOST, so theories will have to wait until tomorrow, after we’ve seen it on Hulu.
Besides that, you can ask me anything—about writing, about theology, about politics, about small-town life, about the blog, about The Mission, about monkeys, about Alabama Crimson Tide football, about doubt, about faith, about music, about movies, about publishing, about life.
Just leave your question in the comments and I'll use the reply feature to respond.
(I’ll answer each question just once, so as to avoid overly lengthy discussions about predestination and free will.)
As Jason said in his post, “If you don't ask any questions, this will be the worst blog post ever. So I'm counting on you.”
Ask away!
100 Comments
Are you a fundamentalist?
Brian McLaren asks that question on his blog today, and frames it like this:
Quiz—
When I am presented with a new idea or proposal, my first question is more likely to be ...
___A. Is it acceptable to my religious/ideological community or belief system?
___B. Is it possibly true, valuable, and worth exploring?
According to McLaren, if your answer is ‘A,’ you are a fundamentalist, and if your answer is ‘B’ then you are curious.
McLaren draws his inspiration from Seth Godin’s definitions for fundamentalism and curiosity. In his excellent book, Tribes, Godin writes:
A fundamentalist is a person who considers whether a fact is acceptable to his religion before he explores it. As opposed to a curious person who explores first and then considers whether or not he wants to accept the ramifications. A curious person embraces the tension between his religion and something new, wrestles with it and through it, and then decides whether to embrace the new idea or reject it.
When I first encountered the quiz, my reaction was, Why of course I’m not a fundamentalist! At least not anymore. I approach every new idea with an open mind and a willingness to embrace the truth no matter the consequences. I’ve voluntarily studied the science behind evolution, despite being told my whole life that it’s incompatible with my faith. I’ve read Richard Dawkins, Thich Nhat Hahn, and Friedrich Nietzsche. I’ve re-evaluated my position on politics, on homosexuality, on biblical inerrancy, on religious pluralism, and on church. I may be a person of faith, but I’m no fundamentalist!
But upon further reflection, I realized that if I’m honest with myself, I have to admit that my first question when encountering a new idea is almost always, Does this fit with my faith? It’s my default—perhaps out of habit, perhaps out of fear, perhaps because it’s part of the human condition to be wary of anything that might upset one’s current paradigm.
In fact, I have the same initial reaction when I am presented with a new perspective on politics or theology. My first question is almost always, Does this fit with what I already believe? I hate to admit it, but my enthusiasm for exploring a subject is directly proportional to the degree to which I want to change my mind.
The difference, I suppose, is that over the past few years I’ve learned that my faith is strong enough to withstand new ideas and hard questions. I no longer let the question Does this fit with my faith? stop me from exploring. If all truth is God’s truth, then I figure I’ve got nothing to be afraid of.
I love Godin's perspective on fundamentalism and curiosity, and I'd like to think that I’m the kind of person who “embraces the tension between [her] religion and something new, wrestles with it and through it, and then decides whether to embrace the new idea or reject it.”
But this is a learned response for me, not a natural one. I’m afraid that my gut reaction will always be A, not B. I'm afraid that, deep down, I'm a fundamentalist at heart.
What about you? Based on this quiz, are you a fundamentalist?

Embracing Doubt

So Jason Boyett and I have been talking about the fact that we’re not the only ones writing about doubt these days. In addition to Jason’s memoir, O Me of Little Faith (due out in May), and my memoir, Evolving in Monkey Town (due out in July), Zondervan has re-released John Ortberg’s book on the subject, now entitled Know Doubt.
Either the folks at Zondervan are having a collective faith crisis, or the evangelical community is finally opening up about doubt.
On the blogosphere this week, Scot McKnight posted a letter from a young adult wrestling with doubts about his faith. Scot’s response was absolutely fantastic, and something I desperately wish I had encountered five years ago, when I first started asking serious questions about Christianity. He recommended a few books that I plan to order on my oh-so-old-school Kindle: The Myth of Certainty by Daniel Taylor and Faith at the Edge by Robert Wennberg.
Also online, check out John Frye’s piece entitled “Doubters Arise!” and the very cool illustrations of David Hayward at NakedPastor.com, from where I got the illustration above, (after buying David a beer, of course).
And finally, I thought the conversation that followed Monday's post, "Does God Speak to You?" was one of the best we have ever had here, and I was so moved by your stories, many of which included your struggles with doubt.
All of this points to what I hope is a trend toward talking more openly about doubt and acknowledging the vital role it can play in shaping our faith. As I’ve mentioned before, doubt can take two forms—questioning God and questioning what we believe about God. Having experienced both, I know that the first can be destructive, while the second can be enriching and beneficial, though admittedly the line between them can sometimes get blurred. But I remain convinced that serious doubt, the kind that leads to despair, does not begin when we start asking God questions, but when out of fear, we stop.
What do you think? Are Christians developing a more nuanced attitude toward doubt? Do you feel it is becoming less taboo to talk openly about your questions about Christianity? Is this a good thing?

Send us a postcard!
Here’s a fun way to get to know one another better.
Send a “postcard” from:
1. Your current hometown.
2. The most far-away place you have ever been.
3. The place you would most want to be if you could snap your fingers and go now.
Feel free to include as many details as you please!
I’ll start.
1. Dayton, Tennessee—home of the famous Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925.
2. India—where the sights, sounds, colors, tastes and smells are impossible to describe. (I took the picture at the Red Fort in Delhi.)
3. Glacier National Park, Montana—the most beautiful spot in America, though I would want to wait until summer to be there!
39 Comments
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February 2010
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January 2010
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- Taking a Red Pen to Life (Jan 22, 2010)
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December 2009
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November 2009
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- Should Christians apologize? (Nov 20, 2009)
- Review: “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years”… (Nov 18, 2009)
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- How to Give Up on Changing the World (Nov 08, 2009)
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October 2009
- A Halloween Treat... (Oct 30, 2009)
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September 2009
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August 2009
- Early Marriage - a solution to sexual frustration? (Aug 30, 2009)
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- A New Kind of Fundamentalist (Aug 25, 2009)
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July 2009
- That’s A Good Question (Jul 30, 2009)
- Why People Believe Health Care is a Right, Even When They Say They Don't (Jul 28, 2009)
- Watcha Readin'? What's on your bookshelf? (Jul 27, 2009)
- A Week Without Opinions, Days 6 and 7: Reflections, Links, Driscoll (Jul 25, 2009)
- A Week Without Opinions, Day 5: Calvinism (Jul 23, 2009)
- A Week Without Opinions, Day 4: Politics and Health Care (Jul 22, 2009)
- A Week Without Opinions, Day 3: Gender Roles (Jul 21, 2009)
- A Week Without Opinions, Day 1: Hair-splitting , Humility, Happiness (Jul 20, 2009)
- A Week Without Opinions: Can I do it? Could you? (Jul 17, 2009)
- What is the purpose of having children? (Jul 15, 2009)
- On the Paralysis of Insecurity (Jul 13, 2009)
- Laughs + Links + Finish-the-Sentence Friday (Jul 10, 2009)
- Music and Lyrics and Controversy (Jul 09, 2009)
- The Justification Debate - Discussion Starter (Jul 07, 2009)
- Hooked on Social Networking Sites? (Jul 06, 2009)
- 4th of July Weekend: A Case for Compartmentalization (Jul 02, 2009)
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June 2009
- On God and Publication (Jun 30, 2009)
- Is the Emerging Church soooo last year? (Jun 29, 2009)
- Disturbing Photos + This Week on the Web (Jun 26, 2009)
- Six Things that Actually Threaten the Sanctity of Marriage (Jun 25, 2009)
- What Are You Reading? Who Do You Trust? (Jun 23, 2009)
- Reformed or Emerging...Must We Choose? (Jun 22, 2009)
- Monkey Town Mix (Jun 18, 2009)
- Who's On Your Playlist? (Jun 17, 2009)
- Shhhh! You can't say that in church! (Jun 15, 2009)
- Is Doubt a Disease? (Jun 14, 2009)
- Late Night Loyalties (Jun 11, 2009)
- Tiller And The High of Easy Outrage (Jun 09, 2009)
- The Silver Lining to "The American Patriot's Bible" (Jun 08, 2009)
- Restoring Respect for Journalists (Jun 04, 2009)
- Pastor Knows Best (Jun 02, 2009)
- Summer Reading, Sex, and Love (Jun 01, 2009)
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May 2009
- The Missing Link? (May 29, 2009)
- Book Club Discussion: History, Mistakes, and Redemption (May 27, 2009)
- Reforming My Attitude: How a Little Church Made Big Impact (May 24, 2009)
- Holy War: How Does This Image Make You Feel? (May 21, 2009)
- Book Club Discussion: Words Worth Talking About (May 20, 2009)
- Ready for My Close Up (May 18, 2009)
- Angels, Demons, and Summer Vacation (May 18, 2009)
- Book Club Discussion: Does This Offend You? (May 12, 2009)
- Questions for YOU - the Pivot Questionnaire (May 06, 2009)
- Mistaking Our Religion for God (May 04, 2009)
- Dare We Ask? (May 01, 2009)
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April 2009
- Nine Responses that DO NOT Help a Skeptic (Apr 30, 2009)
- The Christian College Experience (Apr 27, 2009)
- Book Club, Babies, and By the Way... (Apr 24, 2009)
- Are the teachings of Jesus too radical for public policy? (Apr 22, 2009)
- Torture and Lies (Apr 21, 2009)
- Prejudice, Positioning, and the Power of "Doubt" (Apr 20, 2009)
- Finding Our Notch in the Bible Belt (Apr 16, 2009)
- Bush and the "decline of Christian America" (Apr 13, 2009)
- Good Friday Doubt (Apr 10, 2009)
- Off-Limits Questions (Apr 08, 2009)
- The Book/ The Blog/ The Elusiveness of Joy (Apr 06, 2009)
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March 2009
- So My Book Might Have a Warning Label on It (Mar 20, 2009)
- Shamrocks and Sacraments - Your Thoughts on Catholicism (Mar 17, 2009)
- Anne Coulter speaks on behalf of Jesus Christ? (Mar 13, 2009)
- Guest Post: Mason on "Don't Stop Believing" (Mar 09, 2009)
- Stem Cells, In-Vitro, and Octomom (Mar 06, 2009)
- Guest Post: Adele on the Sex-Crazed American Christian Subculture (Mar 04, 2009)
- Guest Post: Howard Pepper on The Great Emergence (Mar 02, 2009)
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February 2009
- So I Want to Buy a Billboard... (Feb 28, 2009)
- Book Club + Finish-the Sentence-Friday (Feb 27, 2009)
- Book Club Discussion: The Gathering Center (Feb 25, 2009)
- Making Peace with Science (Feb 19, 2009)
- What is Fundamentalism? (Feb 17, 2009)
- Book Club Discussion: Big Important Questions (Feb 14, 2009)
- Subsisting on Punditry (Feb 12, 2009)
- Guest Post: Micah Visits the Creation Museum (Feb 09, 2009)
- From the Blogosphere (Feb 07, 2009)
- Book Club Discussion: Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes (for the Ch-Ch-Ch-Church) (Feb 05, 2009)
- Look What Showed Up in Dayton (Feb 03, 2009)
- Why I Loved "Slumdog" (Feb 01, 2009)
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January 2009
- Monkey Town is Getting an Extreme Makeover! (Jan 30, 2009)
- Book Club Discussion: Why the Ladies Rock, Part 2 (Jan 30, 2009)
- Book Club Discussion: Why the Ladies Rock, Part 1 (Jan 28, 2009)
- Call For Guest Writers/ What Movie Should I See? (Jan 27, 2009)
- Book Club Discussion: Discernment or Hypocrisy or a Little Bit of Both? (Jan 22, 2009)
- It's Okay to be Proud (Jan 19, 2009)
- Maybe God doesn't exist (Jan 16, 2009)
- A Comeback for Calvinism? (Jan 13, 2009)
- Book Club Discussion: Inerrancy Isn't the Point (Jan 12, 2009)
- Finish-the-Sentence Friday: Church (with a lower-case "c") (Jan 09, 2009)
- Book Club Discussion: The Bible as a Story (Jan 06, 2009)
- A Good Example of Picking and Choosing (Jan 01, 2009)
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December 2008
- Resolutions for 2009 (Dec 30, 2008)
- Book Club Discussion: The Blue Parakeet (Dec 28, 2008)
- Have a Haiku Holiday! (Dec 24, 2008)
- Thanks + Topic Ideas (Dec 22, 2008)
- Rick Warren @ Inaguration: Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down? (Dec 20, 2008)
- Reflections on 2008 (Dec 18, 2008)
- Simplify, Simplify: 10 Things We Don't Actually Need (Dec 16, 2008)
- Dan's Blog, Your Blog, and The Prop 8 Musical (Dec 12, 2008)
- God Things (Dec 10, 2008)
- Lars, the Real Girl, and the Real Church (Dec 08, 2008)
- Have I gone off the deep end? (Dec 06, 2008)
- What is faith? (Dec 03, 2008)
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November 2008
- Thanksgiving with Mother Teresa (Nov 27, 2008)
- Book Club Discussion: Those evangelicals are so judgmental! (Nov 24, 2008)
- Finish the Sentence Friday: Confession (Nov 22, 2008)
- What Evangelicals Do Well (Nov 19, 2008)
- Book Club Discussion: Are the Culture Wars Over? (Nov 17, 2008)
- Favorite Books from 2008 (Nov 16, 2008)
- Banning Gay Marriage...and Divorcee Marriage and Inter-Religious Marriage (Nov 14, 2008)
- Book Club Discussion: "unChristian" (Nov 10, 2008)
- Is God Really in Control? (Nov 05, 2008)
- Tell Us Who You're Voting for and Why - In Five Sentences (Nov 03, 2008)
- Open Communion (Nov 01, 2008)
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October 2008
- Jesus hates welfare? (Oct 29, 2008)
- Where do you get your information? (Oct 28, 2008)
- Elections and the Evangelical Persecution Complex (Oct 27, 2008)
- Finish-The-Sentence Friday: Love and Marriage (Oct 24, 2008)
- Is nuance the new thing? (Oct 22, 2008)
- The Rains Came Down and the Floods Came Up (Oct 21, 2008)
- New Book Club Selection + Finish-the-Sentence-Friday (Oct 17, 2008)
- Let's Talk about Abortion - With Gentleness and Civility (Oct 16, 2008)
- 10 Things I love about rural Tennessee (Oct 13, 2008)
- Angry mobs, really? (Oct 10, 2008)
- Summit Says: Bailout is "Postmodern"? (Oct 09, 2008)
- Book Club Discussion:Rejecting Christianity for Christianity's Sake (Oct 07, 2008)
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September 2008
- Fundamentalism, Evangelicalism, and the Palin/Bryan Factor (Sep 30, 2008)
- My Book is Getting Published! (Sep 26, 2008)
- Ten Things I'm Not "Ready to Give an Answer" About (Sep 24, 2008)
- Book Club Discussion: Are Apologists Closer to God? (Sep 22, 2008)
- Following Jesus and Maintaining Your Mental Health (Sep 16, 2008)
- More Mixed Messages for Evangelical Women (Sep 13, 2008)
- Book Club Discussion: Wrestling with the Bible (Sep 10, 2008)
- Finish-The-Sentence Friday: Words (Sep 05, 2008)
- Sarah Palin and Playing the Sexism Card (Because You Asked!) (Sep 03, 2008)
- Wealth, Part 2: A Blessing or a Curse? (Sep 01, 2008)
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August 2008
- Wealth, Part 1: How God Judges the Nations (Aug 28, 2008)
- Why I'm Not a "Values Voter" (Aug 25, 2008)
- Your Spiritual Journey: Send Me a Postcard! (Aug 21, 2008)
- Defeating Evil and Getting Rich: Why the Religious Forum Struck a Nerve (Aug 18, 2008)
- Five Things Obama Needs to Say Tonight (Aug 16, 2008)
- Dear Focus on the Family (Aug 13, 2008)
- War- What is it Good For? (Aug 11, 2008)
- Finish-the-Sentence Friday: Olympics (Aug 08, 2008)
- Support for a Healthy Dose of "Works-Based" Salvation (Aug 07, 2008)
- Confessions of a Recovering Obama-Maniac (Aug 04, 2008)
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July 2008
- 10 Reasons to Read "Jesus for President" (Jul 31, 2008)
- An Evangelical's Response to Homosexuality (Jul 28, 2008)
- Finish-The-Sentence-Friday: Finding God (Jul 25, 2008)
- What's your sola? (Jul 24, 2008)
- Facebook Quizzes: What Kind of Narcissist Are You? (Jul 18, 2008)
- Are Apologetics Making A Comeback? (Jul 16, 2008)
- When the Bible Bothers Our Conscience (Jul 15, 2008)
- Finish-The Sentence Friday: Movies! (Jul 11, 2008)
- Strong Enough to Be My Man - And Run My Web Site (Jul 10, 2008)
- Playing the God Card (Jul 07, 2008)
- Picking and Choosing, and Letting the Bible Interpret Us (Jul 06, 2008)
- Finish-The-Sentence Friday: July 4 (Jul 04, 2008)
- Survey Says: Don't Read Into It (Jul 02, 2008)
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June 2008
- Book Club Discussion: Rapture theology a confusion of metaphors? (Jun 30, 2008)
- Why Obama takes the Bible more seriously than Dobson (Jun 28, 2008)
- Taking God's Name in Vain (Jun 24, 2008)
- Book Club Discussion: Building God's Kingdom (Jun 23, 2008)
- (The First Ever) Finish-The-Sentence Friday (Jun 20, 2008)
- Are we worthy of God's love? (Jun 18, 2008)
- Book Club Discussion: "Surprised by Hope" (Jun 16, 2008)
- "Socialist" propaganda (with biblical support!) (Jun 08, 2008)
- Tried and true conversation enders (Jun 04, 2008)
- Book Club Discussion: Love as Orthodoxy (Jun 01, 2008)
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May 2008
- Am I an Evangelical? Are You? (May 28, 2008)
- Pastors + Politics = Problems (May 25, 2008)
- Book Club Discussion: Doubt as a Necessary Element of Faith (May 22, 2008)
- Maturing in Ape Village: Why I Need Your Help with A Title (May 19, 2008)
- Gays, Buddhists, and Scientists: Will Evangelicals Change Their Minds? (May 16, 2008)
- Have We Made the Bible Into an Idol? (May 13, 2008)
- From modernism to postmodernism: evolution vs. accommodation (May 07, 2008)
- Book Club Discussion: Rejecting both absolutism and relativism (May 05, 2008)
- When a theology just doesn't feel right... (May 03, 2008)
- Some thoughts on those who "haven't heard" (May 01, 2008)
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April 2008
- Book Club Discussion: Is Jesus a Christian? (Apr 28, 2008)
- Cable news is destroying America...I know because I watch it 24/7 (Apr 23, 2008)
- Book Club Discussion: Are we more compassionate than God? (Apr 21, 2008)
- A little mindfulness never hurt anyone (Apr 19, 2008)
- Take this quiz to find out what you believe! (Apr 17, 2008)
- Book Club Discussion: A God who both transcends and inhabits all pronouns (Apr 14, 2008)
- Stein takes on Darwinism (Apr 09, 2008)
- Book Club Discussion: The Problem of Evil is more than a riddle (Apr 07, 2008)
- Why I've joined the "emerging conversation" (Apr 07, 2008)
- Enns, WTS, and Why Six-Year-Olds Shouldn't Memorize Catechisms (Apr 03, 2008)
- On a Lighter Note - How Unfair is This? (Apr 02, 2008)
-
March 2008
- Book Club Discussion: It's all relative! (Mar 31, 2008)
- Selective Literalism II: Who Would Jesus Stone? (Mar 29, 2008)
- Selective Literalism (Mar 27, 2008)
- Where's the "liberal" media when you need them? (Mar 25, 2008)
- Book Club Discussion: Confronting our "situatedness" (Mar 24, 2008)
- Tell me what you want, what you really really want (Mar 22, 2008)
- Obama's speech and other videos (Mar 22, 2008)
- A few more thoughts on evolution (Mar 21, 2008)
- Can I go to mass if I'm not Catholic? (Mar 20, 2008)
- Your $42 million letter is in the mail! (Mar 19, 2008)
- No gay jokes please (Mar 18, 2008)
- Book Club Discussion: The Church's one Foundation (Mar 17, 2008)
- Cable and the Cosmos: What I Learned about the Big Bang (Mar 16, 2008)
- Second Honeymoon in LeGrange (Mar 15, 2008)
- Why does the religious right hate Hillary? (Mar 13, 2008)
- Books and Bicep Curls (Mar 11, 2008)
- Book Club Discussion: In the beginning, at 9 a.m... (Mar 10, 2008)
- Welcome to my "Fantasy Dinner Party" (Mar 07, 2008)
- Book Club Discussion: Duck and Cover (Mar 03, 2008)
- Roll Tide! (Mar 02, 2008)
-
February 2008
- Alter to an Unknown God (Feb 28, 2008)
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January 2008
- Is doubt making a comeback? (Jan 05, 2008)
- Lessons from India: Namaste (Jan 03, 2008)
- Happy New Year! (Jan 01, 2008)
-
December 2007
- Traveling Mercies for the "Consummate Ass" (Dec 28, 2007)
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