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Search...I Could Have Used This Book Twelve Years Ago: A Review of “The Evolution of Adam” by Peter Enns
Comments Within the first week of my freshman year of college, my Introduction to World Literature class included a reading of Gilgamesh, an ancient Mesopotamian myth about a hero who is described as 1/3 man and 2/3 god. As we read the text together in class, I couldn't help but notice some striking similarities between this text and the familiar texts of Genesis and Ecclesiastes, but when we got to the part where Gilgamesh speaks with Utnapishtim, a survivor of the Great Flood, I disintegrated into a ... read moreTripp Fuller and Bo Sanders: Is God Really Omnipotent?
Comments So my friends Tripp and Bo from Homebrewed Christianity have been talking...and talking...and talking...about this thing called Process Theology. In fact, it will be a major topic at this year’s Emergent Village Theological Conversation, January 31-February 2, in Claremont, California. Now, I don’t know much about Process Theology. When folks start to discuss it, I mostly nod and smile and try to keep up. But since it’s become such a hot topic, Bo and Tripp volunt... read moreRob Bell, the SBC, and The Age of Accountability
Comments photo © 2007 Meena Kadri | more info (via: Wylio) As you may have heard, last week the Southern Baptist Convention responded to pastor Rob Bell’s controversial book, Love Wins, with a resolution declaring that “the Bible clearly teaches that God will judge the lost at the end of the age,” and that such judgment will include the “conscious, eternal suffering" for all non-Christians. Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, e... read moreWhen grace is just a doctrine
Comments photo © 2009 Slawek Puklo | more info (via: Wylio) Grace is my middle name. Literally. I was born Rachel Grace Held—named after my great-grandmother, Grace Burleson, who taught school in rural Appalachia during the Depression and who, when I was young and she was old, used to pull me onto her lap to tell me stories about the ghost that lived in the hen house at the old farm. Grace is a good name, a gentle name, one I’d like to pass down to my own daughter someday... read moreThe trouble with litmus tests
Comments photo © 2006 David Bleasdale | more info (via: Wylio) Popular evangelical pastor and activist Rick Warren was put through the wringer recently in an interview with Reformed theologian John Piper. Designed to test Warren’s doctrine on everything from the sovereignty of God, to unconditional election, to substitutionary atonement, to homosexuality, the interview was seen by Piper as proof that Rick Warren was indeed a “doctrinally sound” evangelist. But not all of... read more12 Ways to Make Arminianism Cool Again
Comments Roger Olson’s interview with Homebrewed Christianity got me thinking about how, with all the talk about the Neo-Reformed movement, Arminianism has been underrated. Maybe we just need some better PR. Here are some ideas: 1. Petition Microsoft to make Arminian an actual word so that bloggers ranting about the pros and cons of Armenians don’t sound like complete racists. 2. Create a Stuff Arminians Like blog. Entries could include: love, freedom, and “secretly wonder... read moreIf this guy’s an evangelical, then maybe I am too
Comments Roger Olson calls himself a post-conservative evangelical, and in this podcast interview with Homebrewed Christianity, he explains why he hasn’t given up on evangelicalism. Considering our recent conversation about the future of evangelicalism and my generations’ discomfort with that label, I thought you’d be interested in his remarks. What’s more, Olson touches on just about every topic that’s been keeping me up at night over the past ten years, and does so in a w... read moreRob Bell and the perils of Christian fandom
Comments This short clip entitled “Rob Bell Comes Clean” made the rounds last week, and although I would wholeheartedly affirm everything Bell says in it, I found myself squirming a bit at the sound of the audience cheering as he spoke. As I mentioned in my review of Love Wins, I’m concerned that the controversy surrounding this book has reduced an important and complex theological conversation to two “sides,” as though it were some kind of football rivalry—comp... read moreAfter You Read “Love Wins”…
Comments This week I finished reading Rob Bell’s controversial new book, Love Wins. Having spent the last ten years wrestling through some tough questions related to faith, heaven, hell, and salvation, I really appreciate the personal way in which Bell frames the conversation, asking the very questions I was so afraid to ask all those years and proclaiming the same hope I only dared believe—that God doesn’t give up on people, that he is ever-loving, ever-redeeming, ever pursuing... read moreThe truth can set you free…and get you fired
Comments ***Update: Since writing this post, Chad has become famous. I hope he still moves to Tennessee!*** Back in February I wrote a post entitled “Dear Pastors, Tell Us the Truth” in which I urged pastors to be honest with their congregations about their fears, their failures, their needs, their journeys, their opinions, and their ideas. Emails poured in from pastors all around the country…(indeed, the world!)…who told me that if they were honest with their con... read moreA split in Protestant Evangelicalism?
Comments Over at Red Letter Christians, Jimmy Spencer asserts that the Bell vs. Piper debate signals a forthcoming split within Protestant Evangelicalism: On one side you’ll have the Reformed Conservatives—entrenching and ‘expelling’ folks. On the other side you will see the Progressive Evangelicals—migrating toward work with mainline churches. This thing is going to split wide open. You can read the entire post here. What do you think? Do you agree?... read moreHeaven, Hell, and Rob Bell
Comments LOVE WINS. from Rob Bell on Vimeo. “Some Christians are more offended by the idea of everyone going to heaven than by the idea of everyone going to hell.” - Evolving in Monkey Town, Chapter 9 If you’ve read Evolving in Monkey Town you know that some of my most serious doubts about Christianity were triggered by questions related to religious pluralism and the destiny of the un-evangelized. After witnessing the public execution of a Muslim woman from Afghanistan ... read moreBiblical considerations for an inclusive view of salvation
Comments photo © 1999 Ryan | more info (via: Wylio) In light of our conversation about Anne Frank yesterday, I thought I’d repost this rather lengthy piece from 2008 (back when I thought people liked to read 1,000-word blog posts) that details some of the biblical support for a more inclusive view of salvation. Now I’m not a biblical scholar, but these passages of Scripture have informed my view of the “un-evangelized” and given me much hope regarding God&rsqu... read moreDid Anne Frank go to hell?
Comments This was the question that first drew my attention to a little crack in the Christian worldview wall, back when I was just twelve or thirteen years old. That crack would only grow bigger and more troublesome over time, until I was finally forced to consider the possibility that maybe it represented a serious foundation issue. Sure enough, the walls fell down, the foundation crumbled, and I was left alone and trembling in a desperate state of faith, exposed to all the element... read moreThe day I found out Martin Luther Hated Jews
Comments photo © 2006 Robert Wirrmann | more info(via: Wylio) So on Saturday I learned that the great Reformer, Martin Luther, was an anti-Semite. And I mean a real, burn-down-their-houses-and-cut-off-their limbs anti-Semite. He called for violence, dismemberment, arson, expulsion, and death, and provided material that would later be used by Nazis to stir up anti-Jewish sentiment among the German people. In a book entitled On Jews and Their Lies, Luther wrote: “My ... read moreThe Justification Debate - Discussion Starter
Comments I wanted to share this summary from Christianity Today about the current debate between theologians N.T. Wright and John Piper regarding the nature of justification. I’m almost finished working my way through Wright’s book on the subject, and am pretty convinced (as I expected I would be) that his Scriptural support is abundant. In a second article about the practical implications of the justification debate, this question was asked: “Which is more scandalous? The mul... read moreBook Club Discussion: Are Apologists Closer to God?
Comments As we continue our discussion of Peter Rollins’ “The Fidelity of Betrayal,” we get into some philosophically heady material, which takes some time to digest. However, I am convinced that Rollins' approach is one that has the potential to not only change how we think about our faith, but also how we interact with it in our lives. I'm not sure that I agree with all of his conclusions, but this has definitely been a worthwhile read! In Chapters 4 and 5, Rollins deconstruct... read moreBook Club Discussion: Wrestling with the Bible
Comments I’m running a couple of days behind, but am excited to begin our book club discussion today about Peter Rollins’ provocative book The Fidelity of Betrayal (Paraclete Press, 2008). Rollins’ main thesis is that true Christianity always demands an act of betrayal from the faithful. This means that “we are led to embrace the idea of Christianity as a religion without religion…as tradition that is always prepared to wrestle with itself, disagree with itself, and betra... read moreWar- What is it Good For?
Comments Whenever I’m struggling with doubts about God or questioning my faith, I make sure to avoid my most notorious faith crisis trigger: war movies. It doesn’t matter whether a movie explores the atrocities of war, glorifies war, or even pokes fun at war—I just can’t sit through ninety minutes of human beings blowing each other to pieces without facing the temptation to give up on the goodness of God altogether. I’ve never seen “Saving Pr... read moreWhen the Bible Bothers Our Conscience
Comments Our last conversation about William Webb’s Slaves, Women, and Homosexuals certainly generated a lot of responses, particularly concerning the role of women in church leadership, which means the post accomplished its purposes of highlighting the challenges of applying the teachings of Scripture in today’s culture. Today I want to focus on Webb’s “redemptive movement hermeneutic,” specifically as it applies to those tricky passages of Scripture that leave us scratchin... read morePicking and Choosing, and Letting the Bible Interpret Us
Comments In his second letter to Timothy, the Apostle Paul writes, “I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet.” (I Timothy 2:12) This little verse has made big waves in the evangelical culture, and all my life I’ve heard it used to enforce restrictions on the positions women can hold in church leadership. And yet, just three verses before this one, Paul says, “I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly... read moreBook Club Discussion: Rapture theology a confusion of metaphors?
Comments Sometimes when I get a bit carried away with a descriptive passage in my writing, I remind myself of a helpful little adage a favorite professor once taught me: “Try to avoid driving while under the influence of metaphors.” As N.T. Wright suggests in his book “Surprised by Hope,” the Apostle Paul certainly liked his metaphors, and might have benefited from such advice. In fact, Wright asserts that it is a confusion of Paul’s many metaphors that has ultimately ... read moreTaking God's Name in Vain
Comments I do it every time I tell a friend I will pray for her, and then forget. I do it when I absently mouth the lyrics to a hymn or use the Bible as a weapon in order to win an argument. I do it when I gossip, speaking ill of another human being created in His image. I do it when I drop spiritual buzzwords into my conversations in order to fit in. I suppose we’ve all mastered the art of taking God’s name in vain. Christians in particular have a way of letting careless language about God c... read moreBook Club Discussion: Building God's Kingdom
Comments It’s Monday, so today we continue our discussion on NT Wright’s fascinating book “Surprised by Hope,” in which the Bishop of Durham argues that Christian eschatology should focus less on life after death and more on “life after life after death” - the bodily resurrection of the dead and the reign of Jesus in the redeemed creation. Today I’d like to focus on Wright’s ideas concerning the role of the Church in preparing for this new world. Competin... read moreShowing 1 - 25 of 38 Articles | Page 1 of 2
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