Reflections on the True, the Good and the Beautiful
Over at respectfulconversation.net, the second round of dialogue is now beginning. This month the topic is on evangelicalism and salvation (we theologians like to call it “soteriology”). These are some of the questions we are addressing: 1. Is Christianity “exclusive”? What does that mean? Is Christianity the one true faith? 2. Is there anything for [...]
Over at Respectful Conversation, hosted by Harold Heie, an interesting conversation is underway regarding the place of evangelicalism within larger Christian traditions. What does it mean to be “evangelical” today? Does evangelicalism and evangelicals have a distinct, usable entity? What will be the future of the loose coalition (if it is that) or the “family [...]
Mental illness is on our minds. Recently, Matthew Warren, son of mega-church pastor Rick Warren, took his own life after a long struggle with severe mental illness. This tragedy, directly impacting “America’s pastor,” has brought the discussion of mental illness to the forefront (and, predictably, has also given occasion for the ignorant, un-sympathetic mouthpieces of [...]
Søren Kierkegaard was born on May 5, 1813. In honor of his bicentenary, my publisher is offering a 40% discount on my new book, Emerging Prophet: Kierkegaard and the Postmodern People of God. (The original list price is $20). To get the discount, just follow the link and enter the coupon code PROPHET in the shopping cart. Here [...]
Over 300 people have died in the garment factory collapse in Bangladesh. There are 50 people buried under the rubble. The factory was built on a swampland. This raises, once again, really tough questions for us–for which there are no simple answers. Anna McMullen has a helpful, balanced, reasonable article, called “Who Really Pays for [...]
Does the ordinary work have eternal significance? Do the products and achievements of industry, art, music, education, medicine and (pretty much everything else we could think of) carry on into the new creation (Eschaton)? This is the question Darrell Cosden addresses in The Heavenly Good of Earthly Work (Hendrickson, 2006) and, in a more detailed, deeper way, [...]
So allow me to do a little crowd-sourcing here. I’m speaking on a panel this Friday at the regional AAR meeting, on the topic, “What Else? All the Ways to use a Ph.D.” I’d be very interested in hearing from anyone who is using their Ph.D. in religious studies, theology, ethics, biblical studies, etc., outside [...]
When Pope Francis I declared, in his introductory sermon, that the Catholic Church would be a church, not just for the poor, but of the poor, I wondered how this could be possible. I’ve read enough of Jon Sobrino, the remarkable El Savadoran liberation theologian, to know of the powerful reformational, justice-oriented strain within the Catholic [...]
What are we going to do about all those fired-up youngsters who are running around trying to save the world (and acting like they have only four minutes to do it)? There has been a sea-change in the church. Like so often happens, Christianity seems to be swinging over to a concern with social justice [...]
I’m heading tomorrow to Regent University for a conference on “The Holy Spirit and the Christian Life,” hosted by the Divinity School’s Center for Renewal Studies. It looks to be a very good conference lineup, with topics including Aquinas on the Affections, Hugh of St. Victor on the gifts of the Spirit, Monasticism, Kierkegaard, and [...]
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