Roger E. Olson

What I Would Believe Were I a Metaphysical NaturalistFirst, let me say that, whatever others may think of me, I believe I have the capacity to think rationally. I do not claim that reason governs everything I believe and do, but I do claim that I have been trained in rationality and have the knowledge of the laws of reason and evidence necessary to think and behave rationally. I have taken courses in philosophy (including on the graduate level at a major national research university) and … [Read more...]

The Reason for Christian Higher Education (and Pressures to Abandon It)One purpose of this blog is to support what I call the “biblical-Christian plausibility structure.” I believe it is the primary reason for being of Christian higher education. (Yes, one could say it is the reason for being of all Christian education, but for my purposes it suffices to designate “higher” education.)I have been deeply embedded in Christian higher education in America for more than forty years with on … [Read more...]

Is There a New Form of Lynching in America?Once again a police officer has been acquitted of all criminal charges in the shooting death of an innocent and unarmed black American citizen. This shooting occurred only blocks from where I lived for fifteen years; I can picture in my mind’s eye the scene, the city block, where it happened. (It is an almost all-white neighborhood where black people are rarely seen.) I drove through it hundreds of times. By all accounts the black man was at the … [Read more...]

Is God Our Father?This year (2017), in the U.S., Sunday, June 18 is designated as “Father’s Day.” (Mother’s Day was May 14th.) As I have said here before, in contemporary American society, fatherhood is an ambiguous concept and many people have ambivalent feelings toward fathers—their own and others.A few years ago I happened to be watching a morning talk show on a major American television network. It was Mother’s Day and the talking heads were discussing a “report” about the value o … [Read more...]

Memories and Thoughts about Thomas OdenMethodist theologian Thomas Oden, who died this past December (2016) was by all accounts one of the few Protestant theologians who journeyed from theological liberalism to theological conservatism. Many have gone the other direction. Oden taught for many years at Methodist-related Drew University in New Jersey. By his own account, published in several articles and books, he became disillusioned with theological liberalism and pluralism and converted … [Read more...]