Is God Finite?Most Christians in the middle or to the “right” of the middle of the Christian theological spectrum will automatically recoil at the question “Is God finite?” The knee-jerk reaction even I feel is “No, of course not. What a silly question.” On the other hand, when asked to explain God’s infinity many such Christians (middle to right of the theological spectrum) have some difficulty. “Unlimited?” “Eternal?” “Omnipotent?” All are answers one hears as attempts to pin down what … [Read more...]
You Might Still Be a Fundamentalist Even If…
July 18, 2017 by Leave a Comment
You Might Still Be a Fundamentalist Even If…In January of this year (2017) I served on a panel at a session of the American Society of Church History’s annual, national meeting. The subject of the discussion was “The Future of Evangelicalism in America” which is also the title of a book edited and written by the panel’s participants. I was the only theologian on the panel as I was also the only theologian who authored a chapter in the book which was published in 2016 by the University of … [Read more...]
A New Christian Dogmatics from Eerdmans
July 16, 2017 by Leave a Comment
A New Christian Dogmatics from EerdmansI recently received from publisher Wm. B. Eerdmans a complimentary copy of Christian Dogmatics: An Introduction by two Dutch theologians Cornelis van der Kooi and Gijsbert van den Brink (2012/2017). It’s a beautifully hard cover volume encompassing 806 pages (including indexes). On the back cover and inside are glowing endorsements by Richard J. Mouw, Michael S. Horton, Charles Van Engen, and John Bolt—all well-known Reformed theologians with eva … [Read more...]
Is There “Power in the Blood?” Thoughts about the Blood of Jesus
July 13, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Is There “Power in the Blood?” Thoughts about the Blood of JesusSomehow I happened to get included in the list of people who receive meditations, mini-sermons, theological musings, from a person. (I’m not going to name any names here.) The list of names includes some pretty well-known evangelical leaders. Here is a recent example of the list owner’s theological musings:“One of the problems of many modern day preachers of today is they do not preach on the blood of Christ.Many mini … [Read more...]
The Disappearing Difference between Rhetoric and Argument
July 10, 2017 by Leave a Comment
The Disappearing Difference between Rhetoric and ArgumentRecently (during and since the 2016 U.S. presidential election) there has been a lot of “chatter” about “facts.” Someone publicly labeled a public truth claim an “alternative fact.” This neologism created a great deal of consternation, controversy, and more than a little tittering.This event, or series of events, provoked me to think about truth claims, “facts,” and reality. Long before someone uttered the phrase “alternative fa … [Read more...]
Review of Greg Boyd’s “Crucifixion of the Warrior God”
July 5, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Review of Greg Boyd’s Crucifixion of the Warrior GodHave you ever been perplexed about the Old Testament’s “texts of terror” including especially those in which God is reported to have commanded the merciless slaughter of not only men and animals but also non-combatant women and children? If you’re still perplexed and care enough about the problems these texts present for Christian theology (and Christianity’s reputation in a skeptical world), you need to read Crucifixion of the Warrior G … [Read more...]
Does Justice Require Inclusion and Diversity?
July 1, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Does Justice Require Inclusion and Diversity?The simple answer to the question that is the title of this blog post is “yes” and “no.” But my emphasis here is going to be on the “no” simply because I exist in a religious context where that is what needs to be said and heard.Some years ago my family played a (then) new board game called “Scruples.” The game involved attempting to guess what another player would do in certain specific and highly dilemma-creating ethical situations. The g … [Read more...]
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