When I interviewed to teach theology at Bethel College and Seminary in Minnesota in 1984 I balked at signing a statement of faith that included that the Bible is “without error in the original autographs.” My mentor, a Bethel theologian who had taught me theology in seminary, showed me a two page essay by John Piper entitled “Comments on the “Affirmation of Faith.” (That was and is the title of the college’s and seminary’s statement of faith and is also... Read more

In 1984 I interviewed for a position teaching theology at Bethel College and Seminary (now Bethel University) in St. Paul, Minnesota. I was shown the denomination’s and institution’s statement of faith (doctrinal statement) and asked if I could sign it. It included belief that the Bible is without error in the original autographs. I balked a bit at that and asked what that means. I was shown an essay written by John Piper when he interviewed to teach at Bethel.... Read more

Deconstructing Evangelicalism What is “deconstruction,” anyway?  Well, I’ve been reading a lot about that, and it turns out it’s not at all what I was told.  It’s not “destruction” but rather has a positive agenda–to expose idols for what they are and help institutions and movements (etc.) improve themselves by becoming more open, more just and more flexible. A basic presupposition of deconstruction is that all ideologies are idols because they usurp the place of God (for Christian deconstructionists) and/or... Read more

Everyone in America has heard of James Talarico by now. He is the relatively young, openly Christian, seminary-educated, Texas legislator running for the US Senate as a Democrat. He wears his Christian faith on his sleeve, so to speak, no hiding it or keeping it quiet. Most have not heard yet of Adam Hamilton, pastor of the largest United Methodist Church in America, Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City, Kansas. Adam has recently announced that he will run for... Read more

I almost joined the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) but I’m glad I didn’t. The year was 1985 and I was beginning my new teaching position in theology at Bethel College and Seminary in Arden Hills, Minnesota. It is now known as Bethel University. I remember that, when the administration was thinking of changing the name, a faculty member put a note on the bulletin board in the faculty lounge that said “When a college calls itself ‘university’ it loses its... Read more

Evangelicalism: A Closed Club? Not Always Fair Based on my extensive and deep involvement with the American Evangelical Movement (AEM) over fifty years, I will dare to say that it was a closed club. At least there were (and still are) people who want to make it a bounded set, as opposed to a centered set, and serve as its gatekeepers. And they were and are not always fair in carrying that out. In fact, at times, with regard to... Read more

Clark Pinnock was a leading evangelical theologian who died in 2010. I followed his career, learned from him through his books and articles, and finally got to know him personally in the 1990s. When I first read him he was a strong inerrantist and Calvinist. But he was a good writer and apologist for the Christian faith. Yesterday I read a book manuscript that mentioned that Clark departed from strict inerrancy. It didn’t mention his change from Calvinism to Arminianism.... Read more

Here I continue my series, recently begun, of telling my memories and secrets of the American Evangelical Movement that began with the founding of the National Association of Evangelicals in the 1940s. These are my own memories and secrets I have kept. When I was in seminary I encountered many what I would now call “progressive evangelical” thinkers, both in person and in their writings. They weren’t all considered “progressive” then, but later they would be so labeled by conservative/fundamentalist... Read more

Here I begin a series telling my memories of American evangelicalism and what happened in it and to it. Here I am and will be talking about the Evangelical Movement that was born in the early 1940s with the founding of the National Association of Evangelicals and given impetus in the 1950s by the founding of the magazine Christianity Today. I was brought up in that movement. And worked within it as long as it lasted. I have studied the... Read more