My recent post was about how my spiritual life has been enriched by the distinctive beliefs and practices of many different Christian traditions. Without taking anything I said there back, now I want to talk about how distinctive Christian traditions hold their distinctives, how they treat them and other Christians who do not (or no longer) believe in them. I’m going to use Pentecostalism as my case study because I’m so familiar with it. And was expelled from the movement... Read more

Confessions of an Ecumenical, Eclectic, Baptist Christian Roger E. Olson             I can’t claim the Baptist pedigree of the man who proudly identified himself as “Baptist born, Baptist bred, and when I’m gone I’ll be Baptist dead.” Unlike him, and unlike many of my colleagues past and present, I didn’t grow up Baptist. I’m a convert. There are advantages to being a convert. For one thing, it’s harder to take being Baptist for granted. You see, I chose it. Perhaps... Read more

Defining “Evangelical”: Why It’s Necessary and Impossible Some years ago Presbyterian publisher Westminster John Knox Press asked me to write a volume for a theological handbook series. Mine was to be The Westminster Handbook to Evangelical Theology. It was published in 2004. This was one of the most labor-intensive writing projects I’ve ever undertaken and completed. In published form it contains 328 double column pages. Although it has not been one of my best-selling books (that would be Finding God... Read more

Reflections on Reflections to Reflections on Passion Here are some reflections on the reflections people had to my reflections on Passion. Handling Sacred Cows Voicing critique while also voicing appreciation and approval is tough. It’s tough on the part of the communicator, but just as tough on the part of the hearer. When we listen to something, our first impulse is to categorize it as positive or negative…not a lot of patience for something with a bit of tension. This... Read more

What Would Jesus Make of Passion? by Austin Fischer (Teaching Pastor, The Vista Community Church, Belton/Temple, Texas)  Hooray Excellence!  At the moment I’m writing this, there are 60,000 college students gathered inside the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. They are singing worship songs, listening to sermons, and gathering what will no doubt be a massive offering that will go towards combating human trafficking. It’s pretty unbelievable stuff, but the Passion conferences specialize in the unbelievable. Cutting edge media, excellent musicians, famous... Read more

If you are able to, please read my article “Election Is for Everyone” in the current issue of Christianity Today and post your feedback here. There I call for Christians to emphasize more our common ground and less our differences. We all agree that salvation is solely God’s doing and not of works. We all believe in election and predestination. Reformed theology does not have a monopoly on these good biblical concepts. Obviously, we interpret them differently, but both Calvinists... Read more

Another Calvinist Misrepresentation Arminianism As anyone knows who comes here regularly, I am a self-appointed defender of the truth about classical Arminianism. That often brings me into conflict with Calvinists who misrepresent it. Sometimes it brings me into conflict with fellow Arminians who do the same. Rarely, but occasionally, it brings me into conflict with a Lutheran or other non-Arminian, non-Calvinist. Most of the time, however, the  conflict (by which I mean disagreement involving unwanted correction) is with Calvinists because... Read more

How Secularized Has American Evangelical Christianity Become? In a recent post here I talked about what I see as the secularization of evangelical Christianity in America. I gave some examples of its symptoms—that is, symptoms of secularization in American evangelical church life. I simply took for granted that secularization had long ago gripped and changed so-called “mainstream” Protestantism in America. Traditionally, that has been one of the primary ways of distinguishing “evangelical” from “mainstream” or “mainline” Christianity in America. Some... Read more

Have American Evangelicals Become Secularized? Some New Year’s Reflections on Changes during a Lifetime Each year as New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day arrive I feel more ambivalent about them. I admit it; I even feel weary of them. They seem so anti-climactic after Thanksgiving and Christmas. And, unlike other holidays, they are, to me at least, devoid of any special significance. Memorial Day is at least a time to think about my deceased mother even if I cannot... Read more

I recently received this e-mail letter. It’s the best recommendation of Against Calvinism I’ve read yet. I hope you, my faithful readers and blog visitors, will pass this good word around so that more people like this young Christian will read Against Calvinism to counter the arguments of their YYRM friends: “I purchased a copy of Against Calvinism after reading your article from Relevant Magazine’s website a few months back.  I wanted to take a moment to thank you for... Read more