Why Calvinism Cannot Be True and Is It Heresy? Of course I’ve addressed this before here and elsewhere. But, since I have posted about two thousand essays here, there is very little about which I have not written here. So, I am returning to a basic theme here—Calvinism. As everyone knows, I am an evangelical Christian theologian who is not a Calvinist. I am Arminian, as the title of this blog implies. This has caused me some difficulties over the... Read more

How Many Gods Do Christians Believe in? Titles generally require that all nouns begin with capital letters, but now I will revise the title of this blog post to correct it: “How many gods do Christians believe in?” Notice the difference. And know that here I am not talking about Mormonism or Latter Day Saints. This essay focuses exclusively on evangelical Christians who are saying we should believe in more gods than God (Yahweh). Two evangelical Christian influencers are in... Read more

The Political Meaning of Christianity: Power & State Several readers and I are here discussing the book The Political Meaning of Christianity by Glenn Tinder (HarperSanFrancisco, 1991). Those who are reading the book, and have read the pages I’m commenting on, are welcome to comment and question. Others are welcome to question. Two sections of Chapter Three being discussed here are “Power” and “The State and Its Justification” (pp. 133-149). (Chapter Three is “Liberty.”) Predictably, Tinder argues that true, authentic... Read more

What Is (Christian) Folk Religion? Folk religion is an anthropological category also used in the sociology of religion. It is religion done, believed, practiced, by the people, not the scholars. Every religion has its own form of folk religion. However, folk religions share some common features. Here I am writing specifically about American Christian folk religion, but the features I identify overlap with other folk religions. Folk religion thrives on comfort and other feelings (e.g., excitement) to the neglect, even... Read more

What Does “The Blood of Jesus” Mean? Recently there has been some public criticism of Christian “talk” about “the blood,” the “blood of Jesus,” especially. Of course, there’s nothing new about that. Even many Christians shy away, or more, from talking or singing about the blood of Jesus. Famous and influential Protestant preacher Harry Emerson Fosdick spoke about “slaughterhouse religion” and rejected talk about “the blood.” More recently, a leading and influential Womanist theologian has declared that we don’t need... Read more

The Meaning of Christianity: Liberty and Tolerance Under discussion here are two small portions of The Meaning of Christianity (by Glenn Tinder) in Chapter Three. They are “Liberty and Community” and “Tolerance” (pp. 116-133). In a nutshell, Tinder argues, surprisingly perhaps (to some) that true Christianity, as opposed to much historical, empirical “Christianity,” promotes liberty and tolerance. Tinder explicitly distinguishes between much historical Christianity and true Christianity, as I have here. People who cannot think abstractly will necessarily struggle with... Read more

What Is a “Resurrection Body?” We are not a week away (past) Easter Sunday. And I am musing (not pontificating) about the meaning of “resurrection body.” Christian belief that the tomb of Christ was empty, emptied by God, and that Christ’s body was changed, not left to rot or merely resuscitated, calls for explanation. However, all Christians admit it is a mystery to our minds, incapable of complete explanation. Might it be the case that part of our perplexity about... Read more

Should Homosexuality Be Criminal? About Uganda According to many news reports a court in Uganda has upheld that nation’s harsh criminal penalties for homosexuality, including capital punishment for “aggravated homosexuality” (whatever that means). Now the laws will go to Uganda’s Supreme Court for review. Observers expect that court will uphold most, of not all, of the laws criminalizing homosexuality. As a Christian theologian and ethicist (I held an endowed chair in Christian ethics at Baylor University and taught Christian theology... Read more

Is “Evil” Science Fiction? I have watched several episodes of a new television show called “Evil.” It’s based on a Spanish TV show called “The Envoys.” Both are about a team of investigators hired by the Catholic Church to investigate claimed miracles and demon possessions. Early on I detected that the maker of the show knows something about the subject. I looked him up. He graduated from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California, an evangelical Christian liberal arts college with... Read more

Are All Saved People Christians? Are All Christians Saved? I’ve written about these questions before, but I discern there may be a benefit in going over them again. Learning how to make subtle distinctions is a very important part of mental-intellectual acuity. Most conservative Christians I know assume that “Christian” and “saved” are synonyms. But they aren’t. “Saved” refers here to the condition of being in a right relationship with God. Yes, of course, the word can mean other and... Read more