keith derose

The Post You NEED to Read about Universalism

March 7, 2011 By Tony Jones 35 Comments

It resides at Keith DeRose’s site. Keith, often referenced by me, is a philosophy professor at Yale. Keith has written publicly for years in defense of Christian Universalism, and he regularly corresponds with me privately on the subject. Rob Bell, at least according to the New York Times, is unlikely to answer many questions on this topic in his forthcoming book:

Judging from an advance copy, the 200-page book is unlikely to assuage Mr. Bell’s critics. In an elliptical style, he throws out probing questions about traditional biblical interpretations, mixing real-life stories with scripture.

Much of the book is a sometimes obscure discussion of the meaning of heaven and hell that tears away at the standard ideas. In his version, heaven is something that begins here on earth, in a life of goodness, and hell seems more a condition than an eternal fate — “the very real consequences we experience when we reject all the good and true and beautiful life that God has for us.”

No such worries with Keith. Keith deals straightforwardly and forthrightly with the biblical passages that affirm universalism, and those that contradict it. No beating around the bush here.

I have taken a brief respite from blogging about the possibility of Christian Universalism as I put the finishing touches on my dissertation (due next Tuesday!). But when I return to this topic, I will be thinking through the biblical witness on this topic, and I’ll use Keith’s manifesto as my ur-source. So if all the Rob Bell brouhaha has gotten you thinking about Universalism, read this paragraph, and click through to the rest of Keith’s writing: [Read more...]

Filed Under: bible, theology Tagged With: christian universalism, keith derose, rob bell, universalism 35 Comments

Something about Abortion

December 2, 2010 By Tony Jones 22 Comments

We’ve had an interesting comment thread going on Monday’s post, “Apple Pulls Manhattan Declaration App.” We’ve had everyone from a legal scholar to conservatives who insist on calling me, “Mr. Jones,” weigh in.

I’ve been most engaged in a contretemps with my acquaintance, Bob Hyatt, a pastor and blogger whom I very much respect. You can go to that post to read our comments. The one thing that Bob seems to feel that I didn’t sufficiently address is the question, Does being pro-life make a person a misogynist? That’s what the MacWorld article to which I linked seemed to suggest, as did the original HuffPo article that seems to have moved Apple to drop the app.

As Bob wrote in one of his comments, rather pointedly, “as the child of a teen mother, I’m ardently pro-life. Am I a misogynist?” I thought that question deserved a post, rather than a comment, in response, so here it goes:

1) Although Bob seems comfortable with it, I despise the terms, “pro-life” and “pro-choice.” I think they fall far short of communicating the nuance and complexities of this issue. Here’s why:

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Filed Under: politics Tagged With: abortion, keith derose 22 Comments

Will Gay-Friendly Churches Pander to their Clientele?

October 26, 2010 By Tony Jones 25 Comments

Keith Keith DeRose, Yale University

Keith DeRose is a philosophy professor at Yale, and a friend of, reader of, and occasional guest-poster on this blog.

He wrote me in response to my post, “How Fast Is Public Opinion on Same Sex Marriage Changing?“, and here are his thoughts, which are worthy of your consideration and comment.

The second chart (the PEW numbers that Sullivan cites) doesn’t seem quite as positive as the first. Still, yes, the direction and other basics of the trend are undeniable–plus, it’s a very long-standing trend (which has seemed to accelerate in recent years), and a broad one: on just about all controversial matters involving the gays, not just gay marriage, America has been slowly but surely get more gay-friendly for a long time.

“My question, as usual, is how will the church respond?”

Excellent. But also: Individuals do well to think through how they might respond to how the church responds. Here, one doesn’t have to play the prophet, foreseeing with any confidence and at any level of detail what the various church groups will actually do. All we need to see is that these trends point to various reactions that the church *might* well have, so we can think about how to respond, in case those reactions do materialize.
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