I have a dilemma. I want to rave about a literary work that depends upon a wonderful twist of the plot, which you would never see coming until it actually hits you. But if I tell you the twist, or even that there is a twist, then I detract from the power of the story, even if I don’t actually ruin it. On the other hand, if I tell you nothing about the story at all, then perhaps you would... Read more
Anthea Butler’s White Evangelical Racism is a tough, hard-hitting book. She pulls no punches. There’s no spoonful of sugar accompanying this medicine. This is a book that sears without soothing. “Racism,” she begins, “is a feature, not a bug, of American evangelicalism.” What is American evangelicalism? While other historians point to theological definitions or situate the subject within a particular historical movement or moment, Butler employs the “working definition” in the contemporary United States. American evangelicalism is white. And conservative.... Read more
Is the theologically conservative Reformed wing of evangelicalism going to permanently divide over race and politics? This month, Kevin DeYoung, a pastor and professor at Reformed Theological Seminary (as well as a popular author and a major figure in the “young, restless, and Reformed” movement) wrote an insightful article for the Gospel Coalition tracing a movement fissure that is in the making. On one side of the divide are Reformed racial progressives who support Black Lives Matter and denounce Donald... Read more
Why a minor detail in the announcement of Beth Moore leaving the Southern Baptist Convention got Chris wondering if we're going to see a realignment of American Christians along new lines. Read more
God wants you to be temperate but could not possibly expect you to be svelte. Growing up Catholic, I knew that what you ate mattered to God, who substituted fish for meat on Fridays in Lent and, I hoped, was pleased when I gave up chocolate that one time. But it never occurred to me that God might care how much you weigh until I went to college. In the dorm room of a Christian fellowship leader I saw a... Read more
Wondering how unusual it is that this year's NCAA men's basketball tournament includes colleges and universities like Abilene Christian, BYU, Gonzaga, Grand Canyon, Liberty, Oral Roberts, and Villanova? Chris takes a look at the religious history of March Madness. Read more
This week, Pope Francis approved a document saying that that Catholic priests were not allowed to bless same sex unions or marriages, and by extension, to recognize them as marriages in any true sense. Specifically, said the text from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, God “does not and cannot bless sin.” I have no wish to discuss the theological background here, but some of the reactions do demand attention. The first obvious comment is that the decision... Read more
Earlier this month, Jemar Tisby shared his story of leaving white evangelical spaces with the hastag #LeaveLOUD on his Pass the Mic podcast, the first in a series of episodes where Black Christians go public with their exit stories. Tisby is not the first Black Christian to leave after a sojourn in white evangelical spaces, but he wants to change the terms of departure. For too long, most Black Christians have been leaving discreetly. In 2018, the New York Times... Read more
In less than 5 weeks, The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth will be published. My writing on the Anxious Bench birthed this book, and so I thought it appropriate for the Anxious Bench to be the first public space to host the introduction. I am thankful for Brazos Press allowing me to do this. So here’s the moment I decided to take on Christian patriarchy. –And thanks to all my Anxious Bench readers who have walked with... Read more
Are Christian college professors also Christian ministers? Chris wrestles with questions at the heart of a lawsuit involving an evangelical college. Read more
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