The news cycles and Twitter trends of recent weeks have reminded us of just how degraded and inane American pop culture can be. Without commenting on the details of sex changes and molestation, I would recommend that Christians take this opportunity to reflect on the perennial question of the church’s relationship to culture. I understand the impulse to bring light and truth into the hot news topics of the day, but at what point does evangelical reflection on the sexual... Read more
‘Tis the season for the road trip, not just for getting from point A to B, but for attending to history and geography along the way. On the Old Bay Road going toward Ipswich, Massachusetts, now 1A North of Boston, a roadside marker identifies the site where the first covered wagon set off from Massachusetts to the West. The marker came courtesy of the Massachusetts Tercentenary Commission. In 1930, upon the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Bay Colony,... Read more
I have been writing about the nature of academic debate, and how scholars assess claims. In some cases, it’s not too difficult to dismiss arguments as bogus or pseudo-scholarship, but often we find controversial views that are removed from the general consensus, and yet they demand to be discussed and debated. Sometimes, ideas that initially seem radical or counter-intuitive will gradually become part of a new consensus, a new orthodoxy. Others don’t. What makes the difference? Plenty of examples of... Read more
There does seem to be a basic societal need for penance. In previous days, penance meant various forms of public punishment and humiliation. Today, only politicians and celebrities perform public penance, which usually means some sort of groveling apology for the cameras, a time in the wilderness, and then a public reemergence usually coupled with a refusal discuss past sins. Most churches, by contrast, require very little in the form of penance and impose little discipline on members. In the... Read more
Eminent Notre Dame historian Mark Noll has written a pithy and provocative piece for the National Association of Evangelicals on American Christians and science. Here’s an excerpt on the reception of Darwinism: The Newtonian picture of a static, law-ordered world was breaking down before Charles Darwin published “The Origin of Species” in 1859. Napoleonic warfare, conservative political reaction, industrialization (William Blake’s “dark, Satanic mills”), class conflict and rapid population growth unsettled the social landscape into which Darwin (along with Alfred... Read more
Collin Hansen’s new book Blind Spots has initiated a helpful conversation about what American evangelicals conventionally miss when their faith is defined by insular, America-intensive subcultures. I found especially instructive his interview with Gloria Furman about what she learned about blind spots as she has lived and ministered in Dubai. We’re inevitably shaped by the culture in which we live. The incarnation also means that we can live a life fully pleasing to God in specific places and times. But we’re also... Read more
Over the past few weeks, I have been posting about the Book of Mormon, and you can check out those various items as you wish. Not surprisingly, my posts called forth a sizable number of comments and reactions, many quite intense, and a small number abusive and obscene. Here, though, I would like to react to some of the more substantial arguments, as I think they say a lot about modes of religious thinking and argument generally, rather than anything... Read more
I have been discussing the historical credentials of the Book of Mormon, in order to illustrate the differences between mainstream and fringe scholarship. Briefly, the history that the book supplies of the pre-Columbian Americas is wholly fictitious, and should never be treated as literal historical truth. We are free to discuss its merits as spiritual or symbolic history. A critic might say that, well, that is your opinion, but many apologists defend the historicity of the Book and would challenge... Read more
Carter has been maligned for being a weak, ineffective, micromanaging president. Randall Balmer begs to differ. To be sure, Carter had his weaknesses (and in his biography Redeemer, Balmer acknowledges them, including a sordid account of race-baiting during his gubernatorial campaign of 1970). But he points out that Carter’s presidency was sabotaged by events quite beyond his control—and that his significant accomplishments have been unfairly obscured. Here is Balmer’s attempt at rehabilitation: Human rights: Carter moved American foreign policy away... Read more
Next Monday marks the formal release date for my new book (with Barry Hankins) Baptists in America: A History. Why should you consider buying a copy, or using it in a college course, or in your adult Sunday School class? Here are four reasons: 1) Baptists in America offers a fresh approach to the history of Baptists within the larger stories of American history. How did Baptists go from being persecuted colonial outlaws to American Patriots? How did the formation of the... Read more
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