I’ve been thinking about Christian identity a lot lately. An election year makes such thinking inescapable, as Christian identity is linked with any number of political ideologies. On top of that, my next book is on Christian identity in a multi-faith world—exploring the ways that religious identity can predispose us toward hostility or hospitality. Of special interest to me is how the experience of worship forms us, consciously or unconsciously, in one kind of Christian identity or another. For example,... Read more

A funny thing happened on the way to the protest. I was talking with a colleague in the Occupy movement and sharing my ambivalence about a common slogan on our posters: “Take It Back.” He asked what bothered me, and I told him I wasn’t sure. But he “listened me into free speech,” and here’s what came out. 1) If we want a group of which we’re part (the occupy movement, a religion, a denomination, a nation, a political party)... Read more

I have a reputation for choosing ungainly titles, so my titles are often replaced by editors with better taste or judgment. Such was the case with a piece I wrote recently for Patheos on seminaries. My main point was that seminaries are succeeding at producing energetic, engaged, educated, and creative young leaders who too often step from the high-speed train of seminary education into the brick wall of change-averse, socially dysfunctional, spiritually constricted first assignments. I can’t remember what my original... Read more

Editor’s Note: This article is part of a Patheos’ symposium, “Does Seminary Have a Future?” Read other perspectives here. When I’m asked about the future of seminaries, my first response is to say that almost 100% of the current seminarians I meet are raving fans of their education. Seminary is providing for them what they wish churches would provide: A robust intellectual environment where they can openly and energetically explore God, the Bible, doctrine, faith, liturgy, mission, church history, and the... Read more

Editor’s Note: This article is part of the symposium, “What Is Progressive Christianity?” presented by the newly launched Patheos Progressive Christian Portaland in partnership with the Wild Goose Festival (June 23-26). Like us on Facebookto receive today’s best commentary on Progressive Christianity. I grew up Fundamentalist. Whatever criticisms you might offer of people from my tribe, at least this could be said of us: we knew our place in the universe. We were in a cosmic battle between God’s forces of light and Satan’s... Read more

Obviously, in light of the title of my most recent book (A New Kind of Christianity), the future of Christianity has been on my mind. When one talks about the future, one tends to think more of progressive or emergent forms of Christianity, since more conservative forms often will, by their conservative nature, try to ensure that the future will be as similar to the past as possible. That, of course, is impossible, since the very act of resisting change... Read more