Something happened in the 1990s and 2000s: the old-fashioned gospel of the four spiritual laws or the bridge fell apart in the hands of the next generation. I don’t know if that collapse occurred because of generational shifts  in that the language no longer worked, or if it collapsed because biblical studies were unveiling a more profound and more accurate gospel. Many have undertaken to be “more biblical” about the gospel and the most recent is a fine study by… Read more

Northern Seminary Lisle, IL Dr. Nijay Gupta to Join Professor Scot McKnight in Northern Seminary’s New Testament Department President Bill Shiell, along with Dean Ingrid Faro and Professor Scot McKnight, are excited to announce the addition of Dr. Nijay K. Gupta to the New Testament department. Dr. Gupta has been teaching for more than a decade and is a leading scholar in the field of New Testament studies and a prolific author of many books and articles, including the recent… Read more

The Gundrys and Me, by Ruth Tucker Stan and Pat Smith Gundry. Where would my life be today without them? This little series began with A. B. Simpson, founder of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. Last week, I continued with Elisabeth Elliot’s influence on my life. Like Simpson and Elliot, Stan and Pat have left very large footprints on the evangelical world and on my life in particular. Where would I be today had Pat not written Woman Be Free!… Read more

Father in heaven, who at the baptism of Jesus in the River Jordan proclaimed him your beloved Son and anointed him with the Holy Spirit: Grant that all who are baptized into his Name may keep the covenant they have made, and boldly confess him as Lord and Savior; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen. BCP Read more

Keep your eyes on this blog site because in ten days or so it will move to … Christianity Today. I’m looking forward to moving there but I am grateful over the years for BeliefNet and Patheos. I’ll be providing a link when I know what it is. Fresh meals for the homeless is his calling: CHICAGO — For the past seven years, Michael Airhart has started nearly every morning by packing his car with a grill and as many coolers… Read more

By Mike Glenn He’s Here. Now What? Advent, the four weeks before Christmas, is a time of waiting and preparation, of anticipation and thoughtfulness, of hope and dreams. When Jesus gets here, our lives will be different because (fill in the blank) and our world will be different because (again, fill in the blank). We wait in breathless anticipation for Christ to come, for God to come into world. Joy to the world! The Lord has come! Everything will be… Read more

By Corey Farr “Wait, you’re a virgin?” she said to me. We hadn’t seen each other since high school. This isn’t exactly the kind of question you’d expect to come up in random small talk with a girl you haven’t seen in eight years and hadn’t been all that close to in the first place, but she had noticed the silver cross-engraved ring on my right hand and asked if I was married. “Nope, that’s the wrong hand,” I said… Read more

He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces (Is 25:8) Ben Witherington III, Isaiah Old and New, sees later Isaiah 14-39 coming from the time of the historical Isaiah, the prophet in Judah through the time of Hezekiah, before the fall to Babylon. This section opens with oracles of woe and judgment against the nations and Judah, continues with such oracles interspersed with oracles of redemption and victory, and… Read more

Frozen 2 and The Divine Feminine, by Kelly Edmiston The evolution of Disney productions over the years is a refreshing one from a feminist theological perspective. One task of the feminist theologian is to consider the traditions and practices of the Christian faith in way that honors and elevates the lived experiences of women. One way that this happens is through considering the Divine Feminine or the Divine Mother. What I mean by the “Divine Mother” or “Divine Feminine” is… Read more

One of my favorite authors is Robert Louis Wilken. The first book of his I read is called The Spirit of Early Christian Thought, and it was mesmerizing combination of clarity, ideas and biography. Then out came The First Thousand Years, a global study of early Christianity. It was so good. Now we have a slender volume called Liberty in the Things of God: The Christian Origins of Religious Freedom. There are probably some whack jobs who think this book is loaded for… Read more