Are “Shelf Doctrines” Hazardous to Faith? (RJS)

Last updated on: October 25, 2010 at 9:11 pm By RJS

In Weekly Meanderings last Saturday Scot linked to a couple of posts by Roger Olson on his blog. This led me to read those two posts, but also several others on Dr. Olson's site. One of them is worth some serious thought and conversation. In a post entitled Those pesky "shelf doctrines" Dr. Olson contemplates the doctrines and beliefs we know we should hold, but don't really understand, often don't really believe, and find ways to nuance and interpret. What are these "shelf doctrines" and what should we do about them? Read more

John Piper, Jesus the Only Way 2 (by Terrance Tiessen)

Last updated on: October 24, 2010 at 7:38 am By Scot McKnight

Part 2 of a review of John Piper, Jesus: The Only Way to God: Must You Hear the Gospel to be Saved?(123 pages, $5.99), by Terrance L. Tiessen. In the first part, we considered John Piper’s argument against annihilationism, universalism and relativistic pluralism, all of which he views as threats to the church’s missionary motivation. In this post, we come to Piper’s third question and his argument against inclusivism and agnosticism. Once again, I will restate his rationale for answering... Read more

Publishing Job Opportunities

Last updated on: October 25, 2010 at 4:22 pm By Scot McKnight

I see these weekly and have never done a thing about it. So, here’s a try to notify our readers of job opportunities in the publishing world. Digital Acquisitions Editor Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI RESPONSIBILITIES: • Acquire and recommend new biblical reference content, some of which become print books, all of which become digital projects. • Develop digital projects out of existing backlist CCARR titles • Work with other CCARR AE’s to develop enhanced ebooks and other digital products in... Read more

Christine Scheller on Forgiveness

Last updated on: October 25, 2010 at 7:17 am By Scot McKnight

An excellent exploration of the reality of forgiveness by Christine Scheller. No sugary words here; no false sentiments; nothing but the rugged reality of this most difficult of Christian modes of being. “Forgiving love is a possibility only for those who know that they are not good, who feel themselves in need of divine mercy, who live in a dimension deeper and higher than that of moral idealism, feel themselves as well as their fellow men convicted of sin by... Read more

Do Christians Contribute to Society?

Last updated on: October 25, 2010 at 7:19 am By Scot McKnight

The most recent Barna Report concerns Christians’ perception of contributions to society. Here are the positive contributions: In response to an open-ended question – meaning that survey respondents were not prompted with a list of possibilities but were asked to provide answers off the top of their head – one out of every five adults (19%) mentioned how Christians in the United States have helped poor or underprivileged people to have a better life. Adults under the age of 25... Read more

John Piper, Jesus the Only Way 1 (by Terrance Tiessen)

Last updated on: October 25, 2010 at 5:47 am By Scot McKnight

A regular reader and commenter on this blog, a missionary theologian and professor, and author of Who Can Be Saved?: Reassessing Salvation in Christ and World Religions, Terry Tiessen has sketched John Piper’s new book and he also evaluates Piper’s ideas. This is a two part review, the second one coming tomorrow. The issues involved in this discussion require some patience, and no one can do this for us any better than Terry. Thanks Terry. Part 1 of a review... Read more

Take the God Test

Last updated on: October 25, 2010 at 8:08 am By Scot McKnight

Which word best describes “your” view of God? Authoritative, Benevolent, Critical, or Distant? (ABCD — see below) Here’s the test that is found in the book we’ve been blogging about, and you will have to go to the book to find the technical discussions; there’s some great details and analysis there. Remember the study showed that nearly everyone thought God was loving, and it was the following set of questions that set Americans apart. Here’s the rule for the day:... Read more

Bibles: Too Many Translations?

Last updated on: October 24, 2010 at 3:58 pm By Scot McKnight

Yes, there are many translations. Yes, this can cause confusion. But what do you think, do we have too many? What is the alternative? From RNS, at HuffPo: “Bibles are in many ways a cash cow,” said Phyllis Tickle, a former longtime religion editor at Publishers Weekly. “The Bible is the mainstay of many a publishing program.” However, some Christian scholars wonder whether too much Good News can sometimes be a bad thing, as a major new translation and waves... Read more

Great Theologians

Last updated on: October 25, 2010 at 1:23 pm By Scot McKnight

It’s difficult to know how to say this right. When eight conservative evangelicals, a few Southern Baptist but not all, with a few more teaching at SBC and conservative evangelical schools, conspire to write a volume on the early and medieval fathers, one is inclined to say “that’s different.” Why? Because the general impression is that Baptists and Bible-shaped evangelicals don’t care to adjudicate theology through the debates of great theologians but to determine theology through reading the Bible and... Read more

Interview

Last updated on: October 24, 2010 at 12:45 pm By Scot McKnight

Slate’s interview, by Kathryn Schulz, with Chuck Colson breathes a wonderful spirit of grace. I don’t always agree with Colson on his politics or his approach to apologetics, but Colson’s got the big tent in mind, and he centers on the centrals. Colson’s a classic example of a convert who returns to the previous world with a new way of life. What do you see in Colson? I clip two questions and answers from Colson: When you think about that... Read more