In his important book, Faith Formation in a Secular Age, Andrew Root discusses how the age of authenticity (be true to yourself, you gotta be you, I am who I am) is perceived by many as an era of subtraction, and he contends that in this age of authenticity what may be needed is to indwell Secular 3 with our eyes wider open to experience as an echo of transcendence. First, his (Charles Taylor’s) concept of Subtraction, and that we see... Read more

This is the final part in a four-part series (part 1 part 2 and part 3) that applies the instruments of social science to address the declining attendance rate in the American church and what to do about it. The 3rd ACF: “Me” Culture How hyper-individualism is killing the Church A shift has occurred. We have moved from a “we” culture to a “me” culture. Since the 1950s, American society has been reorienting markedly toward valuing individualism, and it’s reached... Read more

Bible scholars tend to be experts in languages and they focus on texts. But, but, but … there are other groups of Bible scholars who, as one of my old colleagues liked to say, get dirt under their nails. He then said, “I only want ink on my fingers.” He was saying textual study is far more important than archaeology or geography. Now that’s where I want to begin. Lexham Press has a new book for those who love Jesus... Read more

Why do scientists – even Christian scientists – find evolution convincing? What is the evidence for common descent, the relatedness of humans and great apes with a common ancestor millions of years ago? Darrel Falk, professor emeritus at Point Loma Nazarene University, former president of BioLogos, author of Coming to Peace with Science: Bridging the Gap Between Faith and Biology, has turned his efforts toward the production of a series of short videos (6 to 9 minutes) explaining much of... Read more

In his important book, Faith Formation in a Secular Age, Andrew Root discusses how the age of authenticity (be true to yourself, you gotta be you, I am who I am) finds expression in the church as Moral Therapeutic Deism (MTD). Read these descriptions: Prior to 1965, in the age of conformity, few adults lived for fun and excitement—this would have been considered juvenile and a revolt against duty. … Youthfulness, then, is a spirituality without transcendence or divine action (the... Read more

Go to this site to Sign the Letter: Over the past week Southern Baptist women have been grappling with the video of Dr. Paige Patterson preaching at the Awaken Conference in 2014, the audio of his counsel to domestic abuse victims in 2000, and his response this week to the Southern Baptist concerns over these matters and all that has subsequently come to light. These one on one conversations between women who are grieved by the comments and concerned for the poor gospel witness they reflect has... Read more

By Michelle Van Loon www.michellevanloon.com www.theperennialgen.com What do unscripted charismatic prayer meetings have in common with carefully-crafted public relations statements on behalf of a leader accused of wrongdoing? When I saw these words posted by Jen Hatmaker making the rounds on social media recently, I recognized in their well-meaning sentiment an “end justifies the means” thinking I’ve seen at play in both settings. Hatmaker said, “I read of a priest asked about what is godly and what is not –... Read more

To the casual observer one of truly odd features of late 20th and early 21st Century New Testament studies is that historical Jesus scholars (of the Jesus Seminar mode — Crossan, Funk, Borg) rejected apocalyptic as the context for explaining Jesus while some Pauline scholars (of the J. Louis Martyn mode — Martyn, Beker, Käsemann, Gaventa, Campbell) think apocalyptic is the context for explaining Paul. From the non-apocalyptic Jesus to the apocalyptic Paul. Another oddity: scholarship since J. Weiss, A.... Read more

O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen. BCP Read more

Sarah Pulliam Bailey: FORT WORTH — A prominent Southern Baptist leader whose comments about spousal abuse set off a firestorm last week said in an interview Friday that he couldn’t “apologize for what I didn’t do wrong.” Wearing a black cowboy hat as he led graduates down the aisle, Paige Patterson set off laughter at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s commencement when he joked about quarreling Baptists. Patterson’s advice to abused women not to divorce has set off a huge public backlash among... Read more