Ten years ago, when I first started writing on science and faith, Intelligent Design was a hot topic. It was in the news and high on the agenda for many in my local church. Today it has slid into the background, occasionally mentioned, but there are often other fish to fry. Greg Cootsona devotes a case study in his recent book (Mere Science and Christian Faith: Bridging the Divide with Emerging Adults) to the topic of intelligent design but not... Read more

I did read her. Have you? Which of her novels did you like most? A friend, when he heard I was reading novels in which pastors were present, recommended Elizabeth Strout, Abide with Me, and I’m sure glad I read the novel. I won’t spoil the narrative in what follows. First, the prose was splendid with some gloriously funny moments. She is a master storyteller and keeps the story moving forward while managing a number of characters and events and locations.... Read more

By Terri Fullerton, who is a contributing writer, founder of The Q and A: Interviews with Authors We Love. She is currently working on her first book. You can find here at http://www.terrifullerton.com Http://instagram.com/terrigfullerton Http://Twitter.com/terrigfullerton\ When people disclose to you, a church pastor or leader in ministry, they have been sexually abused or assaulted, what do you think they need? What do you think motivates them to share such a personal, deeply painful, soul-shattering event? It’s not because they want... Read more

What makes a person a liberal and what makes a person a conservative? The method of a liberal is relevance, adaptation, adjustment to the modern mind’s discoveries of freedom and independence and new discoveries while the method of a conservative is adherence to the tradition; the mode of a liberal is change and adaptation while the mode of a conservative is preservation. Theology for both the liberal and a conservative is as much a legitimating apparatus as a foundation. I... Read more

From Robert Louis Wilken, The Spirit of Early Christian Thought: The words of the Scripture made a temple deep within the hearing of early Christian preachers. Not only in sermons but also in theological works, in letters, and in spiritual writings the church fathers display an enviable verbal command of large sections of the Bible. In contrast to modern theological writings in which the Bible is cited in support of theological ideas, and hence usually relegated to the footnotes, in... Read more

Last Thursday I started a discussion on the power of resurrection. Several commenters pointed out that, in addition to the passages in Paul I cited, it is important to consider the words of Jesus in the Gospels. I certainly agree with this – with both death and resurrection foretold. Passages span all four Gospels (e.g. Matthew 16:21, 17:22-23, 20:18-19, Mark 8:31, 9:31, 10:34, Luke 9:21-23, 18:32-34, John 2:19-22). Rather than quote all of these, I will focus on the two... Read more

From Open to the Spirit I contend many don’t really think Jesus needed the Spirit or depended upon the Spirit; I contend, too, that those who think that also don’t think (they may not say so) we need the Spirit. If with Jesus, so also with us. The New Testament Gospels are not like the other gospels that didn’t make it into our Bible. For example, there is a story about Jesus as a boy making mud birds in a puddle... Read more

If I’ve been asked this once, I’ve been asked it 500 times: “How do you do it?” And by that my questioners want to know how I have time to teach, write books, take care of this blog, and speak on occasions. I’ve given all kinds of answers — our kids and grown and gone; I’ve been at it for 30 years; it’s fun. Now that I’ve read James Vanoosting’s essay in And the Flesh Became Words, “And Be a Writer... Read more

Psychology of Religion and Spirituality Religious Beliefs and Domestic Violence Myths by, Peter J. Jankowski, Steven J. Sandage, Miriam Whitney Cornell, Cheryl Bissonette, Andy J. Johnson, Sarah A. Crabtree, and Mary L. Jensen Online First Publication, March 22, 2018. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/rel0000154 I reformat the abstract, and state what I have often said here: Calvinism is not the cause of these things but there is, according to this study, a correlation between Calvinism and domestic violence. I have said this many times: it is... Read more

How are we to organize our Sunday worship time? What is most important during our worship services? You can measure what is most important by (1) what is done and (2) how much time is spent on what is done. We can do no better than reminding ourselves of what has been done since the earliest church. We find an early congregational gathering in Justin’s First Apology, 67: And on the day called Sunday, all who live in cities or in... Read more