A letter from a reader, used with permission, and I’m wondering how you would respond…. Dear Scot,I have a hard time reconciling in my mind that if God is an authorof peace and not confusion that he would allow 20k different faiths tobe preached in his church. I live in the Midwest in a city where we have a church onevery street corner each proclaiming a different doctrine. It ismaddening. So who is correct? Calvinist, Arminians, Non-denominational,Charismatics, Pentecostals? It is... Read more
In a remarkable piece of insight, Tom Wright once asked what Pauline theology would look like if we began with Ephesians and Colossians instead of Romans, and in just a few pages (168-175) in Justification: God’s Plan & Paul’s Vision, he discusses the vision of Ephesians. (By the way, it could make a huge difference.) Notice these words: “And of course it is in Ephesians that the two ‘halves’ of the Pauline gospel emphasis are laid out side by side.... Read more
Here is a nice chart, by Patrick Mitchel, about Pauline theology that belongs in our new perspective discussion. Read more
Mark Noll, professor at Notre Dame and America’s foremost church historian (or at least close), has a new book called The New Shape of World Christianity: How American Experience Reflects Global Faith and I want to begin a series on it next Monday, June 8th. Here are two tastes of what Noll’s new book will argue: “But today — when active Christian adherence has become stronger in Africa than in Europe, when the number of practicing Christians in China may... Read more
Almighty God, on this day you opened the way of eternal life to every race and nation by the promised gift of your Holy Spirit: Shed abroad this gift throughout the world by the preaching of the Gospel, that it may reach to the ends of the earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. Read more
We miss Just Joeys, our bed and breakfast in Stellenbosch. Our view of the small pool in the back garden at breakfast.(But two weeks away did not make it easier to get back to internet reading.) We missed reading our favorite blogs, so I’m way behind … here are some highlights for me this week: YSMarko comes to its end — we enjoyed Marko’s blog over the years and will miss his regular communications with us. The family myth …... Read more
Did you see this piece in The NY Times? Any thoughts? Feminists and traditionalists should be able to agree, for instance, that the structures of American society don’t make enough allowances for the particular challenges of motherhood. We can squabble forever about the choices that mothers ought to make, but the difficult work-parenthood juggle is here to stay. (Just ask Sarah and Todd Palin.) And there are all kinds of ways — from a more family-friendly tax code to a... Read more
If I Were To Do It Again I was a youth pastor for 13 years. Today, I am active in youth ministry as a volunteer at The Church of the Resurrection near my home in Kansas City but most of my contribution to youth ministry these days is through training, writing, speaking and consulting. Recently, I was sharing some thoughts regarding the future of youth ministry with a group of local lead and executive pastors. I was asked, “If you... Read more
This two-part series on Intelligent Design, in part a response to our ongoing discussions about evolution, is by Logan Paul Gage, a policy analyst at the Discovery Institute and who has written extensively on evolution. Intelligent Design and the Artist’s Soul, in Three Acts In his article “Five Streams of the Emerging Church,” Scot McKnight identifies with Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger’s description of emerging Christians. One of the nine hallmarks of such Christians, according to the authors, is that... Read more
The issue in the debate about the new perspective is how best to read the apostle Paul’s theology in its historical context, and one of the more important debates is how to read Galatians … and we finish the 5th chp today of Tom Wright’s new book, Justification: God’s Plan & Paul’s Vision where he discusses how to read Galatians. What is the point of having the Torah after all? Wright about Galatians 4: “This is perhaps the fiercest thing... Read more
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