After an introduction and a brief discussion of emerging adulthood, Greg Cootsona, Mere Science and Christian Faith, digs into hermeneutics – the principles of interpretation that shape the way we read scripture, including the creation passages. It is unfortunate that some Christians and atheists find common ground on the issue of interpretation. Either a favored interpretation is true, or scripture is false and Christianity based on a misguided myth. Christianity is said to stand or fall with such ideas as... Read more

Narrative theology is the new game in town. Theology used to be drawn and quartered by propositions and topics but in the late 20th Century and into the 21st Century many concluded that theology is better done by narrative than separable topics. Not that topics are ignored for they aren’t but they are relocated by narrative approaches. The other way of “doing theology” was to do critical history, and by that I mean bracketing theological conclusions of the church and... Read more

By the always interesting John Hawthorne, who used Nazarenes for this study [HT: JS]: As I’ve written before, my thesis is that the rhetorical frame of evangelicalism is changing. Former views based on boundary maintenance and separation (Industry Evangelicalism) give way to an evangelical approach based on story, listening, diversity, and engagement (Identity Evangelicalism). There were careful conversations at the conference about engaging LGBTQ populations, of dealing with racial/ethnic diversity, hospitality,and acknowledging singleness. There was worship and fellowship and discussions... Read more

That Matthew’s Gospel begins with a genealogy strikes the contemporary reader as strange. It is at least for most a listing of names largely unknown or at least barely known. But the early church found insight into the Gospel of Matthew because of its beginning. Both Ezekiel and Revelation record a vision of the throne with four beasts around it and in each beast the early church found one of the Evangelists, and each found something to say about how its... Read more

Gracious Father, whose blessed Son Jesus Christ came down from heaven to be the true bread which gives life to the world: Evermore give us this bread, that he may live in us, and we in him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.  Amen. BCP Read more

Doug Sweeney is Distinguished Professor of Church History and the History of Christian Thought at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He also serves as Director of the Jonathan Edwards Center. The following interview revolves around Sweeney’s recent book, Edwards the Exegete: Biblical Interpretation and the Anglo-Protestant Culture on the Edge of the Enlightenment. David George Moore conducted the interview. Dave’s written and video work can be accessed at www.twocities.org and www.mooreengaging.com. Moore: You are a well-known scholar of Jonathan Edwards. When... Read more

By Becky Castle Miller Andy Savage teaches us that churches don’t understand sex crimes “I do not believe I broke the law,” Andy Savage claimed, as he confessed on live radio to actions that broke Texas law. Savage has been accused of sexually assaulting a student under his care back when he was a youth pastor. He recently appeared on his friend Ben Ferguson’s radio show to talk about the case and said, “We had a spontaneous physical moment that... Read more

Now Ruth Graham and Rachel Denhollander: The Nassar story has faded from the headlines since his dramatic sentencing in a Michigan courtroom in January. The disgraced doctor pleaded guilty and was sentenced to up to 175 years in prison. But Denhollander, now a 33-year-old lawyer and mother of three, has not gone away. Instead, she has turned her attention to another sexual abuse scandal—this one in her own evangelical community. The alleged cover-up of a pattern of child sexual abuse within a large Protestant... Read more

Your Best You As I walked into the gym where I work out, I noticed two huge posters hanging from the ceiling. One was a young man. He obviously worked out a lot, and his smile told everyone who looked at him that they would be lucky to be him. The portrait of the young woman was similar. Both banners celebrated the gym’s ability to help a person achieve the best version of themselves. “Build Your Best You,” the banners... Read more