Since 1982 the Gallup Poll has been asking Americans about their views on evolution and human origins. This week they released the results of their most recent survey conducted in early May of this year (here). The question posed (with the order of options randomized): Which of the following statements comes closest to your views on the origin and development of human beings: Human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God guided... Read more

Source: (And here at WaPo too) According to the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations (PSI), the State Department gave $349,276 in U.S. taxpayer-funded grants to a political group in Israel to build a campaign operation, which subsequently was used to try to influence Israelis to vote against conservative Benjamin Netanyahu in the March 2015 election for prime minister. In the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations report about the State Department’s action, Chairman Bob Portman (R-Ohio) said, “It is completely unacceptable that... Read more

By Jonathan Storment Back when the telephone first became popular, an interesting phenomenon occurred. People started to call other people armed with a new found power to pretend to be someone they weren’t. The word telephone literally means “distant speech” and before this technology existed, you had to have conversations face to face and you knew who you were talking to, but now you could call up someone at random and pretend you were anyone from the President to the... Read more

I was in a conversation the other day with an editor friend about the usefulness of the term “evangelical.” While we both agreed that there’s not on the table any term that serves us better, there is no doubt that many of us know — some fear it — the term has lost its moorings in meaningfulness. It is embraced, say, by The Gospel Coalition and by Christianity Today but many pronounce the term “evangelical” with a snarl or a wish... Read more

No one in our culture defends the value of the Old Testament any more than John Goldingay, professor of Old Testament at Fuller Theological Seminary, and one of my favorite OT scholars (even if his books get a bit too long at times). He’s also good at provocation, as can be seen in this title: Do We Need the New Testament? It’s not just Greg Boyd’s book The Crucifixion of the Warrior God that provokes Goldingay but he is joined by... Read more

There are two features of Greg Boyd’s massive study The Crucifixion of the Warrior God that I most appreciate: his squaring with the facts about violence and his relentless push to understand the Bible through the lens of the cruciform nature of God revealed in Christ. You may not like Boyd’s conclusions or theories, but to offer a better theory you have to square yourself with the facts of violence and you must offer a thorough and compelling explanation. In the... 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

Great for the Cubs manager Joe Maddon! From Mark Gonzales: The Respect 90 Foundation started by Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon will donate 1,000 meals to homeless children and families at the Salvation Army Evangeline Booth Lodge in Chicago. The gesture was made by Maddon following his 1,000th victory Tuesday night. The Evangeline Booth Lodge is a haven for families who suddenly became homeless due to eviction, disasters, domestic violence or other danger. “We are humbled and encouraged that Joe... Read more