From Ian Paul’s website: A few weeks ago, Linda Woodhead suggested in the Church Times that discipleship was a ‘theologically peripheral concept’, and the following week Angela Tilby dismissed the ‘d-word’ as ‘sectarian vocabulary that…shows the influence of American-derived Evangelicalism on the Church’s current leadership.’ The short discussions in each place actually raise not one but three, inter-related, questions: 1. Is ‘discipleship’ Anglican? 2. Is ‘discipleship’ biblical? 3. Is the Church of England biblical?… On the first question, Tilby is certainly right to note that... Read more

Legalism Is Your Spiritual Illusion Legalism is the worst feeling in the world. I know from experience. Sadly, the pain of legalism doesn’t keep more people from embracing it. A Quick(ish) Story: One of the great oddities of my life is that I can’t remember anything before I turned five. I’m pretty sure that means I need therapy. My memories start at five. I have memories from church when I was five. I started playing Jr. Tee-ball when I was... Read more

In a recent piece at Salon, Amanda Marcotte trots out the secularization theory and seems oblivious to the best research in the USA that actually both denies secularization theory and supports another theory. In her piece she makes many accurate observations, but the article is shaped by a claim that America is becoming less Christian. Here are a few clips from Marcotte’s piece, and then I offer a response: But another major reason religious diversity is outpacing the growth of... Read more

This last weekend Kris and I were in Abilene Texas at the kind invitation of Jonathan Storment, a preacher-pastor of Highland Church of Christ in Abilene. It was a splendid weekend of teaching and fellowship as we got to participate in yet another one of God’s good gatherings in this world and country of ours. The first thing I want to say is that Highland Abilene exemplifies two major themes for many of us today: first, it’s a genuinely missional... Read more

Guest post by Mimi Haddad: In commemorating International Women’s Day, we remain sober about the future safety of girls and women. According to the United Nations 35% of the world’s females, over 1/3 have encountered physical abuse in their life. What is more, in most of these communities women are rarely included in the strategies and implementations that address systems that perpetuate their own violence. Too often communities lack a “gender-lens” in dealing with power-imbalances that women and girls are best acquainted... Read more

Douglas Campbell has become a major player in the world of Pauline studies with his last two books in this sense: he has not only proven his competence in exegesis, theology and history but has proposed a re-centering of Pauline theology around the theme of apocalyptic. (Some have said Barth’s had his share of influence, too, but that influence has been mediated as much through Torrance.)  His first foray into this approach was called The Quest for Paul’s Gospel: A... Read more