William Webb, in his newest book, Corporal Punishment in the Bible: A Redemptive-Movement Hermeneutic for Troubling Texts, examines what might be called the traditional view of spanking among evangelical Christians. He calls it the “two smacks max” or “two spanks max” method. I repost this series because of recent public events. He begins with that method and examines whether it is really biblical. Thus, “Christian advocates of spanking [and he names James Dobson, Focus on the Family, Wayne Grudem, Al... Read more

One of the most pressing question for humans in the depth of their existence is this one: How can humans go silent or compliant or, unfathomably, become even more committed to the leader and the cause and the ideology when their leader becomes a tyrant? On an airplane I was once next to an older German professor and so I asked the question, “You were there under Hitler. How did it happen?” I knew him well enough for him to... Read more

The Jesus Creed book project is now 10 years old, and Paraclete was kind enough to produce a 10th Anniversary edition — which has a new Preface (describing my experience of using and teaching the Jesus Creed since it first appeared) and we reduced the book to 24 chapters (instead of thirty). And a wonderful new cover. Kris and I can’t think of the Jesus Creed without thinking of Lil Copan, my editor, Carol Showalter and Pam Jordan and Lillian... Read more

“The one freedom that I will not be denied is the freedom to bind myself.”-G.K. Chesterton “Love is patient” –St. Paul Dream Lovers In Dostoevsky’s novel The Brother’s Karamazov, there is a scene where a rich  woman asks an older monk if there is a way to know that God exists, and he tells her the only way to experience the presence of God is the practice of “active love”.  So the woman tells the monk that she has considered... Read more

Martyrdom and Resurrection, by Lynn H. Cohick, professor at Wheaton College (IL), author of Philippians in the Story of God Bible Commentary. It is sometimes rather glibly said that what the Western church most needs is some persecution but, apart from the moroseness of such a statement, it might be better said is that the church needs a theology and a gospel and a way of life that locates persecution in its proper place. What do you think? The heartbreaking news... Read more

Source: Anglicans aren’t the sort of church-goers who set much store by miracles, signs and wonders. Yet their own church is one of the greatest miracles of our society: it has managed to hang together, in spite of raging differences, for centuries. Since 14 July, that miracle has been under threat. For most, it was a great leap forward when the General Synod finally approved the ordination of women bishops. A delighted Archbishop of Canterbury was ‘grateful to God and to... Read more

I’ve been listening to the prophets lately (again), this week in Jeremiah.  In chapter 29 we hear about a conflict between Jeremiah and another man Shemaiah (According to wikipedia Hebrew: שמעיה SheMa`YaH “God Heard”) the Nehelamite. Jeremiah has this to say: ‘This is what the Lord says about Shemaiah the Nehelamite: Because Shemaiah has prophesied to you, even though I did not send him, and has persuaded you to trust in lies, this is what the Lord says: I will... Read more