Mark Moore: So I used to be a Calvinist–big deal. So I studied hard as a pastor–I was supposed to. So I got into a PhD program–so did a bunch of others. No, there is nothing impressive about any of this. I tell you this stuff because I want you to understand that I’m not one of those people who is comfortable getting in a circle and listening to everyone share their subjective reading of the text. I struggle with... Read more
Leonard Pitts Jr: Thank you, Leonard Pitts! Maybe you heard about the tribute Kevin Durant paid his mother a week ago. You probably missed the one he paid his dad…. In a voice choked with tears, Durant, a ferociously talented forward for the Oklahoma City Thunder, thanks God. He thanks each teammate by name, thanks his coach, support staff, brothers, friends, grandmother, fans, the sportswriters who voted for him. And in the part that will have you clearing your throat... Read more
The third chapter of J. Richard Middleton’s book The Liberating Image: The Imago Dei in Genesis 1 looks at the ancient Near Eastern context for parallels to the image of God. Chapter 2 placed the term in the context of the symbolic world of Genesis 1 and, of course, this included the ancient Near Eastern context. But there are details of comparison that go beyond the question of the symbolic world. In particular Middleton addresses the relative importance of Egyptian... Read more
Theories about education, Joseph Epstein announces in an echo chamber inhabited by the alert, “fizzle, then go down in flames” because they are foisted upon the unsuspecting student by “lunatics of one idea.” When the new idea rises to a sound loud enough to be heard by edu-crats, everything is asked to march behind — of late we’ve had learning styles, which has proven to be a bust, and outcome based education, which because it just must be measured with... Read more
TGC response by Tim Keller and DA Carson: In Tullian’s case, it was obvious to observers that for some time there has been an increasingly strident debate going on around the issue of sanctification. The differences were doctrinal and probably even more matters of pastoral practice and wisdom. Recently it became clear that the dispute was becoming increasingly sharp and divisive rather than moving toward greater unity. Earlier in the year our executive director spent two days with Tullian in... Read more
Jackson Wu teaches theology and missiology for Chinese pastors. He blogs at www. jacksonwu.org. Wu has also written Saving God’s Face: A Chinese Contextualization of Salvation through Honor and Shame (2013). Follow him on Twitter by clicking here. The Injustice of “Christian” Individualism In chapter 7 of Christian Political Witness, William Cavanaugh suggests that our political witness is compromised when we see the church merely as a collection of individuals rather than a corporate person. In so doing, the church both creates and perpetuates... Read more
Every Scar Has a Story In December of 2009 I hit a bump in my faith journey. In February of 2011, I hit a wall. The bump was due to intentional decisions my family made to engage our new city with purpose and passion. Since moving to Memphis in 2008, this city has taught us so much about Jesus and His kingdom, yet there have been moments when pain, heartbreak, and despair have left me asking questions about God…big... Read more
Last week I introduced a new book from the Zondervan Counterpoints series: Four Views on the Historical Adam. The contributors to the book include Denis Lamoureux, John Walton, C. John Collins, and William Barrick. The views presented range from no historical Adam (Lamoureux) to young earth creation with Adam as the unique father of the entire human race some 6000 years ago or so (Barrick). John Walton and Jack Collins fall between these two views. As we work through this... Read more
From time to time I read a blog or hear someone call another person a “heretic.” Recently a blogfriend asked me how I would define “heretic” or “heresy.” I’ve been asked this about two people, and I won’t use names but it wouldn’t be hard to figure out about whom it was asked. Yes, the term “heretic” can both be defined and describes a reality, though some would like to think the term is now obsolete (like Model T sales... Read more
RNS by Greg Horton: What do you think? (RNS) In the first instance of its kind, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, the largest of the Southern Baptist Convention’s schools, acknowledged it has admitted a Muslim to one of its doctoral programs. Ghassan Nagagreh, a Palestinian Muslim, recently completed his first year of doctoral studies at the seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. Nagagreh, a Sunni Muslim, has worked with the seminary since 2008 as a volunteer on an archaeological site in Israel.... Read more
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