At a recent “Theology on Tap” session at a local bar-restaurant, a man asked me, “Why is there so much evil these days?” For thousands of years Jews and Christians have been asking something very similar–If God is all-powerful and all-good, why does he allow so many evil things to happen? I told the man and others listening that it might sound simplistic, but Scripture suggests it is because of God’s love.  Click here for more. Read more

There is something of an international furor now over Israel’s plan to annex a small part of the West Bank.  Many think it is reprehensible and a violation of international law. Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, has weighed in, inveighing against it.  Most Israelis feel he represents all Anglicans.  One Anglican theologian disagrees. Read more

I have had the great privilege of getting to know Tom Wright from two trips to the States which I helped arranged (once in 2007 to Roanoke and then in 2019 to Birmingham) and host.  He is a great man and Christian leader.  He is also the most influential biblical scholar in the world. In June he published a paper on American church racism which I found myself in deep disagreement with.  I wrote Tom directly to explain my differences. ... Read more

My friend Wilfred McClay, the distinguished historian at the University of Oklahoma, has written an extraordinary essay at Mosaic.  It is a fascinating review of unprecedented developments in Jewish-Christian relations in recent years, occasioned by growing cultural opposition to both religious communities from the newly-aggressive secular culture and recently-recognized common concerns. Here is Dr. McClay’s first paragraph: You may not have noticed, but something very interesting, and perhaps momentous, has been happening little by little, in the unlikeliest of places. That interesting... Read more

Almost two hundred years ago Hans Christian Anderson told the story of an emperor obsessed with clothes who hires two clothiers to make him a new suit.  The clothiers are con men.  They tell the emperor that their material is so fine that only intelligent people can see it.  The emperor’s so-called suit arrives, and the clothiers go through the motions of outfitting their ruler.  His advisors, afraid of being thought stupid, praise the new suit.  So do all the... Read more

Our country is still shaking from what erupted after George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis.  Many churches have taken what I think is the wrong approach.  They have adopted an old creation narrative that groups people by skin color and uses old and failed methods–again from the old creation–to try to fix things.  Why not be the church with its new creation and, like Paul, see no one after the flesh anymore?  And live in the Christian narrative of the new... Read more

If you are Anglican, or simply interested in the Anglican world, this recent review of the Future of Orthodox Anglicanism might interest you. It is by a young attorney in Washington DC. Here is a choice quote from the review: “As a layman, I can’t quite understand why some Anglican clergy seem to think their job is to persuade me that Anglican distinctives are unimportant, rather than encouraging me to be the best Anglican I can be.” Click here for the review. Read more

Jesse Furey is a young pastor-theologian who runs the Bonhoeffer Haus in Radford, Virginia, where he trains young men and women in theology and ministry.  He also runs a podcast called Hammer and Quill (to represent the practical and scholarly work of a pastor-theologian).  The other day he sat down with me to ask about my recent book on natural theology, my strange life living in a Christian commune in my twenties, my career as a pastor and theologian who... Read more

In C.S. Lewis’ Narnia Chronicles, Aslan the lion—who stands for Jesus—talks about “the deeper magic” behind his death and resurrection that powers his victory over witch-darkness and brings the final redemption of Narnia. It could be said that the Christian church has sought from its beginning the “deeper magic” that connects creation and Israel to the messiah and his redemptive work.  In other words, it has tried to figure out why 77% of the Protestant Bible is made up of... Read more

Anglicans are starting to hunger for the Eucharist in this time of the plague.  I use that word deliberately because that is the last affliction mentioned   (דֶּבֶר dever) before God tells his people to pray and repent of their “wicked ways” if they want healing to come to their land (2 Chron. 7.13-14). Many Anglicans, accustomed to weekly feeding on the Body and Blood of Christ, are sorely missing the sacrament in these days when they only have the Word,... Read more