A Question for Atheists and Those Inclined to It I’m not trying to pick on anyone in particular. Anyone who has followed my blog very long knows that, from time to time, I raise questions about the rationality of atheism and about its consequences for ethics and morality. So please don’t think this is aimed at anyone in particular. Recently I accidently came across a 2015 film on a streaming video service. It was released on DVD and on Amazon… Read more

A Test of the Authenticity of Your Christianity Recently here I reviewed David Bentley Hart’s book That All Shall Be Saved. The book very strongly promotes belief in universal salvation with hell being temporary and eventually emptied. God guarantees it. He has to because of his goodness. So Hart argues. I disagreed. (Sidebar: In my review I forgot to mention that Hart is far from the first modern theologian to argue for eventual universal reconciliation-salvation. The same position using many… Read more

Should Sons (or Daughters) Succeed Parents as Religious Leaders? Well, of course there can be no definite answer this this question—either “yes” or “no.” However, in light of history, past and present, it seems highly doubtful that automatic succession of a religious leader by his or her son or daughter is a good thing. I am speaking here to congregants and disciples/followers of great religious leaders: beware of following their sons or daughters! Don’t take for granted that their sons… Read more

Review of That All Shall Be Saved by David Bentley Hart I don’t think I have ever read a book quite like this one. It’s “one of a kind” (which is really a shortened version of “the only one of its kind”). How so? It’s extremely erudite, even ostentatiously so, challenging to the mind, very harsh towards anyone who disagrees with the author’s central thesis (even insulting them), and very difficult to disagree with. Yet I do disagree with it…. Read more

Can One Be an Evangelical Christian and Roman Catholic? This question—whether one can be both a Roman Catholic and an evangelical Christian has arisen many times before. Now some are asking it in relation to the reported conversion of recently retired senior editor of Christianity Today editor Mark Galli. Some historical background to my response is in order. First, I have known Mark for many years. I have written numerous articles for CT, many of them invited by Mark. I… Read more

What the One Percent Don’t Want You to Know One of my favorite public intellectuals, partly because he is a Christian and a Baptist, is Bill Moyers. He was President Johnson’s press secretary in the 1960s and wrote many of Johnson’s speeches. Since then he has served in many government positions and has served as a Christian ethicist both to Christian and secular America. He has a series of Youtube videos that I highly recommend. Most of them are interviews… Read more

From Roger Olson: I am honored to present here a guest post/essay by influential theologian Ted Peters, a long-time “friendly acquaintance.” We became acquainted through theologian Wolfhart Pannenberg–Ted’s friend and my theological teacher. No guest poster here speaks for me, as I never here speak for anyone else. Know that Ted is not committed to responding to comments. If you have a comment, make sure it is civil in tone, brief and concise, on topic, and does not include a… Read more

An Excellent Critique of Molinism as Incompatible with Arminianism Robert Picirilli is a Free Will Baptist theologian who is, like all Free Will Baptists, an Arminian, not a Calvinist. I am not a member of any Free Will Baptist church or institution, but I have always felt an affinity with the Free Will Baptists. I have moved among non-Free Will Baptists during my adult lifetime as a Baptist, but I have stayed clear of any that are confessionally Calvinist. Many… Read more

Coming Here Soon: Critiques of Molinism, Please watch for a coming series about Molinism and Arminianism. I have written about that subject here before, but now respected Arminian theologian Robert Picirilli is publishing a two-part series on the subject. I’ve read part one and it is just excellent. I will post links to his essays. The tragedy is that many self-identified Arminians are adopting Molinism (not just “middle knowledge”) to “explain” how God’s absolute, meticulous sovereignty is compatible with libertarian… Read more

Abusing Scripture for Personal or Political Purposes Every Christian ought to be repulsed and speak out against politicians or anyone changing the words of Scripture to support their own agendas or vested interests—including those of their parties, organizations, businesses, or nations. Recently, in the U.S., someone speaking at a major political party event “quoted” a passage from the Epistle to the Hebrews inserting words that make it sound as if the Bible (this passage in Hebrews, anyway) supports his or… Read more