Here I continue my discussion of Rodney Clapp’s book Living Out of Control: Political and Personal Faith in Waning Christendom. This week’s chapter is Eight: Friendship. If you have read the chapter, feel free to comment. If not, feel free to ask a question. As often, Rodney gives us the “gist” of the chapter in the penultimate paragraph—with a sentence after that. Here is the gist: “I thank God for friends inside and outside the church who largely agree with... Read more
Not only the reality, but also the terminology of anti-Semitism has become controversial in recent years, especially since Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. People who criticize Israel are often labeled anti-Semitic. But are they? Does criticizing the State of Israel make one anti-Semitic? Anti-Semitism is any attitude of prejudice against Jews just because they are Jews. (Yes, I know “Semite” can also refer to Arabs, but that is irrelevant here.) To be sure, it also includes actions that are... Read more
R.I.P. Jimmy Swaggart I grew up in “the thick” of American Pentecostalism in the 1950s to the mid-1970s. And I have kept up with American Pentecostalism and consider myself something of an expert or scholar of the movement. I love to study the lives and ministries of the great Pentecostal evangelists such as Aimee Semple McPherson, Oral Roberts (for whom I worked for two years), A. A. Allen, Jimmy Swaggart, and a host of others. Swaggart died July 1, 2025–two... Read more
Of Disdain if not Hatred According to recent news reports, the US administration is establishing a “detention center” for undocumented persons (aka “illegal immigrants”) in the Florida Everglades. It is being called “Alligator Alcatraz.” President Trump has been recorded and shown on TV saying that the detainees must learn to run zig-zag rather than straight (if they want to escape), otherwise the alligators will get them. His attitude toward the detainees is one of disdain if not hatred. Obviously neither... Read more
According to today’s edition of Time.com (July 1, 2025), the shuttering of USAID will lead to millions of deaths around the world. That claim is based on a new study published in the respected medical journal The Lancet (June 30) showing that the defunding of USAID (The United States Agency for International Development) by Trump (at the behest of Musk) will lead to the deaths of 14 million people by 2030 of whom 4.5 million will be children and babies... Read more
Here I continue discussing Rodney Clapp’s excellent book Living Out of Control: Political and Personal Faith in Waning Christendom. Here I take up Chapter Seven: The Political Centrality of the Gospel. If you have read this chapter, feel free to discuss it. If you have not, feel free to ask a question. I think the chapter title could be misunderstood. It’s not saying that politics is central to the gospel but that the gospel is central to politics—for the... Read more
Here I piggy-back on the immediately preceding blog post which was about Rodney Clapp’s chapter about Christian anarchism in his book Living Out of Control. I have long been interested in Christian anarchy/anarchism which is one reason I chose to join a Mennonite church several years ago. Anabaptists have long adhered, more or less strictly, to Christian anarchism. In the past and somewhat today, an “anarchist” is believed to be someone who is opposed to all government whatsoever. Actually, however,... Read more
Christian Anarchism Here I take up Chapter Six of Rodney Clapp’s book Living Out of Control: Political and Personal Faith in Waning Christendom. The title is “The Anarchistic Tendency and Christian Citizenship.” If you have read the chapter, feel free to comment. If not, only ask a question. I often tell my students to read the last paragraph of a chapter first. Often an author tells his or her thesis there. Here it is: “Let us, then, embrace the Christian... Read more
I have been reading a relatively new book about the meaning of “image of God” (“imago dei”) concept in Christian theology. It’s title is Dignity and Destiny: Humanity in the Image of God; it’s author is theologian John F. Kilner. It was published by Eerdmans in 2015. So, yes, I’m a little late coming to it. Kilner’s book is 402 pages long, including the bibliography and index. 330 pages of text. So it’s something of a tome. And it is... Read more
Here I continue my discussion of Rodney Clapp’s book Living Out of Control: Political and Personal Faith in Waning Christendom. This week’s chapter is Chapter Five: Christian Nationalism: An Alternative to Living Out of Control. If you have read the chapter, feel free to comment but stay on topic. If you have not read it, you may ask a question. According to Rodney (I call him by his first name as we are friends), Christian nationalism, at least as he... Read more
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