Who Is a “Real Christian?” Several times recently I’ve mentioned “real Christians” here. A few visitors and commenters have objected to the concept. How is it possible to discriminate between “real Christians” and, well, false Christians? If we start at the other end, so to speak, and talk about “false Christians,” it’s easier to understand why it’s necessary to speak about real Christians. Who can doubt there have been and are false Christians? I confess that this habit of distinguishing... Read more

The Christian Doctrine of the Divine Attributes by Hermann Cremer, Chapter 3: First Series: Divine Attributes Disclosed in Revelation: 3: The Wisdom of God (pp. 47-54) This is my contribution to a continuing discussion of Cremer’s book. If you have read these pages, feel free to comment. If not, feel free to ask a question. In about one week I will offer here my thoughts about Cremer’s treatment of the attribute of God’s omnipotence (pp. 55-69). A reminder: Cremer is... Read more

RIP Tony Campolo My evangelical heroes are dying off. For those of you who do not know, Tony Campolo was an evangelical influencer and leader of “the evangelical left,” a group of (formerly) young evangelicals who left fundamentalism and embraced left-leaning politics. Their original publication was The Post-American which became Sojourners. That group influenced me a great deal when I was in seminary and later. Tony died November 19 this year (2024) at age 89. For many years he was... Read more

Stop Jailing Drug Users Far too many people are in American jails and prisons for nothing more than possessing illegal drugs for personal use. Drug use alone, without selling, should not be a crime. This needs to stop. Recently, a twenty year old man was murdered in an Alabama prison—one day before his scheduled release. Evidence showed that he had been raped and tortured before being murdered. So far, no one has been indicted for the crime. He was sentenced... Read more

A Bold Claim about Theology Theology is everything, but not everything is theology. That’s my paraphrase of the old saying that “Economics is everything, but not everything is economic.” Theology is everything. What does it mean? There is no area of life that is entirely divorced from theology, that falls entirely outside of theology’s realm of judgment. Some people wondered why I, a theologian, had so much to say about politics. Theology includes politics. Politics does not include theology. See... Read more

Hermann Cremer, The Christian Doctrine of the Divine Attributes, 3: First Series: Divine Attributes Disclosed in Revelation, 2: The Righteousness of God, pp. 43-47 Here I continue discussing Cremer’s treatments of the attributes of God with the second part of “The Righteousness of God.” If you have read these pages (43-47) you may comment. If not, you may ask a question. In about a week I will discuss 3 “The Wisdom of God.” In these pages Cremer does not really... Read more

Why “Panentheism” Is False What’s Wrong with Panentheism? Panentheism is a relatively recent term, if not concept, in Christian theology and philosophy of religion. Scholars agree that it was coined by German philosophical theologian Karl Friedrich Krause (1781-1832) who invented the German word Allingottlehre which literally means “the doctrine that all is in God.” Of course, Krause was not the first person to promote the idea. (See John W. Cooper, Panentheism: The Other God of the Philosophers [Baker, 2006], 121-122.)... Read more

Cremer, The Christian Doctrine of the Attributes of God: 2. The Righteousness of God, pp. 29-43 This is an invitation to comment for those who have read this portion of the book. Others may ask. In about one week I will comment on the second half of this portion—pp. 43-47. I am going slowly now so you can re-read as needed. I usually re-read before commenting. This section is about The Righteousness of God. As before, with the holiness of... Read more

A Mysterious Topic: “Mystery,” “Paradox,” and “Contradiction” in Theology (Part 2) If you have not read Part 1 (posted November 7), please do so first. This may not make sense otherwise. One way in which some well-meaning but misguided persons have attempted to resolve the seemingly intractable differences between divine determinism, including evil as part of God’s plan rendered certain by God, and creaturely free will as power of contrary choice, including evil as not part of God’s plan and... Read more

A Mysterious Topic: “Mystery,” “Paradox,” and “Contradiction” in Theology (Part 1) The average Christian, I suspect, thinks “mystery” is something beyond all comprehension; it’s what you’re supposed to believe but cannot be explained or even expressed except in ways that require sacrifice of the intellect. The classical examples most people would give are the Trinity and the deity and humanity of Jesus Christ (what theologians call the “hypostatic union”). And, when first introduced to the orthodox versions of those doctrines,... Read more