What Is an “Evangelical?” To learn quickly and simply what an “evangelical Christian” is you can do no better than peruse the web site of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) at www.nae.net. There, on the web site’s “front page” you will find links to such defining tools as the NAE Statement of Faith and answer to “What Is an Evangelical?” The NAE does not claim to speak for all evangelical Christians, but it is far and away the most... Read more

Recently a student with whom I am very friendly (i.e., no adversarial relationship) informed me that he was warned–by someone not entirely supportive of his studying with me–that I am “neo-orthodox.” The context of his well-intentioned comment was our class discussion of the theologies of Barth and Brunner. I was explaining what I regard as strengths and weaknesses of their theologies and together we, the class, were talking about how social context inevitaby shapes (not determines) theologians’ ideas. I believe,... Read more

Is American Society Descending into “Anomie?” I learned a new term while studying theology in Germany years ago: “anomie.” Wolfhart Pannenberg liked to use it to describe a social and cultural condition of loss of meaning. Technically it means “no law,” but Pannenberg and others used it for a broader social condition. According to Pannenberg, and I agree with him, transcendence is necessary for healthy community; a society that loses its sense of transcendence eventually descends into either anomie or... Read more

Is Donald Trump the Antichrist? Okay, I got your attention. That was almost my only intention with the question that forms the title of this essay. My main intention was to raise the question of the biblical figure of the “Antichrist” and its relevance for today’s Christianity. As with my previous blog post (about demon possession and exorcism) the concern underlying my question about the relevance of the biblical figure of the “Antichrist” for today’s Christianity is my concern about... Read more

Should Western Christians Rediscover Exorcism? I am well aware of how shocked some of my readers will be by my asking the question. Am I not a modern/postmodern, enlightened Christian? Well, I ask myself that, too. But somehow I can’t avoid at least raising the issue and I’ll explain why. What do I mean by “Western Christians?” Exorcism is not at all unknown even in mainline Christianity in much of the Global South and that is where Christianity is most... Read more

Is Christianity a “Religion Searching for a Metaphysic?” Philosopher Alfred North Whitehead famously declared that while Buddhism is a metaphysic searching for a religion Christianity is a religion searching for a metaphysic. In a forthcoming book from Zondervan (precise title yet to be decided) I argue that he was wrong; Christianity does have a metaphysic and it is not borrowed from an extra-Christian source. It is basically the same metaphysic as the Hebrews and it is implicit in the Bible,... Read more

Ask a Theologian a Question The famous and very influential Baptist radio preacher Vance Havner once said “Happy is the Christian who has never met a theologian.” Of course, he must have meant something like “professional theologian” because he was a theologian in some sense. Everyone who undertakes to interpret a sacred text such as the Bible is automatically a theologian on some level. In fact, I would go so far as to say everyone who thinks about God is... Read more

Largely Ignored Forms of Oppression For many years now I have been a rare evangelical advocate of liberation theologies–which does not mean an uncritical advocate. The very first piece I ever had published was a review of a book about liberation theology. That was in (I think) Eternity magazine (now defunct) in the mid 1970s. While in seminary I took a course in liberation theology and was captivated by its concerns while remaining cautiously critical of some of its methods... Read more

Why I Think Baptists (and “baptists”) Have It Wrong about Sacraments First, some clarifications: This post is for baptists (including Baptists). “baptist” with a small “b” is the term Baptist theologian William McClendon coined for all churches with a similar ecclesiology (viz., voluntary membership, congregational polity, separation of church and state, etc.). Others are welcome to listen in. This post is about some baptists, not all. This post does not pretend to cover everything about baptist beliefs and practices–even about... Read more

The Fundamental Difference between “Modern” and “Postmodern” Philosophies Modernity included a search for absolute, indubitable, rational certainty–based on logic and evidence alone. (Of course, many “modern philosophers” admitted such may be ultimately impossible for finite beings, but that didn’t stop them from holding it as an ideal and continuing the search.) The first thing to note, however is that this was a search for certainty in what David Hume called the “synthetic realm”–propositions about truth outside the dictionary (the “analytic... Read more