What Makes Someone an “Evangelical?” (This is an op-ed piece I wrote for the Waco Tribune-Herald that was published on its editorial page in July, 2016. I republish it here with the newspaper’s permission) Twice I saw the word “evangelical” on the July 20th editorial page of the Tribune-Herald. Both times, as often in the media, the word was associated with right-wing politics of a fairly extreme kind. Kudos to the Trib’s editors who qualified the association referring to “disgruntled... Read more

Is There Such a Thing as “Collective Guilt?” I often wonder what it is that causes difficulties, if not impossibilities, in really understanding each other. What I mean is this: What presuppositions about reality underlie seemingly intractable disagreements between people? Why is it that often, in a discussion with someone else, I have the feeling that we are simply talking past each other? That we are like two ships passing in the night or two people who live on different... Read more

Thoughts about Fidel Castro As most Americans know by now, Cuban leader Fidel Castro died November 25, 2016–two days ago. Of course there are many different opinions about him as a political leader. Here I only intend to share a few memories from my own childhood that involve him and then speculate about what might have become the case had the U.S. dealt with him differently. *Sidebar: The opinions expressed here are my own (or those of the guest writer);... Read more

I posted here on this question some months ago, but since then I was invited to deliver a version of that blog post as a paper presentation at the 2016 annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion in San Antonio (November 22, 2016). This was a joint session of two program units: Constructive Theology and Evangelical Studies. Here (below) is what I said in answer to the question in the title of this blog post. The specific “Abrahamic faiths”... Read more

Some of you have asked me about Ivan A. Rogers–one of my most faithful readers and commenters on this blog. Ivan often used my blog to promote his books which are about God’s universal grace and salvation. I permitted him some freedoms here that I do not ordinarily extend to people. I am told Ivan, in his late eighties, passed away since yesterday when he posted a comment responding to my blog post about Oliver Stone. Ivan was one of... Read more

Recently I had some time to binge watch some Netflix videos. I’m always drawn to the documentaries–especially about modern Europeans and American history. Netflix recently added a series called  Oliver Stone’s Untold Story of United States History. I discovered that some of the episodes are on Netflix and some are on Youtube. I would recommend beginning with “Prequel A” on Youtube and then going to the Netflix series. We all know that Oliver Stone is controversial; that’s a given. Okay,... Read more

Is “Mansplaining” a Thing? Recently I have heard the term “mansplaining” three times in one week. I looked it up on the web and found several different definitions. Apparently it’s a neologism coined by someone, probably a feminist, to label an alleged male habit of talking down to knowledgeable women. In other words, allegedly, often, men have a tendency to speak condescendingly to female peers when explaining something to them. In “mansplaining” a man speaks to a woman as if... Read more

Why I Will Still Not Stop Calling Myself “Evangelical” Ever since the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States I have been inundated with questions and suggestions—about the label I still proudly wear: “evangelical Christian.” Many evangelicals who strongly opposed Trump have finally given up that label; for them it was apparently the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. Their discomfort with the label began long ago—when the media began calling fundamentalists “evangelicals” and began identifying... Read more

Should Christians Worship and Pray together with Non-Christians? This Thanksgiving Day (November 24) many Christians across America will attend “Union Thanksgiving Services”—prayer services held mostly in Christian churches to thank God for his blessings. These are called “Union” because they involve pastors and laypeople from various denominations. When I was a child in the 1950s and 1960s, in two different cities (we moved from one to another when I was eleven), my family attended such Thanksgiving Day services. They were... Read more

Finally, My Thoughts about the 2016 Election Rarely am I without words. However, I admit it, since Wednesday morning, November 9 I have been almost speechless about the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States. I did not expect it to happen; I hoped and prayed it would not happen. It did happen. Unlike many people around the world, I did not stay awake to watch the election results on television. I turned to a national network... Read more