My Response to John Piper’s Comments about Arminians   Recently one of my faithful readers who also often comments here posted a link to a recent episode of “Ask Pastor John”—John Piper’s podcast series in which he answers questions. (All you have to do to find this series is “google” the title “Ask Pastor John” or go directly to Piper’s Desiring God Ministries.) In this episode of the series someone asked Piper which Arminians have influenced him the most. Here... Read more

Whetting Appetites: A Preview of Deviant Calvinism by Oliver Crisp About a week ago (late November, 2014) I announced a coming series of interactions with Fuller Seminary theologian Oliver Crisp’s new book Deviant Calvinism: Broadening Reformed Theology (Fortress, 2014). I encouraged those who wanted to participate in the discussion to buy it and gave everyone two weeks before the start of the series. However, the book has been lying on my desk, looking up at me, and crying “Read me!”... Read more

All my life I’ve been an American patriot; I do celebrate my country as truly exceptional. I love America and get choked up every time I hear the national anthem or salute the flag. However, unlike some of my fellow Americans, I am not a nationalist. There is a difference between loving one’s country and believing it is superior to all others in every way and avoiding all criticism of its government. I am grieved by those Americans who think... Read more

Some Calvinists (and perhaps others) argue that, in a world ruled by God, the God of the Bible, a single creaturely act can be both determined (pre-programmed by God) and free. And they claim that there are examples of this in Scripture (e.g., Joseph’s brothers selling him into slavery). Here I will point out several problems with this claim. First, no where does Scripture explicitly say that a single creaturely act was both “pre-programmed” or “determined” and “free.” Admittedly, there... Read more

Some Memories of Stanley J. Grenz and His Theological Journey   My friend and co-author Stan Grenz died almost ten years ago. He was only fifty-five years old and in the prime of his career as a teacher and profession as a Christian theologian. He had published over twenty-five books and scores of articles. He was working on a multi-volume theology with the overarching title of The Matrix of Christian Theology. During the last decade of his life Stan had... Read more

Two Forthcoming Books about Pietism     Reclaiming Pietism: Retrieving an Evangelical Tradition by Roger E. Olson and Christian T. Collins Winn will be published in January by Eerdmans. The Pietist Vision of Christian Higher Education: Forming Whole and Holy Persons edited by Christopher Gehrz will be published in January by InterVarsity Press. See Amazon.com for details.   These two books emerge out of a decades-long project at Bethel University in Minnesota where I taught (1984-1999) and where Christian and... Read more

Some time ago here I mentioned my favorite Christian philosopher: Keith Ward. It isn’t that I agree with everything he says. He’s my favorite because he is basically orthodox and writes so clearly–for those of us not trained in (for example) modal logic. (I’m not suggesting he doesn’t know or use modal logic; I only mean many of his books are free of technical apparatus and yet profoundly insightful and challenging.) Lately I’ve been reading his book God: A Guide... Read more

Thoughts about the Role of Experience in Theology: Part Two (With Special Reference to Friedrich Schleiermacher and Stanley J. Grenz)   Paraphrasing Kant, theology without experience is empty; experience without theology is blind. Empty of what? What would theology without experience (if that were even possible) be empty of? Transforming power and relevance. That spiritual experience without theology is blind is less controversial—especially among conservative theologians. I have defended that thesis here before. The background to this two-part series is... Read more

Thoughts about the Role of Experience in Theology: Part One   I have long thought that experience does and should play a role in Christian theology, but I have also long known that’s controversial, especially among conservative Christian theologians, and that it’s difficult to define. That is, it’s difficult to pin down exactly what role experience plays and how much of a role it should play in theological reflection and especially doctrinal formulation. I think pure objectivity is a myth;... Read more

Remembering and Honoring Evangelical Theologian Stanley J. Grenz (and Responding to Conservative Evangelical Criticisms of His Theology)   I have returned from the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion/Society of Biblical Literature where about ten thousand religion scholars convened in sunny San Diego, California. I was invited to read a paper in one session of the Evangelical Theology Group, a program unit of the AAR, about the theology of Stanley Grenz. Stan was my close friend and co-author.... Read more