Arminius’s Reformed Doctrine of Justification This should be read ONLY in light of my previous post here “Arminian Doctrine of Justification Again Disputed” (May 28, 2015). There I expressed dismay at the continuing Reformed misrepresentation of Arminius’s and classical Arminians’ doctrine of justification—as closer to a Catholic understanding than to a classical Protestant and Reformed doctrine. Some commenters have responded to my blog post by asking whether Arminius himself believed in the “imputation of Christ’s righteousness” or whether he would... Read more

Occasionally I’m asked to look at something on the internet about Arminian theology. It seems that, once again, a conservative Reformed scholar is challenging Arminian theology–as closer to Catholic doctrine than to Reformation doctrine. The issue this time, as often, is “justification.” The accusation is that Arminius and the Remonstrants denied the classical Reformed doctrine of justification and that was the main reason they were criticized and excommunicated by the Reformed. The article in question is by Mark Jones and... Read more

Dear Beloved Grandson, Be afraid. Be very afraid. You shouldn’t have to be, but in today’s America you need to be constantly on your guard. Or maybe “afraid” isn’t the right word. Be vigilant and very careful. Especially around police. Wait. Don’t hate police; not all of them are your enemies. But given the plethora of police attacks, using deadly force, on black boys and men, be vigilant around them. And that means be vigilant whenever you are out in... Read more

Recently I was chatting with a Christian magazine editor and the subject of the “nones” (about which I recently blogged) came up. The question on everyone’s mind is, of course, how to attract “nones” back to church or at least how to keep millennials (many of who are perceived as abandoning church altogether) in the churches. One strategy that’s floating around is to hide, or at least not talk about, sin and repentance because supposedly millennials have no particular feelings... Read more

Note: If you are pressed for time and cannot read the whole essay below, feel free to skip to the end where I list 10 criteria. The essay describes my own history of interest in and research about “cults” and new/alternative religious groups. Developing Criteria for Recognizing a Religious Sect as a “Cult” Many religious scholars eschew the word “cult” or, if they use it at all, relegate it to extreme cases of religious groups that practice or threaten to... Read more

How Seriously Should We Take the Phenomenon of “The Nones?” According to a recent Pew-funded study of American religion, the percentage of Americans who claim to have no religious affiliation is growing. Many people are disturbed by this. Here I’d like to muse a bit about that. First, who are the “we” in the title of this blog post? “We” are American Christians, especially American Christians who take the Christian faith seriously and believe it. To be more specific, “we”... Read more

I grew up thinking of God, the God of the Bible, the “Christian God,” as “a being”–at the top of a great chain of beings but with a clear gulf fixed between him and everything else down the chain. The gulf was crossable only from God’s side and had to do with the fact that only God is eternal and uncreated. Everything else in the chain was below God and created by God. The gulf was widened by the fall... Read more

Recently I posted an essay here about “Living Theology” ending with some comments about my own desire to find and experience true New Testament Christianity as it was in the times of the apostles. That reveals my own bias toward ecclesiastical Restorationism. That is the belief that the “job” of the church in every age and place is to restore the New Testament church as much as possible. Most people know, and I readily acknowledge, that such an effort must... Read more

“Living Theology: Knowing and Following Our Resurrected Lord”   This is a talk I gave at the recent MissioAlliance Gathering in Alexandria, Virginia. The forum topic was “Living Theology: Knowing and Following Our Resurrected Lord.” (The theme of the Gathering this year was “Resurrection Life.”) I was one member of a panel; each member gave his or her own talk on the topic. I was the first to speak; two panel members used some of their time to disagree with... Read more

Is God Also Our Mother? This debate over appropriate language for God has been going on for at least half a century now. Some Christians struggle with calling God “Father” for three reasons. First, some say addressing God as Father reinforces patriarchy—the idea that males have the right to rule over and dominate females (and males with less status and power). (Yes, I know, some have expanded the term “patriarchy” to include all forms of social hierarchy.) Second, some say... Read more