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

Whenever I write about Calvinism, someone who considers himself a Calvinist accuses me of setting up and striking down a “strawman.” And others claim what I say about Calvinism does not apply to them. What to do? When I write about Calvinism, unless I say otherwise, I mean consistent, historical, classical Calvinism AS SET FORTH BY Calvin,  Owen, Edwards, Hodge, Boettner, Sproul and Piper and AS EXPRESSED in the Canons of Dort and the Westminster Confession of Faith. What I... Read more

The Ultimate Horror Story: Reflections on Stephen King’s New Novel Revival (Spoiler Alert)   I rarely read a Stephen King novel or any similar novel of the “horror” genre. They’re just not my “thing.” I’ve read a few of that genre that I thought were good, such as Ray Bradbury’s classic Something Wicked This Way Comes, but, for the most part, I don’t enjoy them. (The Bradbury novel, by the way, like many of his other books, contains deep philosophical... Read more

This is a follow-up to my immediately preceding post which contained my response to Peter Berger’s argument that Christians (and others) ought to internalize pluralism including secularity–alongside their Christian faith. In other words, Berger argues, Christians (and others) ought to act “as if God does not exist” in certain spheres of life because of modern pluralism. Both in the book (The Many Altars of Modernity) and in his talk Berger illustrated this claim by saying that an airline pilot flies... Read more

Below you will find my response to Peter Berger’s recently published book The Many Altars of Modernity: Toward a Paradigm for Religion in a Pluralist Age (DeGruyter, 2014). I read this response at a special event at Baylor University on Tuesday, November 18. Berger was there by Skype. (He was unable to travel to the event as originally planned due to health problems.) He spoke about his book and the research that led to it for about fifty minutes. The... Read more

Apparently some people who would never otherwise visit my blog came here only to argue with me, accuse me (without knowing anything about me), and even insult me based on unfounded assumptions. Due to the avalanche of responses I must ask you not to post comments that simply repeat what has already been said. Personally, I agree most with the very well-reasoned, reflective and articulate response of “Otto Telleck.” Here are some general responses from me to some of the... Read more

How to Use Hymns as “Teachable Moments”—Even When You Disagree with the Lyrics Recently someone asked me to give some examples of how I would use hymns as teachable moments in a congregational setting. The background to this request (for those of you who didn’t read my earlier blogpost about hymn lyrics) is this. Several times here I have argued that hymn-singing is problematic in contemporary American church life. For one thing, it has largely dropped away in favor of... Read more