Is the Son of God Still a Human Being? A Meditation on the Incarnation I don’t remember when it first occurred to me that the majority of American Christians seem to think the incarnation was temporary, a mere interim in the eternal existence of the Son of God, the Word, the Logos, the Second Person of the Trinity. Early in my career of teaching Christian theology to undergraduates (seventeen years at two Christian institutions of higher learning) I discovered that... Read more

The Parable of the Carnival and the “Freak Show” *This is fiction. Any resemblance to real persons or organizations is purely coincidental. Many years ago, long before the internet, television or even radio, three wealthy businessmen got together and decided to found a traveling carnival with a singular purpose. It would be different from other traveling carnivals and would be called “Culture and Enlightenment.” The “C & E Show.” Instead of the usual rides and games they hired on lecturers,... Read more

Review of Apostles of Reason by Molly Worthen: Part 3 (Final) This review is primarily of Part III of Apostles of Reason—a recently published book by historian Molly Worthen published by Oxford University Press. (No thanks to OUP which declined to respond to my request for a review copy.) Part III is entitled “Let Them Have Dominion.” This is, without doubt, one of the most challenging books about evangelicalism that I have read. It’s challenging for several reasons but two... Read more

Over the past few years many, many people have asked me to respond to critics–most of them Calvinists. Many have also pressured me to enter into public debates with specific Calvinist theologians and radio personalities. I decline most such invitations and urgings. I choose my conversation partners carefully. For one thing, I simply do not have time to get into long, protracted debates with everyone who criticizes me or Arminianism. They are too numerous. But that does not mean I... Read more

William (Bill) Walker III is earning his Ph.D. in theology and ethics from Claremont Graduate University with Anselm K. Min as his mentor. He teaches courses in ethics at a university in San Antonio, Texas. He is a former student of mine and now I am also proud to call him my friend. Posting his essay on inclusivism here does not imply that I agree with everything in it. However, I think it is thought-provoking and well worth considering. It’s... Read more

As usual, my musings here are primarily about the larger evangelical community. Catholics and so-called “mainline Protestants” can listen in and exchange ideas, but my thoughts here are primarily about how we evangelicals should handle fallen leaders. It seems every year another well-known evangelical personality is exposed as having clay feet (or worse). I’m going to avoid naming names here because I have no interest in participating in the feeding frenzy that follows such exposures–and often lasts for years. Most... Read more

Review of Apostles of Reason by Molly Worthen Part Two Before reading this you should have read Part One which was posted earlier. Each installment of this three part review focuses on one of the three parts of the book. This one focuses on Part II: To Evangelize the World. In Part II Worthen continues to hit the right notes. Here is how she ends this Part and Chapter 7 “Renewing the Church Universal”: “By the final decade of the... Read more

A serious health problem (not my own) has required an interruption of my reading and reviewing of Apostles of Reason. I’ll get back to that as soon as possible. Please stay tuned… In the meantime, I’d like to reflect here briefly on the frustrations of a blogger trying (often unsuccessfully) to be clear. Let me use my recent post about “Why I Am Not a Process Theologian” as an example. Many (!) commenters have misunderstood my intention there. I thought... Read more

Review of Apostles of Reason: The Crisis of Authority in American Evangelicalism by Molly Worthen (Oxford University Press) Part One This review will appear in three parts corresponding with the three parts of the book. This first installment covers the book’s introduction and Part I: Knights Inerrant. (Feel free to skip the first nine paragraphs which are autobiographical. The review of Worthen’s book actually begins with paragraph ten.) I admit to having a weakness for books about evangelicalism. Evangelicalism is... Read more

Is American Becoming a Police State? A few months ago I was having a discussion with a group of very socially conscious, highly intelligent graduate students who read widely and deeply in social and political ethics. Somehow the question whether America could ever become a police state came up. One student perceptively asked “How would we know?” What he meant was, how would we know if we were in a police state? Do most people who live in police states... Read more