Why I Love and Worship God Often I’m tempted to think one of the most basic differences between me and some fellow Christians is why we love and worship God. I love and worship God because of Jesus. Pietist leader Nicholas Ludwig Count von Zinzendorf once said that if it weren’t for Jesus he wouldn’t believe in God. I wouldn’t go quite that far. I think there is enough evidence for a supreme being, an intelligent designer and creator of... Read more

Review of “An Evangelical Manifesto” Part 3 (Final) Once again I want to emphasize my general sympathy and agreement with this statement of evangelical identity and call for correction of confusion about the meaning of evangelicalism. One purpose of the Manifesto is express the need for evangelicals and others to learn to live in a pluralistic world “with our deepest differences,” which are religious in nature, without coercion or indifference. The Manifesto says “We wish to state what we mean... Read more

Yesterday (January 30) one of my favorite Calvinist interlocutors posted this comment here: “The real difficulty that I have with the Arminian doctrinal position on the question of the origin of evil, as expressed here by Dr. Olson and in his book “Against Calvinism”, is best illustrated by the story Dr. Olson relates in the book of a question posed by one of Dr. Olson’s students at the end of a class Dr. Olson was teaching on Calvinism’s doctrine of... Read more

Review of “An Evangelical Manifesto” Part 2 Although I find myself generally favorable to the Manifesto, I have qualms about the way in which it identifies “evangelical.” According to its authors and signers “We Evangelicals are defined theologically, and not politically, socially, or culturally.” I agree that we are not defined “politically, socially, or culturally.” It’s the emphasis on “defined theologically” that troubles me. According to the Manifesto, “a particular set of beliefs…make us who we are.” Now, I agree... Read more

Review of “An Evangelical Manifesto” Part 1 As I mentioned in the previous post, I am finally getting around to commenting publicly on “A Declaration of Evangelical Identity and Public Commitment,” otherwise known as “An Evangelical Manifesto,” published by a group of leading evangelical thinkers in 2008. If you have not yet read any of it, please go to www.anevangelicalmanifesto.com. There you will find “An Introduction,” “An Executive Summary,” and the Manifesto itself. This is not, of course, the first... Read more

Someone has asked for my response to “An Evangelical Manifesto” which you can read at www.anevangelicalmanifesto.com. This statement of evangelical identity and public commitment was published before my blog began, so I have never publicly commented on it (that I recall). If you decide to read it, I recommend you begin with “An Introduction” and then read “An Executive Summary.” The manifesto itself is quite long. But I think the summary will draw you (assuming you’re interested in evangelicalism) into... Read more

Just this morning I received an e-mail from a woman who confirms that she heard Karl Barth respond to a student’s question with “Jesus loves me, this I know…” at Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, in 1962. Her name is LeTourneau and her e-mail is convincing. Of course, as we have already discovered, Barth scholar Martin Rumscheidt says it happened there also. So now we have two reliable witnesses (three counting Rumscheidt) confirming that the event happened in two... Read more

A  while back I asked a question mainly out of curiosity. Did Karl Barth really answer a student’s question (during his 1962 trip to the U.S.) with “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so?” What sparked my curiosity are two things. First, I’ve heard the story numerous times in sermons and read it numerous times in books. Second, I wrote a book in which I told the story (in a chapter about Barth) and an... Read more

What Counts as “Religion” and Why Does It Matter? We all think we know what “religion” is, but every now and then a situation occurs that demonstrates the concept is not as clear and distinct as we think and that attempting to make it more clear and distinct is important. Let me share the most recent example. According to Associated Press reports, the U.S. Marine Corps is now experimenting with something called “Mindfulness-Based Mind Fitness Training” to help fighting men... Read more

What follows is a blog visitor’s response to my blog question to Calvinists about the source of the first evil inclination. It comes from Alan Steele who I assume is a Calvinist (because my challenge was to Calvinists): “Wow. A lot of ground being covered here. I think it’s great to see such active engagement in such weighty topics – and in such gracious fashion toward each other. I would like to respond to Dr. Olson’s excellent question, “From where... Read more