Part 1 of A New Series: Responses to The Gospel as Center by Members of the Gospel Coalition Beginning today I embark on a series of posts responding to chapters in the new book The Gospel as Center: Renewing Our Faith and Reforming Our Ministry Practices edited by D. A. Carson and Timothy Keller and published by Crossway (2012). The publisher was kind enough to send me a complimentary copy, so I will review in detail here. My plan is... Read more

Response to a Good Book about “Purgatory” Some months ago I posted some thoughts here about purgatory. I endorsed an idea that had little resemblance to any traditional Catholic idea of purgatory, but some people are apparently so fixated on that word that its very appearance made them think I was affirming the Catholic idea of purgatory. I wasn’t. I admitted some sympathy with C. S. Lewis’ idea in The Great Divorce and other writings that perhaps there is a... Read more

Thanks to all of you who have offered answers to my question about Christian (trinitarian) theologians who probably will be included in a book on late 20th century and early 21st century theologians 50 years from now. I agree with those who have said it’s hard to predict because we live in a time when there are no theological “giants” comparable to Barth or Tillich. That’s what make this so difficult. Recently I wrote about 19th century Christian (trinitarian) theologians.... Read more

Fifty years from now, which contemporary (late 20th century, early 21st century) Christian (trinitarian) theologians will someone include in a book about modern/postmodern theology? Why? Read more

Rosemary Ruether on the Problem with Men Not very long ago I posted some musing here about a possible reason why our prisons are so crowded with men and why we now have an over abundance of drifting young men with no apparent purpose in life other than to swagger and act macho or disappear into a wasted existence of playing video games. My suggestion was that especially young men, probably from early adolescence on, need to feel respected and... Read more

Thoughts about Another Evangelical Theological Controversy Somehow I missed this one for a long time. Apparently, a new controversy is breaking out among evangelical theologians. Actually, it’s been going on for some time—apparently largely in the pages of the Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society (a publication to which I don’t subscribe and which I rarely read). Recently InterVarsity Press asked me to preview a forthcoming book by Australian evangelical theologian Kevin Giles who has written at least two books... Read more

Thoughts about Catastrophes and God’s Judgment This is a response to comments made in response to my previous post about John Piper’s blog entry about the recent tornado outbreak in the eastern U.S. True, in this particular blog entry Piper does not explicitly say the tornadoes were God’s judgment on those towns. He does say, however, that the tornadoes were “God’s fingers.” In light of everything else he has written and said about calamaties and catastrophes, it is clear to... Read more

My Response to John Piper’s Recent Statements about God and Tornadoes During the last week or two I have received numerous e-mails, some from journalists, asking my opinion about John Piper’s explanation of the recent rash of deadly tornadoes across the South. Apparently, he has at least implied that God sent them as judgments on particular communities and reminders of their need to repent. My first response is that this is nothing new. John has been saying things like this... Read more

If you haven’t read my two previous posts about Evangelical-Catholic-Evangelical dialogue, you should before reading this one. So, what’s the point of such dialogue? What should aim for, realistically hope to accomplish and focus on? When I was participating in Braaten’s and Jenson’s Catholic-Evangelical (really Catholic-Protestant) dialogues one thing gradually emerged: the goal was “visible and institutional unity of the churches.” That’s when I decided to drop my bombshell (that at least Baptists would never accept a formal episcopacy) knowing... Read more

Yesterday I posted here about my years-long involvements in Catholic-Evangelical dialogues. This past weekend I participated in another one. I was very glad to be invited and enjoyed all of it and benefited from it. I applaud those who provide the impetus for it and organize it. Now, looking back over this one and many others I’ve participated in, I’d like to share some ideas about how to improve them. First, right off the bat, at the very beginning of... Read more