The Problem with “All Lives Matter” “Black lives matter!” Predictable response from some white people: “All lives matter.” What’s the problem? The problem is that not everyone believes black lives are included in “all lives.” So responding to “Black lives matter” with “All lives matter” in this context where unarmed, innocent black people are being killed by police without cause is much worse than politically incorrect; it is an expression of white supremacy. Context matters. Of course all lives matter.... Read more

How American (White) Evangelicalism Has Changed I have lived a long life “in the thick” of white American evangelical Christianity. I won’t here lay out all my bona fides. If you doubt them, look me up on the internet. I can legitimately claim to be just about as knowledgeable about white American evangelical Christianity as anyone.   One thing I am both blessed and cursed with is a good long-term memory. I remember the churches I grew up in very... Read more

What Is the Purpose of Preaching? Over the past many years of life as a theologian I have heard numerous sermons. Some were in churches I attended as a member or regular attender. (One would not let me become a member because I had only “alien immersion” so I attended but never officially joined.) Some were in churches I visited. I have visited numerous churches over the years for various reasons. Often that was because I was invited to speak... Read more

Clearing Up Confusion about “Theology” (Prolegomena to Prolegomena) Systematic or constructive theology usually begins with “prolegomena”—so-called “first things”—foundations of theology. What prolegomena include vary from theology to theology. However, prolegomena usually begin with some discussion of the method of theology—how theology is “done”—especially including the roles of revelation, tradition, reason, and experience—the so-called “Wesleyan Quadrilateral.” Many volumes of Christian theology begin with some version of natural theology or at least discussion of it. Natural theology, of course, includes reasons for... Read more

What Would It Take (To Convince Doubters That America Is Becoming a Police State)? For any of you who are not aware of what is going on in America now (and has been going on for a long time): Recently, just a few days ago, a Minneapolis, Minnesota police officer killed an African-American man who was unarmed and, apparently (given the several videos of the event from different angles) no resisting arrest. Several other Minneapolis police officers stood around without... Read more

Why Study/Learn Historical Theology? I was recently asked to address a group on this subject: Why study and learn about historical theology? The answers seem self-evident to me, but that’s because I became a historical theologian forty years ago after several years of formally studying the subject. Here are my five reasons why every Christian should learn enough historical theology to be relatively knowledgeable about it: Under scripture itself, the Great Tradition of faithful Christian thought and reflection about God,... Read more

Why Lying Has Become Normal and Acceptable Just this week I necessarily visited two “big box” stores—to buy items I truly needed. (Due to the pandemic I am temporarily avoiding stores as much as possible.) At one big box store I took my item to the cash register and happened to notice that it charged me $10 more than the price clearly displayed for the item on the shelf. I was not surprised. This happens often. A few hours later,... Read more

The Problems and Possibilities of Christian Apologetics Recently a very popular Christian apologist (defender of the faith) named Ravi Zacharias passed away. I did not know him and this post is not about him. All I know is that many people thought very highly of him and will miss him. His passing, however, has caused me to think again about Christian apologetics in general. Why do I not write apologetics? Besides here, I mean. As I see it, anyway, the... Read more

Confusion Reigns about COVID 19 Fatality Rates This is my final post on this subject—at least for now. I am disappointed by all the confusion evidenced even among very bright people—including some who have responded here. The confusion is over two very different statistics that people cannot seem to keep distinguished from each other. One is the true IFR (infection fatality rate) of COVID 19 and the other is the CFR (case fatality rate) of COVID 19. Now, to add... Read more

My One Concern (Here) about the Pandemic Many respondents to my most recent post have assumed that I am promoting some specific “plan” for dealing with the CORONA-19 virus pandemic. That is not the case. Please do not do that. If you choose to respond to that post or this one, stick to what I actually say and DO NOT misuse my blog as an opportunity to go off on a tangent unrelated to what I actually say. Your response... Read more