What Does “Post-Christian World” Mean? Another book is published expressing the opinion that Christians now must learn to live in a “post-Christian world.” A friend asks me if there can be such a thing as a post-Christian world. Here is my answer. It depends. We certainly do not live in a world without Christianity. But “Christendom” is quickly disappearing from places where it once existed. “Christendom” is a culture in which Christianity functions as the “glue” that holds people together.... Read more

What I Mean by “Moderate” or “Progressive” Evangelical I often identify myself as an evangelical Christian, but especially these days—since at least 2016—I have to modify “evangelical” because so many Americans misidentify the label and the category. I have explained here many times before why I will not simply give up the label. Historically-theologically, even in contemporary culture and religion, there is no better label to describe my particular brand of Christianity. Yes, I use other labels such as “Arminian”... Read more

Who Should Be the Democratic Nominee for President of the United States? Advice to Democrats Once again I will dare to go out on a limb (or thin ice) and strongly suggest to the Democratic Party, in this nominating cycle of state caucuses and primaries, that they do not nominate anyone except former Vice President Joe Biden. Stay with me. I am not endorsing anyone for president or even for the Democratic nomination. I am not a member of any... Read more

A Series: Christian Theology—Answers to Questions: Seven: Bible Interpretation It would be utterly foolish of me to claim to explain “Bible interpretation” in a brief essay such as this. So many books have been written about it and even among conservative Protestant Christians there is so much disagreement about it. I simply laugh at anyone who claims to have the one and only, indisputable and final “key” to interpreting the entire Bible. And yet, I do not believe it is... Read more

“Oh Lord! Please Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” One of the things I have learned from writing on controversial subjects for public audiences is how easy it is to be misunderstood. Writing to be understood is difficult. I consider myself a pretty good writer and others have confirmed that to be true. Yet, I struggle much with the fact that, no matter how hard I try to make my thoughts clear, if the subject is controversial, I will be misunderstood... Read more

What I Appreciate about Methodism Roger E. Olson *This is a presentation I gave to a Baptist-Methodist dialogue event held at Truett Theological Seminary of Baylor University on February 20, 2020.* I recently endorsed a new book entitled The Spirit of Methodism by Jeffrey Barbeau. It’s one of several books with that title. Reading this book was just the most recent in a long history of my non-Methodist encounters and interactions with Methodists. But before talking about my acquaintance with... Read more

The Possibilities and Perils of Gene Editing Here I will be talking only about gene editing of humans. That is, to be more specific, editing the genes of human embryos. If you are not familiar with the science, please watch the Youtube video of Antony Perry performing a TedTalk about the subject. I know very little about gene editing compared with scientists, but I have attended scientific symposia on the subject and watched films made by scientists and discussed gene... Read more

A Series: Christian Theology—Answers to Questions: Six: What Is the Bible? In my immediately preceding essay in this series I wrote about “revelation” and argued that good Christian theology is based on revelation reasonably interpreted using tradition, reason, and experience. I suggested also that the Bible is the primary source of revelation for “doing theology” in the sense of critiquing messages claimed to be “Christian” and constructing doctrines for all Christians. However, all who have read the Bible carefully and... Read more

Why We Should All Be Afraid There are many reasons why we should all be afraid. No, I don’t mean our lives ruled by fear. I mean reasonable fear of the reasonably possible. For example, in this sense of “fear” I fear that a reckless driver will run his or her red light whenever I come to a busy city intersection. I see it happen every day. So when I am in the front of a line of cars and... Read more

A Series: Christian Theology—Answers to Questions: Five: What Is “Revelation?” In my most recent essay in this series I discuss what Christian theology is based on and I said “revelation.” For the most part, with some notable exceptions, Christian theology has always begun with belief in God’s revelation to people. At the center of revelation, for most Christians, stands Jesus Christ as God incarnate, the “human face of God,” and/or “God’s deputy and representative” above all others. There are, of... Read more