Should I Doubt God? Recently I made an admission—to a group of fellow Christian believers—that was met with some surprise, a little shock and perhaps some dismay. Here it is: I can honestly say that I have never doubted God. I mean that I have never doubted God’s existence or God’s goodness and love. Wait, let me explain a bit more. I have doubted many, very many, messages about God—ones that I have heard from pulpits and lecterns and that... Read more

A Series: Christian Theology—Answers to Questions: Four: On What Is Theology Based?   Does Christian theology (explained in earlier essays in this series) have a method? Here, of course, I’m asking about the process type of theology—the process of evaluating messages claimed to be Christian and constructing (or reconstructing) Christian doctrines. Christian theology in this sense is generally believed to have begun in the second century after Christ although, of course, we find it inchoate in the Bible itself. The... Read more

Are All “Christians” True Christians? Again I heard it. A student related how a non-Christian friend asked him how he could be a Christian when Christians were and are responsible for horrendous abuses and terrible evils. It would be pointless to ask the person “What abuses and evils?” because we all know that so-called Christians have committed horrendous abuses and terrible evils in human history and still do today. In my experience this is one of the most commonly used... Read more

A Series: Christian Theology—Answers to Questions: Three: Can God’s Existence Be Proved?   Christian theology often begins with what is called “prolegomena”—“things that go before”—and that often includes some discussion of “natural theology”—what can be known about God before and apart from the special revelation Christians believe God has given in Jesus Christ, the Hebrew prophets and earliest Christian apostles and in scripture. Natural theology has had its “ups” and “downs” in the history of Christian theology. Here I offer... Read more

I Interrupt This Series with a Sidebar about “Folk Religion” Actually, it’s not so much an interruption as a long footnote to my ongoing series about theology. Many have asked what I mean by “folk religion.” I first learned the concept from sociologist and historian of religion Robert Ellwood, author of many books especially about American religions. I expand on his definition and description. Some years ago I wrote a book entitled Answers to All Your Questions: The Journey from... Read more

A Series: Christian Theology—Answers to Questions: Two: Why Theology Is Necessary     Why is theology necessary? Simply put—because the Bible is not always as clear as we wish it were. There is an old Protestant adage that the Bible interprets itself. Some Protestants have believed that the Bible is “perspicuous”—capable of being understood correctly by anyone who reads it without wrong presuppositions or biases. The Bible without Theology is not just the title of a book; it is an... Read more

A Series: Christian Theology—Answers to Questions: One: Why Theology? Here I introduce a new series on this blog. I am going to write a series of essays about basic questions Christian theology at least attempts to answer. Over my almost forty years of teaching Christian theology I have accumulated numerous questions that occur and re-occur. Here I will answer the most common ones. One very common question, asked in many ways, is what is the need for theology? Why do... Read more

Pentecostal Theology: A Brief Description Roger E. Olson The modern Pentecostal Movement began during the first decade of the 20th century. Some who need a date for its birth choose 1906—the year of the “Azusa Street Revival” in Los Angeles. However, the movement has older roots and really became organized later as denominations and institutions were formed. Most of the first modern Pentecostals were members of so-called “Holiness” churches such as the Church of the Nazarene and other Wesley-inspired revivalist... Read more

Has Science Buried God? John Lennox Says No Recently I found and viewed an interview on Youtube that constitutes one of the best examples of Christian apologetics I have ever heard or read. Please view and listen to it. It is part of a series called “Socrates in the City.” The title is “Has Science Buried God?” The interviewer is conservative Christian writer Eric Metaxas and the interviewee is retired Oxford professor of mathematics and philosophy of science John Lennox.... Read more

A More Critical Look at Greg Boyd’s “Inspired Imperfection” In my previous post I generally agreed with Greg’s account of the Bible as inspired in the whole (plenary inspiration) but not inerrant. I think that case can be made and Greg has at least pointed in one direction for doing that (viz., God’s condescension and accommodation with regard to the human authors’ depictions of him in the OT). However, now I want to express one point of disagreement with Greg’s... Read more