The Liberal View of the Bible Here I continue discussion of my book Against Liberal Theology: Putting the Brakes on Progressive Christianity. The subject here is Chapter 3: Liberal Theology and the Bible. If you have read the chapter, you are welcome to comment (following my stated guidelines below). If you have not read the chapter, you are welcome to ask a question that is clearly on topic. A problem here is that there is no “orthodox” (small “o”) doctrine... Read more
The Sin of Shutting Down USAID According to reliable news reports, Elon Musk has called USAID (United States Agency for International Development) a “tremendous fraud” and a barrel of worms. I know people who work for USAID and it is perhaps America’s greatest agency, saving millions of people, including children, from starvation in places like Sudan and Haiti. So far as I can discover, no evidence has emerged to support Musk’s (and others’) claims about USAID. So why is this... Read more
Walter Lippmann and Liberal Theology Conservative Presbyterian theologian J. Gresham Machen’s book Christianity and Liberalism was published in 1923. There he argued that liberal theology is incompatible with biblical, orthodox Christianity and even with Christianity at all. He argued that it is a different religion and liberal theologians should admit it. Soon after that, renowned public intellectual Walter Lippmann, a secular humanist, publicly agreed with Machen. Of course, numerous conservative Christians have agreed with both Machen and Lippmann. That is... Read more
Is Messianic Judaism Jewish? I have claimed the right to say, as a Christian theologian, that liberal (Christian) theology, as I understand it and as I have described it in my book Against Liberal Theology, is not authentically Christian. It is a different religion, just as, say, Mormonism is a different religion. Or as Christian Science is a different religion. Or as Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy (esoteric) is a different religion. I have no power to enforce my opinion; I can... Read more
Liberal Theology’s Sources and Norms Here I continue my discussion of my book Against Liberal Theology: Putting the Brakes on Progressive Christianity (Zondervan) with Chapter 2: Liberal Theology’s Sources and Norms. If you have read the chapter, feel free to comment. If not, feel free to ask a question. However, since the book and the chapter are so brief, inexpensive and easy to read, I sometimes just have to say to interlocutors “Read the book.” A common misunderstanding is that... Read more
The Prescience of Tony Campolo: He Warned Us The year was 1985. The “Reagan Era” was in full swing. Conservative Christians were shouting Reagan’s praises. In the midst of the noise evangelical writer and speaker Tony Campolo (d. 2024) wrote a chapter that warned about the future. The book was strangely titled: We Have Met the Enemy and They Are Partly Right. The book is about secular thinkers often labeled “the enemy” by conservative Christians in America and how they... Read more
Against Liberal Theology: Chapter 1: The Liberal Christian Tradition and Its Theology Here I continue my commentary on my own book Against Liberal Theology and my invitation to those who are reading it with me to comment and ask questions. If you are not reading the book, you may ask a question. In this chapter, Chapter 1, I survey the history of liberal theology (not “liberal religion” which is a much broader category)—from Friedrich Schleiermacher to Douglas Ottati. And I... Read more
Being in “Inner Exile” What is “inner exile?” I learned the phrase from President George Brushaber of Bethel College and University (now Bethel University) who used it to describe faculty members (and possibly staff) who have “check out” of the institution but who still function in it. In other words, it is a disposition, a posture toward “home” or “community” or “the leadership.” Immediately when I heard George (we were on a first name basis) say that, I knew what... Read more
Against Liberal Theology: Introduction Here I begin our discussion of my book Against Liberal Theology: Putting the Brakes on Progressive Christianity (Zondervan, 2022). I invite comments and questions from readers of the Introduction, but only questions from non-readers. In some cases I will be able only to say “Read the book.” In about a week I will comment here on Chapter 1 and invite comments and questions. In the Introduction I say that “liberal theology” is a tradition. I will... Read more
Why I Wrote “Against Liberal Theology” This coming Monday (give or take a day) I will open discussion of my book “Against Liberal Theology: Putting the Brakes on Progressive Christianity” (Zondervan). If you want to participate, read the Introduction. You may comment if you read it but only ask questions if not. Before diving into the book, though, I want to say why I wrote it and why I think I am qualified to write such a book. I wrote... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In