Background to Essentials of Christian Thought Some of you are reading my book Essentials of Christian Thought and some of you aren’t. I hope both groups will engage in the book discussion, although those of you not reading the book are urged to ask questions and not make comments (about the contents of the book). Here I want to explain the “long background” of the book. For many years, while teaching at three Christian universities, I wanted to write a... Read more

Essentials of Christian Thought, Chapter Two Here I will briefly comment on Chapter 2 of my book Essentials of Christian Thought (also the second interlude) and invite comments and questions from those who read it. The title is Ultimate Reality Is Supernatural and Personal (But Not Human). Here I begin to lay out the underlying, always assumed biblical “blik” or world perspective about the nature of reality, especially the ultimate reality that lies behind appearances. The purpose of the book... Read more

A New Year’s Eve Memory: Watchnight Services It’s been many years since I even heard of a church that held what was called a Watchnight Service. When I was a kid (1950s-1960s) most American evangelical churches, especially those in the Pentecostal-Holiness traditions, routinely held New Year’s Even Watchnight Services. What was that like? We gathered at the church around 6:00 PM no New Year’s Eve and ate a potluck dinner together—all ages included. Everyone brought something from home. At about... Read more

Notes on a Christian Christmas Eve Service Last evening, Christmas Eve 2023, I attended a Christmas Eve service at a (to me) non-descript, independent church away from my home city. I had never been there before, but in advance I examined the church’s web site and tentatively judged that it is non-denominational in the truest sense (I could find no hint of any denominational affiliation). It’s name is Town Christian Ministries. (“Town” here is a fill in for the name... Read more

Christian Nationalism Old and New I am now on an email list to receive messages from Christians Against Christian Nationalism. I don’t remember signing up for that list. I think someone else put me on the email list. Here is all that I want to say here: Christian nationalism is not new; it has been around since before the War of Independence. But it has had different “faces” from time to time. The one unifying theme of all American Christian... Read more

Essentials of Christian Thought Book Discussion Begins Here I begin our discussion of my book Essentials of Christian Thought: Seeing Reality through the Biblical Story. Zondervan gave the book its title. The title I wanted was Narrative Biblical Metaphysics: Seeing Reality through the Biblical Story. The origin of the book lies in this blog. I blogged about the project of integrating faith and learning in Christian educational institutions. I taught theology in three Christian universities over thirty-five years. I still... Read more

Between Jesus and John Wayne Not very long ago I reviewed a book by a professor at Calvin University titled Jesus and John Wayne. You can look up that review in the archives of this blog or just “Google” it. Although I don’t remember if the author mentioned this song, I accidentally ran across it on Youtube: Jesus and John Wayne (or Between Jesus and John Wayne). According to sources I have found, the song was written by Bill and... Read more

Karl Barth in a Youtube Documentary Not about Him The great Swiss theologian Karl Barth has often been described as a modern “church father.” That is to compare him in terms of greatness of thought and influence to such Christian theologians as Saint Augustine. I have studied the theology (or theologies) of Barth for many years and he is one of my favorite Christian theologians. I have written about him here before. Imagine my surprise to catch a glimpse of... Read more

Proof that Something Is Seriously Amiss in America’s Universities According to news reports, ones on TV news network prime time programs, showing three presidents of major Ivy League universities speaking at a congressional hearing, something is terribly amiss in American universities. A congresswoman asked the three female presidents of major universities whether calling for genocide of Jews by employees or students constitutes free speech or whether such should be grounds for firing or expulsion. The three presidents repeatedly would not... Read more

Is Donald Trump “Orange Jesus?” According to a forthcoming book by former Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney, at least one influential Republican member of congress referred to Donald Trump as “orange Jesus.” So far I have not read or heard of any reliable refutation of that. On MSNBC Lawrence O’Donnell has labeled that “blasphemy.” I’m a long-time and fairly educated and influential Christian theologian, so I should know what constitutes blasphemy. But I don’t. The dictionary definitions of the word blasphemy... Read more