George Whitefield's slave-owning and his lobbying for the legalization of slavery in Georgia were, in fact, an integral part of his identity. They were an integral part of his theology -- his piety, his revivalism, his hermeneutic, his doctrine. And thus they have become an integral part of our theology, piety, revivalism, hermeneutic and doctrine. Read more
Flannery O'Connor assesses Ayn Rand. Christian Piatt and Carolyn Dupont on churches grappling with equality. Jim Wright asks what it was all for. Claire Gordon interviews the victims revictimized by Bob Jones University. Read more
It's the end of the world! Well, actually, it's not. But here's a collection of several somewhat recent posts and articles pertaining to The End Times, the Last Days, and various other apocalypseseseses. Read more
It was foolish to think that voting and elections could bring "democracy" or "freedom" to post-Saddam Iraq without first establishing a bill of rights guaranteeing secular government and legal protections for religious minorities. Attempting the former without the latter just puts religious freedom at stake in every election. That's a guaranteed recipe for sectarian civil war. Read more
Well, that was ... disappointing. I apologize for presuming that Wright was going to have something thoughtful to say on this subject. If N.T. Wright ever does articulate a meaningful argument against same-sex marriage -- one that doesn't contradict the vast body of his impressive published theology -- I will be sure to let you know here. Read more
I had to re-read that several times before it finally sunk in that they were saying "standing between the world and your child" was supposed to be a good thing. The sad thing is that sentence is utterly true for A Beka Books' target audience: "You're the only thing standing between the world and your child." The sick thing is that the next sentence doesn't say, "So get the heck out of their way." Read more
I don't trust such books (or magazines) because I think the main function of this sub-genre of self-help literature is dubious and kind of evil. Books on leadership are written for and read by people in positions of "leadership," which is to say by people with fancy titles, offices and salaries. Which is to say, they are written for and read by people haunted by the crippling fear of impostor syndrome. Or, rather, by people who actually know themselves to be impostors. Read more
To read the Bible is to interpret the Bible, which is to say it requires us to choose between possible meanings. This choosing is constant and unavoidable. There is no such thing as reading the Bible without making such choices. Those who imagine that they are reading the Bible without choosing are simply choosing subconsciously, or unconsciously. Read more
The man who wrote those words was surely, at some fundamental, essential level, wrong about the meaning of the good news and of salvation. And yet today, in 2014, the white evangelical understanding of good news and salvation is still shaped and bounded by the model and teachings of the man who wrote that passage. That's a problem. Read more
A few things, including: Nicolae Carpathia plays a role in Iowa's Senate race. The death of a master craftsman. Eshet chayil: Saba Ahmed speaks out, Teresa Fitzgerald reaches out. Infant baptism on the rise in the SBC. Jody Williams double-dog dares you. Thus, Calvinism. Read more
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