#PrayforHobbyLobby

Last updated on: March 24, 2014 at 1:19 pm By Owen Strachan

In his recent book, The Twilight of the American Enlightenment, eminent U. S. historian George Marsden offers a compelling definition of what we could call the American soul: it is an intellectual fusion of European Enlightenment thought and evangelical Protestantism. More than any other book I’ve read, Marsden’s short monograph makes sense of the different elements of the American public square. These two influences have long worked for similar ends: the promotion of personal liberty in various directions chief among... Read more

Ross Douthat of New York Times on Campus Pluralism

Last updated on: March 21, 2014 at 2:45 pm By Owen Strachan

Ross Douthat, columnist for the New York Times, published a NYT piece this week pointing out that allegedly “pluralistic” college campuses are struggling mightily to make good on their promises. In his piece, Douthat references the problems conservatives and Christians are having at different schools, and he links to my American Spectator piece, “God and Sexuality at Bowdoin,” on my alma mater, Bowdoin College: You can see this dynamic at work with conservative Christian groups on a number of elite campuses right now — precisely... Read more

Correcting the Record for Associated Baptist Press

Last updated on: March 20, 2014 at 12:50 pm By Owen Strachan

Yesterday, an Associated Baptist Press story by Bob Allen alleged that the Council on Biblical Manhood & Womanhood had taken down an article on gender roles in the new creation after online pushback. As Executive Director of CBMW, I feel compelled to respond due to the article’s numerous inaccuracies, all of which could have been immediately cleared up with a phone call to me or to Denny Burk, editor of the Journal on Biblical Manhood & Womanhood. The problems with Allen’s... Read more

Giving Thanks for Mark Driscoll (and Congregational Polity)

Last updated on: March 17, 2014 at 2:09 pm By Owen Strachan

Some of you have been following the events related to Mark Driscoll’s publishing plan. It’s been a winding affair, but long story short, according to Warren Cole Smith of World Mars Hill Church essentially bought a best-seller spot for a recent Driscoll book. It was found out, controversy ensued (on the blogosphere, of all places), and Driscoll publicly issued a statement of repentance related not only to book-writing but his general demeanor and leadership. Ray Ortlund just wrote up a short... Read more

The Story of Biblical Complementarity: Scripture Is Good for Us

Last updated on: March 14, 2014 at 10:04 am By Owen Strachan

Developing a new phase of a movement is a tricky task. At the Council on Biblical Manhood & Womanhood (CBMW), we’ve taken on this challenge in the past year or so. It has been very exciting to me to see a whole wave of young complementarian voices emerge. Two of these are CBMW staffers. Brittany Lind is the Executive Assistant at CBMW; in short, she keeps the operation moving. She’s also a gifted writer. Grant Castleberry is our Conference Coordinator,... Read more

Vanderbilt Part Two: Religious Liberty Is Imperiled at Bowdoin College

Last updated on: March 10, 2014 at 12:24 pm By Owen Strachan

Remember when Vanderbilt University capriciously decided to enforce a “non-discrimination” policy for student groups? This meant practically that religious groups, especially Christian groups, essentially could not select leaders who held to biblical sexual ethics. Sadly, my own alma mater, Bowdoin College of Maine, is doing something very similar at present. Bowdoin views Bowdoin Christian Fellowship (picture of involved students in upper left), an Inter-Varsity-related group, as being discriminatory for selecting leaders that hold to biblical sexual ethics. I just wrote on this... Read more

We Are All Mephibosheth

Last updated on: March 7, 2014 at 10:57 am By Owen Strachan

Southern Seminary has posted the video of my chapel message from yesterday. It’s entitled “Mephibosheth Comes to Dinner: Of Enemies and Eating,” and it’s based on 2 Samuel 9. My three points were as follows: 1. In verses 1-4, we see a picture of Christian grace. It is an action scene of salvation. 2. In verses 5-8, we find a portrait of Christian ethics. The weak have dignity and worth. 3. In verses 9-13, we discover a demonstration of the kingdom.... Read more

Why Should Pastors Preach About the Public Square?

Last updated on: March 1, 2014 at 8:03 am By Owen Strachan

I offer three reasons in a short piece I just did for the SBTS Blog. Here’s a snippet of one answer to the question, “Why should pastors preach about the public square?” Behind the proto-free market of Geneva was the interest-denouncing homiletics of John Calvin. Behind the world-defying political advocacy of William Wilberforce was the world-defying, sin-targeting preaching of John Newton. Behind the abolitionist activity of the nineteenth-century “New Divinity” in New England was the theocentric worldview of Jonathan Edwards, which... Read more

Everybody Leave Lecrae Alone

Last updated on: February 21, 2014 at 1:41 pm By Owen Strachan

I just read the long profile of rapper Lecrae in the Huffington Post. You should read it. Here’s a swatch: “I’m digesting C.S. Lewis and Tim Kellers and so on and so forth, Francis Schaeffer,” Lecrae said, referencing some of the most influential evangelical thinkers of the last half-century. “I’m seeing how they’ve affected culture and politics and science and so on and so forth, with implicit faith versus explicit faith.” I love who Lecrae is reading. More Christians should... Read more

The Cultural Revolution Is Taking Place in the Little Girls’ Room

Last updated on: February 18, 2014 at 11:53 am By Owen Strachan

Did you see the recent stories in Maine about public restrooms? Apparently, if you identify as “transgender,” you can now enter a restroom of the opposite sex. I wrote about this shocking development for The Federalist in a piece entitled “Children’s Restrooms Are the Next Front Line in the Gender Wars“: The gender revolution will not be televised. Why? Because it is taking place in your local public bathroom. It’s true: gender upheaval, coming soon to a commode near you. In... Read more