“These quotes highlight what is at stake in the teaching of some contemporary evangelical scholars and pastors: they are presenting a novel view of God; a different God than that affirmed by the church through the ages and taught in Scripture. This is serious. It comes down to this; if they are right we have been worshipping an idol since the beginning of the church; and if they are wrong they are constructing a new deity…” –Liam Goligher, June 3,... Read more
Recent posts by Carl Trueman and Liam Goligher on the nature of Trinitarian relations have prompted a fairly major online conversation. I was personally implicated in the controversy alongside greater lights like Bruce Ware and Wayne Grudem, as I recently published The Grand Design with Gavin Peacock. In TGD, Gavin and I briefly make the case for what is called Eternal Relations of Authority and Submission (ERAS). Trueman and Goligher did not hold back, God bless ‘em: they say that... Read more
We at Midwestern Seminary have some exciting news to announce. As the video above makes clear, in June 2016, we launch the Center for Public Theology. My goal as Director of this new initiative is to help the church answer one of the central questions of our time: how can we be faithful witnesses in this world at this particular time? This is not a new question, of course. As I say in the introductory video above, the great pastor-theologian... Read more
Because the Hour’s come, and the Man. –Sir Walter Scott It has been a long and dark time, this election season. Christians, of course, have allegiance to no party, but for a good while now, the Republican party has represented at least a portion of what many evangelicals hold to be politically best. Now, however, we find ourselves with just two choices: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. (I registered some concerns about Trump some months ago for The Stream). In such a situation,... Read more
As CBMW heads to our T4G conference on Monday, we’re thrilled to release this killer video promoting the event, “The Beauty of Complementarity.” A number of the speakers featured at the event are found in the short and beautiful video. Sign up for the event here, and get over $120 worth of books. I love the tagline, because it’s true in my life and so many others: I am a complementarian, and I have seen the beauty of complementarity. Read more
We at CBMW are thrilled to host a Together for the Gospel pre-conference next week in Louisville. Our event, entitled “The Beauty of Complementarity,” runs from next Monday, April 11 to Tuesday, April 12. We’re seeing tickets fly out the door, and I encourage you to register. (You can sign up all the way to the beginning of the event on Monday at noon.) Below is the book list for the conference. If you sign up at the $99 fee,... Read more
I read with interest Mark Oppenheimer’s latest New York Times piece on American seminary education. Oppenheimer just profiled Claremont Lincoln University, an institution that offers a basically religion-free curriculum: Most of its 70 students do not plan to be members of the clergy, and while the university offers classes called “Mindfulness,” “Collaboration” and “Dialogue,” it has none on, say, the Old Testament, the Gospels or the Quran. Instead, the classes are intended to “develop capacities for compassionate leadership,” according to its mission... Read more
Every once in a while, you come across a story that, though not necessarily evangelical in nature, drives right to the heart of the truth. This recounting of basketball player Jermaine O’Neal’s work to be a good dad gets at the very core of fatherhood. According to Chris Ballard of Sports Illustrated, O’Neal had a chance to play on the 2014-15 Golden State Warriors. He loved the team, but felt the pull to leave the game in order to be present for his... Read more
This is really exciting. I’m pleased to announce with CBMW that Cross Church pastor Ronnie Floyd, currently the President of the Southern Baptist Convention, will speak at “The Beauty of Complementarity” in April. Register here for the event. Dr. Floyd will speak on “How a Christian Father Raises Godly Sons,” a talk I asked him to give based on my appreciation of his leadership and my knowledge of his close relationship with his son Nick (a friend of mine and... Read more
It’s scary, learning to ski. You are trained first to snow-plow, which means that you crawl down the mountain. After even a few trips down the slopes, your legs begin to shake. You haven’t mastered speed, and you’re scared of it. You feel very little momentum. Plus, it’s cold out, and you crave hot chocolate, and the wind is against you. But then something changes. As you grow up, you learn to use speed, not fight it. The black diamond... Read more
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