Theoblogy
As part of the Patheos Book Club on Brennan Manning’s new book, All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir, I interviewed Jay Bakker on Skype. Jay considers Brennan one of his inspirations, and it shows in the interview: Read more
As part of the Patheos Book Club on Brennan Manning’s new book, All Is Grace: A Ragamuffin Memoir, I interviewed Jay Bakker on Skype. Jay considers Brennan one of his inspirations, and it shows in the interview: Read more
That’s the experience for some kids in Kathmandu, where a five-year-old boy has been proclaimed a living god: A five-year-old Nepali boy, worshipped by many as a god, sits cross-legged with a stuffed teddy bear in his brick-and-cement home in Kathmandu. Sambeg Shakya was hailed last year by Buddhist priests as Ganesh, or the god of good fortune, since when he has led several processions of Nepal’s better-known ‘living goddesses’, also known as Kumari. On Wednesday, skinny Sambeg, his eyes... Read more
Richard Beck says “biblical” doesn’t mean what you think it means: Recently I was invited to be a part of a conversation regarding how a community I’m associated with should approach a controversial topic. The stated goal of the conversation is to think about what a “biblical” approach would be regarding this issue. So I’ve been thinking a lot about the word biblical and about what it might mean. Here’s my basic observation: Whatever biblical means it doesn’t mean biblical.... Read more
Alternate headline: “Church of England Edges Closer to 20th Century“: The Church of England cleared another legislative hurdle to appointing women bishops, but traditionalist opponents warned on Monday the move was not a foregone conclusion. Some Anglican provinces already have women bishops, including Australia, the United States and Canada, but the ordination of women and homosexuals as bishops as well as same-sex marriages remain the most divisive issues facing the Anglican Communion, which has 77 million members worldwide. [via Church... Read more
Fuller professor Daniel Kirk is quickly becoming one of my favorite bloggers. This week, he had a post about eschatology that caught my eye: What is the eschatology that Jesus brings about? It is the regathering of the people as promised, the restoration of the people to full standing in God’s family. It is a defeat of the hostile powers that warred against God’s people to keep those people from experiencing the fulness of the blessing of God. It is... Read more
Mark Driscoll’s Mars Hill Church in Seattle has publicly apologized for sending a cease-and-desist letter to a church named Mars Hill in Sacramento, California: When cases like this arise in the business world, it’s customary for a law office to send a notice asking the other organization to adjust their branding to differentiate it. This is commonly referred to as a cease and desist letter. On September 27, 2011, our legal counsel sent such a letter to these three Mars... Read more
John pastors the American Church in London. He and I were seminary classmates. He’s written a poignant and heartbreaking post about the death of a childhood friend. The four of us had and have lots of other friends, but there was something special about our relationship that became even more so over the years. Once we got into our 40s we saw a new value or preciousness to the fact that we’d been together so long. It was clear we... Read more
It seems that Mars Hill in Seattle doesn’t want any other churches to use that name. I wonder if Rob Bell has gotten his C&D letter yet… The third Mars Hill I know seems caught in the middle. It is pastored in Sacramento, California by a friend of mine, Scott Hagan. Scott planted another church years ago in the Sacramento area, then moved to pastor a mega-church in Michigan and is now back leading at Mars Hill in Sactown. I have Pastor Scott’s... Read more
This post is part of a Patheos symposium on the Future of Seminary Education. I got tweeted at yesterday by Robert. He asked: What I thought is, I should be asking you that question! There are several seminaries from which Robert can choose in the Twin Cities. The majors are Bethel, Luther, and United. Then there’s John Piper’s Bethlehem Seminary and several other minor league options. Although I’m qualified to teach theology at a seminary, none of the majors would... Read more
I didn’t know much about evangelicalism when I matriculated at Fuller Seminary in 1990. I went there because a close family friend was a professor, and because I’d just spent four years on the East Coast — I thought some California sun would be nice. I completely enjoyed my time there, and I was intellectually challenged by the likes of Nancey Murphy, Jim McClendon, and Miroslav Volf. So it came as a surprise to me when, sitting in the office... Read more
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