Will the Last Evangelical Please Turn Out the Lights?

Last updated on: July 21, 2011 at 5:44 pm By Tony Jones

Deacon Bo at Homebrewed Christianity asks if Anyone Is Evangelical Anymore? He asks because, it seems, C.S. Lewis may have been a secret Bellian — Lewis hinted in one book that maybe people get to leave hell for heaven. (I’ve long considered Lewis among the most overrated writers and thinkers in all of Christendom. So sue me.) Bo writes, Over the past decades there has been an increasingly contentious debate about the invisible boundary of evangelicalism. Apparently some have become... Read more

Some Wedding Photos

Last updated on: July 21, 2011 at 1:32 pm By Tony Jones

Well, I’ve been married for a week. So far so good. Our brilliantly gifted wedding photographer, Huy Nguyen (named one of the Top 10 Wedding Photographers in the World) has posted a few preview pics of our wedding on his site. Here’s a taste (click the photo to see more): Read more

Will Rick Run?

Last updated on: July 21, 2011 at 1:34 pm By Tony Jones

My fellow Minnesotans, Tim Pawlenty and Michelle Bachmann, are keenly interested in the question about whether Rick Perry will throw his hair hat in the ring. So, it seems, are evangelical voters. “And while Bachmann has been on a hot streak since the first candidate’s debate, Christian Right leaders continue to be far less willing to embrace her (or Sarah Palin, for that matter) than the rank-and-file or more secular politicos. Is that sexism at work? Possibly. Maybe even probably.... Read more

What Should I Write About?

Last updated on: July 20, 2011 at 5:39 am By Tony Jones

With the dissertation behind me (to be epublished later this summer), I’ve turned my mind to thinking about my next book. I’ve had wonderfully provocative discussions on this topic with Doug Pagitt, Brian McLaren, and Kathy Helmers. But I thought I’d also crowdsource it a bit. If you’re interested in being part of my internal conversation on this, leave a comment here, and/or weigh in on the Facebook Question that I’ve posed. And thanks. Read more

Jesus Was Not a “Biblical Christian”

Last updated on: July 19, 2011 at 3:49 pm By Tony Jones

Today on Twitter, Chris Blackstone went out on a limb and said that persons who practice polyamory are not Christians. When I pressed him about what he meant, he said that they may be “self-identified Xians, but def not Biblical Xians.” Well, that got me thinking. Of course, the phrase “biblical Christian” does not occur in the Bible. Indeed, the word “biblical” does not occur therein. Then I searched the database at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library, which is the... Read more

Whatever Happened to the Muppets?

Last updated on: July 21, 2011 at 3:19 pm By Tony Jones

I grew up with the Muppets. I have distinct memories of Sunday evenings, eating dinner on TV trays (a special Sunday night tradition), watching The Muppet Show. And lately, Doug Pagitt and I have often been compared to Statler and Waldorf. At The Awl, Elizabeth Stevens tracks the long, strange, and not always wonderful path of the Muppets, post-Jim Henson (when Kermit was voiced by Steve Whitmire). Money quote: (more…) Read more

Leadership Lessons from Mumford and Sons

Last updated on: July 18, 2011 at 4:50 pm By Tony Jones

At Faith& Leadership, Jason Byassee was surprised to find leadership lessons at a Mumford and Sons concert: Another lesson: Incarnate yourself, your language, your humor, in the local dialect. This will make for mistakes, as some of their comments did. But it almost doesn’t matter. You get credit for trying; whether you do perfectly is far less important. [READ THE REST] Read more

On Ending a Little League Season

Last updated on: July 17, 2011 at 12:34 pm By Tony Jones

Like thousands of other teams across the country, the Little League team on which my son plays — and which I coach — was engaged in a season-ending tournament this weekend. We won our first game yesterday on a soupy field, and the boys were flying high. In our second game, against the best team in our division, we played as well as we have all season. It was a back-and-forth game, as we exchanged the lead with the other... Read more

Legalize Polygamy?

Last updated on: July 15, 2011 at 4:35 pm By Tony Jones

At The Dish, Jonathan Rausch thinks so: I’m a gay marriage advocate and a polygamy opponent. And, yes, my positions make sense together. Polygamy is bad social policy for exactly the reason gay marriage is good social policy: everyone should have the opportunity to marry. Broad access to marriage important not only for individual wellbeing but for social stability. And, to oversimplify only a little, when one man gets two wives, some other man gets no wife. There’s no better... Read more