My Interview on God Complex Radio

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 4:58 pm By Tony Jones

Carol Howard Merritt interviewed me for God Complex Radio. We talked mainly about my book on the Didache, The Teaching of the Twelve. Here’s the description of the show, followed by the link: In the second episode of our 4th season, we invited Tony Jones, theologian-in-residence at Solomons Porch in Minneapolis, to join Carol Howard Merritt and Landon Whitsitt to discuss his newest book The Teaching of the Twelve: Believing and Practicing the Primitive Christianity of the Ancient Didache Community. Some... Read more

I Challenge Peter Rollins to Give Up Atheism for Lent

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 4:58 pm By Tony Jones

Happy Ash Wednesday, everyone. Peter Rollins is the most famous Christian Atheist that I know. Actually, Pete isn’t technically an “atheist.” He’s an (a)theist. Or an a(theist). Or an a/theist, a|theist, or a\theist. He explained this a bit when I called in live to the Homebrewed Christianity Podcast and challenged Pete to do the only natural thing for someone who de-evangelizes people and runs the Omega Course: I challenge Peter Rollins to give up atheism for Lent. That means I’d... Read more

Download the Chapter Deemed "Too Gay" for the Baptimergent Book

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 4:58 pm By Tony Jones

Homebrewed Christianity is making available a PDF of Brian Ammon’s chapter on sexuality, a chapter that the Baptist publisher considered unacceptable for their book on Baptist Emergence. If it’s anything like my experience of having a chapter banned by Wheaton College, thousands more people will read this chapter than will read the published book. Smyth & Helwys, the press whose primary market is the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, published the first book of a hyphenated emergent collection – Baptimergent. It was... Read more

I [Heart] Spirituality

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 4:58 pm By Tony Jones

As I’ve mentioned here before, I’m teaching a three-year Doctor of Ministry cohort at Fuller Theological Seminary, beginning this June (we’ll meet for two weeks in June 2011, 12, and 13). I’m really looking forward to this journey because, like many followers of Jesus, I need a kick in my spiritual pants. I already tend toward the intellectual, to be sure. My recent posts about demons and angels hint at what my friends already know: that I’m predisposed to believe... Read more

The Post You NEED to Read about Universalism

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 4:58 pm By Tony Jones

It resides at Keith DeRose’s site. Keith, often referenced by me, is a philosophy professor at Yale. Keith has written publicly for years in defense of Christian Universalism, and he regularly corresponds with me privately on the subject. Rob Bell, at least according to the New York Times, is unlikely to answer many questions on this topic in his forthcoming book: Judging from an advance copy, the 200-page book is unlikely to assuage Mr. Bell’s critics. In an elliptical style, he throws... Read more

Preaching Leviticus

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 4:58 pm By Tony Jones

Daniel Harrell’s new book on Leviticus (How to be Perfect) is out, and Patheos has a brief interview with him on the subject, including some tips on how to preach that tricky book: The basic hunch is that Leviticus still matters for Christians and preachers. Central New Testament terms such as atonement, sacrifice, holiness, and blood are all Levitical terms that serve as the background for the gospel. Moreover, the second greatest commandment, “love your neighbor as yourself,” is found... Read more

Is Amanda Hocking the Future of Publishing?

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 4:58 pm By Tony Jones

If you haven’t heard of Amanda Hocking, you should listen up. She is, according to her blog, a 26-year-old woman who lives in Austin, Minnesota, and she writes books in the fantasy genre. What’s notable is that, of the nine books that she’s published, not one has been published traditionally. She’s published them exclusively as e-books — that is, straight to the Kindle — and she sells them for $.99 or $2.99. And she’s sold a million books. And she... Read more

Why We Should All Know CPR

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 4:58 pm By Tony Jones

Probably, you were trained in CPR at some point in your life. For me, it was when I served as a lifeguard in college, and then I took a refresher when I was a youth pastor. And maybe, like me, you’ve allowed your CPR certification to expire. Well, an amazing story from southern Minnesota is a reminder about why we should all be proficient at CPR: A man fell to the ground in cardiac arrest in the small town of... Read more

"The Pawlenty Is Boring" Meme

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 4:58 pm By Tony Jones

I seem to inhabit the territory of presidential also-rans. When I arrived at Dartmouth, I was informed that the College had never turned out a president. Plenty of presidents were alumni of Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, but Dartmouth had only come as close as perennial candidate Daniel Webster and Paul Tsongas. And my home state is known not only for the Vikings going 0-4 in the Super Bowl, but for presidential also-rans Hubert Humphrey, Walter Mondale, and Eugene McCarthy. It... Read more