Jim Wallis Appearance Stirs Wisconsin Controversy

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 5:01 pm By Tony Jones

Here’s some breaking news from the Sheybogan Press. It seems that Q90-FM, a Christian music station in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, has pulled its sponsorship from Lifefest, a Christian music festival in the area. Why? Because Jim Wallis is one of the speakers at the event. The Q90 board explains, In their statement, the Q90 board of directors, leadership and staff said they became concerned with the beliefs and teachings of Wallis. Specifically, they said they believe the social justice message and... Read more

Pastorboy Embarrasses Minnesota (Again)

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 5:01 pm By Tony Jones

My long-time nemesis, John “Pastorboy” Chisham, made the news here in the north land for out-assholing free-Bible-guy Brian Johnson at Twin Cities Pride last weekend. Chisham and I used to be able to chat personably and agree-to-disagree, as you can see in the video below. He had garnered a reputation as a tough-but-fair member of the “online discernmentalist mafia.” He is also a clergyperson in good standing in the Christian and Missionary Alliance, a denomination that I think would be... Read more

Don Browning Has Died

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 5:01 pm By Tony Jones

Thanks to Andy Rowell for pointing out to me the news that Don Browning, a giant in my academic field of practical theology, has died. Browning was the author of the ur-text of PT — A Fundamental Practical Theology — and he taught at the University of Chicago Divinity School. Here is how he was remembered by collegues at that school, “He had an amazingly capacious mind that could see how religious and moral questions need to be explored from... Read more

My Dog Can Fly!

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 5:01 pm By Tony Jones

Courtney snapped this improbable shot of our pup, Albert, on a dock jump yesterday. Read more

Should Anti-Gay Preacher Be Able to Pass Out Bibles at Pride Parade?

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 5:01 pm By Tony Jones

After a decade as an official vendor, Brian Johnson was denied a vendor license at the Twin Cities GLBT Pride Parade last year. But he attended anyway, passed out Bibles, and told people that homosexuality is a sin. This year, he not only didn’t receive a permit to be a vendor, but the Pride Parade went to court seeking to block him from passing out materials, including Bibles. The Minneapolis Park Board told Johnson he could, but Twin Cities Pride... Read more

Buy the Teaching of the Twelve for $5!

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 5:01 pm By Tony Jones

As Spring shifts to Summer, bookstores rotate their inventory and shift books around. That moves books in and out of publishers’ warehouses and sometimes results in some amazing deals. That sometime is now for my book, The Teaching of the Twelve: Believing and Practicing the Primitive Christianity of the Ancient Didache Community. The book is a primer on the Didache, the handbook of a very early Christian community. You can read the complete text of the Didache here, or listen... Read more

The Ethics of Outing an Anti-Gay Preacher

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 5:01 pm By Tony Jones

I’ve followed Tom Brock for years. Brock is a Lutheran pastor at a non-descript church in North Minneapolis. It’s not a mega-church, and I’ve never met anyone who goes there. I’ve never read anything Brock has written, and I’ve never heard him speak at a conference. But Brock has been a steady presence on the local cable access channel for years. In a churchy version of Wayne’s World, Brock’s cable show sometimes has him preaching from a pulpit in a... Read more

Facebook Mail

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 5:01 pm By Tony Jones

I hate, hate, hate Facebook mail. You can’t archive old messages, so you must either delete an old message or keep it in the in-box. And, worse, you cannot turn it off. I don’t want emails via Facebook. That’s why I make my email address public in my profile. Honestly, I care little about all the consternation over FB privacy. But I sure wish they’d allow us to turn off the mail function. Glad I got that off my chest. ... Read more

Some Inside Jokes for the Theologically Educated

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 5:01 pm By Tony Jones

At Faith and Theology, Kim Fabricius and Ben Myers have posted a bunch of clerihews about 20th century theologians. Pretty funny, if you’re into this kind of thing. Here’s a taste: Rudolf Bultmann One day began To study the Gospel of John; and found, to his satisfaction, That pretty much every word was redaction. Hans Küng, When he was young, Rose to the top. Almost. Now he is toast. And my two favorites: C. S. Lewis Must have smoked cannabis... Read more

God Is Not Apophatic (Because I Can't Say "God Is Not Love")

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 5:01 pm By Tony Jones

Over the past couple weeks, I’ve been exploring apophatic statements about God. I am, as I’ve admitted, drawn to the apophatic. I suppose it’s because that I struggle intellectually with the whole concept of God and particularly with statements that anthropomorphize God — which is just about every statement that I ever hear uttered about God. As I have written posts about what God is not, I’ve known that there’s one statement that would be the zenith of apophatic theology. ... Read more