No one knows more about the ECM, especially in the UK, than Jonny Baker. He’s been around since before the beginning, and he’s published on it as well. Recently, he received an email asking what happened to the emerging church, and he posted his response on his blog: (more…) Read more
Here at Patheos, we’re undergoing some significant back-end upgrades this weekend. Most importantly for Theoblogy readers is that we are switching to Disqus for all comments. The bad news is that all of your existing comments will temporarily disappear this weekend as they are being migrated from WordPress to Disqus. The great news is that once this migration is complete, discussion will be much more robust on Theoblogy. Not only will threaded conversations be easier to follow, you can “like” comments, link... Read more
OK, it’s time for me to quit stalling and answer Jake’s question, which so many of you have already endeavored to answer here and here. Jake asked, I’m having trouble with believing that the Bible is literally God’s words, God’s actually intended message to humanity. I’m also having trouble with taking the Bible as my sole authority. I always hear Christians in arguments say, “Do you have a verse for that?” or “Where in the Word-of-Gawd does it say that?”... Read more
On a flight last week, I sat next to a conservative Pentecostal pastor. We talked about demons and miraculous healings. And, probably to the consternation of those around us, argued vociferously about “marriage.” He was, like so many conservative evangelicals these days, in favor of civil unions for GLBT persons. But not “marriage.” No, “marriage” is something totally different, he told me. Of course, he’s wrong. “Marriage” is nothing more than a word, composed of an assortment of letter —... Read more
Yesterday, Andrew Sullivan attending David Kuo’s funeral. It was the first time that the Catholic Sullivan had attended an evangelical mega-church. The whole post is worth reading, but here’s the money paragraph: What I guess I’m trying to say is that so many of us have come to view evangelical Christianity as threatening, and in its political incarnation, it is at times. But freed from politics, evangelical Christianity has a passion and joy and Scriptural mastery we could all learn... Read more
Although some idiocy still reigns — like this guy who says that sexual preference is akin to religious belief — we’ve clearly passed the tipping point when even the looniest Republican politician is signaling that he’s going to support gay marriage. That would be none other than Texas governor and past-and-future presidential hopeful Rick Perry. Gun-totin’-cowboy Perry spoke at one of the most adamantly anti-gay churches in the country, First Baptist-Dallas, last weekend at the dedication of the church’s $130... Read more
I was at a conference on Friday, so I missed my chance to answer Jake’s question. So there’s no new QTHC this week, giving you more time to weigh in on that question and me more time to compose my answer. I do still believe that the Bible is God’s word. But how I think that’s the case is complex, and difficult to explain. Let me know how you answer it — I’ll read all the responses before I write... Read more
A month ago, my friend Jay Bakker and his wife, Karin, arrived in Minnesota. They moved here from Brooklyn, New York, she to start a new job, he to start a new church. In Sunday’s paper, Rose French profiled Jay and noted the many connections he’s already got with my home state: (more…) Read more
This is part of an occasional series in which I pose a question to my rabbi, Joseph Edelheit. I don’t set it up, and I don’t give him a warning. I just turn on the recorder and ask the question. I asked him this question last night, as we drove home from co-teaching a class at St. Cloud State University on anti-Judaism in the New Testament, particularly in the book of Hebrews. This has been a question that’s been haunting... Read more
That is the overarching question at Subverting the Norm 2, a conference that I’m attending this weekend in Springfield, Missouri. Honestly, not many people addressed the question yesterday, at least not in the sessions I attended. So far this morning, the presenters have pivoted to talking about it. Last night, I responded to John Caputo‘s plenary address. Some here accused me of failing to actually respond to Caputo, others have wondered if I made a Derridian move, and still others... Read more
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