My friend Sarah Raymond Cunningham has released a pretty cool book for families at Christmastime. It’s called The Donkey In the Living Room: A Tradition That Celebrates the Real Meaning of Christmas, and it’s like Elf on a Shelf, but with the characters in the manger scene. The characters are hidden around the house; when the children find one, they hear a reading from that character. You can see her interviewed about it here. Read more
Here’s an interesting Question that Haunts Christianity from loyal reader Rob: Hey Tony. I will try to make this short… I was raised in the church, became a youth leader in my early 20s, then a worship pastor/elder, then a staff deacon at a large church. Almost three years ago, my family and I walked away, with no plans on returning to “the church.” I don’t intellectually assent to any of the things that orthodox Christians are supposed to (i.e.... Read more
I’m not going to blog any more about what happened around here last week, at least not for a while. But this thought did occur to me over the weekend: I nominate benefit of the doubt as a Christian virtue. In this era in which the communication between those of us who’ve never personally met is increasing exponentially every year, we are more than ever confronted with the ideas and opinions of others. I submit the the Christian posture toward the other should always... Read more
In seminary, I took a class from then-provost-now-president Richard Mouw. He began every class with a meditation on and then singing of a hymn, which he prefaced with the statement that much of the best theology of the history of the church is archived in our hymnody. (I could add that some of the church’s worst theology is also catalogued there.) Sure, “A Mighty Fortress” is good, if you’re into that kind of thing. And there’s a plethora of Easter... Read more
This week’s Questions That Haunt Christianity comes from a young pastor. Sam asks: I am a young pastor in Chicago with the Evangelical Covenant. I just read your book A Better Atonement and I enjoyed it a lot. I’ve struggled with the doctrine of Original Sin for a long while, but I’ve been thinking about how this, if at all, changes my view of baptism. I don’t believe that original sin is necessary for baptism but as I try to formulate my... Read more
I am writing this on Thursday night and scheduling it to post on Friday morning. I need a day away from this blog. I will respond to this week’s QTHC tomorrow, on Saturday. So many of you have written supportive text messages, phone calls, emails, tweets, and Facebook posts. It’s been great. No one likes being called an asshole, dick, arrogant, stupid, etc. There’s a whole Facebook page full of people who apparently despise me. Yes, that has sucked over... Read more
Patton Dodd, a long-time friend, is the executive editor of a new publishing venture called Bondfire Books. He interviewed me about my own foray into ebooks and posted the intertview on the Bondfire blog: One of my favorite short ebooks of this year–and given my love of Byliner, Kindle Singles, and The Atavist, and my work at Bondfire and Patheos Press, I read more than my fair share–is one you may not heard of unless you’re a theology nerd: Tony... Read more
Dear Friends, Yesterday was a challenging and inspiring day for me. I had no idea that the question I posted would elicit such a passionate response. I’m glad it did. My primary feeling this morning is gratitude that so many of you responded with such heartfelt passion. Some of your answers were hurtful. I was told that I am reminiscent of an abuser; my intellect was challenged; I was psychoanalyzed; and I was repeatedly called defensive. I don’t begrudge your right to... Read more
I’ve noticed something over the past few days. Almost no women are commenting on this blog. While it’s impossible to know for sure (because commenters can use whatever name or initials they like), by my count over the last week, only one out of sixteen comments comes from a woman. That depresses me. So do the insights into those who’ve liked my Facebook page: (more…) Read more
Scores of theobloggers responded to the first #progGOD Challenge over the summer, in which I asked Progressive Christian bloggers to say something substantive about God. It’s time for us to attack a new topic, just in time for Advent: Why an Incarnation? Last time I took some heat for (at first) banning poetry. I stand corrected. Of course poetry is an entirely appropriate way to express the theological truth of God’s incarnation in Christ. However, here’s a warning: it’s very... Read more
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