Jon Fitzgerald, who no longer uses the term “evangelical” to describe himself, weighs in on a topic that I’ve often pondered on this blog: What, Exactly, Is an Evangelical? He notes, among other things, how ham-fisted the mainstream media is with the term: When it became clear that in the popular mind the word evangelical was more a social and political construct than a theological one, it set off a scramble to accurately self-identify in books, articles, and blog posts among... Read more
A cool series of minimalist graphics to represent the major philosophical movements in history. For example, HT: Makeesha Read more
Fred Clark brings our attention to a statement released by liberal Christian leaders: So yesterday, more than 60 Christian leaders released a statement “expressing their strong opposition to any legislative proposal that fails to extend the 2009 improvements made to refundable tax credits such as the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credit.” I’m quoting there from Nick Sementelli of the progressive Christian group Faith in Public Life. Pretty much have to quote from a group like that... Read more
So asks Mariann Budde, my friend and the Episcopal bishop of Washington, D.C. to Wednesday’s post, Why Liberal Christianity (Too Often) Sucks. There were lots of great comments to that post, and some other questions that I hope to answer, but Mariann’s was the most pointed, and it’s one I want to respond to. At the end of that post, I wrote, Finally, mainline Christianity is committing suicide, plain and simple. By gathering every summer at their national conventions and... Read more
A list from Ben Howard at On Pop Theology, including these favs: Zombie Love Wins – It doesn’t matter if there’s a hell if we can love each other as the undead. Blue Like Zombies – A man comes to terms with his faith, his faults, all amidst the backdrop of the zombie apocalypse. Since, it’s based in the Pacific Northwest, I feel like this is vampire territory. The Cullen family needs to show these zombies what’s up. How (Not) to Speak... Read more
Part of an ongoing series on Everyday Spirituality. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Genesis 2:8-9 As you’ve seen in previous posts,... Read more
That’s what Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. did last month. Their pastor, Amy Butler, wrote in the Washington Post about why her congregation left the Southern Baptist Convention: Calvary’s affiliation with the SBC was long-standing and historic, a source of much pride in years past. In our church archives, we have a photograph of the president of the Southern Baptist Convention at the time, Congressman Brooks Hays, and the president of the American Baptist Convention, Rev. Dr. Clarence Cranford, both... Read more
Among the most interesting memes floating around the blogosphere this summer is the will-liberal-christianity-survive-or-will-it-die-or-is-there-a-great-liberal-awakening-happening? meme. For those keeping score at home, Ross Douthat published a book and then wrote a much ballyhooed column for the NYTimes. Then Diana Butler Bass, who also has a new book out, pushed back at HuffPo. Then Douthat responded. Now Scot McKnight has weighed in. For those keeping score at home, Douthat is an avowed conservative and religious (Catholic) traditionalist. Butler Bass is a liberal... Read more
photo courtesy of Imaginationsis Part of an ongoing series on Everyday Spirituality, this is a guest post by Hans Gustafson. Hans currently serves as the assistant director of the Jay Phillips Center for Interfaith Learning, a joint academic center at Saint John’s University (Collegeville, MN) and the University of St. Thomas (St. Paul, MN), where he also teaches on an adjunct basis in the theology departments. He will be defending his dissertation in Philosophy of Religion and Theology from Claremont Graduate... Read more
As I announced recently, I’m going to Sri Lanka next month with World Vision. It will be a trip both exciting and sobering, as I join a half-dozen bloggers to see the work that World Vision is doing among the desperately poor. Among World Vision’s most successful programs is its Child Sponsorship program. I last sponsored a child from 2005-2007 in Peru, and I had the great privilege of meeting that child during a trip there. Yesterday, I took the... Read more
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