Soon after I began my “Leaving Evangelicalism” blog series a few months ago, a Facebook friend messaged me with a question. It’s a very good question, so I’ll post it in full: One question I hope you will address is – with the certainties of evangelicalism gone, why are you still a Christian? As I read the writings of scholars like Pete Enns, John Walton, Christian Smith and yourself, I find myself no longer able to define myself as evangelical... Read more
So many people today are struggling to figure out how to relate to one another, especially to those who are religiously, culturally, politically “other.” Granted, many aren’t even trying or don’t care about the fractured situation in which we live. But for those who do, David Tracy’s book Plurality and Ambiguity is a great resource (and it’s a much quicker read than his more elaborate argument in The Analogical Imagination). It’s a book about hermeneutics (in brief: the pervasive and very human acts... Read more
A recent New York Magazine article (by Casey Schwartz) discussed the claim that scientists today largely misunderstand the nature of fear and anxiety. That claim comes from prominent neuroscientist, Joseph LeDoux, who–in his book Anxious: Using the Brain to Understand and Treat Fear and Anxiety, suggests–interestingly enough–that the misunderstanding stems from his own groundbreaking research. More specifically, though, he chalks up the problem to his use of language to designate fear and anxiety in the presentation of his research. The... Read more
While the authorities are now hunting Walter Palmer, a lot of people are asking, “What’s with all the hang-wringing about a dead lion?” Aren’t there more pressing issues facing humanity today? Sure, it’s sad to see the pictures of the regal “Cecil,” father of a brood of lion pups, knowing that his life has been mercilessly taken by a tourist–a dentist from Minnesota, no less. But isn’t this all a bit overblown? Aren’t there bigger problems to tackle–especially in Cecil’s... Read more
These are interesting days for American Christianity. We appear to be in the midst of some major shifts in the American religious landscape. The recent Pew Research study showed that, between 2007-2014, Evangelical Christianity saw a slight decrease in its share of the religious population (from 26.3% to 25.4%); however, it was the only segment of American Christianity that experienced overall growth in numbers. The wild and crazy unaffiliated (the infamous”nones”) grew in leaps and bounds, and non-Christian religions ticked... Read more
This is the seventh post in a series of a series I have been writing over the past several months in which I describe my journey through Evangelicalism and “out the other side.” Contemporary Evangelicalism emerged out of a crisis of identity and with a recognized need to better handle the challenges of modernity. The theological leaders of “ne0-Evangelicalism” did not want to be the backwoods, backwards, fundamentalists on display during the famous Scopes Monkey trial of Dayton, TN. They... Read more
America has a rage problem. Often, it’s a road rage problem. America has a gun problem, too. Rage and guns are a bad combination. I was horrified to read this story about a Florida man who killed another man because of a road rage conflict. That’s right: a man was killed because of a driving dispute. The crazy thing is, they were both apparently on the phone with 9-11 before it happened. One driver, Candelerio Gonzalez, followed the other... Read more
Why did religion form in early forms of human life? What is the relation between the development of myth (which is what results when self-reflecting creatures ask questions about the meaning of life, their purpose in life, and what happens after death) and cultural developments like art, technology, and science? The authors of the recently published book, The Worm at the Core, address that question in an illuminating and provocative way–and in a way that lends support to their thesis... Read more
I recently received a notice of some job opportunities at Logos Bible Software (now called Faithlife) in their Mobile Ed department. If you are a seminary student or graduate and don’t know about Logos, you are missing out on a fantastic tool and set of digital resources. Their Mobile Ed is compiling quite a collection of online courses on Bible, theology, and other related topics. I recorded a few courses with them last summer (Evil/Suffering and Eschatology). They have an... Read more
In The Birth and Death of Meaning, Ernest Becker devotes a major portion of his analysis of the human condition to the problem of self-esteem. By self-esteem, Becker does not mean an overinflated ego or a flippant variant of self-esteem that might be promoted in a 10-step book in the self-help section of Barnes and Noble. Nonetheless, “feeling good about yourself” is in fact an important element of the healthy self-esteem which Becker analyzes. But the question of whether one has... Read more
Unsystematic Theology
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In