This is the fifth post of a series I will be writing over the next few months in which I reflect on my theological journey through Evangelicalism and “out the other side.” A few years ago, when my church small group decided to study the question of the Bible and same-sex relationships, I was nervous. I was nervous because I had not to that point really looked at the issue in depth, and I was teaching then at an institution... Read more
“Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh” (Gen. 2:24). It doesn’t say, “a man clings to his husband,” or a “woman clings to his wife.” Right? It’s Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve! People sometimes ask me what books I recommend for evangelicals on the topic of homosexuality in the Bible and church. One I always mention is James Brownson’s Bible, Gender, and Sexuality: Reframing the Church’s Debate... Read more
Today, June 29, we will all be gifted an extra second. This “leap second” functions like a leap year, allowing the earth’s rotation to catch up with atomic time and preventing our clocks from getting thrown off centuries hence (or something like that). Some have suggested that the our late-modern condition in the west could be described by the age of acceleration (see, for example, Alienation and Acceleration by Harmut Rosa). Not the literal acceleration of time, but the appearance of... Read more
It’s a dangerous time to be a progressive thinker in an Evangelical institution these days. Within the span of a week, two professors have announced (or explained) their upcoming departures from the institutions they have served. Thomas Oord is a highly accomplished theologian and professor at Northwest Nazarene University in Nampa, Idaho. He has an extensive C.V. of publications, awards, and grant procurements. His relationship with NNU was initially terminated by the previous president of that institution (who has himself... Read more
Are Evangelicals going to try to break up families now? Now that gays and lesbians can legally marry, with no borders issues or inconsistencies, and now that they can cultivate families with those marriages, how will Evangelicals deal with those families? Many Evangelicals staunchly oppose those marriages, holding them to be contrary to God’s will and to the authority of Scripture. See the “Here We Stand” statement by over 100 evangelical leaders (a cursory read of the list shows the... Read more
What a tremendous eulogy President Obama delivered today for the Reverend Clementa Pinckney. He started out talking about hope, but then he quickly moved to grace. “The killer could not see the grace” in Reverend Pinckney, Obama said. He could not see the grace around him in that church, in those people he would kill. He was blind to it. And he did not know that God would make use of the tragedy for the good. Obama said he’s been... Read more
So while everybody else is writing high-minded reflections about the Supreme Court decision to legalize gay marriage nationwide–and while they are either exuberant with celebration or despondent with angst about the downfall of American society–I found myself on Google looking up the word “Putsch.” As a lover of words (one of the highlights of my life was studying up for the GRE verbal), I was intrigued. Justice Antonin Scalia included the word in his curmudgeonly dissent to the majority option.... Read more
You Evangelicals and post-evangelicals out there will be well-familiar with the “Billy Graham Rule.” For those who aren’t, Graham determined at some point early on in his ministry career to never be alone with a woman who was not his wife (or another family member, I presume). The idea was that this rule would not only protect him from temptation, but protect him from the appearance of something suspect. For a man of Graham’s public stature, and in the conservative... Read more
When Bryan Stevenson talks about race issues and public policy, you should listen. Bryan is the founder of the Equal Justice Initiative and a professor at New York University School of Law. He’s that rare breed that can pull off being both an activist and an acclaimed intellectual. His book, Just Mercy, won awards in 2014. I was referred to an interview today in which Bryan shares his thoughts about the Charleston murders. He argues that the narrative of white supremacy was... Read more
I love and hate gathering my book lists for upcoming courses. One the one hand, it’s great fun to research new books I haven’t yet discovered, review ones I do know well, and to anticipate all the joys and “aha moments” that will come from reading these books together as a class. On the other hand, it’s a bit excruciating for me because I’m a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to these things–and I want to be... Read more
Unsystematic Theology
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