Ed Litton’s Little White-Collar Lies

September 19, 2021 By Esther O’Reilly

Southern Baptist Convention president Ed Litton resurfaced on Twitter this past week after the release of a new interview where he discusses the fallout of his sermon plagiarism scandal. The accusations, which were originally limited to a single J. D. Greear sermon, quickly ballooned until it became embarrassingly apparent that Litton was stealing work verbatim on a mass scale, not just from Greear but from Tim Keller. So complete was the theft that original footage of Greear could be perfectly... Read more

Dan Darling and the Poisoned COVID Discourse

August 30, 2021 By Esther O’Reilly

Last week, National Religious Broadcasters caused a stir by allegedly firing spokesman Dan Darling for his choice to endorse the COVID vaccine on Morning Joe. The segment was short, transcribed here at National Review. Darling’s presentation was more earnest than inflammatory, careful to decry “dunking on” unvaccinated deaths and “shaming” those who chose differently. Still, he was convinced of the vaccine’s efficacy and wanted to use his platform to urge people to take it, especially other Christians. Religion News Service... Read more

Josh Harris and the Slough of “Deconstruction”

August 22, 2021 By Esther O’Reilly

I am definitely not the target audience for The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill, Christianity Today’s new hit podcast on the dramatic collapse of pastor Mark Driscoll’s megachurch empire. I didn’t grow up in a reformed church culture, didn’t even grow up in an evangelical church, and only ever followed Driscoll from a casual distance. When he imploded, I found it socially interesting, but personally irrelevant. My own faith was secure and grounded far from the madding crowd of... Read more

What Happened to David French?

July 29, 2021 By Esther O’Reilly

For months, now going on years, I’ve been trying not to talk about David French. Of course, I was aware of his work. I couldn’t not be in the circles where I run. These days, it seems every other week someone asks me the same question: “What happened to David French?” By which they mean “What happened to the David French we used to know? What happened to the culture warrior, the free speech guy, the guy who went to... Read more

What Did C. S. Lewis Really Think About Homosexuality?

July 7, 2021 By Esther O’Reilly

There has been a stir in recent days around the Presbyterian Church in America’s latest General Assembly, where two new overtures were passed to address the fraught issue of homosexuality and the pastorate. Overture 23 amends the constitution to state that in addition to practicing homosexuality, the use of “identity language” such as “gay Christian,” “homosexual Christian,” or “same-sex attracted Christian” can bar a man from ministry. This leaves it up to individual presbyteries’ discretion whether this can bar men... Read more

Steve Skojec, Christian Apologetics, and the Problem of Faith

June 2, 2021 By Esther O’Reilly

Full disclosure: I am a Protestant, and as such I am on the outside looking in on the past week’s stir in Catholic/ex-Catholic circles over the public spiritual wrestling of trad Catholic apologist Steve Skojec. While Steve hasn’t exited the faith or the Church, his raw outpouring has generated a wide range of responses. It’s a very long, very angry blog, weaving together specific grievances about Skojec’s current priest with his past history of getting burned in trad Catholic circles,... Read more

Tom Holland Asks the Right Questions About the Bible

May 10, 2021 By Esther O’Reilly

For long-time fans of the Unbelievable? radio show, the evolution of the program has been fascinating to watch. It first emerged in the golden age of the contemporary Christian vs. atheist debate, arranging high-profile matchups between apologists on both sides. Through the years, it’s tackled all manner of hot-button religious and political topics. But not every program has been framed as a debate per se, particularly in recent years as more Christian-friendly non-Christian public figures have emerged. One of these... Read more

Jordan Peterson and Michael Shermer Muddle Through the Resurrection

April 28, 2021 By Esther O’Reilly

[Obligatory shilling: I now have a Substack. If you’d like to read my writing ad-free, head on over here and subscribe, why don’tcha?] Three years ago, I was a very enthusiastic writer with a very small audience. I’d been WordPressing it for years, dipped my toe into the world of freelancing, made a little side cash, had a Twitter, but few people outside of a couple niche areas were aware of my existence. Which was fine by me. At... Read more

What We’ve Learned From GraceLife Baptist Church

April 17, 2021 By Esther O’Reilly

[Update, 4/19: I include a link to a site raising questions about a double standard in mandate enforcement with churches and mosques. A commenter points to this article clearing one of the two mosques mentioned, even though the full parking lot understandably raised suspicions. According to the report, written a day before I wrote this blog, “Good COVID-19 protocols are in place and no warnings or orders have been issued. As attendees are not carpooling and are coming in separate... Read more

I Crucified Him

April 1, 2021 By Esther O’Reilly

Growing up Anglican, I have never quite gotten over the oddity of the fact that we read through the Passion of Christ on Palm Sunday. It is a startling piece of liturgical foreshadowing. One moment, we are recalling the children who made sweet hosannas ring, proceeding to the altar to kiss and receive our own palms as tokens of the ones they waved, in the wild erratic way of children. Next moment, a cloud is passing over the sun of... Read more