Paige Patterson says it’s okay for a devout Muslim to study at Southwestern Theological Seminary. Why is this a big deal? I doubt the seminaries affiliated with American Baptist or Cooperative Baptist congregations would have a problem enrolling Ghassan Nagagreh,…
Al Mohler, Jesus and the death penalty debate
Would Jesus support the death penalty? Mother Theresa posed the question to the Governor of California in 1990. She was pretty sure he knew the answer. According to a recent Barna poll: Only 5 percent of Americans believe that Jesus…
Motives matter
If a random Google search is anything to go by, it was Ralph Waldo Emerson who originated this clever quip, albeit in a slightly altered form: “I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not…
Motives matter
By Alan Bean If a random Google search is anything to go by, it was Ralph Waldo Emerson who originated this clever quip, albeit in a slightly altered form: “I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the…
Our Silence is driving millennials out of the church
David Gushee, a theologian and ethicist who teaches at the McAfee School of Theology, struck a nerve when he suggested that moderate Baptists with roots in the Southern Baptist Convention could benefit from a statement of faith. Bill Leonard, my…
Our silence on faith does not serve those leaving the church
By Alan Bean David Gushee, a theologian and ethicist who teaches at Mercer University’s McAfee School of Theology, struck a nerve when he suggested that moderate Baptists with roots in the Southern Baptist Convention could benefit from a statement of…
The crazy lady in the attic
Fred Phelps is dead and there is no one to mourn his passing. In the end, poor Fred was abandoned even by the cult his hate built. One is tempted to see Fred Phelps as an extreme expression of the…
A deeper distress at Ole Miss
By Alan Bean The University of Mississippi just can’t outrun its association with bigotry. In 2012, a crowd of angry white students expressed their displeasure in the wake of Barack Obama’s re-election. And just last month, a small group of…
Latest outrage at Ole Miss points to a deeper distress
The University of Mississippi just can’t outrun its association with bigotry. In 2012, a crowd of angry white students expressed their displeasure in the wake of Barack Obama’s re-election. And just last week, a small group of freshmen wrapped an…