In July 2025 we will mark the 100th anniversary of the Scopes trial regarding the teaching of evolution in Tennessee. The trial represents a key moment in the debate between modernists and fundamentalists. Like all history, the story offers insights…
A radical court on the move
In one of the most consequential terms in the 233-year history of the U.S. Supreme Court, an aggressive and radicalized supermajority of justices has begun a comprehensive reshaping of the legal landscape of the country with consequences we can only…
This Supreme Court’s dangerous vision of ‘history and tradition’
To kick things off today, just a quick reaction to last Wednesday’s Jan. 6 House committee hearings, which featured Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. Her testimony contained startling new revelations, even in…
There’s a straight line from eugenics to ‘biblical family values’ to white supremacy and the anti-abortion movement
Pro-life conservative evangelicals erupted into unanimous jubilation at the news of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade. But while united in their celebration, they are divided in their vision for the future of the pro-life movement and unaware…
Two viruses threaten the life of the Southern Baptist Convention: Male hierarchy and dominion theology
There is most likely a virus inside your body right now. Probably even a few. These latent viruses are tiny squatters that call our bodies home. Some of the more well-known latent viruses inhabit as much as 80% to 90%…
Maybe seminaries should offer a class in mergers and acquisitions
I should have figured this out right away, but it took me several months of driving by the mid-sized Baptist church building on the busy freeway to connect all the dots. The church I knew had been battling decline for…
What has John MacArthur actually said about race, slavery and the Curse of Ham?
“This whole genealogical effort could lead to a new genre of bumper stickers, I think, like ‘My forefathers were Philistines’ or like ‘Goliath was in my family’ or ‘I come from a long line of Hittite kings’ or here’s a…
Leaving church, part 4: The coming clergy shortage
Baptist churches may soon face clergy shortages like other faith traditions. Emily Brown, in a February 2022 Relevant article, “The Great American Clergy Shortage is Coming,” noted: “Roughly 3,544 Catholic parishes in the U.S. lack a parish priest,” and “in…
The SBC rebuffed its most extreme factions but remains extremely conservative
By some accounts, the Southern Baptist Convention once again rejected its most extreme factions during this year’s annual meeting in Anaheim, Calif. But by any outside measure, the nation’s largest non-Catholic denomination remains extremely conservative. Defining the term “conservative” within…