Scrolling through the list of celebrities who died in 2016 seems to take, depressingly, forever. There also were the personal losses and, for many, a political and cultural landscape that seems upside-down. And those are just the personal and domestic…
Our most-read articles of 2016
Here are most-read opinion and news headlines from 2016, as reported by Google Analytics. Seven things I’m learning about transgender persons In a May 15 article and follow-up, Mark Wingfield shared his perspective as a straight male trying to understand…
Theologian says God not in control
A Baptist theologian who spent a quarter century reformulating the Christian doctrine of providence says most mainline theology about evil, suffering and God’s goodness is wrong. “We’re still living in the 21st century with a vision of God in relationship…
The ethics of love and justice in the era of cohabitation
Christians who advocate “biblical marriage” should acknowledge the traditional view of marriage is a recent development and only one of many biblical models, say some ethicists. The third in a series on the changing shape of one of society’s most ancient institutions.
2016 saw the deaths of a number of notable Baptists in the U.S.
Here is a wrap up of deaths of notable Baptists reported this year by Baptist News Global.
What’s love got to do with it?
Throughout most of Western history, including Western Christianity, the idea of love was typically not a factor in marital dreams or decisions. Love might grow within a marriage, but men and women married out of family duty. How did that change? The second in a series on the changing shape of one of society’s most ancient institutions.
Pastor says losing ERLC head would set back race relations
A black Southern Baptist pastor says recent talk of firing Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission head Russell Moore sends a message to ethnic minorities they are welcome in the Southern Baptist Convention only if they toe the political line. Dwight…
Marriage: The state of our unions
Love, marriage, sex and parenting comprise what many Christians believe is “traditional marriage,” unchanged since the Garden of Eden. Yet for most societies throughout history, including most Christian ones, the expectation that all four could be confined to one relationship was considered impractical, irrational or at best undesirable. The first in a series on the changing shape of one of society’s most ancient institutions.
Turn to service, faith in dark times, Sudanese survivor of lions and hyenas says
A rough election is turning into a rough Christmas for some. But the holiday blues will come screeching to a halt after a conversation with Abraham Deng. Deng, 35, was one of thousands of “Lost Boys of Sudan” who, as…
War on Christmas redux
While Bill O’Reilly and Fox News get much credit for seasonal claims of a “War on Christmas” waged by the secular left, a progressive blog site says the perennial cultural clash finds roots in a brand of early 20th century…
Appeals court rejects challenge to Glorieta sale
A federal appeals court has turned down an appeal by an Arkansas couple claiming wrongdoing by Southern Baptist Convention officials when they declined to renew their lease at the Glorieta Conference Center and instead sold the campus. Kirk Tompkins, who along with…
Transitions for the week of 12.23.16
Please submit transitions — including staff changes, ordinations, anniversaries or deaths — to Barbara Francis. This page will be updated weekly. STAFF CHANGES Jeff Davenport, now serving as pastor of First Baptist Church, Hurricane, W.Va. Previously he was pastor of Calvary…