By Mike Smith My friend Marv Knox recently wrote a wise column in which he urged Baptists to move on from past bitterness through repentance and forgiveness. As Knox noted, others such as David Gushee and Mark Wingfield have recently written…
Social media reaction of World Vision controversy
This week World Vision, the para-church organization that fights hunger, announced that they ended their ban on hiring people in a same sex marriage. After considerable blow back from supporters and Christians, World Vision reversed its policy. Some supporters said…
Living, dying and laughing
By Gary Cook The ancient words from the wisdom literature of Ecclesiastes 3 concerning a time for living, dying and laughing and the words from Proverbs 31 about laughing at the days to come become more real as one gets…
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…
Learning to listen
I am afraid of well-meaning Christians. This is probably because I am one myself, but it is also because I encounter well-intentioned Christians all the time. They have a vision for all the good they could do to other people….
Don’t celebrate just yet: Saying goodbye to Christian America, part II
By David Gushee Follow David on twitter: @dpgushee In my last article, I suggested that realism demands that we “say goodbye to Christian America,” because it is passing. I intended to join neither those who wholly celebrate this fact nor…
Baptists’ way forward — repentance & forgiveness
By Marv Knox Reading the cover of the latest edition of The Christian Century felt a bit like yanking the scab off an old wound. Two conversation bubbles square off on a blue-and-red page. “Conservatives are closed-minded,” one insists. “Liberals…
Loving neighbors and reading the Bible: Some reflections upon the death of Phelps
The world recently learned of the death of Fred Phelps, Sr., founder and “pastor” of Westboro “Baptist” “Church,” the group who has become known for their protests of military funerals and signs that say “God hates ____.” They have traveled…
Don’t be a Fred Phelps hater
The enigmatic Fred Phelps has died. The church that he founded, the Westboro Baptist Church, made a name for itself by picketing funerals and public gatherings with signs proclaiming hate for soldiers, gays, and Jews – to name a few. At the…