I recently had the opportunity to read a stirring challenge to those most opposed to the still-controversial and legally-unsettled HHS mandate requiring all businesses to provide contraceptive coverage to their employees including four abortifacient drugs. The two prongs of the…
Saying goodbye to Christian America
By David P. Gushee Follow David on twitter: @dpgushee One day in a doctoral seminar at Union Seminary, my ethics mentor Larry Rasmussen said words I will never forget: “There are advantages and disadvantages in every power position for the…
The nagging question
By Miguel De Le Torre It was the early 1980s. I was a young Latino whose only earthly possession was a fiery red sports car. One spring break, I decided to go on a road trip and drive from Miami…
About the ex-SBCers: It’s complicated
By Trey Lyon Recently a series of articles by Dr. David Gushee have focused on ex-SBCers. On many points I agree with Dr. Gushee — the post-takeover/resurgence diaspora has left ex-SBCers in various camps, and his classifications are at least…
Learning to suffer
I find it extremely ironic that the Church, which claims to be the embodiment the lamb that was slain, has such a difficult time ministering to those who are suffering. When tragedy strikes us, many congregants, deacons, and even some…
Millennials at hand
By Bill Leonard The Millennials are at hand! Millennials — that’s what sociologists call the generation of 18- to 33-year-olds now coming of age in America. A new study from the Pew Research Center details the nature of their unique…
Playing the ‘apocalyptic bomb’ card
By Rodney Kennedy Al Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, argues that same-sex marriage is a religious freedom issue. Last year, Mohler told an audience at Brigham Young University that Mormons and Southern Baptists face numerous threats to religious…
From libraries to launching pads: cultural shifts in seminaries
According to stereotypes I’ve heard, seminary culture used to be something like this: Future ministers pack up their lives, move cities, rent a small apartment on campus and find a corner in the library in order to learn how to…
Rethinking the atonement
By Chuck Queen Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109) was the first to expound the theory that Jesus’ death was necessary for the satisfaction of God’s honor. This evolved into the theory of penal substitutionary atonement, perhaps most elaborately developed by Princeton…