This is the ninth in a BNG series of articles on Christianity and democracy that will lead toward the July 4 celebration of America’s 250th birthday. The series has been curated by Carol McEntyre, senior minister at First Baptist Church of...
Several years ago, when I was a professor at a Baptist university, a student told me he had encouraged a gay Christian friend to come talk with me. He assured him I was compassionate, understanding and non-judgmental. It wasn’t long…
I first came to use Critical Race Theory as an academic tool about a decade ago. Around that time, I was helping lead a tour of urban Latina/o students at the university I worked at, together with a Christian urban…
For much of April, Scott Stearman will appear more like an international diplomat than a Baptist minister. But that’s not altogether unusual for Stearman, senior pastor at Bayshore Baptist Church in Tampa, Fla., who also serves as the United Nations…
When we boil down all the assorted examples of how evangelicals have sold themselves to Donald Trump for 30 pieces of silver, one word summarizes it all: Hypocrisy. Call it irony. Call it opportunism. Call it greed. Call it a…
In a move likely unprecedented in modern American higher education, academic leadership of Bob Jones University demanded the resignation of the school’s trustee chair April 3, leading to his sudden resignation three days later. The independent, fundamentalist university has been…
Across the world, many religious people shall regard this week as holy. Jews shall celebrate Passover, while Christians shall commemorate the Crucifixion. Christians shall soon celebrate the Resurrection, known to many as Easter. I’m watching a familiar phenomenon happening in…
Perhaps we are the most vulnerable to channeling the Prodigal Son’s older brother right about now. As we anticipate sightings of Christmas and Easter worship attenders this Sunday, we may find ourselves thinking, “Well, there you are, all happy and…
On the 55th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, Simmons College of Kentucky announced a new $2 million initiative on racial justice. College President Kevin Cosby announced the gift from the Eula Mae and John Baugh Foundation during a…
“Without men, women become precious; without women, men become philistines.” In other words, we make ourselves into ninnies and brutes. This footnote by Karl Barth to a section of his Dogmatics has stayed with me for almost half a century….
Confusion over the gender identity of the Nashville school shooter has allowed some commentators to flip the script and blame mental illness, not guns, for the death of three 9-year-olds and three adults at Covenant Day School last week. U.S….
A group of 186 churches and one individual church have filed separate lawsuits to get the North Georgia regional conference to re-start the process for leaving The United Methodist Church. The lawsuits stem from a December 2022 decision by North…
My favorite disciple used to be Peter. I loved how much Jesus loved and trusted him even though Peter often missed the mark, speaking and acting without remembering what Jesus taught him. Peter stepped out of the boat and sank….
