Baptist News Global

The violence of rhetoric in our toxic culture

Words have wings and fly where they please. Words provide unconscious but sometimes deadly after-effects the speaker can’t control. Most recently, Congress has censured Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., for his depiction of violent acts against other members of Congress and…

Rethinking the Thanksgiving story with truth and gratitude

Thanksgiving is a holiday nearly every American can celebrate in some way. In the spirit of gratitude, one, 10 or more can gather at the table and acknowledge their many blessings. But after a closer look at its history, we’re…

Religion researcher Scott Thumma will be guest on December BNG webinar

One of the nation’s foremost experts on interpreting American religion will be the guest on Baptist New Global’s next webinar. Scott Thumma, director of the Hartford Institute for Religion Research at Hartford International University, will join BNG Executive Director Mark…

Jesus and deconstruction

I shared a meme recently on Facebook to a page dedicated to discussion about house churches. It’s a site with lively discussion on issues broader than church and religion, but usually, the Christian faith comes through. I have no idea…

Texas Baptists ‘affirm’ women while making gender an article of faith

The Baptist General Convention of Texas has “affirmed” women as contributors to God’s work while also adopting a new faith statement that — mixed in with core historic Baptist beliefs — says “gender is a gift from God who creates…

Deconstruction is not a disease, and trying harder is not the cure

What do a broken heart, a brain, a serpent and a thumbs-up emoji have in common? Any guesses? No? Good. Because these images are not the set up for a bad joke. They’re the artwork for a bad article. In…

Kyle Rittenhouse, whiteness, and a divinely ordained license to kill

Friday, the news broke that Kyle Rittenhouse had been “acquitted on all charges in the shooting deaths of two men and wounding of a third at a Wisconsin protest against racial injustice last year,” as AP put it. I don’t say this…

In Wisconsin, the NRA won

While its business operations lie in bankrupt shambles, the National Rifle Association won the day in a Wisconsin courtroom this week. The acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse on all charges related to the murder of two men and injury of a…

What’s wrong with saying you ‘don’t see color’?

In an effort to prove that they are not part of the American pandemic of racism, I’ve had quite a number of well-meaning people tell me they “don’t see color.” As much as I appreciate what they are trying to…

Panel proclaims the power of today’s Black church to engage younger adults

A panel of African American Christian leaders expressed optimism that the Black church is emerging from the COVID-19 and a concurrent civil rights crisis as a robust social justice movement increasingly trusted by rising generations. “We’ve seen a lot of…

In a reversal of a current trend, a Baptist seminary creates a Methodist House of Studies

In an era when many non-Baptist seminaries are creating specific space for Baptist ministers in training, a Baptist seminary is creating space for Wesleyan minsters in training. Baylor University announced Nov. 18 the endowment of a new academic chair that…

What I learned when I got lifted up on high

At “dark thirty,” too early for a vacation morning, we waited in the chilly pre-dawn air just outside our cave hotel room in Cappadocia, Turkey. Long before the sunrise, a nondescript white van eventually would come to pick us up…

Supreme Court slides into partisanship

Before the fireworks, be careful what you drink

The contemptible case of Clarence Thomas

The permanent paradoxes of Christian thinking about war