My grandmother, Eva Mae Thomas, was my first catechizer and theologian. At the age of 12, she put a pen and notepad in my hand and asked me to “write down all the Scriptures that the preacher says.” There were…
Defining evangelicals with a mirror: A response to Russell Moore
“We demand the freedom of all religious confessions in the state, insofar as they do not jeopardize the state’s existence or conflict with the manners and moral sentiments of the Germanic race. The Party as such upholds the point of…
Evangelism devoid of the Gospel
I returned home mid-afternoon to a rubber-band wrapped around my front door knob. A small booklet was attached to the rubber-band. The words – “THIS WAS YOUR LIFE!” – were printed across the black-and-white cover, all in caps, bolded, inked…
The word of God may not be what you think it is (tradition, scripture, and the word of the Lord)
Too often scripture is contrasted with tradition on the basis that scripture is the word of God while tradition is of human origin. Not so. In its biblical and theological usage tradition simply means “what is handed on.” In this…
What the Bible is
The written documents that constitute our Bible are snapshots of an evolving, developing, dynamic faith frozen in time. The faith exhibited in these written sources thrived in an oral culture that did not depend on written materials. Writing materials were…
Civility in the midst of election season?
Now that another presidential election season is upon us, we need to remember the importance of civility in the public square. No matter where we stand on a political, social, or cultural issue, God calls us to be kind and…
Is God in control?
How does God interact with the world? Does God directly manage and determine the course of global and human events? Many Christians think so. Several years ago a parishioner who was dying of cancer and had only days left said…
Billy Graham’s shadow: Chuck Templeton and the crisis of American religion
It was August of 1949 and Billy Graham had never been so depressed. Twelve years after “surrendering to preach” on a Florida golf course, the evangelist was wrestling with doubts. He had been reading neo-orthodox theologians like Karl Barth and…
It’s time to give the Gospel of Thomas its due
The spiritual wisdom to be found in the Gospel of Thomas just may be the kind of spiritual wisdom contemporary Christians most need. The Gospel of Thomas is part of the collection of fifty-two texts (thirteen papyrus books – “codices”)…