By David Gushee My last column was filed from Australia, and this one is inspired by a question I often received when first meeting Baptists in Sydney. The question was: “What kind of Baptist are you?” Which meant: “What branch…
Who really holds the keys?
(Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of commentaries by Barry Howard reflecting on his experiences in Italy. The first is available here). By Barry Howard This year our sanctuary choir and orchestra — as they do every…
Baptists lift voices in Vatican
By Barry Howard The group gathering in St. Peter’s Square dressed in formal attire on this hot Thursday afternoon in July was attracting a lot of attention from locals and from tourists. The men in the group were decked out…
Religion and foreign policy
By Suzii Paynter “Once considered a private matter by Western policymakers, religion is now playing an increasingly influential role — both positive and negative — in the public sphere.” This is the opening sentence of a major foreign policy report,…
Nothing worth proving can be proven
By Jim Denison “Donkeys kill more people annually than plane crashes. No piece of paper can be folded in half more than seven times. Walt Disney, the inventor of Mickey Mouse, was afraid of mice. A duck’s quack doesn’t echo…
A Baptist in a clerical collar?
By Eugene Curry Those careers that are part of what may broadly be construed as the “service sector” often involve some means of identification. Policemen sport badges, waiters don aprons and nurses wear scrubs. The idea is that such tell-tale…
Bad theology in the House of Representatives
By Allie Bullard On July 14, I listened to a House Judiciary Committee hearing on “The Ethical Imperative for Reform of Our Immigration System.” The hearing highlighted three conservative Christian leaders speaking on immigration, including: Richard Land of the Ethics…
Truth, ‘Baptist Holy War’ casualties — and ABP
By Marv Knox “Truth is the first casualty of war,” the old adage proclaims. Consequently, a couple of truth-tellers became early victims of the Baptist Holy War. Twenty years ago this summer, the Southern Baptist Convention’s so-called “Conservative Resurgence” secured…
Secularization, Australia, and us
By David Gushee Sometimes the best way to understand one’s own culture is to leave it, which I have done to teach a course this week at Morling College, a fine Baptist institution here in metropolitan Sydney. My most unexpected…