By David Gushee The sexuality conference in April will raise many issues. But for the theologically minded, the most important issue will probably be the question of religious authority. Who or what carries binding authority in the Christian life? If…
Mississippi Baptists hot on the trail of abortion
By Zachary Bailes The Mississippi Baptist Convention is hot on the trail of abortion. Off to the legislature and voting populace they have turned to end the reign of abortion in Mississippi. With a mighty arm and swift sword they…
Is Mormonism a cult?
By Jim Denison Robert Jeffress made national headlines recently with his assertion that Mormonism is a “cult” and a “false religion.” Peter Wehner, a political commentator whose blog I read regularly, immediately criticized what he termed “the theological and political…
When Baptists voted for a heretic
By Thomas Kidd When Thomas Jefferson won the presidency in 1800, Baptists represented one of his most reliable constituencies. Jefferson’s Baptist supporters knew that the president did not share their evangelical faith, yet they saw him as a great friend…
It’s just war
By Bill Leonard “It’s just war.” That phrase often describes our society’s implicit response to the war in Afghanistan, begun in 2001, the longest combat conflict in American military history. The “other war” in Iraq, begun in 2003, continues with…
When you pastor the Titanic
By Bill Wilson What if you knew that your congregation was on a collision course with its demise? What would you do? Who would you tell? How would it change the way you lead? Would it affect your sense of…
Was Jesus an object of childhood bullying?
By Steven Harmon Reflecting on Scripture, the fourth-century church father Gregory of Nyssa insists that in the Incarnation the Son of God embraced fully the human condition, including “the advance from infancy to adulthood,” and experienced from others the alienation…
About the Baptist sexuality conference
By David Gushee Next April the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and the Center for Theology and Public Life at Mercer University are organizing and hosting a conference on sexuality and covenant. Naturally, people are already talking about what they think the…
Too much stuff
By Amy Butler I have too many things. I realized this just the other day. Standing in front of an empty closet I thought off-hand, “I could never fit all my stuff in here!” Just one day back from a…