In a nation where the 1611 King James Version of the Bible still holds tremendous sway, imagine the challenges of updating one of the modern English translations of the Good Book. That’s why Friendship Press, the National Council of Churches…
The seeds of evangelical angst over gender and sex were sown decades ago
If you want to understand the gender and sexual anxieties of evangelical Christians today, look at the seeds sown in their midst in the 1970s and ’80s, according to a couple of researchers recently posting on the topic. Marlena Graves…
Sexuality, gender, pandemic and theology led BNG’s Top 15 most-read opinion pieces this year
Controversies involving sexuality, gender, religious exemptions from COVID-19 vaccines, and Critical Race Theory made for the most-read Baptist News Global opinion columns in 2021. Highly read pieces also included deep dives into the contradictions of the Reformed theology, race-based fissures…
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…
For Godself’s sake, stop picking on the small church where Beth Allison Barr’s husband serves as pastor
It’s no secret that there’s bad blood between Christian complementarians and Beth Allison Barr. After all, her bestselling book, The Making of Biblical Womanhood, tears down the boys-only fort they’ve built in the church yard. Yet the sticks and stones…
Americans almost as divided over transgender identity as over abortion
American views on people who change gender are nearly as divisive as views on abortion, new polling from Gallup shows, in the first-of-its-kind research by the firm. Gallup has tracked Americans’ views on a range of sexuality issues for the…
Global church must confront gender-based violence with honest view of Scripture, BWA told
Christians must join efforts to combat the plague of gender-based violence around the world, but not without the church also repenting for its historic and ongoing role in perpetuating abusive attitudes and behaviors toward women, the Baptist World Alliance was…
When it comes to shaming women, the SBC isn’t the only perpetrator among Christians
The Southern Baptist Convention has made headlines not only in Baptist circles but in secular publications in the days after this year’s annual meeting. In addition to Critical Race Theory, the media has been reporting on the SBC’s commitment to…
SBC steers a decidedly conservative course but rejects the most far-right agenda while putting Executive Committee and Ronnie Floyd on notice
While affirming bread-and-butter conservative issues on the first day of its annual meeting June 15, the Southern Baptist Convention turned back attempts at harder-line positions desired by the most conservative bloc of the body. That included a narrow rejection of…