In his important new magnum opus, A Thicker Jesus, my friend Glen Stassen suggests that Christianity is ill in America, but in two very different ways. One form of Christianity is ill, according to Stassen, because it is essentially theologically and…
Westboro: Condemn or ignore them?
By Jeff Brumley Public resentment of Westboro Baptist Church has reached new heights as a petition drive to label it a hate group has surpassed 250,000 signatures. Even some religious leaders have joined in the chorus denouncing the Kansas-based group…
2012: A year in review
By Bob Allen Here are some of the top newsmakers of 2012 as reported by ABPnews. Obamacare Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler observed in January that Health and Human Services regulations, including pregnancy in “preventive services” that insurers…
Blaming God for tragedy nothing new
By Jeff Brumley Many criticized prominent evangelicals like James Dobson and Mike Huckabee for claiming last week’s Connecticut school massacre was God’s punishment of a morally disobedient nation, but don’t expect such views to change. Scholars say the belief in divine retribution…
Scholar says gay teen suicide a moral issue
By Bob Allen Simply denouncing acts of overt violence against gays without addressing the underlying message that people with same-sex attractions are abnormal and inferior to heterosexuals is not enough, a gay Baptist minister argues in a recent Religion Dispatches…
Church declines to leave BGAV
By Bob Allen A Virginia Baptist church under fire for ordaining an openly gay man to the ministry has turned down an offer to withdraw voluntarily from the Baptist General Association of Virginia, setting the stage for its dismissal from…
CBF leader blasts Westboro Baptist Church
By Bob Allen The moderator of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship denounced plans by Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kan., to picket a vigil for victims of Friday’s Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings. “The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, of which I am…
Seattle church holds group wedding
By Bob Allen Twenty-five same-sex couples exchanged vows in a group wedding ceremony at First Baptist Church in Seattle Dec. 9, the first day that gays could legally marry in Washington State. Hundreds of couples stood in lines on Thursday…
Equal time with Al Mohler
By Miguel De La Torre Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., was quoted widely concerning the re-election of President Barack Obama. If afforded equal time, here’s how I would respond to comments attributed to him…