In Giving Glory to God in Appalachia: Worship Practices of Six Baptist Subdenominations, the late Appalachian State University professor Howard Dargan observed: One ceases to be a member of a local Primitive (Baptist) church by being dismissed by letter to…
When ‘orthodoxy’ won’t hold: The SBC and the rest of us
In a May 26 New York Times column, “The Southern Baptist Moral Meltdown,” conservative commentator David Brooks wrote: “They dedicated their lives to a gospel that says that every human being is made in the image of God. They dedicated…
Knocking down the straw man of theological liberalism
One of the growing frustrations many deconstructing Christians, ex-evangelicals, liberationist and liberal theologians share is how conservative organizations like The Gospel Coalition constantly misrepresent us through “straw man” fallacies. In the field of logic, a “straw man” is when somebody…
Faith podcasts providing downloadable fellowship and formation
It seems just about everyone is listening to podcasts these days, and on just about every subject imaginable – from sports and history to finance, politics and, yes, religion.
Honest to God
How can we talk about orthodoxy or orthopraxy when best and brightest pastors have too much integrity to lie to get the approval they need to serve?
When boundaries don’t behave
By Corey Fields I have a childhood memory of driving with my family across state lines and, in bewilderment, asking my mother where the line was. That may have been my first introduction to the arbitrary and human-made nature of…
More questions about Christian beliefs
In Friday’s post I attempted to answer two questions that were asked of me by a group of friends in my church, Baptist Church of the Covenant in Birmingham. In response to the question “Wouldn’t the world be more peaceful…