After consolidating his power over the Bob Jones University board of trustees last week, Chairman John Lewis won his face-off against university president Steve Pettit. Pettit, who has served as president of the ultra-conservative school since 2014, had given the…
The shift from positional power to relational power
You and I see it almost daily: A person doesn’t know when to let go of their position of power. A father or mother, high executive or low manager, a lay or professional leader, a bus driver or bus mechanic….
How Michael W. Smith, George W. Bush and one popular worship song expose the problem of Calvinist theology and politics
There is a reason why one of the most influential worship songs of the past quarter century expresses a truth that could turn evangelicalism upside down and yet has been repeatedly rejected and banned by conservative evangelical complementarian Calvinists. Growing…
Justice sated in The Handmaid’s Tale
The much-anticipated return of The Handmaid’s Tale, a TV series based on the post-apocalyptic novel by Margaret Atwood, was just released. Last season ended with the murder of Commander Fred Waterford, who played a large part in the creation of…
Don’t overlook the depth of the disease in the SBC
As news is breaking from the investigation of the Southern Baptist Convention’s handling of sexual abuse, my heart breaks for women in the denomination I once called home. It is devastating to read about the treatment of victims and about…
Today’s evangelicals are medieval crusaders at heart
At the dawn of 2022, forget the culture wars; this is a postmodern crusade, and the Christian soldiers are on the march. Evangelical Christians are medieval crusaders at heart. In the 11th and 12th centuries, Christian Crusaders went to war…
Q&A with a traumatologist on how to prevent clergy abuse and burnout
Editor’s note: The following article was published by BNG on June 7, 2021, but is being republished today because of its relevance to the new report on sexual abuse in the SBC. The unwillingness or inability to do the…
Who wants the crown Jesus refused in the wilderness?
In a widely circulating op-ed in the New York Times, Elizabeth Dias describes a speech then presidential candidate Donald Trump gave at a small evangelical college, Dordt University in Center City, Iowa. The most famous, or infamous, remark in his…
Conservative evangelicals’ political success: Acting out of the pain of unhealed shame
When Christians act out of the pain of unhealed shame, they may lash out in equally shameful ways. The world is seeing a church that names people and groups as enemies to be defeated, rather than seeing it bear witness to God’s love and grace for all.