Much attention has been paid to the remarks of President Donald Trump at Thursday’s National Prayer Breakfast, but the real story is what Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said, according to Brian Kaylor. Kaylor, editor of Word&Way, writes a Substack…
Is Scott Adams in heaven?
‘Dilbert’ cartoonist Scott Adams died Jan. 13 after a short battle with prostate cancer. Adams was known for his wry satire of white-collar office life through his long-running comic strip, which appeared in 2,000 newspapers in at least 70 countries…
The God I don’t believe in
Years ago while serving as a parish pastor, I visited an inactive member of my new congregation. Although he used to attend regularly, he quit coming after his wife died. By the time I arrived at the church, he had…
The president isn’t ‘born again’
If President Donald Trump truly were a Christian, he would not have said what he said on Fox and Friends this morning. Trump called into his favorite show to talk about his policy regarding Ukraine and Russia. Then, prompted by…
God is not … a Christian
Brent Laytham, a former professor of theology at North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago and currently running the ecumenical division of America’s first Catholic seminary, has edited a fascinating book titled God Is Not … . The book — written…
If the Sinner’s Prayer is the only way to salvation, why isn’t it in the Bible?
One night recently, I was speaking by phone with the adult son of a man whose funeral I would officiate a few days later. While getting to know the family and the deceased in preparation for these “pick up” funerals…
The Bible is a tool, not a weapon
A few weeks ago in one of our Wednesday evening worship gatherings, I told the story of an episode I watched of the TV show “Criminal Minds.” It opened with a car pulled off onto the shoulder of a road…
Salvation as deliverance and blessing: Moving from Thanksgiving through Advent to Christmas
It was the Old Testament theologian Claus Westermann who startled me years ago by talking about the two ways God saves in the Bible: salvation as deliverance and salvation as blessing. Most theologians and preachers focus on salvation as deliverance,…
The gospel of universal compassion
A hybrid God An 82-year-old man is attacked by a hammer-wielding fanatic and political celebrities snicker and sneer. Nancy Pelosi has been demonized by the conservative movement so viciously, and for so long, that hyper-partisans like Donald Trump Jr., Kari…
On Marjorie Taylor Greene declaring Raphael Warnock is not a Christian
Marjorie Taylor Greene, having, in my imagination, matriculated at the All-American Nationalist Theological Institute in Dalton, Ga., has set up shop in the halls of Congress to make declarations about people being Christian or not being Christian. Greene, no shrinking…
The troubled waters of sexual diversity: Willful blindness
This is the fourth in a series of articles on sexual diversity. C.S. Lewis referred to his atheism prior to his conversion to Christianity as “willful blindness.” This description undoubtedly describes my state of spiritual blindness before I began seeing…
Choose Life: Putin reminds us how bad theology can turn nuclear
After a meeting with President Joe Biden in 2021, Vladimir Putin held a press conference in which he answered a question about future relations between Russia and the United States. He cryptically quoted Leo Tolstoy: “There is no happiness in…