One of the Scriptures I memorized growing up was Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy…
Professor writes book to explain his journey from inerrantist to historicist
Like many Christians, Bill Thomason was raised to view the Bible as the inerrant word of God derived from pristine, original manuscripts penned by the individuals actually credited with authoring them. “I grew up in a fundamentalist Baptist church believing…
Blessed are both new wineskins and new wine
Expressing the words of the Bible in contemporary language has a long history, as an internet search demonstrates by noting that “the earliest translation into a vernacular European language other than Latin or Greek was the Gothic Bible, by Ulfilas,…
Magic takes minister places other pastors ‘can never go’
“I do not like to be called a Christian magician,” David Garrard, a retired children’s minister and magician from St. Matthews Baptist Church in Louisville, says. “I’m a magician who is a Christian.”
The deeper truth behind end-times speculation: Be ready!
The Gospel reading for the first Sunday of Advent (Matt. 24:36-44) is one I remember from the days I clutched a Scofield Reference Bible. Along with Scofield’s infallible notes I carried around a copy of Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great…
Putting the common in good
It seems clear to me that biblical texts reflect varying degrees of inspiration. Some texts simply perpetuate the status quo, even offering justifications for national exceptionalism, violence and the stratification of society. It’s difficult to find any positive benefit from…
Can we talk about sexuality?
Can we talk about sexuality? Recently a pastor in Kansas has been challenging my school and me personally on our position concerning our faithfulness to Scripture concerning human sexuality. It reminds me of the sustained conversation in Southern Baptist life…
Good enough to be saved?
“Remember the psalms were written by the people to God. These are the thoughts of a human about God, not the word of God spoken to humanity.” My Sunday school class had gathered down the street from our church at…
Survey finds teens reading Bibles — but are they retaining it?
New research reporting American teens have more respect and use for the Bible than some might think comes as no real surprise to Gavin Rogers. The “2016 Teen State of the Bible” project, commissioned by the American Bible Society and…