By Roger E. Olson One of the last theological giants passed away Sept. 5. Wolfhart Pannenberg was without doubt one of the most influential theologians of the 20th century. He was born in Stettin, Germany, (now part of Poland) in…
SBC leader says churches must address violence against women
By Bob Allen The Southern Baptist Convention’s top spokesman for moral concerns says domestic violence is an issue not only of social justice but of theology as well. Russell Moore, president of the SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, wrote…
Study: Seminaries do little to train pastor to help mentally ill congregants
By Terry Goodrich People struggling with mental illness often turn to pastors for help, but seminaries do very little to train ministers in how to recognize serious psychological distress and when to refer someone to a doctor or psychologist, according…
Flesh is the new Word.
Over the course of my quickly fading 20s I’ve discovered a few truths about existence: 1) My crutch like belief-as a poorly complected 17 year old-that my skin would finally even out in my late twenties was, disappointingly, misplaced. (Also, is there…
‘Left Behind’ coming to a theater — and maybe a seminary — near you
By Bob Allen With Nicholas Cage starring in the rapture-themed thriller Left Behind coming out in theaters Oct. 3, two Southern Baptist Convention seminaries recently announced endowed professorships with an emphasis including Bible prophecy. Both Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake…
New book proposes a theology for ‘other’ Baptists
By Bob Allen Four centuries after originating as a protest movement within the church, Baptists today have evolved into a distinct sect committed to preserving its place in a hierarchy of denominations, Baptist theologian Curtis Freeman argues in a new…
SBC leader says Gungor trusts science more than the Bible
By Bob Allen A Southern Baptist Convention leader said Aug. 22 that a contemporary Christian music artist who recently said he no longer believes in a literal Adam and Eve or Noah’s Ark trusts science more than the Bible. Albert…
Eyes wide open
By Amy Butler Last Sunday all over the world lectionary preachers were handed a challenging text from Matthew’s Gospel. The text was that little part of chapter 15, where Jesus is busy just doing his thing: using gardening metaphors to…
A matter of definition, part 2
In the first part of this blog I suggested that there is in fact a definition of the word love which can cover all the various forms of human and divine love. It is a definition which I believe gets…
Real or imagined, persecution appears to part of Christian DNA
By Jeff Brumley Matt Cook says he frequently hears from fellow Baptists worried that the steady cultural shift away from church and faith may spell persecution for traditional Christians. It’s a fear born of constant news reports and anecdotes about…
A matter of definition
Confession time: I really enjoyed the movie Frozen the first time I saw it. And the second. And the third. And the several dozen after that too. You see, two of my three kids are at a prime Disney age…
Anchors Away
Not long ago I was sitting on a dock, watching boats scoot across the lake, when one of my wife’s co-workers started talking about her daughter. I learned she was in her late twenties, not too far removed from college,…