President Donald Trump and MAGA are in a meltdown over socialism. While Trump has made his political fortune fomenting fear, now he and MAGA are afraid of losing the midterms. One of the shibboleths they’re raising in response is “socialism.”…
Mark Driscoll is a fool who needs to read church history — and the Bible
Mark Driscoll says you can’t be a “Bible-believing Christian and a socialist.” He also declares, “I am a capitalist becase I am a Christian.” He clearly doesn’t know church history and hasn’t absorbed the book of Acts. According to Encyclopedia…
America is imperiled, but Baptists can save it
Last week, the annual meeting of the National Leadership Council of the American Baptist Churches USA took place in Atlanta under the theme, “Claim, Distinguish and Proclaim the Markers of American Baptists.” That should be considered a big deal for…
I agree with Pope Francis: True revival will fulfill the Social Gospel
Two disparate events occurred recently disturbed by normal calm. The first was the national news coverage of a revival breaking out at Asbury University in Kentucky. The second event was a social media event where Jordan Peterson wrote a post…
The Social Gospel ghosts of Rauschenbusch and Roosevelt haunt evangelicals still
Lurking in the carnage of the cultural un-civil war, there lies the determined opposition of many Christians to the Social Gospel. Two powerful movements in the 20th century, one theological and one political, produced a furious opposition to the Social…
Where’s our Good Samaritan today?
Nothing says Christianity like the story of the Good Samaritan. This story captures who we are, what we are to do and how we are to treat all others. Some people say Jesus is the Good Samaritan and we are…
Raushenbush named leader of Interfaith Alliance
A great-grandson of the first Jewish Supreme Court Justice and of the most prominent early 20th century Baptist pastor teaching the Social Gospel has been named leader of Interfaith Alliance, an organization dedicated to protecting the integrity of both religion…
The true gospel is social
Several years ago, a mission team of laypersons preached the morning sermon at First Baptist Church of Abilene, Texas. They had just returned from completing medical and construction projects at a small Christian hospital in the mountains near Chihuahua, Mexico….
Andrew Yang’s case for a universal basic income echoes Baptist voices of the past
Perhaps the idea of a universal basic income is not as farfetched as it may seem. Whether from voices from the past, our congregational polity or the biblical text, the Baptist tradition offers resources for thinking deeply about such a proposal.
Pastor seeks Southern Baptist resolution denouncing social justice
A Texas pastor is asking the Southern Baptist Convention to reject various forms of “social justice” philosophy, which he says are leading the denomination’s churches, schools and institutions away from the Bible on issues like abortion, homosexuality and the distribution of wealth.
My father, the born-again socialist
In his formative years, my father encountered two religious options. One was forward-looking and optimistic, hoping for better days ahead; the other was nostalgic and pessimistic, resigned to the imminent end of the world. Like most North American Christians, my father was a product of both visions: one influenced his religion, the other his politics.
Pursuing reverence in a society that doesn’t recognize it
In a recent New York Times column, David Brooks offered an assessment of one of the presidential candidates, noting, “He appears to have no ability to experience reverence which is the foundation of any capacity to admire or serve anything…