Several Episcopal congregations in the U.S. have decided the time has come for them to secede from the authority of their American Bishop. The New York Times reports:
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Perturbed at Al Mohler?
No, I am not perturbed at Dr. Mohler, but the commenters at the Washington Post‘s “On Faith” blog are. Dr. Mohler has been contributing to this online forum for religious dialog, and his essays seem to be generating the most response from readers. As a matter of fact, the number of comments on Dr. Mohler’s essays have been positively disproportionate. Under Dr. Mohler’s most recent contribution, he has 275 comments (at my last count). Of the other seven panelists, the one closest in number to Dr. Mohler has 51 comments.
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Southern Baptists and Gay “Evangelicals”
The New York Times has printed a provocative piece today titled “Gay and Evangelical, Seeking Paths of Acceptance.” Like me, I’m sure you read that headline and can see that the oxymoron in the title betrays the bias of the author.
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Harvesting Body Parts from Aborted Babies
Here is the brave new world in which we are living. The Associated Press reports that Doctors in Oregon took brain cells from an aborted baby and implanted them in a 6-year old boy. Last month in Portland, Ore., doctors for the first time transplanted stem cells from aborted fetuses into his head in a desperate bid to reverse, or at least slow, a rare genetic disorder called Batten disease. The so-far incurable condition normally results in blindness and paralysis before death.
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Bruce Ware vs. Kevin Giles
Bruce Ware and Kevin Giles have been sparring over gender roles and the nature of the Trinity. The controversy came to a head in a paper that Dr. Ware read at the most recent meeting of the ETS. You can read about the encounter here, and you can download and read Dr. Ware’s paper here. Dr. Ware was recently elected to serve as president of the ETS.
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Dating Jesus: A Creepy Spirituality
Agnieszka Tennant’s “Dating Jesus: When ‘Lover of My Soul’ Language Goes Too Far” is one of the creepiest things I have read in a long time. She reflects on an “eros-laced” trend of female spirituality that is being pushed by Christian publishers and that has been embraced by not a few women in evangelical churches. She writes,
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Albert Mohler on Sermon Plagiarism
Albert Mohler: “What’s not new under the sun is theft. And what’s not new under the sun is laziness. And what’s not new under the sun is falling short of your ministry to preach the word. I’m sorry, but this is just one of the most despicable practices I can’t imagine. I cannot imagine sitting in the congregation, knowing that this guy is simply parroting what he has read, borrowed or stolen from someone else. I can read it better than he can.” [at 17:38 in audio linked above below] –Albert Mohler, The Albert Mohler Program (December 7, 2006)
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Can Women Teach Men?
At ETS this past November, Dr. Harold Hoehner of Dallas Theological Seminary presented a provocative paper arguing that women can teach Christian doctrine to men in the church. Dr. Hoehner’s session was packed out, and I couldn’t even get into it. But I heard all about it because it generated a great deal of discussion both during and after the presentation. Jim Hamilton has posted a short blog in response to Dr. Hoehner’s thesis: “Pastors Are Not Elders: An Egalitarian Suggestion?” Jim disagrees with Dr. Hoehner’s interpretation and gives several biblical reasons for doing so. I commend it to you. As far as I know, Dr. Hoehner’s paper is not…
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Jesus vs. the Scholars?
What do you do when biblical scholars disagree with Jesus? Since Jesus is after all the infallible Son of God and Messiah, my view is that your best bet is to stick with Jesus. John Piper argues the same way as he considers who’s right about the nature of Pharisaism in the first century. Should we believe Jesus’ negative portrayal of the Pharisees that He confronted,
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Mark Driscoll and the Fizzled Protest
Perhaps you’ve heard about the storm of controversy surrounding Pastor Mark Driscoll and some of the things he wrote on his blog about pastors’ wives. Driscoll has been roundly criticized by non-Christians and Christians alike for what he said, and he has since apologized for his tone, though not for the substance of his theological views.