Here’s some inside baseball for all you fellow Southern Baptists out there. This summer at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, messengers will likely have the opportunity to vote on a resolution calling for integrity in church membership. What that means, in short, is that there’s likely to be a resolution calling on Southern Baptists to keep their membership limited to those who are regenerate. I won’t be at the Convention in Indianapolis this summer and unfortunately won’t be able to cast a vote. Readers may remember that I spoke in favor of Tom Ascol’s resolution last year and even interviewed him about it in advance of the…
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Ca. Supreme Court Overturns Gay Marriage Ban
Here’s a link to the California Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the statewide ban on gay “marriage.” Here’s the report from the Associated Press: SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The California Supreme Court has overturned a ban on gay marriage, paving the way for California to become the second state where gay and lesbian residents can marry. The justices released the 4-3 decision Thursday, saying that domestic partnerships are not a good enough substitute for marriage in an opinion written by Chief Justice Ron George. The cases were brought by the city of San Francisco, two dozen gay and lesbian couples, Equality California and another gay rights group in March 2004…
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Caner says, “I never signed it.â€
Dr. Ergun Caner is the President of Liberty Theological Seminary, a school founded by the late Dr. Jerry Falwell. Many were surprised to see his name among the charter signatories of “An Evangelical Manifesto.” He writes, ‘In recent days, I became aware that my name is on the list of “Charter Signatories” for the Evangelical Manifesto (EM). ‘There is only one problem: I never signed it.
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Note: A New Ministry and a New Article
Congratulations to my good friend Jim Hamilton who has just been appointed Associate Professor of Biblical Theology at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Jim is the most prolific young scholar that I know, and his work in both testaments in the area of biblical theology has been a great contribution to the church. Southern could not have gotten a better guy. You can read the announcement here. On a side note, Jim and I wrote a little article together for JBMW last fall, and it has recently been made available for free download from the CBMW website. The article was a brief survey of younger evangelicals and…
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Irving Bible Church Goes Egalitarian?
In 2003, Pastor Rob Bell led Mars Hill Bible Church to amend its constitution and statement of faith in order to open all offices-including that of elder-to women. It was a high-profile egalitarian conversion of an entire church that received no little attention in the blogosphere (see here for the story). Earlier this month, a high-profile Bible Church in my own city made a similar move. Irving Bible Church (IBC) is a large Bible Church in the Dallas area. It is one of the many Bible Churches in our city that represents an important constituency of Dallas Theological Seminary. Recently, the elders of IBC published a website explaining how they…
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Evangelicals Less Relevant Than Ever Before?
Andy Crouch is an editor at Christianity Today. Recently he commented on the fact that more and more evangelicals are leaving behind abortion and marriage as transcendent moral values in their choice for President next November. He writes: “This could turn out to be the election where both parties realize that the evangelical vote is so hopelessly split down the middle that it’s not worth courting them at all because what parties need are blocs that can be appealed to en masse. Paradoxically, evangelicals would become less relevant than ever before.” Well, Crouch certainly right about that. For more on evangelicals who no longer prioritize defending the unborn, read here:…
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A Response to Daniel Wallace
Dr. Darrell Bock and I have been discussing our differences about the “Evangelical Manifesto” in my previous post, and I want to continue that conversation here. But this time, I’m going to post my response to another one of my former professors who has signed the document, Dr. Daniel Wallace. Dr. Wallace was a mentor to me when I was a graduate student, and I am very grateful for his ministry to me over the years. So I offer this response with humble regards. His endorsement is here, and he expresses his hope that many will sign the Manifesto. What follows is an item that I left in the comments…
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Debating Bock on the “Manifestoâ€
Dr. Darrell Bock was one of my professors at DTS during my years as a Master’s student. He’s an exemplary Christian scholar, and I am grateful for his contribution to the kingdom. That being said, our assessment of “An Evangelical Manifesto” is very different. In the last two days we have debated the Manifesto two different times on two different radio stations. The gist of our disagreement is over what the Manifesto calls “single-issues politics.” I argue that in America, abortion and marriage are transcendent moral issues. The first two items are the debates with Dr. Bock. The third item contains my initial analysis of the document from Wednesday. Friday…
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Critical Reflections on “An Evangelical Manifesto”
On Wednesday, a group of high-profile, centrist evangelicals unveiled “An Evangelical Manifesto” at the National Press Club in Washington, D. C. A nine-person steering committee is responsible for the contents of the document (including Timothy George, David Neff, Richard Mouw, and Os Guinness). There are also scores of notable “charter signatories” (including Mark Bailey, Darryl Bock, J. P. Moreland, Alvin Plantinga, Ron Sider, Jim Wallis, and others).
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Albert Mohler Comments on “Manifestoâ€
The Washington Times reports why some prominent evangelical conservatives did not appear among the charter signatories of the recent “Evangelical Manifesto.” James Dobson, Tony Perkins, Richard Land and Janice Crouse are among those not listed, and all of them have statements in the Times article. Dr. Albert Mohler is also on the record expressing reticence about the document. Here’s the relevant excerpt from the story: ‘Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., said he was passed over but doubted he would have signed a document “that vague.” ‘The document, he said, “is often eloquent and many ways sets forth some key evangelical convictions. My questions have…