• Christianity,  Theology/Bible

    Let’s Amend the ETS Constitution

    Dr. Ray Van Neste (Union University) and I have been working on a proposal to amend the constitution of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS). We have been in touch with senior members of the society (e.g, living founders, past presidents, and executive committee members) and have received some excellent, critical feedback (though no endorsements). We have completed our proposal, and now we want to go public and to gather support for it from our fellow members of the ETS. In short, our aim is to expand the doctrinal basis of the ETS. We are not naïve about the challenges of uniting such a diverse body around an expanded doctrinal basis.…

  • Christianity,  Theology/Bible

    I’m still at least 51% Protestant

    Evangelical-Catholic dialogue has been a hot topic in the wake of the Pope’s recent affirmation of the Roman Catholic Church as the only true church. For example, Christianity Today‘s “Honest Ecumenism, Again” and “Virtue That Counts” as well as Al Mohler’s “No, I’m not offended” have been making the rounds in the blogosphere. In this context, it is interesting to read some questions raised by my old mentor Daniel Wallace over at the “Parchment and Pen” blog. Although Wallace’s remarks are not a response to the Pope’s recent announcement, they are relevant to Evangelical-Catholic dialogue. Wallace says, “I’m still at least 51% Protestant.” You’ll want to go and read the…

  • Christianity,  Politics

    President Nixon and Chuck Colson

    The National Archives has released some new tape recordings of President Nixon’s telephone conversations. Some of the tapes record the President’s speaking to the yet to be born again Chuck Colson. Listening to these exchanges only magnifies the contrast between the old Chuck Colson and the new one. The Chuck Colson on these recordings has given way to the new creation that I heard preach in San Antonio last month. The Lord’s arm is not too short to save (Isaiah 59:1).

  • Theology/Bible

    Voddie Baucham’s Unforgettable Message

    I wrote last month that the best sermon that I heard at the Southern Baptist Convention was delivered by Voddie Baucham, pastor of Grace Family Baptist Church in Houston, Texas. Baucham’s message wasn’t actually a part of the official program of the Southern Baptist Convention. He preached at the Founder’s breakfast which meets annually in conjunction with the Convention.

  • Christianity,  Culture,  Politics

    The Gay Shibboleth

    This is a follow-up to yesterday’s post on the Surgeon General and his stance that homosexuality is a sin. Christianity Today has an editorial out today titled “The Gay Shibboleth,” which takes basically the same position that I do, but states is much better: Affirmation of homosexual behavior seems to be shifting from an in-group shibboleth to an unwritten requirement for American leadership. Where does that leave biblical Christians? We may soon come to the point where supporting a sexual ethic based on an orthodox reading of Scripture becomes part of our cross to bear. . .

  • Politics

    Was the Iraq War a Mistake?

    It appears that the conventional wisdom is that the Iraq War was a mistake. One of the striking things about Michael Moore’s much publicized joust with Wolf Blitzer is that Blitzer seems to just concede the point that now everybody agrees that the Iraq War was a mistake. The conventional wisdom even prevails at CNN. I for one don’t agree with that analysis, and neither does Peter Wallison over at the Wall Street Journal, who writes about what would have happened if Sadam Hussein had remained in power. He writes:

  • Theology/Bible

    So the Pope Is Catholic

    Pope Benedict XVI has reasserted that the Roman Catholic Church is the only true church because it is the only one that can lay claim to a legitimate apostolic succession. A writer from the Associated Press has figured out the significance of the timing and the content of Benedict’s move:

  • Culture,  Politics

    Can a public servant call homosexuality a sin?

    I don’t look to the editors at the New York Times to agree with Christian teaching on sexuality, but neither do I expect them to advocate a policy that effectively excludes Christians from government service. Yet that is precisely what they have done today in an editorial about President Bush’s nominee for Surgeon General, Dr. James Holsinger. They argue that Dr. Holsinger’s adherence to his church’s teaching on homosexuality should exclude him from being the Surgeon General. They write:

  • Christianity,  Theology/Bible

    Tony Jones: A Gobbledygook “Orthodoxy”

    If Brian McLaren is the author of A Generous Orthodoxy, then Tony Jones is certainly the author of gobbledygook “orthodoxy.” And, yes, the scare quotes are necessary because, as you will soon see, Jones’ “orthodoxy” is anything but orthodox. Tony Jones is the National Coordinator of Emergent Village (a network of emerging churches that constitutes the theological leftwing of the emerging church), and he is not so happy that his plenary address will be excluded from the published volume of essays from the 2007 Wheaton Theology Conference.