D. A. Carson and Tim Keller have written a statement on The Elephant Room controversy on The Gospel Coalition website. There is much good, thoughtful material here. They begin with this: Recent discussion, mostly in blogs, regarding the forthcoming Elephant Room conference, sponsored by James MacDonald and Mark Driscoll, provides an opportunity to write a few clarifying paragraphs on confessionalism, boundaries, and discipline. Whatever else The Gospel Coalition has or has not done, it has not prohibited mutual criticism among Council members… The richness and detail of our Confessional Statement and our Theological Vision of Ministry demonstrate that we wish to avoid lowest-common-denominator theology. But how do we negotiate the…
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Rachel Held Evans’ Year of Living Unbiblically
Rachel Held Evans is an egalitarian and has set aside the last year to obey every command in scripture pertaining to women. Her aim is to show what “biblical womanhood” really looks like when it is practiced consistently. She has been blogging about her year at her website, and Thomas Nelson has agreed to publish her narrative for a book set to be released in 2012. When I first heard about this, I was skeptical about the usefulness of such a project. Sarah Flashing is also skeptical, and she has a hard-hitting piece about it over at the First Things blog. She writes:
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Why the Media Disinterest in Romney’s Mormonism?
The media have spent a lot of time the past couple of days not on Mormonism, but on one pastor’s critique of it. David Murray is asking why the media have been so disinterested in the religion itself. He’s writing as an outsider looking in, and I think he’s on to something here. He writes: I’ve been reading Latayne Scott’s The Mormon Mirage over the past few days, as I prepare to interview her on the Connected Kingdom podcast. I must confess that, with most of my Christian life and ministry having been spent in the Scottish Highlands, I’ve not needed to know much about Mormonism and I’ve had very…
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A Good Critique of Political Reporters on the Religion Beat
Sarah Pulliam Bailey has an insightful critique of how political reporters drove the coverage the Values Voter Summit last week. In short, she argues that political reporters took old news and turned it into big news. She writes: If you have been paying attention to religion and politics for at least the last four years, you know that Jeffress’ belief that Mormonism is a cult isn’t terribly newsworthy to religion reporters. I tweeted about the endorsement because I thought it was something to note but not something to write a story about. Jeffress has been saying these things for quite a while now and political reporters are just now taking…
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Martin Luther, Mitt Romney, and the “Wise Turk”
Martin Luther is eminently quotable. He had a way with words and could wield them with force and power. I was very disappointed, therefore, to learn a couple of years ago that my favorite Luther quote didn’t actually derive from Luther. Ever since then, I have been skeptical about Luther quotes. Whenever I hear one, I verify it. I bring this up because all the talk about Mitt Romney’s Mormonism in the news is bound to summon forth another famous line that has been falsely attributed to Luther. Here’s the quote:
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Robert Jeffress Speaks to Church about Perry Endorsement
I blogged last week about Pastor Robert Jeffress’ endorsement of Rick Perry for the Republican presidential nomination at the Values Voter Summit. As you no doubt have seen by now, the endorsement and his remarks about Mormonism caused an explosion of media attention. In the Sunday morning service at the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas, he addressed the congregation about what he had done. You can see his remarks above.
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James MacDonald Clarifies Purpose of Elephant Room
James MacDonald has a statement clarifying the purpose of The Elephant Room and walking back his previous defense of the T. D. Jakes invitation. He writes: One of the things I have worked hardest at in my ministry is listening to and benefiting from criticism. The Elephant Room has brought a lot of it, and I have attempted to get to the bottom of what the Lord is saying to me through this criticism . . . I regret pushing back against the harshest of critics, for they were few compared to the many who have come in the best possible way with true intention and helpful correction. Further, I…
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Dallas Pastor Endorses Rick Perry
David Weigel reports at Slate.com that Dallas Pastor Robert Jeffress has endorsed Rick Perry at the Values Voter Summit. Jeffress reasons that—all things being equal—Christians should favor Christian political candidates over non-Christian ones. For that reason he supports Perry over Romney. The video of the interview is above. Here’s a little piece of it transcribed: I believe we should always support a Christian over a non-Christian. The value of electing a Christian goes beyond public policies. . . . Christians are uniquely favored by God, [while] Mormons, Hindus and Muslims worship a false god. The eternal consequences outweigh political ones. It is worse to legitimize a faith that would lead…
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There Will Be No Republican Messiah
It is ironic that the same Republican who criticized the Democrats three years ago for having a messianic view of Obama are now casting about in search of a messiah of their own. I like how John Mark Reynolds says it: The quest by some in the Republican Party for a savior is unseemly. We have a choice between the incumbent president and a long list of good men and women with strong backgrounds. This list includes the governor of one of our largest states, a former governor and business leader, a former senator, a successful business leader, the architect of the Republican congressional majority, and a congressional firebrand. Whatever…
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Justin Taylor on T.D. Jakes and The Elephant Room
Justin hits the nail on the head: The most controversial part of the Elephant Room inviting T.D. Jakes to participate is not whether or not it’s permissible or advisable to have a conversation with someone who cannot affirm Trinitarian orthodoxy and who preaches a prosperity gospel. Rather, the bigger problem (as I see it) is that James MacDonald defended the decision under the idea that the Elephant Room is all about “Getting brothers together who believe in salvation by grace alone through faith alone but normally don’t interact.” Further, their site explains that the motivation behind the Elephant Room is “a dual desire to challenge and unite this generation’s pastors.”…