For all of you theologues and bibliophiles out there, I have a recommendation for you. The latest issue of The Southern Baptist Jouranl of Theology is comprised of a variety of studies on the book of Romans, and the essays are written by some of the leading evangelical specialists on Paul. Contributors include Douglas Moo, Mark Seifrid, Robert Yarbrough, Tom Schreiner, and more. I am thoroughly enjoying this issue, and I highly recommend your picking one up. Here is the table of contents:
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Rob Bell Is Coming to Town
Pastor Rob Bell is bringing his “The Gods Aren’t Angry Tour” to Dallas next week. In anticipation of the big event, Kate Goodloe from the Dallas Morning News called to get me to comment on Rob Bell’s controversial ministry. Like most most reporters who cover controversial issues, Goodloe includes in her story both supporters and critics. I was brought in as the critic. Her account of our conversation is good, so far as it goes. But I thought I would fill in some of the gaps since some of my remarks need some more context. Here’s the relevant excerpt from Goodloe’s report:
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No Religious Test . . . Except for O’Reilly’s
Mike Huckabee went Bill O’Reilly’s show last week and was subjected to a barrage of questions about his religious beliefs. In particular, he was asked whether he believed in Adam and Eve and whether he believed only Christians go the heaven. Huckabee did pretty well answering the first question and not so well answering the second. On the second question, I think he was trying too hard to avoid answering such questions. The answer ended up sort of muddled. Anyway, if you missed it, here’s the video.
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TIME Covers Evangelicals and Divorce
A week or so ago, I directed your attention to David Instone-Brewer’s controversial cover story from the October issue of Christianity Today: “What God Has Joined: What does the Bible really teach about divorce?” In my original post, I noted the series of responses and rejoinders that resulted, chiefly from John Piper and Andreas Köstenberger.
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Amend ETS
Many of my readers likely know very little about the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS). Nevertheless, those same readers would probably recognize the names of many of its members. The membership is a veritable who’s who of evangelical scholars and writers (e.g., William Lane Craig, J. P. Moreland, John Piper, Tom Schreiner, Wayne Grudem, just to name of few). Thus, the theological orientation of the ETS impacts the broader evangelical movement through the writings and publications of it members—members who come from all over the world.
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More on Women in Combat
For those who were following our previous conversation, John Piper just updated his blog with one more thought on women in combat. He writes:
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John Piper on Women in Combat
Check out John Piper’s article from World Magazine on women in combat. Here’s a snippet: “If I were the last man on the planet to think so, I would want the honor of saying no woman should go before me into combat to defend my country. A man who endorses women in combat is not pro-woman; he’s a wimp. He should be ashamed. For most of history, in most cultures, he would have been utterly scorned as a coward to promote such an idea. Part of the meaning of manhood as God created us is the sense of responsibility for the safety and welfare of our women.” Read the rest…
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S. M. Hutchens on Evangelicalism and Feminism
On Monday, I highlighted an article to which I contributed for Touchstone magazine, “Evangelicalism Today.” On Tuesday, one of the editors of Touchstone, S. M. Hutchens, responded to our article and had this to say about what feminism has done to the evangelical movement.
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Alvin Plantinga Lectures at Southern Seminary
One of the things I greatly enjoyed about Southern Seminary was its lectureships. There are several endowed lectureships at Southern, and I had the opportunity to hear and meet some great scholars during my time there. Last week, Dr. Alvin Plantinga delivered the Norton Lectures at Southern Seminary, and they are now available online for free download. Dr. Plantinga teaches at the University of Notre Dame and is perhaps the leading evangelical philosopher alive today. You will want to listen to all of these.
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Touchstone Forum on Evangelicalism
The latest issue of Touchstone magazine has a forum in which a diverse group of Evangelicals answer questions related to the state of Evangelicalism today. I am a contributor to this discussion along with Russell Moore, Michael Horton, Darryl Hart, John Franke, and David Lyle Jeffrey. The article is posted online, and you can read it here. Here are the questions that each of us answered: â— “How do you define ‘Evangelical,’ in a way that distinguishes Evangelicals from other believing Christians? And has this definition changed over the last several decades?”