It is well known that C.S. Lewis grieved over the spectacle of public squabbles between professing Christians and took great pains to avoid being drawn into such internecine strife himself. From his conversion forward Lewis exhibited consistent protectiveness of Christian unity. Not at the expense of Christian orthodoxy, but precisely for its defense. Note this […]

How did it happen that C.S. Lewis moved to the right rather than to the left as time passed? The more serious and focused an academic he became, the more seasoned a scholar he proved to be, the less impressed he was with liberalism or perhaps we might say, with the so-called “modern” approaches to […]

A project I contributed to has resulted in a DVD and study guide based on the 1985 book by Robert Ericsksen, Theologians Under Hitler. Ericksen reviews the capitulation of three prominent theologians to the designs of Adolf Hitler. The three infamous scholars are Paul Althaus, Emanuel Hirsch, and THE Gerhard Kittel of the 10-volume Theological Dictionary […]

“Mystery.” I encounter this word periodically in my research of the emerging church movement and the emergent conversation. D.A. Carson is correct that a protest posture shapes many of the leaders and shapers of this broad and diverse phenomenon (I think this protest aspect accounts for much of what is most unattractive in the movement […]

Amidst frequent appeals to experience as a window into God’s will, here are some of my thoughts:
1. Meaning cannot be read-off experience. Experience must be interpreted. Example. Mother of 16 year old twins is tragically killed. Son #1 (Nietzsche) gets and stays alternately mad at and denies God to the grave. Son #2 (Kierkegaard) gets mad […]

Is there nothing so intrinsically innocent and good that we sinners cannot spoil it? Apparently not. Not even when it comes to prayer. Jesus used the pompous self-serving prayer of a Pharisee to highlight, among other things, the vulnerability of prayer to pernicious use. “Thank you God that I am not like his Publican!” In […]

Thomas Oden, United Methodist, longtime Professor of Theology at Drew University and prolific author began what he called his “long journey home” from liberalism to things orthodox and evangelical in 1979. You can read about it in his book from that year, Agenda For Theology. Since then Oden has published like wild fire including a […]

Where the relationship between science and religion is concerned, I have found it helpful to envision two overlapping circles, one representing objects of interest that are susceptible to the tools of the Enlightenment or Science, if you will. Those tools or means of knowledge include both the rationalist (esp. Descartes) […]

In his book Breaking Faith: The Pope, the People, and the Fate of Catholicism, John Cornwell identifies core beliefs held by Catholic laity between Vatican I (1869-70) and Vatican II (1962-65): Devotion to Mary as the Mother of God; the indissolubility of marriage, and the inadvisability of mixed marriage; the real presence […]

Like so many attempts to understand a currently developing and growing phenomenon, the quest to comprehend the emergent/emerging church proves frustrating and often elusive. Emerging Churches: Creating Christian Community in Postmodern Cultures by Eddie Gibbs and Ryan Bolger promises a comparatively more accurate window into the world of emerging churches because it taps a wealth […]