Christian Denominations/Groups
Is genuine unity achievable?
Earlier today Daniel James Levy posted on the divisions in the church of Corinth (see “The Issue of Division at the Church in Corinth”). For many of us evangelicals the fractions of that local church seem all too familiar. While Roman Catholics, Orthodox, and Anglicans have placed a high priority on visible unity the rest [...]
Evangelicals, their books, and their controversies.
Christianity Today (CT) and Relevant Magazine (Relevant) are written for an evangelical audience. Their readers are not always the same though. To overgeneralize, CT is read by evangelicals in their thirties or older while Relevant is intended for twenty-somethings. Their “top books” and “top stories” for 2011 provide an interesting glimpse into these two segments [...]
N.T. Wright on the Jesus of Pope Benedict XVI, Maurice Casey, and Bruce N. Fisk.
N.T. Wright has written an article for The Times Literary Supplement reviewing Jesus of Nazareth: Holy Week: From the Entrance into Jerusalem to the Resurrection by Pope Benedict XVI; Jesus of Nazareth: An Independent Historian’s Account of His Life and Teaching by Maurice Casey; and A Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jesus: Reading the Gospels on the Ground [...]
Actually no, to abandon the Gospel is to abandon the Gospel.
Last night I sat in a Starbucks here in Portland talking with one of my best friends about the Synoptic Problem, the unique perspective of the Gospels, and the person of Jesus. We marveled together how the differences found in the Gospels show us a Jesus who was so amazing and complex that one perspective [...]
Scot McKnight on evangelicalism, the gospel, atonement, and universalism.
Scot McKnight of North Park University delivered the Parchman Lectures at Baylor University’s Truett Seminary this year. He covered the subjects of evangelicalism, universalism, the gospel, and atonement. You can access the audio through McKnight’s blog here. I have listened to the first and second and I am listening to the third. The first lecture [...]
Rethinking the Mode of Baptism
Since relocating to Missouri, I’ve had to rethink my own denomination, and now, I’ve also had to rethink the mode of baptism. I went by Covenant Theological Seminary, which is PCA. I had the opportunity to visit with Prof. Robert Yarbrough, formerly of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He has been at Covenant Seminary for over [...]
Denominations interpreting denominations.
This is so accurate it’s sad. (HT: Daniel Kirk)
Scholars, Pastors and Idolatry…
I mentioned, albeit briefly, in my review of BW3’s new book, “Is there a Doctor in the House?” my concern about seminary students who begin their studies planning to be pastors and end up wanting to be scholars. It seems to me after the first year of pastoral formation the glamour and glitter begins to [...]
The inconsistency of an evangelical apologist (or stop trying to insult our Roman Catholic friends).
Sometimes I blush when I read the writing of fellow evangelicals. This week has been particularly difficult as C. Michael Patton has decided to develop a critique of our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters that leaves evangelicalism indefensible. First, he wrote “Embracing Doubt or Why ‘Roman Catholic Scholarship’ is an Oxymoron” wherein he attempted (and failed) to [...]
Roman Catholics cannot be scholars?! If so, then neither can most evangelicals.
I am writing the following as an evangelical. As an evangelical I am watching debates between fellow evangelicals over subjects like the inerrancy of Scripture, the historicity of Adam and Eve, and the doctrine of hell closely knowing that whatever conclusion I reach on these subjects will have important consequences. As we’ve seen with the [...]
Needlessly suffering for faith: A look at “The Serpent Handlers”
I recently finished a book by Fred Brown and Jeanne McDonald called The Serpent Handlers. The book attempts to look past the hype and embellishment that often sprouts around media reports on churches that handle snakes in worship, and focus on the people who actually participate in snake handling. Snake handling is mostly practiced in [...]
Wednesdays with Wright: Reading Jesus, Paul, and the People of God: Jeremy S. Begbie
Nicholas Perrin and Richard B. Hays (eds) (2011). Jesus, Paul, and the People of God: A Theological Dialogue with N.T. Wright. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic. This is the seventh part of a ten post series on Nicholas Perrin’s and Richard B. Hays’, eds., Jesus, Paul, and the People of God: A Theological Dialogue with N.T. [...]
Saturdays in Second Temple Judaism: The meal at Qumran.
This week fellow blogger and friend JohnDave Medina came to my home and we were discussing various aspect of Roman Catholic doctrine and practice (since he is a recent re-convert). One area of discussion was the Eucharist. I mentioned a fascinating element of the Dead Sea Scrolls collection found in The Community Rule (which is [...]
A Few Reasons Why I Am a Catholic
To balance out my post on why I am not a Oneness Pentecostal (here), I will give some reasons as to why I am Catholic. First some background. I was born into the Catholic church, baptized as an infant only a few months old. I was never catechized in my youth, and sporadically practiced my [...]
Pentecost Sunday 2011
Pentecost Sunday is an important day for me. I came into Christianity through the Pentecostal paradigm. I know that many branches of Christianity celebrate this day, but there was something special about celebrating it as a Pentecostal. It was a day to remember when in 1906 a building located at 312 Azusa Street, Los Angeles, [...]
The origins of call-and-response preaching.
In Black Fire: One Hundred Years of African American Pentecostalism the author, Estrelda Alexander, catalogs how something from the African religious tradition known as “griot” shaped what we refer to as “call-and-response” preaching. She provides a very eye-opening explanation of how it originated and how it functions. Alexander writes, “Characteristics of the black sermon such [...]
Segregation in Pentecostalism
While reading Estrelda Alexander’s Black Fire (see here) I was struck by two claims she makes about Pentecostalism: (1) She says that “Within ten years of the movement’s beginning, there were virtually two Pentecostal movements–one heavily white, the other almost entirely black.” (p. 20) As an aside, I think this is very true except that [...]
In the Mail: Black Fire by Estrelda Y. Alexander
Alexander, Estrelda. (2011) Black Fire: One Hundred Years of African American Pentecostalism. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic. (Amazon.com; IVPress.com) Yesterday I was pleasantly surprised to find a copy of Estrelda Alexander’s new book Black Fire: One Hundred Years of African American Pentecostalism sitting in my mailbox. Like myself, Alexander was raised in oneness Pentecostal circles though my [...]
Walk On: A Guide to Exiting from Oneness Pentecostalism (Series Summary)
I wrote a series of posts on this blog beginning April 28th, 2011, and ending March 10th, 2011, that chronicle my own story while providing some advice for those who are considering a departure from Oneness Pentecostalism. I did not write this to engage in debate with apologists for this movement. I didn’t write this [...]
Walk On: A Guide to Exiting from Oneness Pentecostalism (Pt. 7)
[If you haven’t read the previous posts in this series you can find them here: Pt. 1 here; Pt. 2 here; Pt. 3 here; Pt. 4 here; Pt. 5 here; Pt. 6 here.] When I walked away from my Oneness Pentecostal roots it was not pretty. I spent four years at a college that I wished I had never known [...]
Walk On: A Guide to Exiting Oneness Pentecostalism (Pt. 6)
[If you haven’t read the previous posts in this series you can find them here: Pt. 1 here; Pt. 2 here; Pt. 3 here; Pt. 4 here; Pt. 5 here] This week will be the final one wherein I give advice for how to make a healthy transition away from the Oneness Pentecostal movement. In [...]
A Declaration of Amnesty and Peace (repost from Dr. Paul N. Anderson)
[This post has been reproduced with permission granted by Dr. Paul N. Anderson, the Professor of Biblical and Quaker Studies at George Fox University. Share your thoughts in the comments section below. He is aware of this post and he may be able to interact.] A Declaration of Amnesty and Peace— An Open Letter to President [...]
Walk On: A Guide to Exiting from Oneness Pentecostalism (Pt. 5)
[If you haven’t read the previous posts in this series you can find them here: Pt. 1 here; Pt. 2 here; Pt. 3 here; Pt. 4 here.] The other day someone commented on one of the posts in this series saying that my arguments against Oneness Pentecostalism were not very good. He said that I was creating a “straw [...]
Walk On: A Guide to Exiting Oneness Pentecostalism (Pt. 4)
If you have been following along with this series you know that I have been writing for the following person: “You are a Oneness Pentecostal who either doubts this whole Christian religion or you are beginning to wonder why your group has become so isolated from everyone else. I have been there. I have been [...]
Walk On: A Guide to Exiting from Oneness Pentecostalism (Pt. 3)
Last week I said that I would be writing several post where I share how I exited from the Oneness Pentecostal movement in order to assist those who are thinking of doing the same (see Pt. 1 here). I have not written this series until now because (1) I don’t think I was ready to [...]
Walk On: A Guide to Exiting from Oneness Pentecostalism (Pt. 2)
I have never been able to understand prayer. It seems awkward that if God knows everything, and God wants what is best for us, that we should ask for it. Yet this is how God has chosen to interact with us. We are told to engage him. It is a bit difficult having a conversation [...]
Walk On: A Guide to Exiting from Oneness Pentecostalism (Pt. 1)
Walk on, walk on What you’ve got they can’t deny it Can’t sell it, or buy it Walk on, walk on Stay safe tonight – from Walk On by U2 Sometimes you come to a point in life where you must make a decision. It is a hard choice because it demands that you break [...]
Easter Sunday from the Perspective of a Catholic
[Disclaimer: See my post on Holy Thursday here.] [For my post on Good Friday, see here.] You might ask why I am posting about Easter Sunday on a Saturday. The reason is that the Catholic liturgical day follows the Jewish idea of day, which begins at sundown. I attended our Easter Vigil Mass, the queen of [...]
Good Friday From the Perspective of a Rookie Anglican
*This is a guest blog from my wife Morgan. She was kind enough to write about her Good Friday experience since I was unfortunately at work during the service* I’m not a very serious person. As a matter of fact, I’m generally the kind of person you’ll find trying to make light of even the [...]
Good Friday from the Perspective of a Catholic
[Disclaimer: Same as first post (here).] As I mentioned in my post on Holy Thursday, this is my first time participating in the Paschal/Easter Triduum as a Catholic. In this post I will reflect upon the Mass of the Lord’s Supper and today’s Celebration of the Lord’s Passion, the Stations of the Cross, and the [...]
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