My favorite Christian conservative, Michael Brown, apparently didn’t care for Stranger Things: I decided to watch the first episode of a well-known TV series to see what the excitement was about. I shut it quickly after a child casually used profanity while hanging out with his friends. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. — Dr. Michael […]
Michael Brown
My Exchange with a Christian Defender of Roy Moore
It began with a tweet from Michael Brown: Wow. I just read Louis C.K.'s admission of guilt and his unqualified statement of remorse. I pray he'll find true forgiveness from the Lord, but you have to appreciate his clarity and his candor. — Dr. Michael L. Brown (@DrMichaelLBrown) November 10, 2017 I couldn’t resist drawing […]
Evangelicals, Trump, and the Death of Contrition
In this article I’d like to address one significant casualty of the stupefying support Donald Trump receives among Caucasian American evangelicals (CAE). (At 100 days into his presidency his job approval remained at 80% among CAEs.) And that casualty is this: the death of contrition. First off, what is “contrition”? Gerald O’Collins and Edward Farugia offer the following […]
Trump: The Christian Conservative Case for Civil Disobedience
In my article “God Bless the Peaceful Protesters” I noted that Christian conservative radio personality Michael Brown had chastised the anti-Trump protesters who were obstructing traffic in several US cities. I then recounted that I had asked Brown whether he would extend that indictment to Operation Rescue, a prolife organization that has a long history […]
God Bless the Peaceful Protesters
Over the last two nights protests have erupted in several American cities in response to the shocking election of Donald Trump. We can all agree that the very small minority of protesters who turned to violence should be condemned. But what about the vast majority of peaceful protesters? Not surprisingly, some Trump supporters have been […]
Fundamentalism sells … and moderation is a voice crying in the wilderness
Last year I was interviewed on the nationally syndicated radio show The Firing Line with Michael Brown to talk about my then new book Is the Atheist My Neighbor? It was a very enjoyable interview and surprisingly Brown didn’t really push back on my thesis despite the fact that he is a Christian conservative. Nor was Brown the only […]
A Primer to Irenic Biblical Debate on Contentious Moral Issues
Over the last several years few social issues have caught the attention of the Christian community like homosexuality. Critics often complain that the attention and emotional energy that Christians have directed toward this particular issue is disproportionate to its relative importance (see, for example, my article “Ten things that are more disturbing than gay marriage”). […]
My interview on atheism with Dr. Michael Brown
I’ve done forty or fifty radio interviews over the years, but I found this exchange with Dr. Michael Brown on his program “The Line of Fire” to be one of the most enjoyable. Dr. Brown is a conservative evangelical and I’m a progressive evangelical. But his deportment in intellectual exchange is generous and courteous. And […]
Can you be Gay and Christian? My review on Amazon.com
Last November I posted a four part review of Michael Brown’s book Can You be Gay and Christian? Responding with Truth and Love to Questions About Homosexuality. I finally got around to editing it down to an Amazon.com review (a process that required about a 20% reduction in length). If you’re interested in reading the […]
Can you be Gay and Christian? A review (Part 4): Can you be remarried and Christian?
Michael L. Brown. Can You Be Gay and Christian? Responding with Love & Truth to Questions about Homosexuality. Lake Mary, FL: FrontLine, 2014, 286 pp. In this final installment of the review we’re going to turn to the title of Brown’s book, “Can you be Gay and Christian?” For many people, this is the most important […]
“Can You Be Gay and Christian?” A review (Part 3): The Weak Harmony Thesis
Michael L. Brown. Can You Be Gay and Christian? Responding with Love & Truth to Questions about Homosexuality. Lake Mary, FL: FrontLine, 2014, 286 pp. According to what I call the Strong Harmony Thesis (SHT), the Bible includes teaching explicitly supportive of homosexual relationships. Michael Brown focuses most of his energy on rebutting the SHT, and […]
“Can You Be Gay and Christian?” A review (Part 2): On moral abominations
Michael L. Brown. Can You Be Gay and Christian? Responding with Love & Truth to Questions about Homosexuality. Lake Mary, FL: FrontLine, 2014, 286 pp. In the first installment of this review (for part 1 click here) I noted that Brown’s book is one of the best articulated presentations of the traditional Christian prohibition of homosexuality […]
“Can You Be Gay and Christian?” A review (Part 1): Theology through experience
Michael L. Brown. Can You Be Gay and Christian? Responding with Love & Truth to Questions about Homosexuality. Lake Mary, FL: FrontLine, 2014, 286 pp. In Can You Be Gay and Christian? the popular Christian apologist and radio broadcaster Michael Brown takes on one of the most controversial topics in the church today. The issue […]
Homosexuality and Christianity: A Review of the Brown-Vines Debate (Part 4)
We rejoin the debate at 17:15 with Michael Brown providing a response to Matthew Vines’ claim that we are in a “new interpretive environment”. Brown replies: “[1]That’s the whole fatal flaw of Matthew’s argument. It’s saying that God himself did not understand the concept of sexual orientation, which is outrageous. [2] And that he inspired […]
