Today, I was reading the entry on “Fundamentalism” in Alan Richardson, A Dictionary of Christian Theology (SCM Press, 1969) when I came across a passage that provides a trenchant critique of fundamentalism. One of the key attractions of fundamentalism, at least according to its adherents, is the belief that fundamentalism is rooted in the faithful transmission of […]
orthodoxy
Does Christianity Need a Historical Adam?
Today, I posted the following poll on Twitter: Christianity requires a historical Adam and Eve. — Tentative Apologist (@RandalRauser) July 14, 2021 We can approach the question like this: imagine that it turns out that the following Christian doctrines are true: a triune God exists, he created all that exists, and the second person of […]
Christians, don’t let heresy hunters scare you from asking hard questions
Is Progressive Christianity Worse Than Atheism? My Response to Alisa Childers
In this video, I offer a response to Christian apologist Alisa Childers’ article “5 Signs Your Church Might be Heading Toward Progressive Christianity.”
Arminians, Calvinists, Orthodoxy, and Mere Christianity
Arminians and Calvinists are often mistrustful of each other despite the fact that each tradition protects a shared deposit of mere Christianity. Or do they? Some folks in each theological camp appear to think that representatives from the other side have abdicated their core theological convictions. But one thing I’ve observed over time is that […]
Hamfisted Heresy Hunters
Calvinist blogger Steve Hays has a long list of people he needs to monitor on a regular basis and I’m apparently on that list. Every few weeks, he seems to make a point of commenting on one of my articles or tweets. I wrote a reply to him last week and of course, he needed […]
What is Mere Christianity? Part 3: Myron B. Penner Answers
Introduction Welcome to the third installment of my series, “What is Christianity?” This time, we feature the thoughts of Canadian philosopher Myron B. Penner. Dr. Penner is an Anglican priest who ministers at Trinity International Church in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. Previously, he was a professor at Prairie College in Three Hills, Alberta. […]
Is the evangelical tent getting bigger?
In the second edition of their book Across the Spectrum: Understanding Issues in Evangelical Theology (Baker, 2009), Gregory Boyd and Paul Eddy offer a survey of seventeen theological issues of debate among evangelicals. That list includes the following: biblical inerrancy divine providence divine foreknowledge the interpretation of Genesis 1 (young earth view; day age view; restoration view; literary […]
Does Christianity need the Homoousion?
Last year, I posted an article titled “Does Christianity need a resurrected Jesus?” In this present article, I want to consider another important question: Does Christianity need the homoousion? Alas, while we all know what “resurrection” means, the same cannot be said of homoousion, so allow me to explain. The term was invoked at the Council of Nicaea […]
Does the theology of a songwriter define the song?
Yesterday, my article critiquing the song “Reckless Love” was published at The Christian Post. Steve on Twitter responded that the problem was not simply with the song so much as with the worship group that produced/performed the song: “we should asking if the Christology and teachings of Bethel are biblically accurate. If it’s not, then […]
I Believe on the Third Day He Rose Again . . . but what about those who don’t?
This article is an excerpt from my 2011 book You’re not as Crazy as I Think. The book includes four chapters dedicated to understanding various groups that are commonly misunderstood by evangelicals and this excerpt is drawn from the chapter titled “Not all liberal Christians are heretics.” In the passage, I attempt to understand the individual […]
Charity and Confession: The case of Bruxy Cavey and Tyndale Seminary
Today I came across a blog article titled “Why is Bruxy Cavey Teaching at Tyndale?” (Bruxy is a leading figure in progressive Christianity, an author (here’s his latest book) and pastor of one of the largest churches in Canada. Tyndale Seminary is a large evangelical seminary in Toronto.) The blogger who wrote the article, a fellow […]
On accusing a brother or sister in Christ of heresy
A couple weeks ago I posted an article on the new Shack movie titled “To See or Not to See The Shack Movie: That is the Question“. Today somebody named “Sven” posted a comment in which they charged author Paul Young with a long list of egregious doctrinal errors: “God is not a gender fluid goddess. The Shack teaches […]
Further Thoughts on Christian Atheism
A fellow named “Shane” posted a very revealing comment at Gretta Vosper’s blog today which succinctly summarizes the chasm that separates her version of “Christianity” from that identified by historic Christian orthodoxy. Shane writes: “For me, Christian Atheism is about the values that we as humans have developed and associated with the Christian story, not about “believing” […]
